the dark moon .

She does look awful; she’d caught sight of herself in the club’s mirrored walls just before leaving, unkempt and slovenly and everything Maeve is most certainly not. Even now, the blonde is as radiant as ever, and some part of Cole’s brain — the part one sniff away from an OD — blinks up and thinks backlit, she looks like an angel. “’Course I know your name…” it takes plenty of help from the pavement but she finds her feet. “I just… I needed… shit.”

If she’s an angel, Maeve must be one the Old Testament kind, all righteous fury and justice. She doesn’t help Cole to the cab and keeps her hands to herself once they’re inside. Cole watches her with a temple pressed against the window. “You’re pissed off.” This is new. She’s never had to answer to anyone before. The motion of the car turns her stomach and Cole presses her fingers to her lips for a long pause before she continues. “Did you have to, uh… fuck… leave work because of me?” 

maeve can’t quite place her finger on the source of her irritation. or, instead, she rather not. this connection they share under the night and all things dark and occult is a curse in itself. it laughs on the face of maeve’s independency and ego of someone who used to pride herself in never needing anyone. granted, she doesn’t need cole. however, there’s something deeply upsetting about the woman missing from her house and her chaotic routine. this alone is sufficient to make her less than happy. added to the fact that cole bothered to look for her only when it’s convenient, she’s livid. 

the blonde doesn’t touch her, both because she is mildly disgusted and also due to her nice clothes. her shoes alone cost over a thousand dollars and she wouldn’t want to risk ruining them with vomit. but then again, maeve thinks cole isn’t deserving of her touch at this moment. so she keeps her hands delicately folded over her lap, eyes cast forward and a slight upwards tilt of her chin as they ride the cab back towards her home. 

“ seems like the drugs didn’t make you that less perceptive, ” she says, coldly. only then she risks a gaze towards the other witch, brow raised high. “ no. but i did have to leave my home and find you what, about to OD? ”

she can’t tell exactly what it is the other witch is feeling but it’s certainly coming off her in waves. something predatory perhaps, but definitely something hungry. marina can’t help but wonder what magic lies beneath her skin, and whether it is a twin to this web of emotions she senses. “i need the water.” she shrugs matter-of-factly. she reaches out a hand, pulling a stream of water off the lake and into a ribbon spiraling around the pair of them. sure, it’s theatrical, but she needs to make sure the blonde doesn’t underestimate her. her eyes are trained on the woman’s face even as her hands guide the water’s movement, waiting for a reaction. “so: you called, and now we’re here. what is it you wanted?”

her eyes shine upon the display of magic. for someone who barely cared for it at all, there’s something akin to greed running through her veins as she watches marina pull the water from the lake. maeve nearly wants to scoff because it seems a bit excessive. yet, it’s good. maeve thinks she needs someone who has at least some confidence in her own magic. she flickers her gaze from water to the witch and sighs at the woman’s straightforwardness. “ i can get no foreplay with you, huh? ” she jokes, lightly, before stepping closer. “ i thought we’re supposed to practice together to become stronger. ” the blonde shrugs. “ didn’t the ancient corpse say so? ”

“On that, I can agree,” Ren nods, a chill taking her gaze in that.  “There is nothing lost between me and these hunters.  One in the basement another in a shed?” she whistles, a slow down pitch of warned sympathy. “All of that seems a recipe for disaster. Too many men with anger to my liking.”

Again, the blonde seems to bring out a quiet agreement in her, nodding with a chuckled smile. “I’ll be no one’s minion, cher. From what I’ve gathered, I can’t be sure Gen has a minion here at all. Especially not having run off as she did.” She takes a deep breath, looking the girl over before raising a brow.  “Who do you look to for guidance, Maeve?”  

She let’s it sit there, an invitation before an offer, shifting a waylaid braid from her face. “Mmm, they do say idle hands are the devil.  What do you do for work?”  Leaning against the door frame, she hums. “All of us should be able to use our books - confidence and practice are key.” She lifts her chin some, a quiet question.  “Have you been successful?”

“ unlucky for them, ” maeve starts, offering a malicious turn of her lips to her company. “ we have angry women to match. ” the blonde finishes. she knows she should be more worried, just thinking of what the hunters were capable of doing to cole. yet, there’s this reckless confidence inside her, a cocky defiance that tells her these hunters won’t be able to come in and ruin the life she fought for herself.

the blonde fiddles with the expensive bracelet dangling on her wrist before nodding to the other woman. she hums. “ she had some, but she lost ranks in popularity after that, definitely. ” she says, still looking down. 

her eyes do snap up at the woman’s next question though, and she smirks. part of her job is to know when people would like to take the lead in a situation. obviously, this comes easier in sexual scenarios, but it appears less than subtle to maeve here, in genevieve’s dusty house. the blonde reflects for a moment on what an occasion for this new witch to arrive. an expressive leader had fled the scene and all of the women in the group are stripped down to their most vulnerable forms – angry, sad, scared. desperate for guidance. maeve thinks she will make ren works for her.

“ myself, of course. ” she replies with a cheeky smile. “ that’s why i haven’t been a fan of the book club. ” maeve offers another shrug. “ i scam men for a living. ” she replies simply to the next question and nearly chuckles. “ mhmmm, some. i find my magic is some kind of… special magic. so, unfortunately, it means i have to come into the group. ”

maeve doesn’t have the same pull to the softer women on the group as others seem to have. it’s not personal, not about them in special. maeve avoid this kind of people in general. the contrast of their kindness with her harshness leaves a bitter taste to her mouth and maeve isn’t the kind of woman who enjoys being scolded, even if indirectly. so of course, the softest bunch of the pack are the hardest for the blonde to approach and to be fair, she only contacts maia because the woman holds something of her interest. 

carter’s grimoire. maia kept it in the midst of the chaotic seance and maeve would be lying if she said she wishes she thought of grabbing it first. but it matters not because maia seems inclined to share the knowledge in her possession. that’s how maeve finds herself knocking at her door, carrying baked goods with her. 

“ hello there, ” she smiles and offers the bakery bag to the woman in front of her. “ i brought you something – to thank you for having me. ”

   maybe you were right - words aaliyah would never admit, but could still think quietly, a secret tucked away behind her tongue where it would never see the light of day. “bold of you to assume she could actually keep track of her shit or plan ahead like that,” liyah scoffed, typically not the best-natured, but the recent events giving her an even more sour tone. it wasn’t directed at maeve, of course. if anything, she was just annoyed that it was seeming like her mentor, someone she had considered to be their leader, was ghosting them. 

   “yeah, well…” aaliyah wavered a moment, trying to choose between another sarcastic remark or something more genuine and vulnerable. the latter did not win. “she’s like 50-something. we weren’t that close, and anyway, she’ll hit me up soon,” aaliyah believed it, even if her friend didn’t. she came to join maeve in her casual snooping, unable to deny she was curious about what genevieve could’ve had on the backburner, left for them. it would be her fashion to scatter confusing clues somewhere in the dust and clutter. “lixue though…” she gives a shifty look to the blonde now, eyebrow poised high. “your hot take on that whole drama?”  

the witch gives aaliyah a surprised look that turns into a laugh. through these months, maeve rarely saw the other being so outwardly bitter towards the historian and it catches her by surprise. with a smirk and a high eyebrow, maeve shakes her head. “ my my my, ” she starts. “ that’s the meanest comment i heard about the hag coming from you, well done. ” maeve closes a book and sets it back to the bookshelf. useless. she picks another one. “ i guess you’re right which, ” she makes a purposeful pause and turns to aaliyah. “ benefits us in the end of the day. ”

her eyes choose the book on her hands while aaliyah hesitates. while maeve is happy to seize a victory any day of the week, she decides to not expose the electric witch to her scrutiny. she congratulates herself on being kind. “ sorry. the way you spoke highly of her gave me the wrong impression, it seems. ” the blonde shrugs. maeve comments nothing on the comment about genevieve contacting her soon. she doesn’t believe it but then again, she will let her friend have all the illusions she needs to go through the shit storm they’re headed. “ lixue is a crazy witch bitch, ” maeve replies. “ i don’t trust her. she won’t hesitate before burning us at the stake if it means she gets to save herself. ” the blonde looks to aaliyah. “ how ‘bout you? what do you think of carter’s guest? ”

It’s a beautiful place and Maeve looks every bit at home in it; gorgeous in a way that suggests effortlessness and precision all at once. Even dressed in label brands, the immaculate surroundings only accentuate Cole coarseness. And she could be honest, confess that she’d picked a motel over one of Salem’s nicer digs intentionally, but Cole simply offers a charming smile instead. “You’ll have to let me make it up to you somehow.” It’s unspoken — however kind, Cole’s stay here is a favour that Maeve will inevitably claim back. They’re the same that way.

For now, the blonde proves to be an adept host. “Never been one to turn down booze. Wine’s great.” Her preference is usually vodka, straight, but Cole’s not picky. Besides, Maeve’s led them back to an equally well-kept backyard and the environment doesn’t scream of necking shots. “A toast.” Cole lifts her glass, generously full. “To… the unanticipated plus of being tortured nonconsensually and new roommates?”

maeve smiles in a way that suggests she agrees – cole will make up to her in some way. the blonde isn’t in a rush to claim this favor though. she knows there will be a moment, in the future, in which cole’s aid will be helpful in one way or another and only then maeve will bring it up. for now, she smiles one of her agreeable smiles and her eyes sparkle mischievously as she leads cole to the backyard. her stance carries pride and she is glad to observe the fellow witch taking in the details of her sophisticated home. 

her jaw sets as cole utters the word torture. it bothers her more than it should, that the woman in front of her suffered through such thing. her eyes darken just so, fueled by the anger coiling on her gut before she pushes it down in favor of a smile. “ i’ll drink to that, ” she replies, taking her glass to cole’s to seal the toast. maeve hums then and licks her lips before she turns to the dark witch again. “ normally i wouldn’t be the one to suggest a heart to heart, ” she explains, giving up on hesitation. “ but i think we need to talk. and i think you know exactly what about, don’t you? ”

“Am indeed.  Least as far as everyone here is concerned.”  She smiles back but it’s a tighter expression.  It wouldn’t take a genius to realize that Maeve’s tongue was sharp and judgemental- two qualities that Ren was less inclined to favor. But she wasn’t here to make those kind of waves so she nodded.  

“Of a similar mind then.  Haha, yeah, it’s quite the look.  Wish it had a bit more of the fun excitement in opposite of…well, death. ” she says with a sigh, an air of forced pleasantries in her voice.  Her life was solitary for a reason- she didn’t get along with all as well as she’d like. “Well, I say the woods, but it was more the waterfront wilderness of Lake Michigan. Somwhere remote where I could sink my teeth into my Grim.” There was more pride in that statement before a shift in how she viewed Maeve. “How have you used the time apart?”

her eyes stare down at the mention of the deaths again. maeve isn’t one to be easily shaken and truthfully, she is probably the less shaken by the deaths of two women on the coven. yet, it’s unfair to say it didn’t leave any impressions on the escort. the impact shows through the cracks, just for a mere second before maeve is patching up with another misplaced sarcastic remark. 

“ well, ” she says and another smile graces her face, looking forced at first. “ i’d say i wouldn’t be opposed to death as a welcome if it was one of those hunters who died. ” and the blonde means it. menace sparkles on her eyes to confirm it, though it’s not directed at ren. maeve can tell the newcomer is by far a fan of hers and well – she guesses that ren can just join the club. she turns her head to the side as she listens to the woman talk and nods. “ working alone suited you better than becoming genevieve’s minion? ” she asks, surprised that she finds something to relate to. “ i’ve kept busy, working. ” maeve explains. “ i probably used the grimoire way less than you. granted, i didn’t believe in all of this at first but, ” maeve pauses, reminding herself of the new luxuries she received after delving into her grimoire. “ i’ve been convinced that i could use the book and the magic. especially when we have some old fashioned assholes coming around. ”

“It’s not the ugliest place, but it’s not my style,” the water witch agrees, but halfheartedly. It was strange, having to attend the meeting with  so many women she hardly knew and it was even stranger watching them all listen to the unnatural one.“We’ve not had a chance to really talk yet,” she says, smiling at the sharp boned beauty. “You’re Maeve, right?”

She offered a tan hand, and an easy smile.  “Where do you sit in all this?”  She spoke it almost as if it wasn’t a question.  There were hunters, one whom sat downstairs and two more dead bodies than she’d have expected.  “Practicing in the woods didn’t exactly have me prepared for animate corpses and torture sessions-yet-here we are.”

the blonde definitely disagrees with her fellow witch’s opinion. in fact, she wrinkles her nose at not the ugliest place because to maeve’s taste – well, it seems she made that clear enough. maeve puts the book she’s holding down in favor of shaking the hand of the woman in front of her. she has the same smile only sharper and blue eyes consider the figure of the water witch curiously.

“ yes – and you must be ren. ” she replies. “the newcomer. how exciting!” the blonde says, just on the edge of sarcasm and adds a smile to it. maeve finds a seat on the arm of a nearby couch and crosses her legs before responding. “ i’d sit outside of it as of last week. ” she answers with a bit of a shrug. “ i guess i’m almost as much of a newcomer as you are. ” her eyes turn to the woman with more attention now. her speech implies that she has been practicing before and maeve regards the piece of information with more interest. “ ah yeah, we did throw quite the welcome party, didn’t we? ” she quips. “ so you’ve been practicing in the woods before coming around? ” she asks then wondering why no one else seems to be adept to her retail therapy choice.

     for a woman who has never had much to her name, aaliyah was no stranger to fine things all the same. growing up in a las vegas casino meant she could pretend to be as lavish and rich as she pleased, though it was all cheap trinklets and baubles. here inside the historian’s home, nothing within the humble walls could be passed for anything more than junk, to most sets of eyes. aaliyah thought, like maeve, there was surely something of use… but mostly, the bartender had just seen lots of useless shit crowded into every free space.  

    yet, once, aaliyah had considered this place a second home - before magic, before the other witches, before all this nonsense started. she had known genevieve, they had shared a few evenings studying and talking… now, everyone had infiltrated, and it looked as shabby and plain as she had first thought. “yeah, well,” aaliyah sighed, her face in it’s usually sour expression. “it’s always been a dump,” brutal, but honest, aaliyah’s fashion. “and if you’re looking for anything important, i promise you she has hid it. gen was sly like that.” 

sapphire eyes dance over aaliyah. there’s something nearly mischievous about her as she looks over the other woman, knowing how much they disagree on genevieve. it feels as a confirmation to her, in her twisted way of taking things, that she has been right all along about the historian. after all, maeve thinks one can hardly be trusted as a leader when their place looks such as this one. the blonde puts the book back in the mess it belongs and pats one delicate hand across the other as to get rid of the dust they picked up. 

“ of course she did, ” maeve rolls her eyes and moves towards a next bookcase, as shabby and dusty-looking as the other one. “ probably had some things already packed in case she had to go on a run. ” she adds with a quick look to aaliyah and then back to the bookcase. maeve is less interested in the books than in their talk now, but maintains a neutral stance. “ i’m surprised she left you nothing, aya. i thought the two of you were amigas. ”

maeve isn’t a woman to apologize for her curiosity. there are few things outside of her own realm that is of interest to her. to find these things, maeve isn’t shy. she puts herself in movement and finds her answers with little care for consequences. she supposes there’s little consequence to anything right now, as she goes through genevieve’s belongings on the house the woman left behind. her hands pick up memorabilia and eyes scan books upon books on salem and witchcraft in hopes to find something useful. 

when steps make the presence of another person – or should she say, witch – known, maeve doesn’t flinch. her eyes lift from the book she holds in her hands and looks at her company with a careless glint on her eye. “ so this is the hag’s place, huh? ” she asks, raising her eyebrows. “ i must say – if i lived here, i’d want to run away, too. do you think she ever bothered to dust? ”