happily ever afters.

AMUSED EYES LOOKED AT HIM, shaking her head in entertainment at orion’s comment on the weather. “fair, but when strong rain or snow can ruin amusement park attendance, it becomes important.” that was her main reason of paying mind to it, not that it mattered much now. still, the circus brought a small smile to her face, even if it was bittersweet at the moment. the normally smiley young woman had been obviously affected by the physical hinderance brought on by the blackwell’s party, even if she tried to downplay it for the sake of others’. “not me, but i think i’d rather hear today’s temperature than constant news about....that.” every new article had no hope or answers to offer, only more destruction and paranoia. nadia considered herself a pretty positive person, but even now, she was struggling to find the light in it all, and that was before even considering her own injuries. as he slid his phone over, her eyebrows scrunched in concerned confusion. “as if everything that happened that night wasn’t enough, now people are stealing corpses?!” her head shook with clear distaste as she considered the idea as reality, even more uncertainty was being added to the already confusing night of the new year. pushing the phone back towards him with her right hand, his offer wasn’t expected, and she immediately responded with a teasing, large smile. “and have my little brother cut up my pancakes for me?” the question was asked as if the action was entirely foolish, but as her gaze dropped, she reconsidered, mouth. twisting to the side. there was no use ricking further injury for a breakfast. eyes raising in a bit of a sheepish way, she asked, “would you mind cutting them up for me?” hopefully, orion wouldn’t mind the extra effort that seemed to come with having breakfast with her, as she pushed the plate towards him. “thank you for your realistic, yet pessimistic, view, but i’m going to hold out hope that some answers will be provided.” her head dropped a bit. “i don’t want to worry him. i’ve, kinda, been downplaying everything for their sake.”

IT WAS PATHETIC. it was really pathetic. she was given strict orders to sit at home and recover by the circus’ director, as they didn’t even want nadia practicing if it meant possibly making the injury worse. yet, the proud and ambitious leo was not familiar with just sitting around, which prompted her to show up to her place of work anyway. and that was the exact pathetic part; who came to work when they didn’t have to? after being turned away from backstage and the practicing area, nadia had sat through a partial show, until her younger, temporary replacement took center stage. she had never been a mean-spirited person, but she couldn’t help the absolute bitterness she felt while watching what she couldn’t do. under different circumstances, she’d probably give a friendly offer to mentor, but now, she couldn’t help but count every mistake and misstep the other took, before she eventually just walked out. attempting to have the happiness of the patrons of story land influence her own sour mood, she tried to decide if she should buy some funnel cake. usually, such unhealthy food would be avoided, but hey, if now wasn’t a time for comfort food, then no time was. before she could make her way to the stand selling such sugary snacks, though, someone spoke up to her. quite literally speaking up, since they were crouched towards the ground. “oh, i’m sorry, i hadn’t even see you drop them,” nadia apologized, quickly moving her foot from on top the tickets so they were able to be picked up. the site reminded her of what she was carrying with her. turning to the brightly-colored purse hanging from her shoulder, she began digging through it. “you wouldn’t want any ticket vouchers, would you? i had some that are going to expire soon, but i’m...not exactly in the mood for rides.” shoving some things aside, the vibrant coupon made itself visible and nadia grabbed onto it. “i just have them from working here.” or, used to work here, but she wasn’t ready to verbalize that. 

NADIA WASN’T USED TO SITTING STILL. she was naturally in constant motion, from how she spent her forty-hour work week to her free time, which was mostly between the gym and animal rescue. not that the dancer needed any additional physical activity in her life, but the look on a dog’s face while she was jogging next to them was something that brought her back repeatedly, even if her legs were aching from yesterday’s performance. now, though, she spent even more time at the rescue, as a lack of ability to perform and exercise made her struggle to fill her time with anything but twiddling thumbs in boredom. which brought her to exactly where she was now. there was no real other reason for nadia to be in the bookstore, as she had a pile of unread books in her condo at that very moment, all purchased with genuine excitement to consume, only for the actual act to fall through the cracks. like, previously mentioned, there was a busy lifestyle. now, there was just blank space (and a finger that had to be constantly tied to its buddy). a new book, one that could spark the same excitement those books in a pile did in the past. fingertips graced the spines off different titles, as if the touch would help tell her which one to pull off the shelves and consider. her head perked up when a voice presented itself, turning to its speaker. “imagine if you walked into a bookstore in salem and they didn’t have the crucible. i’d find that more ironic,” she countered with an amused smile and a chuckle. the tourism of the location was not lost on nadia, who had grown up in the town. when she was a child, she used to think the history added some mystery to salem; now, it had more than enough mystery of its own. the script had been an english assignment for her at one point or another, but she didn’t recall much about the text. the way the other patron of the bookstore spoke made it obvious that he was quite familiar with literature, starting a discussion the fire dancer was unsure she had the knowledge to keep up with. “you really enjoy playwrights, don’t you?” she asked, minor assumption when he brought up a second one. “i don’t think i’ve ever actually read macbeth. i think my preference lies with novels.” romance or young adult to be specific, but didn’t want to mention them in case they were considered less esteemed genres. “or books about strange phenomena,” nadia added on second thought.

“I HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE I LOOK UP TO. i think most people--or, rather, most people who have a positive relationship with their parents--would say their mother and father are people they look up to. i am certainly one of them. not only are my parents two of the most loving and accepting people i’ve ever met, they’ve been through their own hardships, and now they’re the successful owners of a tattoo chain and an awesome bar. just factoring in that they were only teenagers when i was born...i think they’re past pretty impressive. the original gymnast instructor i had is also someone i look up to, as i remember before i could even accomplish a simple back walkover, i would watch all the impressive moves she could do and just hope one day i had just as much talent as she did. as for famous people, i follow quite a few fire dancers, but lily lux is definitely one of the ones that always have my attention when she makes a new post. the things she does with fire is just....unreal.” 

“IS THIS MEANT AS IN A PHYSICAL ACCIDENT WAY? because this reattached finger is the worst injury i’ve ever had, by far. i’ve had a couple sprained ankles, pulled muscles, and a broken arm once as a child--and i’ve gotten my fair share of burns, some second-degree, from learning and practicing. but never something as intense as this, requiring surgery and physical therapy, even keeping me from my job. as long as i follow all the doctor’s orders, i should be back on stage in no time, with only a scar to show for my troubles. it’s hard to think that right now, though, while my middle finger can barely move on its own and has to be roped up to its buddy, but i trust the professionals. i’ve seen grey’s anatomy.” 

SAYING THAT BEING IN THE HOSPITAL WASN’T ENJOYABLE was a pretty big understatement, so nadia couldn’t entirely blame andrea for wanting to leave. who wanted to be here, especially while also having to deal with the emotional turmoil of wondering what exactly happened not even twenty four hours prior? just absolute chaos. and even though she knew leaving early wasn’t going to help any of the blonde’s injuries, it also made nadia feel a little guilty to try and stop her. “i don’t entirely want to be here, either,” she agreed with a sigh, despondence etched on her face before she continued. “but we both know leaving could only make things worse.” if her words didn’t reveal her understanding, hopefully her eyes did at least as she gave a pleading look. “besides, you don’t want to risk having to come back and stay even longer.” that logic was the main thing keeping nadia from bolting home herself. “maybe we could text someone to bring some things from your place? does anyone have a spare key?” while she didn’t plan on helping with an escape plan, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to help in a different way. “or i can go down to the cafeteria and grab us some jell-o’s for us. maybe they’ll even have the good flavors.” wasn’t that what people forced to stay in the hospital did? there weren’t very many pleasant options, which wasn’t aiding in nadia’s attempt to be positive. 

THE FORK IN NADIA’S HAND POKED AT THE WHOLE WHEAT pancakes stacked on the plate in front of her, not thinking ahead to how exactly she planned on cutting them up with only one usable hand. at least both of them had all their fingers attached to them. “well, i suppose today’s weather isn’t nearly as interesting,” nadia reasoned with a tilt of her head, pausing her staring at her breakfast to look over at her foster brother’s doom-scrolling, or at least that was her assumption as he had his phone in hand. she had enough of that from the hospital television, as the news and espn seemed to be only two channels she could find. despite her active lifestyle, football did not entertain her. “no, i haven’t been paying attention to it much.” and now that her workout routine was missing any exercise requiring her left hand and her boss had forbid her from practicing at the circus until she was healed, she had a lot of free time to spend not paying attention to every new rumor. “what’s the latest?” deciding to just hold the knife in her left hand with two fingers so the injured middle one didn’t have to move, she managed to tear away a piece of syrup-covered fluff to deposit in her mouth. nadia previously tried not to comment on how the wealthy families handled things around the town, but it was starting to get too personal to keep out of her mouth. “hopefully, someone would be held reliable for everything.” then again, she had hoped the same months ago after the halloween incident. answers were needed, but they didn’t seem to exist. “it’s like living in an episode of unsolved mysteries.” 

NADIA WASN’T THE TYPE WHO COULD JUST SIT IN HER hospital room and twiddle in her thumbs while waiting for more to told to her. she didn’t like to sit still; it was why she chose a career that was full of constant movement and was barely still in her free time between the gym and volunteering at the animal rescue. so, after her finger was put through all the emergency surgeries to get it re-attached, she was told to sit in her room and wait for more care and medicine information, when her doctor got back on shift in a few hours. deciding to wander a bit, she was curious to visit others who were injured at the party. considering she had quite a few champagne chutes, nadia couldn’t really recall a lot that was happening when it all went down. besides, she really did want, even need, to know who else was harmed, if it was anyone close to her. even if she had just met coraline when running into her at the party briefly, nadia had a very outgoing nature that didn’t stop her from softly knocking on the other’s open hospital room door. “oh gosh, that sounds awful. does your head still hurt?” conversing with other patients was much more entertaining than staring at whatever daytime television was on cable. “honestly, i haven’t been out of my room much to know who else is here. as soon i was just given the opportunity to escape.” not she had exactly asked a nurse for permission, but she figured it was better to beg for forgiveness than the prior. “i don’t remember much of what happened at the blackwells. there was so much going on and it all happened so fast,” the brunette could only shake her head at the recollection. 

NADIA HAD BEEN SO ABSOLUTELY EXCITED. of course she adored any excuse to get all made and dressed up, even if it was a much different kind of embellished attire than she usually wore. she had daydreams of a party as grand as one gatsby would put on, with over-the-top decorations, delicious, food, and dancing. and it for a some time, it was like, and the fire performer was having such a great time. but just like with gatsby, tragedy wasn’t far behind, and before nadia knew what was happening, absolute chaos was breaking out. considering so many things were happening at once, she was just trying to get to safety and hadn’t even realized one of the fingers on her left hand had been cut so badly it was barely hanging on, blood soaking the dress she purchased just for this event. it wasn’t until she was laying in a hospital bed that she realized what kind of situation she was in, as dancing with fire was going to be difficult with her middle finger now requiring months of physical therapy to get back some use. she couldn’t sit in the hospital bed and just mope, though, instead wandering through the, quite crowded, hospital, left hand looking not unlike the michelin man’s. on her walk, she found a familiar blonde trying to make a break for it. “what are you doing, should you be on your feet?” she asked, voice laced with concern, as she went to andrea’s side to offer a steadying hand, well, the one not wrapped in gauze. the large cast on her friend’s leg suggested she should not be on her feet. “did the doctor discharge you already? you’re still in your hospital gown...” not that andrea needed nadia to point that out.

nadia vantas’ attire at the blackwell nye party.