i need my girl

jackson kenner. got a date with destiny and I don't intend to be late.

[traegics]

Open Starter - @darkskiesrpgstarters

The bell above the bakery door chimed.

Skyla flinched at the sound before she could stop herself.

It was soft. Familiar. Chosen, even — a little piece of gentle she’d picked out years ago because it reminded her of summers that didn’t hurt. Today it sounded too loud in the quiet of the shop. Too awake. Like the world was moving forward without asking if she was ready.

She wiped her hands on her apron even though they weren’t really dirty, just something to do with them, and stared down at the counter where a tray of dough sat half-shaped. Three rolls were perfect. One was burnt. One she’d flattened so badly it looked more like a memory of bread than bread itself.

“Okay,” she murmured to no one. “We’re… we’re getting there.”

The ovens hummed. The early morning light spilled through the front windows, catching on flour dust in the air like tiny ghosts of warmth. The shop smelled right. That was the worst part. Everything smelled the way it always had, like sugar and yeast and something that promised comfort. Her body kept expecting joy to meet it.

It didn’t.

Skyla reached for the timer, realized she’d already turned it off, and let her hand fall back to the counter with a quiet thud. Her gaze drifted to the small chalkboard by the register where she’d written the day’s specials out of habit. The handwriting wavered halfway through. She hadn’t finished the last line.

A breath left her — slow, careful, like she was afraid breathing too hard might knock something else loose.

“I can do this,” she whispered, the words a practice more than a promise. “I’ve done harder things than this.”

The door chimed again as someone stepped inside, and Skyla lifted her head, forcing the shape of a smile into place. It didn’t reach her eyes, but it was real enough to offer.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Sorry — give me just a second. The ovens and I are still renegotiating our terms this morning.”

She gestured vaguely toward the counter, then back to them, as if trying to remember the choreography of being herself.

“What can I get you?”

[alphakenner]

Jackson shook his head, waving her off. "Take your time. I'm not in any particular hurry, so deal with the ovens and I'll still be here."

He could see the look on her face even from the other side of the counters, and more than that he could see the look in her eyes - the one that said the last thing she needed was to be rushed. That maybe, just maybe, she could use someone to talk to. He wouldn't push that on her, wouldn't insist, but he planned to stay there in the quiet with her and see if she made the choice.

Taking a seat on the other side of the counter, Jackson pulled up and waited.

[traegics]

Open Starter - @darkskiesrpgstarters

Elijah stood near an open doorway, one hand resting loosely against the frame as he watched the room settle into its own rhythm. The gathering wasn’t particularly loud, but it carried that familiar hum of people trying to feel normal around one another — conversation threading through the air, laughter surfacing in uneven bursts. He’d loosened his tie earlier, more out of habit than discomfort, and the small concession to informality made him look almost approachable.

After a while, his attention shifted toward someone lingering a short distance away, their presence a quiet counterpoint to the noise around them. Elijah moved closer at an easy pace, not in a rush, not as though he were interrupting anything important.

“I find these things are easier when one admits they’ve been standing alone for too long,” he said mildly, tone warm without ceremony. His gaze flicked briefly toward the room, then back. “It’s not the solitude that’s the trouble. It’s pretending it’s intentional.”

He stopped beside them, posture relaxed, hands loosely clasped behind his back.

“If company is unwelcome, I’ll happily return to my corner,” Elijah added, a faint, dry humor in his voice. “But I thought I might take the risk of conversation before the night convinces me I’ve forgotten how to start one.”

[alphakenner]

The voice caught him off guard; truth was, Jackson had been focusing on an appearance of feigned casualness and sneaking glances at his watch to see whether he'd put in enough of an appearance. Gatherings that weren't in the Crescent mold - that is, outdoors and fuelled by bad booze and worse music - never seemed to have a place that he could be comfortable. And certainly never had anyone he rushed to make conversation with. But Elijah, for whatever bad blood had apparently been between them in another life, had come over to talk. And so he would.

"Nah, might as well stay and share this corner with me," he waved a dismissive hand. "If neither of us is talkin' to the rest of these folks at least it'll look less conspicuous if we're standin' here together." He raised his drink a little, toasting company. "Not your scene either?"

[strawberryxmagic]

josie chuckled. "yeah i don't really do much half way. i've never known how to do that. i can get a little intense sometimes," she said bashfully, wondering what else hope had mentioned. "not a lummox, just excited. i don't think hayley would have married a lummox," she chuckled. "well at least get as much info as i can. see if i can figure out what caused all this."

[alphakenner]

"I think that's pretty admirable, really. You'd fit in well with the Crescents, because we're not great at letting go of anything either. And I think you and Hope are pretty alike that way." Jackson smiled, a little gratified. "You're not wrong, she's too smart for that, isn't she?" He nodded. "Have you checked in with the Mikaelsons, what might be in their library?"

[strawberryxmagic]

"it's okay. i tend to get lost when i'm in research mode so i probably would've jumped at anything," she admitted sheepishly. "mm. i'd say more of a rock kind of person but i could see him maybe jamming out to some country," she replied. "just trying to make sure i have all the info that i can with all...this."

[alphakenner]

"I do remember Hope sayin' something like that about you - that you throw yourself into things. Nothing wrong with that, it's a good quality until some lummox like me startles you," he joked. "Well, maybe I'll invite him to the trailer one day and see how he feels about it." Jackson nodded. "I don't even know if that's possible, really. But it's admirable."

[strawberryxmagic]

josie jumped as someone plopped a bunch of things down, narrowly avoiding messing up her carefully organized chaos of notes and writing utensils. she blinked up at him. "uhm well i knew the library did but i hadn't tried to get any. i've been a little busy in research mode. but i'm sure my dad would be into some of those too," she commented.

[alphakenner]

"Sorry," Jackson looked a little embarrassed to find that he'd startled her. "You might be right, although he doesn't strike me as the country type - feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, though, and I'll make sure I invite him over." He cleared his throat, gesturing to her notes. "Looks important."

[traegics]

Open Starter - @darkskiesrpgstarters

The city at night never slept—not anymore. Not since the Merge, not since the fog, not since Triad painted its threats across every street like an open dare. Anastasia had grown used to the restlessness; she thrived in it, even. Silence was the dangerous thing. Quiet meant something was creeping up on them.

That was why she was out now, in a half-lit alley that opened into a broken streetline, stretching the stiffness from her arms after hours of training drills she insisted were “just in case.” Her boots scuffed against the cracked stone as she paced, jaw working on the last of a piece of gum she hadn’t replaced in hours.

She exhaled, breath pale in the cold.

“I swear,” she muttered, “if one more thing goes sideways tonight, I’m moving to the Day Court and pretending I’m a pacifist.”

Her gaze flicked upward as she sensed someone approaching—sharp blue eyes narrowing, but not unwelcoming. If anything, she looked… relieved to see a familiar presence. Or intrigued by an unfamiliar one.

“Well,” she said, straightening slightly. “Either you’re lost… or you’re looking for trouble.”

A beat. A faint smirk.

“Lucky for you, I happen to be good at both.”

[alphakenner]

"Ah hell, kid," Jackson shrugged. Last thing he'd intended was to run into anyone on the way home, much less someone whose bearing and stance spoke volumes about the sort of person she might be - Triad, through and through. "Believe me or don't, I'm not spoilin' for a fight tonight. I got a wife waiting for me to bring home dinner," he held up a grocery bag so the blonde could see it, "a collection of records from the library to spin, and much better things to do than fight in an alley. So I'm gonna have to say none of the above."

He took a longer look at her, though, and a smile broke on his face. "Wait - I know you. Well, I don't know you. I know about you. Drea said Eliza was talking about some cute blonde she met in a bookstore. In that case I definitely can't fight ya, even if I wanted to. So we'll have to postpone that."

[strawberryxmagic]

josie had found her usual spot in the library. she let out a soft sigh as she pulled out her supplies from her bag; paper, pens, highlighters. she was going into full research mode and she wasn't sure even lizzie or hope could pull her out. she needed to know about all the recent things to have happened. fae. the merge.

@darkskiesrpgstarters

[alphakenner]

Should Jackson have noticed that she was intently looking into something? Probably. But there was no one else in the library that he could see, and he had to share his discovery with someone. Sliding into the seat opposite, he deposited a pile of treasures on the table between them that barely avoided covering her notes. "You seen this? They rent out vinyl records and cassette tapes! I swear some of these are the ones Mary used to play back in the day. Never thought I'd see them again..."

[traegics]

Open Starter - @darkskiesrpgstarters

Charlie wasn’t hiding — she didn’t do that — but she was taking five minutes where no one could yank her into another crisis. She’d claimed a stretch of crumbling stone at the edge of the street, boots planted, arms folded, watching the city breathe unevenly around her.

The wind carried the scent of rain and magic, old brick and something burning in the distance. Nothing urgent. Nothing she needed to sprint toward. For once.

She let out a slow breath and tipped her head back, loosening the tension in her shoulders piece by piece. “This place…” she muttered, half to herself, half to the veil overhead. “It never decides if it wants to collapse or impress me.”

Footsteps — or a presence — drew her attention. Charlie didn’t startle, just shifted her weight and looked over with that familiar steady, assessing gaze that always landed somewhere between are you trouble? and do you need something?

Her chin lifted in greeting, dry humor flickering at the corner of her mouth.

“Well,” she drawled, “either you’re lost, bored, or making this my problem. Go on then — which is it?”

She didn’t move away. Didn’t close off. Just held the space like she always did — firm, grounded, open if someone wanted it.

“Take a seat or walk with me,” Charlie added, nodding once. “Your choice.”

[alphakenner]

"Mmm - the second two?" his voice held the note of mischief that was only ever reserved for her. Family always allowed for the sort of playful nonsense that he wouldn't get away with around anyone else except for pack, and Jackson knew that his cousin would spend far too much time taking life too seriously if he wasn't there to remind her it didn't always need to be.

Taking a seat beside her, he dropped a paper bag of fast food at her feet and set a drink beside her hand. "But more important than either of those, I come bearing food. I know you too well to think you've taken time to eat the last little while, so I came to make sure of it. It ain't fancy, but since when have we ever been fancy?" That grin lit his features again. "Eat up. There's enough in there for two meals, and Drea might have slipped in a little somethin' from that bakery too."

Leaning over, he nudged his shoulder against hers. "And while you eat, you can tell me about the most annoying parts of bein' the sheriff of a town that's now two towns and a bunch of Fae courts."

[zachxryrousseau]

Zach spilled out of the Mystic Grill with the rest of the late-night crowd, the door swinging shut behind him with that heavy thud he always felt in his ribs. The bar’s neon sign flickered overhead casting a weird purple glow on the street that made everything look slightly more dramatic than necessary.

He tugged his jacket tighter as he stepped into the cooler night air, cheeks warm from cheap whiskey and whatever sugary monstrosity someone dared him to try earlier.

Okay, so the sugary monstrosity had been his idea.

His head buzzed pleasantly, not drunk but definitely in that zone where the world felt a little looser around the edges and his thoughts felt a little too honest.

He walked a few steps down the uneven sidewalk, weaving around a tipped-over street vendor cart, before stopping under a broken lamppost that crackled every few seconds like it was trying to spark itself back to life. Music still thumped faintly from inside the bar, mixing with the distant hiss of ley-line energy threading through the city’s veins.

Zach scrubbed both hands over his face, pushing his hair back with a laugh that was half amusement, half exhaustion. Nights out helped - until they didn’t. The adrenaline always caught up with him eventually, leaving that jittery, open feeling in his chest he pretended wasn’t vulnerability.

That’s when he heard footsteps sliding into the quiet. Not stealthy, just present. Zach lifted his head, offering a crooked grin that was equal parts friendly and trying-too-hard. "Hey," he said lightly. "If you’re out here to rob me, fair warning - I only carry emotional baggage and maybe like five bucks tops."

( @darkskiesrpgstarters )

[alphakenner]

"Believe it or not, Kiddo, I'm not going to rob you. Mostly because Drea would give me that disappointed look, but also because I've got more than enough emotional baggage without stealing yours." Jackson grinned. "Not to mention, five bucks barely buys a beer anymore - the hell happened to cheap beer nights at Auggie's, anyway?"

He closed the distance between them, turning his gaze upwards to take in the sparking lamp. "And then there's that stuff. Tech that don't work, places cut in half..." Jackson trailed off and shook his head. "But enough of that. You look like you're a few sheets to the wind already, so I can either be the responsible pack leader and take you home..." his expression turned mischevious, "or I can take you to the next bar and we can keep this night going. On me, of course, mister five dollars."

He slapped Zach on the shoulder. "What's it gonna be?"

[alphakenner]

closed starter for @traegics (Hayley)

When he heard her clear her throat, Jackson knew exactly what she was looking at and he couldn't hold in a laugh so loud that it probably startled away a bird or two. Turning to regard his wife from the porch, he held up the broom in his hand in a posture of surrender and shook his head. "I wasn't making a joke, I was sweepin' the porch. I swear, every time that kid comes over he tracks dirt like pigpen from the old Charlie Brown cartoons." He set it aside, gesturing for her to join him on the porch.

"Hey," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her temple. "Did you have a good run?" It was getting to be all the more important for both of them that they could shift and get out on their land even if it had been changed by recent events. He let the silence linger in the air, just taking in the sounds of their pack and their home; children, music, crackling fires, all of the things he'd grown up with and all of the things that he was grateful that Hayley had been introduced to when she'd found her people once more.

"I was thinkin' - and I know, I know, you've told me how dangerous that is - maybe we should go for a tour of one of the courts tomorrow. Get to know them a little bit better. Maybe Evey could come with us?"

[traegics]

Closed Starter - @alphakenner

The forest didn’t sound the same on this side of the Merge.

Lyric felt it the moment she crossed the treeline—too many heartbeats, too much human noise pressed against old roots that remembered quieter laws. The air carried iron and engine oil alongside moss and leaf rot, and the moonlight fractured oddly against half-collapsed stonework ahead.

She paused at the edge of the clearing, one hand resting loosely near Threnody’s hilt. Not drawn. Just… ready.

There was a man there.

Broad-shouldered, steady in the way of someone who’d learned to plant himself between danger and others without ceremony. Werewolf—she knew that much instantly. Pack-alpha weight sat on him like a second spine, old and earned, not borrowed. He wasn’t prowling. He wasn’t hunting.

He was guarding.

Lyric stepped forward deliberately, boots crunching once against gravel so her presence wouldn’t be mistaken for an ambush. The autumn wind shifted with her, carrying cedar and smoke and something older still.

“I won’t cross your line,” she said calmly, voice low and even, pitched for someone who understood boundaries more than threats. Her hands stayed visible, relaxed at her sides. “But this land called to me. Loudly.”

Her gaze met his—unflinching, bronze-green and scar-marked with a life spent in wars he didn’t recognize.

“Lyric Thorne,” she added after a beat. Not a title. Not a challenge. Just a name, offered straight. “Autumn Court. I’m not here for your pack… unless something’s already hunting it.”

A pause, measured. The faintest tilt of her head, assessing without disrespect.

“And you,” she continued, eyes sharp but curious, “stand like someone who doesn’t move unless it matters. That usually means responsibility.”

She stopped a respectful distance away, the forest holding its breath around them.

“So tell me,” Lyric said quietly, “am I standing on guarded ground… or shared ground?”

[alphakenner]

Jackson would rather have been back at the trailer with Hayley - of course. But the world, already fractured, had snapped again and now he felt like he needed to be out on the borders when there wasn't anyone else watching them. Keeping an eye out for Triad, for the Fae and the other new arrivals, whoever might want to encroach on Crescent land without right. The pack that resided there was his, and he would never let anyone take what was theirs. Not ever again.

The woman who approached out of the silence and dark didn't carry a threatening aura with her - but there was no mistaking that she could be a threat if she chose to be. It raised the hackles up and down his back, but he didn't make the first move.

"Good to know you, Lyric Thorne of the Autumn Court. Jackson Kenner, Alpha of the Crescent Pack." He looked around them, spreading his arms a little. "Both. This land is guarded, but I'm not going to keep anyone out who isn't here with bad intentions."

He took a breath, and let his posture relax. "If the land is calling to you, if you think there's something hunting my people, then let's take a walk. You can see if anything else calls out."

[traegics]

Open Starter - @darkskiesrpgstarters

Kaidan Meadows stood apart from the lantern tables, not bothering with quill or ink, not joining the murmured wishes and the careful handwriting of names. The paper lantern pressed into his hand was blank, its pale glow catching faintly in the curl of shadows at his boots.

His attention wasn’t on the fountain or the crowd. It was fixed upward, toward the veil where the horizons rippled. Tonight, as the first wave of lanterns rose, the sky had answered. Starlight shimmered against the barrier — deep, endless, and unyielding. The mark of the Night Court. His Court.

He let the silence stretch, gaze hard, unreadable. Then his mouth curved into that familiar half-smirk, sharp as a blade hidden in velvet.

“Mortals write wishes,” Kaidan said softly, though his voice carried easily over the hum of the square. “Fae know better. Stars don’t grant mercy. They remind you of what it costs.”

The lantern turned once in his hand, unmarked, untouched, before he set it adrift on the fountain’s water. His eyes never left the veil, the starlight bleeding through like a promise—or a warning—as footsteps approached.

“Welcome to Valaria,” he added, quiet, sure.

[alphakenner]

In the year he'd gotten to know his daughter, and Kaidan by extension, Jackson had learned to trust...her. The Fae was still on a watch list as far as he was concerned, and that had been before the cities had been knocked out and awoken to a changed world. The reality of it, that the Courts were now connected to his home, couldn't help but change how he saw the Fae around him. Something had done this - something of theirs, because what else could have - and now they all dealt with the consequences.

"Wishes are pointless," he murmured as he walked up next to Kaidan. Supernatural hearing went a long way toward picking up even quiet words. "Learned that a long time ago. But thank you for the welcome, at least."

[traegics]

Open Starter - @darkskiesrpgstarters

The smell of roasted herbs and fresh bread drifted from the doorway of Le Fleur Nocturne, one of the few restaurants still standing after the Convergence. Inside, the kitchen was chaos in the way only a chef could love — salvaged ingredients, uneven stoves, and half a dozen pots going at once. But Wesley stood outside now, leaning against the frame, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the Square flicker alive with lantern light.

The city felt cracked in more ways than one. Families searching for each other. Strangers huddled together like old friends. And Wesley — well, he did what he always did. Fed whoever came through his doors, made sure no one went hungry if he could help it.

He pulled a towel from his shoulder, wiping his hands absently, before speaking to whoever lingered nearby. “Funny thing about people,” he said, voice low, steady, with the hint of a smile. “You give ‘em a hot meal, and for a little while, they forget the world’s ending outside. Sometimes that’s all anyone really needs.”

Wesley tilted his head, studying the fractured skyline before turning back, eyes warm but sharp in their own way. “So—what about you? Looking for a distraction, or just hungry enough to take what you can get?”

[alphakenner]

It hadn't taken Jackson, or any of the wolves, long to realize that their innate sense of direction had been shredded by the world's cracking and reformation. It left him with a consistent headache, and a feeling that the Bayou was simply in the wrong place. That it might be forever. Which was what had led him away from it, into the city in search of something to think about aside from his own disorientation.

The smell of the restaurant had found him first, and Wesley's voice second, enough to stop him near the door. "What's that old saying? Armies march on their stomach? That's the thing, for sure - give a person something to eat and it's amazing how much more willin' they can be. How much more creative, how much smarter. Food is a great equalizer."

He shrugged. "Honestly, couldn't tell you what I came looking for. Followed my nose, like that cartoon bird."

[vilisisms]

∴☺︎˚.⋆ ― evelynn kenner / open event starter / @darkskiesrpgstarters

evelynn’s lantern dangled loosely from her hand, forgotten for the moment. her eyes were fixed down the fractured road toward the nola district, where the veil shimmered darker than the rest — a horizon cut in starlight and shadow. she could almost see it as he had shown her: cities carved of crystal and obsidian, skies alive with falling stars, rivers that glowed like molten silver. the night court. home, though not hers. not yet.

her chest tightened with something she couldn’t name — wonder, longing, the sharp ache of possibility. she hadn’t realized how still she’d gone until a voice nearby snapped her from the trance. her fingers clenched instinctively on the lantern’s frame, grounding her back in the broken city. she exhaled, blinking back to the square, to the warmth of lights and faces around her. a smile curved across her lips, soft but unshaken. “sorry,” she said, glancing toward the one who’d pulled her back. “you caught me daydreaming.” she lifted her lantern slightly, eyes still glinting with the echo of starlight.

[alphakenner]

"That's alright, kiddo. It wasn't anything urgent - just wondering if your old dad could get you a drink of that swill they're calling coffee." Jackson smiled, resting a hand on her arm. "For the record, you've got a pretty daydreamin' face. Don't let me stop you for too long." Then came a sigh, as he tried to decide whether to ask what was actually on his mind. He did, because he would rather have the chance to talk to his daughter than leave it unspoken.

"Which one's his? Well, yours, I s'pose, sooner or later." The father in him hoped for later, but he would never hold her back from it. "Point it out for me?"

[traegics]

Hayley huffed a laugh, all teeth and soft edges. “You’re right—I’m not big on sharing.” She tipped her head, eyes flicking over him like she was taking inventory. “June can keep its calendar. I’ll keep my husband.”

She hooked a finger in his shirt and tugged him closer, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. “And don’t you dare stop being that man. The mud, the mess, the stubborn—fine. We’ll negotiate the mop.” A beat, then a smirk. “But if you ‘forget,’ I’m scheduling you for a midnight bottle shift and calling it even.”

Her hand slid into his, thumb tracing circles like a promise. Her eyes softened, the teasing folding into something steadier. “You know what I love most? That no matter how ridiculous you act, you always come back. To me. To this.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, voice low and sure. “So keep the smolder. Keep the mud. Just don’t ever stop coming home.”

[alphakenner]

"That's what I figured," Jackson smiled, opening his stance to give Hayley a better look at exactly what was hers. "June can find someone else - I'm all yours. Now, always and forever."

He smiled as he was tugged in, the press of her lips to his pouring new life and new happiness into him, as it always did. "I suppose that's fair; I can work with that deal, I promise. Even if I'll definitely forget sometimes just so you know it's still me."

When her head rested on his shoulder he leaned over and let his rest against it. "Nothin' on this Earth would ever stop me coming home, Drea. So long as you're always gonna be here when I do. Because there's nothin' in this world that means more than that. A house is just a place - home is you."

[strawberryxmagic]

artemis was taking advantage of the nice day outside, banging on an old car - one of her project cars - and listening to her music through her headphones. @darkskiesrpgstarters

[alphakenner]

Jackson approached, trying to keep himself as visible as possible, and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, kiddo."

[vilisisms]

isla’s brows knit faintly, her fingers tightening around the paper cup like the warmth alone might steady her. she let his words hang for a beat before shaking her head, a quiet laugh slipping out—wry, but not mocking. “detectives, huh? i don’t know, jackson. detectives usually have some kind of plan once they actually find the culprit.” her gaze dropped briefly to the ground, then back to him, steady but softer now. “what exactly am i supposed to do if we stumble on whoever’s behind this? i don’t do knives or fists. i don’t even like raising my voice. violence…” she trailed off, exhaling slow, “violence has never been in my wheelhouse.”

she lifted her cup for another sip, though the coffee had long since gone lukewarm. “i can notice patterns. i can connect threads. i can remember what other people want forgotten. but fighting?” a small shake of her head, almost apologetic. “if that’s what this takes, you’re going to be disappointed.” still, her mouth quirked into the faintest smile, a spark of humor edging back in. “lucky for you, though—I’ve been told i’m stubborn enough to make up for a lack of right hook.”

[alphakenner]

"Not a damn thing wrong with that - stubbornness is always a good start when it comes to getting to the bottom of things. I think of the two of us, I trust you to be doing the brain work. Find the patterns, make the threads into a picture we can use. But if we get to the point that fightin's necessary, that's what I can bring to the table."

He smiled wryly. "So it's okay if that's not your thing - and if you ever want to work on that right hook of yours, you just let me know. Don't think it'd take much to at least make you able to defend yourself if you need."