only in the shadows

blair swynford. 36. cambion. hemokinetic. secretary, fighter.

[blairswynford]

[vitcria]

"You are there to prevent it going badly," Vee says with a deliberate roll of her eye at the silent condescension threading on the words of the fighter. It's easy to dismiss her concerns, confident as the witch is that she has planned each of her moves until she is five steps ahead of the concerns of her future bodyguard. For she would be hers. Vee wanted her, and she got what she wanted. "I am not foolish, darling, everyone who gets the offer has already shown willingness to part with their blood." Be it donors to the blood bank, thralls, or vampire chasers, there is always someone out there willing to part with their blood for the right price and Vee has been always been able to find the right price. "Meetings will be arranged beforehand over the phone, and there will be no actual contact until they have agreed to the donation. Your presence is to discourage people to attempt to get more than agreed, and in exchange, I will make it worth your while."

[blairswynford]

"And payment?" It's practically a grunt as she takes a swig from the drink before her, eyes still trained on the witch. Blair could stand there and collect a check, she could also beat someone within an inch of their life if they threatened a beautiful woman, it didn't seem like all that bad of a gig. "Risk assessment?" While it took a lot to scare her off, she wasn't stupid enough to just go barreling into something. That would make her no better than a man, there was no false confidence about her, she knew what she could do and knew her limits.

[evanurisx]

"There are a few words you should learn, Lloth hears our prayers best when we prove ourselves to her. Elliya, Llolthu," Evanuris recited with practiced ease, "you're not expected to learn elvish, it means, 'test me, Lloth.'" There were a dozen rites that the Handmaiden could have reviewed, but one principle would cut Blair above the others, and should the need ever arise demonstrate her allegiance to Lloth's followers who might night recognize the halfblooded as a friend to the Dark. A decanter of infernal wine, black as pitch but sweet as the night was produced from the altar as Evanuris delicately poured the drink into the basin before her. "There Great Goddess, Mother of the Dark, grant me the blood of my enemies for drink and their living hearts for meat. Grant me the screams of their young for song, grant me their helplessness for my enjoyment, grant me the wealth of their houses for my bed. By this unworthy sacrifice, I honor you, Queen of Spiders, and beseech of you the strength to destroy my foes." Evanuris tilted her head towards the sacrament, "Drink, if you're so inclined."

[blairswynford]

'Test me, Lloth.' The words echo around in her head and Blair offers a nod and lets out a slow breathe. She'd survived what had essentially been the apocalypse, had her hooked up to that thing and now in the aftermath, she had to figure how to be better. Stronger, more grounded, and she couldn't deny that faith wasn't sort of ingrained in who she was as a person. It felt right, to choose a deity, to be in control instead of having to just worship whoever because of whoever her mother wanted her to, the nuns. She looks to the woman, she looks what looks and smells like dark, rich, wine. Stepping up to the basin, she listens intently to everything being spouted and there's this electricity under her skin, like adrenaline and magic combined. It feels right, exciting in a way she hasn't quite been excited since the end of all things. Eyes on the altar, on the webs, the candles, the fruit and ambrosia left to the Queen of Spiders, Blair lowers her head and she drinks from the sacrement. 'I honor you. Test me.'

[blairswynford]

Person: @milenabarbcsa Location: After Huntress has played and also during a break from hunting creatures "I think I love Lupercalia." She admits as she rather unceremoniously collapses onto her ass on the grass beside Milena, a rare genuine smile spreading across her lips. The fighting, the music, chasing down animals, it was all in good fun. Everything stops for a second as she just sort of looks at the druid, her smile only faltering to soften. When was the last time she'd felt actual fun? Blair couldn't quite remember feeling like this in Rome, ultimately carefree.

[viktorofada]

@blairswynford location: Lupercalia notes: jesties and roomies

"Do you know when Huntress goes on?" Viktor wasn't a fan of any of the music that was being played, if it wasn't being screamed at an unknowable decibel then he did not want to hear it. Huntress sounded cool though and it was the only band that didn't sound like it was supposed to be a pun. Rage Against the Suppressants? What a joke. As always, the mildly obsessed nephilim couldn't help but wonder where Harellan had wandered off to, there weren't many conversations that Viktor didn't pull him into.

[blairswynford]

"Milena said around 2." And she looks up from her phone where she's checking texts from aforementioned fox and it's new. For them to be doing something so public again but she'd said meant what she said she'd wanted to hang out more during daylight hours. The pizza date thing had gone alright at least, they'd bonded over the fact that Viktor and Harellan had both gotten pineapple on pizza. Blair had even played nice with the nemesis that kept showing up at her apartment. "Are you coming back to the house after all this or....?" Looking over at him, she's in a good mood, she's playfully suspicious. The one thing that sucked about having a roommate was coordinating dates so no one heard anything that scarred them for life.

[vitcria]

Will you hold my dirty fingers and kiss my alcohol-drenched lips? Will you love my scars and scratches and my disgusting skin? WIll you love my mind filled with anxiety and woe? Will you love a monster?

[evanurisx]

Evanuris had held Blair's gaze for a time now, and manipulating blood into physical constructs was a rare gift. A sewing needle was generally all Evanuris cared to fight with, stitching enemies together like a macabre seamstress might sew together a gruesome quilt. Still, she used this very needle to open her palm and with a flourish a sword manifested from a sudden rush of the daemonfey's blood that spilled out. "Fascinating," Evanuris commented as she turned the blade with simplistic ease, like a dancer who fell quickly into a step she'd been rehearsing since infancy. "You can solidify it, strengthen it, sharpen it." Evanuris wasn't informing, merely commenting and appraising. The greater the force behind it, the more knowledge of the properties within it, the stronger it would be. "Useful indeed. " The blade dispersed, "There is a place for talented women in Lloth's church; she's a Goddess who rewards the individual and the ambitious. All she asks is you recite her prayer."

[blairswynford]

Prayer is something she is terribly familiar with. Done in public with the convent in the vast chapel, done at morning breakfast, before bed, randomly throughout the day. In secret to Tisiphone, Joan of Arc, Persephone, Athena, strong women she read about in books, that she dedicated altar's to all tucked away in the corner of the library. When the nuns had figured whatever was wrong with her wasn't something they could exorcise, they'd turned to futile prayer as if that would somehow erase her demonic heritage. Even before all of that, her mother had worshipped something unholy. She'd long ago told herself that she wouldn't pray to any man, not anymore. But another woman? It feels right standing there before this priestess, in the dimly lit room. Maybe it's the need for stability at the moment, a return to normalcy that is also a step forward that makes her feel like this is a right choice. Slowly, Blair turns her attention from the altar, all of the cobwebs, to the woman who made her feel....Like she mattered somehow, and offers a nod of her head. "I'll do it."

[ismaelabdel]

Ismael tames a genuine laugh at her indifferent candor, though the arch of her brows tells all he's ever known about Blair. Two cambion's who seemed so vastly different falling into a rhythm of unlikely friends; both never seemed to buy into the romanticism of Camp Halfblood. Quaint and charming, Ismael wouldn't find himself above the place, but it sort of felt like sitting around akin to sitting ducks. "Sounds like a suicide mission to me, but you're more than capable," her unique ability often had Ismael seeing her as some powerful rarity amongst them. "Discover any escaped criminals lurking or interrupt some dark ritual?" Within Rome, crazier things could be believable, so his sarcastic questions were no longer a far fetch from reality.

[blairswynford]

They're caves, Ismael is being dramatic, and yet they'd seen worse things above ground than below it the last few months. He has a point though, she can handle herself and she's found some neat rocks, some pottery. "I stumbled into a cave devoted to Lloth, actually." It's very matter of fact but she's still sort of brimming with excitement over the whole thing because it's something new. It is an entirely new concept not touched by herself before or war or frankly anything she'd been dealing with lately. "So that's been fun. What are you doing that's not work?" It's a playfully accusatory question because Blair can feel the tension at the clinic, she thinks the animals themselves can feel it.

[milenabarbcsa]

Milena found it quite comical that two people with their own staggering array of complications had come together without complication; they both sort of casually hinged upon the other and didn't quite question it. The Fox often preferred it that way, relationships became conflicting when there were too many what are we questionnaires amplified by too many conditions. She couldn't say she was a free spirit in this sense, once the tacit line seemed to be fabricated Milena had stopped seeing anyone else, but she flirted, she danced, it just so happened that Blair was the one who was able to hold her hand, take her to lunch, kiss her. Such things that were more defined than paltry flirtations and empty inhibitions; everything fell into place naturally between them. "You're diabolical," it's something to laugh off, vampires certainly made her feel more flighty but there's security with Blair's hand slipped comfortably around hers, "I'm going to need to be heavily compensated to swipe that imagery from my mind."

[blairswynford]

"I think that can be arranged." It's said with thoughtful casualty for only a second, she can't help the smile that pulls at the corner of her lips. Blair's hand offers Milena's a slight squeeze and she can't help but glance to many a vampire in the room. Too many things looking for a substance she considered precious, but she's more worried about the woman at her side than herself. As long as they're together they're safe. At least that's what she keeps telling herself after the end of everything.

[blairswynford]

Valentine's Day Scrapbook: Blair & Milena

"The rush of slumber party kissing Don't touch, I'll never cross the line So I pushed you down a million times I'd love if you knew you were on my mind" - "Naked in Manhattan", Chappell Roan @milenabarbcsa

[blairswynford]

Valentine's Day Scrapbook: Blair & Vee

"Hair clips and lip gloss French kiss sitting criss-crossed If I don't try then it's my loss An inch away from more than just friends" - "Naked in Manhattan", Chappell Roan @vitcria

[blairswynford]

Blair, Lupercalia

“ Every time I get hooted at, I have to take an hour of Tae Bo.” – Luanne Platter, King of the Hill

[powerbottom]

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[evanurisx]

Evanuris was the twelfth-born daughter of an emperor who thought a daughter's purpose was to marry for alliances; she knew all too well what it felt like to be trapped. "Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one-sided, and easily processed." Evanuris considered Lloth and the rebellion that had turned into the bloom of her rites, "Yet every misshapen spark's unseen beauty is greater than its would-be judgment." They weren't her words, but Araushnee's, long before the elven daughter ever took on the title of Lloth. Evanuris pivoted, "Show me what you can do."

[blairswynford]

It feels a little bit like she's standing her both being riddled and appraised. Not for anything other than ability, something gave her the vibe that this woman cared far more for what she could do than who or what she was. That's something she can understand and without hesitation she reaches inside her jacket and grabs the pocket knife kept there. Nothing fancy, it's simply for utility, but Blair flicks it open and presses the tip of it to the fingers of her left hand. In an actual battle she was picky, but not this delicate. Showing off is different than fighting, it's not something she's gotten to do in a long while.

Knife tucked back into her jacket, she steeples her fingers together, blood gathering at the tips of the fingers of her left hand. And from that blood, she pulls her hands apart and four perfectly formed red needles maybe ten inches in length stretch between her fingers. Exhaling slowly, magic coursing through her, with a little extra help from some telekinesis, she flicks them towards one of the nearby webs one by one. They skewer four threads that she's staring at intensely to the wall only to go from a solid to a liquid as she lowers her hands back to her sides, the blood staining the web. "It's useful." She explains, almost nonchalantly, her focus on the silver of the web that's now crimson.

[highechelon]

[vitcria]

"Now you are, yes. You are welcome," she drawls, entirely unbothered by the fighter's stance. There is an edge to her that alerts her that she is still ready to strike. Frankly, if she was discouraged by Vee's behavior, then she would not worth her time or money. As it is, she is more than pleasantly surprised by her gumption. She would do quite nicely indeed. "I expect to be the exception to the rule then," she comments with a smirk as she moves to sit daintily on the bar seat next to her and tilts her head as she makes eye contact through the halfblooded's appraisal. She goes out of her way to preen under her gaze, smirk turning sly as she winks daringly and altogether too amused for a situation where everyone else would feel threatened. Instead, she can't deny she is getting a thrill from the appraisal on her gaze. "I have no interest in children, but I desire to further research on blood magic now that Lady Hekate has allowed it's study on her temple and for that I need blood. Willingly given in exchange of money, entirely above board. But well, as tense as things are, I would prefer to have a safety measure to stop those who would overreact at my business request."

[blairswynford]

The witch is all eyebrows and perfectly lined lips, something about her looks expensive. A pang of jealousy courses through her in the usual way it did. Blair didn't have much use for a lot of material possessions before Rome, she'd moved around a decent amount, rent was expensive. They're trivial, nice things, but she has to admit they do offer an air of power. And arrogance. The mention of blood has Blair raising her brows over the rim of her glass and then quirking curiously. It's something she's touchy about, the mere mention of blood. Her own is so tied to her magic, it's something she doesn't like wasting a single drop of. "And you want me to stand there next to you while you ask people for their blood?" She hopes saying it out loud will make the witch realize how out of pocket it seems. "I'm sure that will go over well."

[evanurisx]

Evanuris remembered a similar story, long ago. When she, Araushnee, and the others cowered in fear of their oppressors. Of those who'd proclaimed themselves as Gods and moved to lord their powers over the rest. "At some point we were all flies trapped in someone's web, what matters is what we do should we manage to escape." Evanuris had followed Lloth's lead and had learned to tread across the silk, like an artist on a trapeze to weave a web of her own and welcome intruders to be ensnared. "What will you do, I wonder."

[blairswynford]

That's where she was now, she supposed. An escaped fly, free to do what she wanted and yet, morbidly she thinks that she's there in another web. In a way it's different because while she'd stumbled upon this place, she'd chosen to be here. The woman looks at her with this knowing in her eyes and that's a weakness of her own. Back at the convent, she'd been a monster as far as those nuns had been concerned, but there'd been those that came through that gave her the same look. Like they were so curious about her and what she could do, knew she was something more. "And you? Have you ever been trapped?"