Can't Fight the Moonlight

"You can try to resist, try to hide from my kiss, but you know, but you know that you can't fight the moonlight"

[waywardesouls]

Zuri held up her hands placatingly, a dimple appearing with her smile. “No, no, you're right. You're definitely on the hot side of the hot-cute scale,” She smirked cheekily. The tap of her nose surprised a giggle from her and she swiped some of her braids back behind her shoulder. “I'll take it. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lennon,” She held her hand out, eyes twinkling with mirth and coyness as she waits for the other the shake it. “I mean...I'm serious if you are. I think it'd be fun.”

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Thank you! That's what I've been saying," Len exclaimed. A grin found its way back across her lips as she reached out, weaving her hand through Zuri's and giving it a squeeze. "Then it's a date, Jellyfish," She tugged Zuri a little closer as she flashed the other a playful wink. "So, should we meet back here at 8 or do the whole pick each other up thing?"

[lunarnells]

Sirens! Caught under the shower as she crossed the street, Nell shook out her now drenched phone with irritation. There was no saving it. "Try a warning bell next time, Gigi."

At the question, Nell glanced in the direction of the shop. The Pie Hole was one of her favorite haunts in Sunny Harbor, but she doubted it would have a backup generator ready to kick on at a moment's notice. "Any minute, probably." Today didn't seem like a day for a town-wide blackout, but when had Nell ever gambled and won? Maybe once playing Keno. "Need some help with the soufflés? I can relight the pilot if you're using a gas oven."

[cantfightmoonlight]

Wolves! "Did the power outage come with a warning bell? No," She rolled her eyes once over, finding it rather ironic that everyone in town suddenly seemed to have a problem with a little bit of rain. She was out here sprouting a tail from a single raindrop, but in hundred-degree heat you didn't see her complaining. "It's water, not acid." And weren't most cellphones these days designed to be water-resistant? She was fairly certain the tech guy had told her she could go swimming with her Android as long as it was freshwater and she didn't swim deeper than 1.5 meters.

"Let's hope," She mumbled under her breath, though she was rather skeptical of this town being able to get anything back up and running in a few minutes, let alone all of the power. Her guess was it would likely take hours, and all of the milk in the bakery fridges would need to be tossed at the end of it. "Wait, you can do that?" Her eyes widened as she gave Nell a thankful nod. "Yes, please! I'm not really sure what relighting the pilot means, but I leave you to it, and as for your phone, I have a bag of rice inside we can put it in. I sometimes use rice as pie weights. It's cheaper, and then you pop it in the rice cooker and get a whole meal out of it. It should save its life," She reasoned as she began to wheel herself back around to head back inside.

[firstxclassxtrippx]

Tripp smiled at the response, all teeth, not unlike a shark, taking it almost like a pleasant, welcome challenge. "Ah, well, if you called it a curated collection or a luxury consignment shop, people are willing to pay more. No one knows what they actually want, after all. No, they like to be told what they want, and they've been told what they want is what's out of others' reach." He held Zeina's gaze, resolving not to be the one to back down from this game. This explanation, however, seemed to bemuse him. He chuckled. "Ah. Well, I apologize then. You'll have to forgive me. Really. I've heard a lot of talk about memory since getting to Lunar Cove. Maybe there's something in all that dried up lake water." He trailed off. "Or do you mean...is this a sort of fortune teller kind of thing? I'm realizing there's something unique about this place. Seems things sort of defy description." Tripp cleared his throat. "Can I have a hint?"

He smirked. "That's very impressive. Everyone puts so much stock into those little pieces of paper. Of course, they only get you so far. Most things are about who you know, not what," Tripp laughed again. "I sure did. Correctly, mind you." He sniffed, quite literally turning up his nose.

"My family's blue-blooded patriotic New England, would you believe? My relationship with the British is complicated," he hummed teasingly. "And I already do resemble a modern heartthrob. His name is Tripp Babcock." All this joking came drolly, the words of someone who almost seemed to have prepared his quips in advance.

Still, the façade was gone now, and pausing, Tripp craned his neck forward, features soft. When he opened his mouth, there were fangs nestled among the teeth of the shark, gone now. "You too, hm?" Taking the ring into his hands, then, he shifted the box between his fingers. "And I imagine you won't tell me who, right?" After a beat, Tripp lingered, though. "I'm rather new at quite a lot of this. Maybe you'd be willing to...fill me in? Over a drink? Alcohol, of course. I do feel very strongly that I know you, but where we could have...Well."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Maybe, but I don't need the money, and it's not a luxury consignment shop or a curated collection. All pieces may be curated, but look around you. It is as chaotic in here as life itself, and as for luxury, we have our luxury consignment as you like to call it," Z motioned down to the pieces she had laid out for him, not paying his teeth or his need to show them off for size any mind. "But we also have affordable pieces too. We're a store for all walks of life and all kinds of people," She stated plainly. "People are also told they have choices and want to believe such. Exhibit A is staring at me as I speak," She hummed. The corner of her lips lifted into a smirk as she watched his brain try to rationalize his own lack of memories.

"Oh, and what have you heard, exactly?" She cocked a curious brow up as she rested her chin in her hands and waited patiently for him to tell her. "No. I'm not a fortune teller. Try again," She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she continued to wait for the gears to turn within his head. "You have fangs and you're are only just coming to the realization that there might be something unique about this place?" A laugh bubbled to her lips as she watched him clear his throat. "I've already given you plenty, but listening isn't your strong suit, is it, Handsome? I would say maybe in another life that might change, but," Her cheeky smile fell as she hummed under her breath, "But it seems your luck has also nearly run out." This would be his last life just as much as it would be hers. Though she did have a better survival rate than he, having never once regenerated. While, she'd stumbled across him in many different iterations over the past handful of centuries.

"Is it?" She countered, not finding it all that impressive to have kept up with the times as the decades passed by. "And yet, you don't remember me," She teased at the mention of how most things were about who you know rather than what. "You're missing out too. I've happened to make quite the name for myself throughout the years," She dropped another hint that she was sure would go over his head, just as the others had. "That you were raised with a silver spoon? I'm pretty sure your use of summer already gave that little tidbit away. And he's supposed to be someone of note?" She playfully mocked, though for all of his pretentiousness and inflated ego, it was nice to see that in this life, he had been bathed in the lap of luxury. She wondered if, before his death, he had actually endured a true tragedy or had he been temporarily spared of such until fate finally caught up with him again?

"I am death. The destroyer of worlds," She teased some more as she gave him a slow nod. "And no, my fellow vampire, you have to remember it. That is how this goes, and you can say you're quite new at the lot of this all you'd like, but believe it or not, we've actually been here, having a very similar conversation as this before," She sang, though her chirpy voice hardly reached her gaze. Instead, her eyes momentarily flickered with pain. Of all of that heartbreak she had been forced to endure time and time again, when he got to start a new life in complete and utter innocence. "Sure. Pick the time and the place, but I spare no promises that you'll believe me once I tell you."

[yasinlunar]

Doing all he could not to give into vertigo, Yasin ran until a beam of light flashed into view.

Was he was seeing things? He could not remember passing his limit.

Nearly upon the light now, Yasin stumbled to a stop. "Me?" He questioned dumbly, when the light coalesced into the shape of a person and spoke. He felt like he knew her, but it was impossible to say. He saw so many people, in person and online, enough to have an endless repertoire of familiar faces to choose from when a twinge of recognition flared up. It was the same way in his dreams—that knowing feeling enveloping him completely. "You know me?" He tried not to pitch again. "It's cheating if you look at my license."

Yasin extended a hand now, rather hoping the light person wasn't going to take off running again. "At least let me keep my ID," he suggested, coming to a solution that felt both smart and extremely fair. "You can keep all the money, I promise you that much."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"I know you," Her words were no more than a whisper as she bobbed her head slowly up and down. It was only at his follow-up question that her chest gave way. Her eyes fell to the ground and she had to keep herself from flickering translucent again. Every nerve in her body told her she should leave. That maybe this was for the best. That he was better off not knowing. That he would've been better off if they'd never even met. All of the Yildiz's would've. "I don't need to cheat. Now do I need your money. Here," She handed the wallet back over to him.

"Take it," She said, as she took a step forward and pressed the wallet up against his chest. "This was a mistake."

[yasinlunar]

Yasin's smile widened. "I'm sure I'd know if I was living in Bedazzled." They were no devil.

Mirth fading, he sighed. Only at a bar would let him feel so comfortable confiding so quickly and honestly in a stranger. Needs must. "If we are still speaking of deals, I find myself at a crossroads. Neither here nor there about my...career. Right now, I don't know what company I should be applying for. If any," Yasin added. Something didn't sit right with him about the applications. None felt like the right thing, as if he tried on three pairs of shoes in a row that didn't fit his feet. "I hope to work in Big Tech," Yasin continued, eager to clarify and help the stranger help him. "But Big Tech doesn't work for me."

He waited for the server to set down their drinks and leave again.

"Maybe we should trade again," Yasin suggested, knowing he was monopolizing their time. Giving solace to a stranger might be exhausting. "What brings you to Cambridge?"

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Now that is a throwback. I guess I should take it as a compliment. Do I look like Elizabeth Hurley to you?" Zeina pondered, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she smirked up at the man sitting beside her.

"And why does Big Tech not work for you?" She tilted a brow up at him as she leaned forward to take a sip from her drink. His dilemma piqued her interest. "I've heard the cherry blossoms are nice to see this time of year," She mused, flashing him a playful grin while keeping her answer rather vague. "Your turn. What brings you to Cambridge? Student? Scholar, Engineer, or Entrepreneur?" She guessed as she gave him a once-over.

[sawyergrady]

"What in the sam hill-" Late-night runs were one of the few small luxuries Sawyer had found in Lunar Cove. Sawyer thought the transition from a life in the fast lane to the mundane was going to be an excruciating one. There were moments when it had been. The fiery turmoil of losing everything all at once. Pieces he had yet to pick up and just placed in a box under his bed, labeled for later. Then there were moments like this, before the screeching he just encountered, when the soft summer heat brushed his skin, and the world around him felt small. No screaming fans were bombarding him or paparazzi chasing him. It was just Sawyer. His only company was the stars in the sky and the lightning bugs coming out to dance in the dark.

Leave it to his peace being interrupted by Gigi. "Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart, I wasn't stalkin' you." Happened to him a couple of times, and he wasn't a fan of it. "Heaven forbid! Whatever would I do if you maced me? I hate to tell you this, but there are worse things in life than getting maced." He said in a very matter-of-fact tone, if only to push Gigi's buttons. "Now, if you stabbed me, well, that would be worse, but you'd fear more for those gaudy shoes than me."

The blonde head tilted as Gigi's wings came into view. He hated the way he felt a tug at his heart. The shape reminded him of his mother's wings. The feeling left just as fast as it had come on. It felt weird to think Gigi's wings reminded him of home; the thought made him shiver. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he looked down at the dog with a raised brow. "Calm down, Miss Priss, I come in peace." One hand came up to be held in faux defense, though the gesture was half-hearted. He had little concern over the dog's bite; its bark hardly struck fear. "You'd be so lucky, wouldn't you? No, I'm not. I'm just jogging. I was having a peaceful time, actually, until someone got all jumpy. If you wanted my attention so badly, you could've gotten it in other ways that didn't involve lightly veiled threats."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"So, he just has a habit of scaring girls half to death," She grumbled under the very breath she was trying to still. She had thought he was an attacker until she caught sight of his very clearly bleached at-home job that he liked to call his hair. But as she lifted her head from where she was still clutching her chest to where he was making fun of her, her eyes narrowed. "Or am I just lucky? And oh no, really?" Her bottom lip jutted out into a pout, her arms wrapping around herself as she turned away from him. Gigi's gaze fell back down onto her dog, who was still growling in his direction. "Good girl," She whispered to Lady. Her wings rustled behind her as she muttered, "It's not as though I haven't died or anything..."

Among other things, the least of which she wanted to dwell on. But the image of blood splattering across her face from that night on Halloween pulled to the forefront of her mind before she quickly shoved it back down again. Genevieve had no want to reply to his whole stabbing comment, but Sawyer Grady had a way of getting under her skin, whether it was his intention or not, though if you asked her, she would've sworn he did it on purpose. "Excuse me?" Her jaw fell. Her bottom lip quivered a beat as her eyes dipped down to her flip-flops. "What's wrong with my shoes? They're-" Not from a label, for once. She'd actually ordered them off Amazon and would've avoided being caught in them if it hadn't been for the annoying ex-racer who couldn't seem to run at a normal hour. Didn't he know that it was always some runner who wound up either the victim on some True Crime Podcast or the unsuspecting fool who stumbled upon the victim's body? "I thought they were cute..." She squirmed under his gaze, her pout growing more pronounced now that her shoes had been shamed.

"Her name is Lady, though unlike her movie counterpart, she has the common sense to know to steer clear of tramps," Genevieve noted, though her pup did slowly calm down at the sight of the blonde before her, eventually moving to sniff Sawyer's sneakers curiously. The little traitor. "I'd be so lucky for you to be fucking my neighbor?" She tilted a brow up at that as if to ask if he'd even heard himself right. "You think I'd want to have to make a noise complaint? And you snuck up on me! Oh my god. And here I was going to offer to get you a glass of water," She said, motioning up towards her house she had just come from. "But, on second thought, you can stay all-" hot and bothered? She cleared her throat as she barely spared a glance at the man in front of her, "-Panting and sweaty", nope, that hadn't been any better.

[faerietothe-otherside]

"Honestly? I wasn't really sure. I...admittedly didn't think about it a lot." Mostly because Rangi didn't want to think about Dhruv a lot, and the painful relationship they'd found themselves in, a cycle of pain being passed back and forth between them as they were both reminded of-- and reminded by the other-- of the people they'd lost. "What? Oh. Yeah, he-- yeah. It's incredible, what he discovered." She nodded. "I just mean, like...it's kind of a little, uh, concerning, don't you think? To know that someone can become a werewolf without even being bitten. It's good knowledge, though, yeah. I think people should definitely be made aware of that. All of that."

Rangi gave a small shake of her head, although it was in agreement. "Right, no, that makes sense. I-- I get it. It's not quite the same, but I didn't start school in the mortuary science track." Another thing she'd done that had disappointed her parents. "No, I guess not. But if time is going to pass anyway, then why not do something with it?"

Truly, Rangi had to agree. Not being able to lie certainly sucked, but at least it wasn't dying or whatever. Even if her banshee-isms made her feel like wanting to die, sometimes. She would give anything to not have to death scream ever gain. "Pro and cons for everything, right?" She shrugged. "Well, mana is, like, energy. Like-- the supernatural energy within a being. And Tapu is a type of sacredness. Like, um-- think like, holy relics in a church or something. It's Māori."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"What is your deal with Dhruv?" Kiraz asked curiously. She couldn't exactly forget how Dhruv had beelined out of Shipfaced the moment he'd seen Rangi's face, and while Dhruv had told her a bit about Mason and what had gone down, a part of her wanted to hear Rangi's side of things from her own mouth. "I know some of it. I just was curious, I guess," She admitted. "Not really? I guess the way I see it, the truth was always there all along. It's not like ichor, where some person invented some concoction in a lab, you know? So, for me, I'd rather know as much as I can about, well, what I now am, but even with other species too, I mean, isn't it better to know why the things that genetically happen to us are happening? But, oh, I mean, there are plenty of published studies on it. I think K Labs even had some sort of gala or press junket after the fact or something? I wasn't in town at the time, but I was told there were some speeches given or something."

"True, and you love it, right? Being a Mortician?" She asked curiously. "Honestly, if I were going to go back to school, that would probably be the path I'd take. Either that or a scientist over at K Labs. But, for now, I don't know. I've been doing photography. I also spray paint portraits, so maybe I should start selling those."

"Yeah," She nodded. The corner of her lips tilted up ever so slightly as she gave Rangi a light smile. "Pro and cons for everything, and you say you're bad at naming things. Those are great names. Aklıma gelebilecek her türlü isimden çok daha iyi." It's far better than any names I could think of.

[taliayildiz]

Talia looked up at her sister with big, brown eyes. A sweet smile on her face as she mustered up all the innocence she had in her body. "I would never lie to you." Which was true, even if Lupe wasn't in the equation. She couldn't lie to them even if she tried, which she has! "Evet! Oh! and popcorn. I saw they had every color of the rainbow. I must know what all the flavors are. Do you think they'll have drinks as big as our heads?" She squealed with delight, all too happy to spend the evening with her sister. The world was their oyster, and the Yildiz sisters were going to have the time of their lives.

[cantfightmoonlight]

"No bending the truth either," She warned, narrowing her eyes playfully over at her younger sister, before she clasped her hands in excitement. "But great, because we're going to have so much fun! Yes, popcorn! All the sweets. In fact, let's get one of everything. I think I saw deep-fried Oreos somewhere around here too. Do you think the colored kernels are different flavors or just dyed different colors, but all still taste like popcorn?" She wondered out loud. "Yes, oh my gosh! We should see if they have Hurricanes like in New Orleans. Preferably in one of those giant plastic cups with the light-up ice cubes too."

[xthetoddinatorx]

Todd grinned, bouncing a bit in-place to a song evidently only he could here. "Hello, daddy, hello, mom! I'm your...Todd-Todd-Todd-Toddy Bomb." He winked right back. "Woaaah. There's a whole ranch full of dudes? Maybe I should go there. I'd look hot as hell in cowboy boots." He clicked his sneakers together a few times. "I always wanted to live in California. For real, for real. I feel like everything in the world is there. Have you ever been there?" He cocked his head to one side, looking up at her from his perch. "Ohhhh. That makes sense. I don't know where my marker went." Todd patted himself down as if searching, but he really did only have two pockets. All the same, he gave up rather quickly. "If you come, and I win, I can even pick you as my courtly love. And then we get a commemorative instant portrait. It's the most. I always pick whoever's cutest." He grinned.

"Oh, no...that's just...one son is an angel, and one is a devil. My name is Gabriel, and my evil brother's name is Lucian. It's really clever. You totes needa read a lot to get all the references," Todd explained. "Yeah! Her name's Carly. And she originally just wanted a big business trip to a tropical island, but then...well, you gotta watch and find out! The island is just our beach by the way, but it totes looks super convincing." Todd hummed. "I never even remember my lines or nothing!"

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Wait-" Kiraz gasped as she clasped her hands on Todd's arm and asked, "Todd, babe, have you had a Hot Toddy? I'm sure you have, being a bartender and all, but if not, today is totally the worst day for it, but another nickname incoming?" She offered, realizing that it worked much better as a play on his name than the Toddy Bomb did. "God, I wish. The name is really misleading. But it's like a ranch where you can also ride horses and shit. Though, you know, what? We should totally open an actual dude ranch one day. I feel like people would pay big money for that, like those host cafés. Just shirtless men and horseback riding lessons. We could be billionaires in no time," She thought, before she took a moment to eye him up and down, ever the entrepreneur. "You totally fucking would. We should talk to Holloway Farm about this. But patent it, of course. Can't have them stealing our idea. And oh yeah. It's cool. Depends where you go, though. LA kind of sucks. It's not like the movies. But the beaches in SoCal are sick, and San Francisco is fun," She reasoned. "Deal," She snapped her fingers at his offer. "But now you have to win, because I don't make a habit of cheering for the losing team. And you know, we'd look hella hot in a commemorative portrait. Like some Medieval Homecoming King and Queen."

"Oh. But the devil is also an angel, biblically speaking, so wouldn't you both be angels? And ah. Like Gabriel and Lucifer. Got it. I mean, isn't the bible only like one book? But, noted. Cool. I'm in. Sounds like fun, and I look awesome in a bikini."

[yasinlunar]

Yasin barked a laugh. No matter the situation, Kiraz could always get one out of him.

"Tonight, let's go with your definition of reason," he assured her. Indulging his sisters was among Yasin's favorite things in the whole world. He never felt more like himself, like the brother they all deserved, when he could offer a solution with nary a blink, nor a shrug.

When the owner didn't react to a word, and Kiraz had run out of steam, Yasin thought it safe to answer, and ask some follow up questions. "Coven? Supreme?" Yasin eyed her skeptically, but without judgment. "Catch me up to speed. This town really has...witches?"

Part of the appeal to look around Lunar Cove was to unravel whether some of its users were being honest. Was everything real? Vampires, werewolves, and fairies—oh my?

"Why?" Yasin repeated, feigning playful offense. "So I can take my sisters out to lunch."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Yay! We feast!" Kiraz clapped her hands down onto the bar top in excitement, spinning her barstool around in a complete celebratory circle before she turned back towards her brother, momentarily dizzy from the amount of spinning.

"Oh yeah. Witches, vampires, obviously, given Talia and all, wait- shit, you know about Talia, right? You do, don't you?" She blinked over at him, trying to remember what her brother did and didn't know. He had to know about Supernaturals to some extent, didn't he? He did create the number one social media app used by them so he had to, but she also had never exactly had the best memory. "And then there are faeries, werewolves," She pointed toward herself at the mention of that one. "Oh, yeah, I got turned into a swearwolf. It's a long story. Oh, and humans," She motioned to him with a point of her finger on the last one. "But, so each organization has their own like elite club? Witches have the coven. Their leader is called the Supreme. Vampires have the clan. The faeries have the fae court, and their leader is called the Fae Queen. Werewolves have the pack, but we don't like them. Humans have the Coalition of Non-Supernaturals with a rather unfortunate acronym. And I think that's everybody? They have these pamphlets at Town Hall you can grab to read up on, but they could definitely use an update."

"Lunch? Score! When are we going? And also, who are we including when we say sisters?" She asked, having to check if he had learned about Leyla yet.

[infinitami]

"Mmm," Amita hummed, "my first parade." At least, the modern definition of the word. There had been parades before, parades of men marching into the valley, or parades of armies along beaches and rivers. A parade for pride was a new one. A parade as a celebration was strange and new. She liked these ones much more. "It is not yours, I would say then? Are they all like this?"

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Holy shit. What rock have you been hiding under?" Kiraz let out a low whistle at the thought, keeping her words light and teasing, as the curiosity danced across her eyes. "No. I've been gay all my life, or well, specifically pan. Basically, I don't discriminate. But I've been to plenty of Pride parades and parades in general. And sort of? Most parades have some sort of floats in them. Though the other ones tend to have less nudity, public intoxication, and rainbows involved. They're not always this fun, too."

[axiosawaitaddie]

Addie made a disgruntled noise. "What? It just takes practice or whatever? Do I need to take my shirt off for it like in Twilight?" Addie glanced sidelong at Kiraz, brows lifted. "Dying, drinking blood, living forever-- the dream." It was both a joke and not. Truthfully, Addie had never thought she'd see this side of thirty-- nearly thirty-five now-- so every year past was really just borrowed time. It would all catch up to her one day, she knew that. The drugs, the alcohol, the lack of nutrition. Now, though. Now she wondered if it would be this place that would tag her out first. Ironic, in a way. She just nodded, then leaned over and, oddly gently, tapped the side of Kiraz's head. "Then stop livin' up there and start livin' out here." She smiled-- smirked-- and leaned back. Set the cigarette between her lips in thought.

Addie gave another shrug, another nod. "I don't know how all this wolf pack dynamics shit works and, frankly, I don't care to. I've never been all that good with authority, anyway." She took Kiraz's hand, shook it. Held on for just a beat longer before pulling it back. Hummed low in her throat.

"So, are all vampire's pricks or is it just my little sister?" Addie asked, only half her mouth twitching up in a grin this time. There was an honest question in there somewhere, something along the lines of Did dying make her this way? Did she change because of that or because I missed most of her life? It wasn't one he'd ever ask out loud. She preferred keeping those thoughts to herself. She looked at Kiraz again and decided then and there if Gillian ever tried to come to this God forsaken town, she'd turn her ass right back around and make her swear to never come looking again. "Hope he can keep his head on straight then. For your sake, at least."

After another short moment, Addie just said, "That's fucked up." This whole place was just so fucked up.

[cantfightmoonlight]

"You know, I think that might actually do it. Quick, take it off, cue the rain, I'll say 'where have you been, loca?' and the next thing we know, we'll be blackout free," Kiraz teased, reaching out to give the hem of Addie's shirt a light tease. "I think I might've lived a little too much out there, hence why I'm here," The corner of her lips lifted slightly as she gave Addie's shirt another teasing tug. Though the reality was hardly as carefree as she made it seem. She had thrown her life away before coming to Lunar Cove. She'd gotten too much blood on her hands to think about going back to her fancy degree and a potential position saving lives in some hospital. But she was resourceful, so she traveled around the world, causing far more damage in the cities she frequented, utilizing the money strange men on the internet had willing gave her. She had one hell of a ride playing the role of a vigilante, only now, if she ever did leave Lunar Cove, it wouldn't only be the hunters she'd have to worry about, but a jail cell with her name on it.

She had turned into a werewolf partially on a whim and partially to convince herself that she still held some level of agency over her own life. That she hadn't just traded one cell for another. That she could theoretically leave if she wanted to, but she also knew deep down that if she had stayed a human, would it really have made that much of a difference? Would she have really been any less trapped? Maybe that was partially why she kept waking up after full moons right along the border of town. Maybe her brain was trying to run, only to time and time again to realize she didn't have anywhere to truly go. "You and I both," Kiraz nodded, linking her pinkie through Addie's as she brought their intertwined hands up to her lips to give the back of it a kiss as if to lock their promise into place.

"Your little sister's a prick?" A genuine laugh broke from Kiraz's lips at Addie's question. "I think that might be exclusive to your sister, but then again, I'm also fairly sure I'm the prick of my only family, so guess every family has to have at least one of them, right?" She offered up with an amused smile. Though, in reality, she wasn't really sure why she'd ended up like such a bitch, when her little sisters had managed to stay so sweet. Every time she saw Leyla, she practically wanted to squish her cheeks. While, Talia, was like sunshine incarnate. Even Yasin was a smiling breath of fresh air. All three of them navigated life far better than most could possibly imagine given their circumstances, and yet, there she was, uncaring, apathetic, and cold. What happened there?

"Yeah... Me too. But I also know he's going to learn about all this shit eventually, you know? Not that I even want to hide it from him." She didn't want to be like her dad and, yet, with Yasin back in town and while her tiptoeing around the elephant in the room while daydrinking, she felt more and more like her old man than ever. "I guess I just don't really want to see what this town winds up doing to him. And yeah. That's me for you." Fucked up. "Your turn. What's your deal?" She asked as she motioned towards the cigarette in Addie's hand as if to ask if she could take another drag of it.

[axiosawaitaddie]

Addie was already reaching around into her pocket for her pack of cigarettes when Lennon spoke again. In the after haze of it all, Addie was still coming down from the high, fine with letting whatever contact their bodies were making, even in the sweltering heat of the sun (and the sweltering heat of what they'd done). At least Lennon's body was cool to the touch and that was the excuse Addie gave herself to not immediately push herself up to a sit. She blinked, watching the cloudless sky do absolutely nothing above them, before she found her lighter and flicked it on, inhaling the smoke in a deep drag.

"I'm always hungry," she muttered after a prolonged beat, flicking the ash off the end of the butt, before offering it to Lennon. "Why? You got food around here somewhere, too?"

[cantfightmoonlight]

If Lennon had thought too hard over the fact that she was still sprawled out on top of Addie, legs intertwined, she too, would've likely scrambled back from her. She knew the song and dance by now to know what it was Addie actually wanted from her and what it was the blonde likely didn't. But, between the heat and the high of what the two of them had just done, Lennon hadn't spared a thought to think of what the two of them looked like under the sweltering sun and instead leaned forward, catching the cigarette offered to her between her teeth rather than her hands. Slowly reaching up to take a drag of it, she tapped the cigarette once against the edge of the bench to knock off any ash before she offered it back Addie's way. "No, but Pizza Joe's isn't too far from here. We could share a booth?" She offered. She would've rec'd the diner, but her sister was still pulling shifts there and the last thing she needed was for Stevie to stumble upon them and what they very well could end up getting up to if their track record had anything to say about it. Though, Lennon wouldn't exactly mind if things happened to go a slightly different change of pace, even if she'd hardly be admitting that little fact out loud.

[donnafide]

Donna offered Leyla a smile back. "Don't worry, you're perfectly fine." She glanced at the clock. "I still have plenty of time before I need to worry about that. But how's he doing?" She couldn't imagine Kenji Matsui being sick and having to suffer through the horror of being taken care of. It simply wasn't his cup of tea. Donna straightened up her desk. "I can get an assistant, but would you just like me to help? If you know what he was working on, I might be able to find it." It wasn't like she thought anything would be hard to find.

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Eh, as good as you could imagine?" Leyla offered up, shooting Donna a sheepish smile, given that she knew Donna could likely guess what Ken might be like being made to take a break from work, of all things. The first vacation she was fairly certain he'd ever taken was for their honeymoon. "Oh, I mean if it's not too much trouble, that would be great? He gave me a list," She said as she moved to hand it over to Donna. "Something about files on some Donahue case?" She added and, while she had read her way through majority of Ken's legal textbooks, when it came to his cases, she wasn't exactly sure what any of it was referring to.

[darkest-andy]

"Well the offer is there if you reconsider." A casual shrug fell from Andy's shoulders. The vampire would judge people for things they could control - their attitude, choices. But never for things they couldn't. "If you decide you need to venture outside of Lunar Cove in search of an answer, I'm happy to be your body guard." Not that she assumed the other woman needed one.

[cantfightmoonlight]

"I'll definitely keep that in mind," She let out a light laugh as she smiled over at the other woman. "And thank you for that, truly. I think my husband might've staked the claim on the title of vampiric bodyguard when it comes to leaving town, but if I ever need someone to guard my back in town and he's not around, the position is yours."

[faerietothe-otherside]

"I..." Well, really, she didn't know, except that Rangi had been apologizing for that since the day she'd found out she was one. Her cheeks burned and she tucked her head away, embarrassed. She just barely managed to choke back another apology, choosing instead to curl her knees to her chest and blink away the harsh sting in her eyes. The gravestone in front of her came into view as she did so. Mason Mahir. Oh, well, that explained why she was here. Too much at once, tugging her in different directions. A broken heart, wound reopened time and time again because she just couldn't help herself, could she?

When the other person-- the possible other banshee, but she wasn't letting herself hope again, not anymore, not after so much time alone-- sat beside her, Rangi startled, unwrapping her arms and sitting up. "Oh." She looked down at the offered pieces of clothing. "Thanks." She didn't think she'd use either, but the gesture was nice. She just...felt too ashamed of it. Of still not being able to stop herself whenever she got like this.

Instead of saying anything back to words she only half registered, Rangi just looked at the other woman. "Are you...?" Like me. Please, please, please, she didn't say.

[cantfightmoonlight]

"You are breathtaking when you blush," They noted, watching as the banshee before them tucked their head away. While Zeina moved to sit down on the other side of the headstone, folding their knees underneath them as their own gaze drifted from Rangi's to the name carved into stone, if only to offer Rangi a moment of reprieve from having to worry over what they might look like in someone else's eyes. "And you, my dear banshee, have nothing to apologize for. You were hardly even conscious. It was fate that brought you here. Do you know them?" They asked as they studied the name on the gravestone. Mason Mahir. "They have a pretty name. Very alliterative."

"Yes, well, I think that's why I'm here. You needed these," Z motioned to the shoes and the gloves, before adding softly under the breath, "And I was merely to be the messenger." When Rangi didn't take their outstretched hand, they nodded, remaining seated beside them in the cemetery as they answered softly, "Sort of? I was a banshee. A part of myself feels like I still am, even though I apparently died and was made a new. I thought I would've been able to predict it before it happened like-" Like they had been able to predict how they would inevitably die, for good. "But, I suppose that was in part fate too."

[solissideup]

Lupe eyed the vampire with a soft glint. Eyes flicking ever so perceptively to the flashed fangs. Lupe knew Zeina wasn't dangerous right now, but vampires had fangs for a reason. It was simply programmed into her head, she supposed, to see everything as a weapon. Even if sharp teeth sometimes made her feel other things. She relaxed into a smile. "Oh, god," Lupe sighed, just as dramatic, putting a hand to her forehead, "the tragedy!" She pursed her lips. "Do I love it? That's oddly presumptuous, princess." Still, she leaned back to give a dramatic bow. "Ever at your service." As she stood back up, she eyed the Zeina curiously. "Well, since I'm not getting paid, I suppose I can let the ogling slide. But do tell me, am I going to be building this shelf alone or will you actually help this time?"

Either way, they both knew Lupe would do it regardless.

[cantfightmoonlight]

"I think you do," A giggle broke from Zeina lips as they watched the other in amusement play into their dramatics. "But if I'm wrong, I'd be more than happy to make it up to you," They hummed, teasily, not bothering to hide the fact that they were still eyeing the deputy from over the shop's countertop. "A knight truly after my own heart," They mused. "Oh, I mean I'd be happy to help, truly, but how could I ogle that cute butt of yours if I'm at your side and not strategically standing behind you? I'll tell you what, how about you build the shelf, and then you can relax in my very exclusive backroom where this ever-so-grateful noble will shower you with gratitude, hm? I have been told I give one hell of a massage."