Have we been cursed?

[wolftakeda]

who: @cursedholloway when: mid-january

Work always got busier towards the end of the year. Something about the holidays made people more desperate, more irrational than normal, and it usually meant an uptick in people who required their services. Even though they haven't exactly put a name to whatever it is that's going on with Eliza, they still feel bad for having to cancel at the last minute, knowing it will happen again in the future. It's an inevitable part of their life, and they wonder if maybe it's asking for too much.

They're at least three hours late, well past a normal person's dinner time, but Riley learned long ago that mealtimes were mostly a suggestion for their schedule. Most normal people would probably be getting ready for bed at this point, or maybe enjoying some quiet time for themselves, and Riley wonders if maybe they should leave Eliza alone in case she's upset. It would be easy to use that as an excuse to throw the brakes on this undefined thing but self-awareness is a bitch.

Fishing out their phone from their pocket, they type and re-type a message out before pressing send.

Riley -> Eliza: I know I'm three hours and fourteen minutes late but I brought Chinese?

[cursedholloway]

She had been staring at the text message for a minute or two... or maybe five. Thinking if maybe staying home had been a mistake and she should had gone to a bar or something, as she frowned at her phone. It wasn't even that she didn't want to see Riley, spend time with them... it was the absolute opposite that was making Eliza pace in her living room with the phone in her hands. Maybe she should text Dorian... or maybe not, what's he going to say anyway. He'd go all big brother on them.

She sighs, turning to look at the door. Eliza doesn't need to be supernatural to know they're already outside and as she debated with herself before rushing to let them in. She opens the door almost forcefully in her haste, jumping back with it. "Whoa sorry, that was..." Clearing her throat, she smiles at them. "Anyway, it's three hours and nineteen minutes... and around thirty-six seconds, but I guess you're forgiven since you brought Chinese and all."

[wretchedsums]

who: @cursedholloway where: Siltshore, Night Time.

Cemeteries make his skin crawl - not because they're scary, or that he's worried about ghosts or zombies, but just because, well, as the primary domain for goths and witches, he knows he's never really gonna have a good time in one.

But he's not having a good time right now, period. So maybe tonight will be different.

"Eliza Holloway?" He says, stepping out of a car, trying to get her attention before she steps into hers. Where he got her name, not important - he has ways of finding people. Skinner is clean cut these days, a far cry from his previous styling as an obvious rat-bastard of counter-culture. Well dressed, well clipped, ink hidden under nice clothes and a subtle cologne.

"Wondering if I could interest you in dinner." His hands go up in pre-emptive surrender. "All business, I promise."

[cursedholloway]

She's alone... as alone as someone who's constantly tormented by someone dead asshole can be, and the cemetery is peacefully quiet while she walks to her car. It's been weird days since the grave robbery, she's not seen much of Nikko around here and the night drags longer, quieter.

So when she hears someone call her name, Eliza turns sharply towards it, a jump on her movement as her hands move up to her chest and her magic stirs within her.

The frown that grows on her face is immediate, and she takes an instinctive step back, away from him. As if there was a warning coming off of him telling her to stay away.

"What kind of business? Because I'm not sure I'm interested." She answers dryly. Gripping her phone tighter. Calling her brother crosses her mind. Or Riley. "Who're you again?."

[cursedholloway]

🫂

🫂how do they feel about friends with benefits?

You mean... the only type of relationships she probably has? Miss I never stay long in one place I don't need that? She's okay with them.

[cursedholloway]

🪢do they have a kink? if so, what is it?

She has... a very open mind for sex, and honestly Eliza would probably try anything at least once. But if had to pick one, sensory deprivation.

[sntsqnns]

eliza holloway, @cursedholloway

Dreadful gloomy little place, the cemetery. In her prime days, in the days of her empire, bodies were properly cremated on beautiful pyres honoring the life of their beloved dead. She built her mother's alone, until her hands bled from carving wood and stone. She had taken to leaving bodies of unwanted company hanging from the trees until their bones were sun-bleached - Later in life. But now, mothers and sisters and daughters were shoved in drawers, piled like they meant nothing. She remembers the plague pits, the tunnels beneath Paris, the unmarked holes hiding skeletons melted together - Is this how they show respect for their dead, now? Is this how they honored her?

Dammed be the child - Sitting by her grave sometimes, speaking words to her she didn't bother remembering. It would try reaching to her beyond the grave occasionally, pathetic attempts she figured was only to please whatever memory it had left of her. A waste of magic.

But there was another she could feel, roaming near her reach, begging her for guidance. It was maddening to taste the necromancer without seeing her, without touching her. But the certainty she was there filled Desdemona with twisted desire - she needed to have her. Luckily for her, the stars are always in her favor. The little thing was not present when devoted followers broke the marble cage she had been put in, she had no idea who was inside what now was just an empty grave. Desdemona could use it in her favor.

Dark eyes watch the emptiness of her former prison in disdain, until the girl approaches her. "A robbery, I assume?" Not an unlikely defamation to occur. Another problem of graves. "Anyone of importance taken?" The words make her chuckle. Oh, how good it is to be alive again. "Tell me, Eliza," she turns to the girl then, smile warping her lips effortlessly, "are they allowing you to keep your job after this disaster?"

[cursedholloway]

She didn't know how it happened, how it was possible that something so big had happened without anyone noticing. But the cemetery was a large place, spacious enough for people to wander and be away from the others as they paid respect to their dead when they visited. And no one truly visited at night anyway. That was her job, to be around, to pay attention and care for the tombstones and the graves and the decaying bodies of people she care little for.

But she hadn't been there. On her one night off away from this place... it was a wonder her boss didn't take it out on her, and she wondered if it had even been file to the police. A grave robbery. Who even did such a thing? She wonders if it had been any witch, a coven perhaps. Eliza knew there was something still to be taken from the bones even when life had long since left the body. But she didn't care much to try looking into it.

Maybe she could mention it to Riley. Maybe they'd care a little more than she does. Would it be awkward... to do that?. Eliza didn't know where they stood with each other, despite the nights they've spent together. The voice drags her out of her thoughts, and her eyes find the figure standing before the broken marble, the debris at her feet and for once... there's nothing but silence in her head. She can't feel him wandering inside her thoughts, yelling. And that alone, unnerves her.

"What..." She frowns, stopping short on her walk, a good distance from the other woman. She should feel relieved, at not having her dad's voice viciously whispering in her mind, but the lack of sound... and anything else, like the dead were hiding away, brought nothing but unease. "Ok first... How do you know my name?... and who even are you? You shouldn't be here at these hours ma'am, lady, whatever, the cemetery is closed for visits, ok?."

[wolftakeda]

Riley can't tell if Eliza is uncomfortable with the venue and all that it entails, or whether it's because of them. Not that they were trying to be a narcissist about it, but it felt like a pretty clear indication. Or it might have been if not for the way that Eliza's eyes kept raking up and down their from. So Riley switches gears, adopting similar tactics to when they're representing first-time clients who feel uncertain about what's going on.

"Trying something new is good. I guess you could kinda say the same for me," Riley chuckles. It fades slightly at Eliza's next question, and they pause, probably a little too long, as they try to think of what to say. It seems disingenuous to just call Aria a friend when they were together for years, but they're not together anymore. "Oh uh... her name's Aria? She and I knew each other from the city and we reconnected when I moved out here." Riley awkwardly fidgets with a belt loop on her pants. "I think she and her girlfriend are around here somewhere?"

[cursedholloway]

She can't help smiling at the soft chuckle, it's infectious even when she doesn't want it to be. But there's something about the other that makes her feel at ease... and she wasn't sure if she hated it or not right now. Would like Dorian to be around, to at least be distracted by anything other than the lawyer in front of her. Some luck she has too, to find a lawyer among so many people when she's... basically scamming people.

Eliza raises an eyebrow at the pause, shifts on her feet kind of awkwardly and regrets asking as the silence stretches. "Knew each other?." She nods in understanding as the words leave her lips. Thinks this probably should make things easier for her, no commitment... an excuse at least, to keep her distance but Riley next words make her look at them with barely masked surprise. "Oh-- oh, nice... that her, uh, girlfriend is here supporting her too... are you --why aren't you." She pauses, brings a hand to her face and sighs, shoulders slumping down. "I sound stupid right now, don't I? ---don't answer that... I --You look good tonight."

[cursedholloway]

Hidden magic, Nouveau Grand Opening

A deal with a vampire. Somewhere along the many books she's read about magic and creatures and everything in between, Eliza was sure there was a warning about it. About any kind of deal truly, with any kind of creature. But she's never been good about caring for those stuff, many that's why she's been taken to the police station on one occasion or two. Not that it's stopping her from ever doing it again. And as the object of interest finds home in her hands, Eliza knows not to even ask how they got it, if there's anyone hurt.

The lady that made sure to deliver it into her hands seemed stoic, cold enough to keep her out of any other business that isn't the one in her hands. And taking a quick look around, in search of her brother, Eliza sighs before slipping away into a secluded area. A far enough bathroom that it should give her enough time to inspect this thing. Kneeling on the cold floor, she's glad to have wore pants, her hands cradling the small keychain, plain-looking and boring, and focuses. A faint glow slips through the cracks of her hold, and Eliza gasps as she feels it. Needs only to tap into it lightly to know there's magic infused in this thing, strong and old. And the thought flashes her mind if she could play with it, use it instead of giving it away.

But the look of the vampire that approached her crosses her mind, and for once, she doesn't think scamming would be the best choice for her. She breaks out of it with a start, almost dropping the keychain as she shakes herself of the overpowering feeling and stands. When she leaves the bathroom, she has to take still a deep breath, and searches for the witch that's meant to receive this. Or the vampire that asked for it. Moving between bodies that had no idea what she has in her hands. Feeling the eyes on her of those who do. She finds the witch first, next to someone she doesn't recognize and she shakes off the remaining sensation of the magic before approaching. "Hi, sorry to interrupt, you look... busy." She eyes the other person, wonders what she'd feel if she tries to tap in with her magic before focusing back on the other. Hand stretched out. "This is yours." She hands off the keychain, waits for them to take it. "It's not... broken." She shrugs, unsure how much she could say. "So yeah, bye." She waves distractedly before leaving to find Dorian. or Riley, maybe they could go for another drink, Eliza feels like she needs it.

[wolftakeda]

They didn't recognize her at first when they made the offhand comment, but when Eliza lifts her head, Riley pauses slightly, unsure where this is going next. Their initial meeting at the police station had set the stage, and Riley had genuinely enjoyed hanging out with her. Yet it seemed like weeks had passed since either of them reached out, because they were busy or maybe the other woman had lost interest. Riley doesn't want to act like a fool right when they moved to a new city.

"Yeah, that's about what I've got going for me too," Riley chuckles, trying to ease some of the tension. "Pretty shapes and colors. I'm well aware there's all sorts of theories and techniques behind them, but my brain's never worked that way," they admit sheepishly. They'd lost count of how many times Aria had tried to explain her work to them, and Riley did try to understand, but it simply wasn't how they processed things. "I'm here to support a friend mostly. Otherwise, I'd probably be at home with takeout and Netflix. So if art's not your thing, why bother coming at all?"

[cursedholloway]

She nods dumbly at the words, unable to keep her eyes from wandering across their figure. She can feel the way her heart speeds up in her chest, and almost hates the way she feels so drawn to them. Eliza doesn't know what to do with it, wasn't used to feel so drawn to someone. Had never wanted to be around someone else as much as her brother for a while and now them... She nods once more, feeling dumb for doing it before she clears her throat. "Right, exactly... I know there's... work behind them, I just ---never got it."

She shrugs. Doesn't really know how to say 'a lady vampire reached out to me and asked me to do something for her, so this is basically work' to the lawyer that saw her get out of the police station after nearly getting arrested. So she just offers a small smile. "Trying something new?." It sounds weak and lame, and so far, Riley's idea for the night sounds much more interesting and appealing than hanging around a bunch of sucks ups with art she doesn't understand. "Who's your friend?." It's not her business, but there's something twisting inside her that forces her to ask.

[wolftakeda]

location: nouveau who: open

It's stuffy inside with all of the crowds, and Riley feels distinctly out of place. It's a bunch of artists and creatives, a side that they had never really nurtured when they were younger. Even now, they can look up at a piece of art and maybe feel some kind of emotion well up inside them, but the details of it are lost on them. They doubt that anyone here is interested in their opinions of linework or lighting, so Riley takes the opportunity to step outside. It's a different kind of chill than what they are used to, and the lawyer lets out a slow breath.

"See anything inside that catches your eye?" they ask the person standing a few steps down. Talking to strangers is a distinctly non-New York side of them, but they can't hide forever. "My walls could use a little decorating, but I think most of these will be out of my price range."

[cursedholloway]

She doesn't really feel like this is much of her scene, after being surrounded by tombstones and ghosts whispering in her ears --yelling, only one, always. And the amount of people surrounding her still make her nervous after the last time she attended a gathering. At least this time, she's making sure to keep an eye on her brother just in case she needs to run out of there once more. Even though she's sure she won't be able to leave until she's told to. What mess has she even gotten into this time... messing with vampires of all things.

She sighs as the cool air enters her lungs, refreshing and liberating against the suffocating environment inside. She hasn't even paid much mind to the pieces being exhibited, art was never really her thing. The voice catches her by surprise, as does the rushing of her heart. She knows that voice... she's been... avoiding that voice. Clearing her throat, she turns to the other, gives a small smile and shrugs. "It's... you know... art?." She tries, laughing lightly. God she's so awkward. And they look so good. "I'm not really... you know, artsy? ---What about you?."

[cursedholloway]

ELIZA HOLLOWAY at the GRAND OPENING OF NOUVEAU

She doesn't know why she's even here... never good with understanding art or even trying to appreciate it. She doesn't even know if she's dressed up enough for it, but Eliza shows up at the grand opening regardless.

[lrivkin]

The Cabaret was home to all types, really. Some would come in to actually get off to the girls, others just needed someone to talk to, and yet some others came looking for ex-husbands and cheating boyfriends. It was all very amusing at the end of the day, and sometimes she liked to use said cheaters for food, and send them packing full of remorse.

This one didn't seem like any of the three, but she turned with an amused - but confused - smile.

"Dorian Holloway." She repeats the name, twists it around on her tongue - and tries to remember if she'd seen him here. He definitely doesn't work here, that she knows of. But she's trying to remember if she's slept with whoever he is. The name comes up blank, and she shakes her head.

"Sorry, I don't think I do. Can I help you out, though, sugar?"

[cursedholloway]

"Oh thank god." She says with a laugh, looking around the place once more. It's nothing against it really, the place looks nice enough and she can imagine some fancy pansy people hanging about, spilling their money. "I don't think Dorian could pull out the looks in here." And she really doesn't want to imagine her brother taking off his clothes. Though surely he would argue other wise.

She shrugs, turning back to the girl. She could be another vampire, beautiful as they are and she's surprised by the number of them that keep showing up on her life. Why Dorian and her chose this city to stay, she doesn't know. "I'm just looking for my brother, honestly... I should just had asked him where he works, but he hasn't mentioned it so far so I didn't think he would if I asked."

She walks around, and knows she's definitely hours before the show actually starts, she must be disrupting some preparation, she's sure. "So who runs this place?... looks pretty nice, fancy shit... Anyway, does the name Nsilo rings any bell?."

[sntsatticus]

"My mom is buried here," he says, and because he doesn't want any pity or sorrys, he adds, "I feel closer to the dead than the living, sometimes." Closer, yes, but not comfortable. He still much prefer being in the company of a silent if decaying spirit than people ⸻ but the tightness in his chest and the numbing of his skin won't allow him rest.

The dead calls to him like a siren to a sailor ⸻ the sea and song feels like home, but you don't want to be dragged ro the bottom. He has ignored the call for decades, but the closer he is from graves and grief, the harder it becomes to pretend he is not meant to join the voices.

He picks the half melted black candle he placed in front of mother's resting place, dust off the chalk, rot, and ashes from his hands on his pants and stands up, watching the other with a curious look. "I can't imagine working here is fun." A flask is taken out of his pocket. "Is it punishment or do they pay you the triple digits?"

[cursedholloway]

"Right." Awkward. She isn't really the best at comforting people and she just nods at the words that follow. At the very least, she can relate some to the words, even if she still would much rather prefer the company of her brother. "I guess they're... quieter." To some extent, she sometimes still hears her father's voice, whispering, yelling in her ears. Dorian had freed her from his grasp, but he still had a hold of her in a way.

He looks like he understands, and she can imagine to some extent, he does... perhaps even more than she does sometimes. Eliza hadn't lived surrounded by voices, by death, until her father decided to bring it home. Now... she feels like she's never alone. But she can ignore them well enough, Dorian had made sure she found any and all book they could in their time running away.

She snorts, looking around the many tombstones and decaying grass (or maybe is her own biased judgement, she's sure this place looks better than many other cemeteries) -- and shrugs. "Neither... but it helps with the bills." This and her less legal, but still not condemn-able job... and whatever Dorian does. "And I really ain't a people's person... can't imagine myself working at some cafe or some random store..." She eyes the flask and shrugs once more. "If you gonna get drunk here, you better share at least."

[nsilocastillon]

Yes, the feral, disquieted piece of her mind jeers. It's prominent enough that it distracts from the morphing of surprised features — instead, settling her expression into a far more lax, affable one.

"No, not likely. You'd have no business being there, I'm sure." Castillon cannot help the dismissal, in place of the bothersome urge that serves as a disappointing reality that there are no further ego-boosting. Opting for a backhanded compliment had been merely a settlement between herself and pulling away the doorframe in some fruitless attempt to get out of the shabby corridor.

Castillon ends up meeting the magic in the middle, by resting her shoulder against the apartment frame. Trouble? He's always in trouble. Is she asking in public, or private —? "He's an employee of mine, yes." At the base of it all, Nsilo's eye skirts past the Holloway's shoulder to sense something else, nose wrinkling in distaste.

She didn't know Dorian, nor Eliza had a dog — or knew one.

But there's no barking. And it's certainly not her business to ask after the fragmented scent; yet she can't get closer, without being refused entry. Nsilo frowns, curiosity sparks for the umpteenth time: "Do you have company sweet Eliza — is there someone else inside, right now?"

[cursedholloway]

She doesn't know if she should feel offended, or if the dismissal is because she had been offended herself. But Eliza can't find it in herself too much to care, she's far more interested in the woman's features and the distinct aura that surrounded her. A grace about her that left Eliza almost entranced. She wonders why Dorian never mentioned her, and imagines it's because he probably doesn't know how to.

"Right... uh..." She stalls, the lost sound lingering in her lips as she stares and then clears her throat, looking at the other with a raised eyebrow. "So he is in trouble, then? Or wait... did something happen to him? Is he okay? He didn't show up? Like..." Both eyebrows now up, she searches blindly for her phone in her pockets, but finds them all empty and she turns back to the apartment as if she'd find it with a look. She needs to call her brother now.

"What?." The question makes her stop, turning back to the other in confusion. "No, there's no one in here... why?." She's sure... there's something out there in some advice list about why you shouldn't tell a stranger that you're home alone, but Eliza can't find it in herself to worry about that either.

[cursedholloway]

For: @sntsatticus Where: Siltshore Mausoleum

Eliza wasn't... really scared of the dead, she's been surrounded by them ever since her magic manifested. And even before, her father had made sure she and her brother knew it almost intimately. She still had dreams about the... cult he had around, each weaker than the other, hollowed eyes and a desire to please him that competed only with their own desire to have it all end. She still woke up in sweat, looking around desperately to make sure she wasn't there anymore. She wondered if Dorian had them too... and imagined he did.

So working at the cemetery... it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, nothing big scary like they made it out to be in the movies. It was... boring. Quiet and long. So listening to random stuff was all the easier, and with only a flashlight, she followed the source of the sound disrupting what was going to be another endlessly boring shift. She wasn't all that surprised to find him there, she had seen him every now and then. "You know... I'm really not supposed to let you in here and all that, not that I'm gonna kick you out, sounds like a lot of work but why even would you like to come here in the first place?."

[nsilocastillon]

At no point does Nsilo consider asking for an invitation — it's why she'd been swift in offering Eliza an out, lunch, brunch — a supper or whatever. There are many things that Castillon has little power over, she likes to believe she's grown out of rules and regulations when she operates an industry like she does; it's flexible, at a price.

What isn't, is the conversation stuck between thresholds because of a sacred, age-old magic that says she must skulk in the hallway.

It's gratifying that Eliza's eyes are not so cold, or calculated — unlike the cardshark's own that glimmer with mischief, hollowing at the rear. It's a positively radiant appraisal that indicates she's witnessing something like a diamond in the rough. (It could be though, Nsilo's perception; assuming nothing less than)

You can look real nice and real good, sweet Holloway. "Of course, we've just met." No pressure, on eating. Nsilo stops the bristle before it happens; Dorian staying silent about her existence is an impasse she didn't premeditate. It's answered, calmly, "We work together at Anemoia, you heard of it?"

Still time, however, to potentially fuel Castillon's inflated ego.

[cursedholloway]

There's something about the other that has Eliza's hair up at the back of her neck, a shiver running down her spine in as much suspicion as it does in weird excitement. She wonders if she's a vampire. She hasn't had any encounter with one, and despite all her reading on supernatural, she lacks in knowledge. But she's a witch and her... whatever-Marcia-is-to-her-right-now is a werewolf so a vampire wouldn't be that far off.

The pull she feels is enough to understand why her brother would even be working with her. She can even imagine his dumb face right now. She nods... almost as dumbly, accepting the words as she thinks over.

"I can't say I have, really ---should I?." If anything, the woman, Nsilo, looks important, elegant in a way that says she's more than just a worker. "Is Dorian in trouble at work or...? what'd you need him for? What'd you do together? You his boss?."

[cursedholloway]

For: @lrivkin Where: The Satin Cabaret

She wasn't sure if this was even the right place. Dorian didn't talk much about his job or what he even had to do in it but after the lady's visit, Eliza had become even more curious than before. And the need to make sure her brother was safe, or at least in as close to it as possible made her look. Even if she wasn't sure where to even start. But he was out at night, so that at least put half the city out of the list.

She approached the place still with some hesitation. By the look of it, and the music she could faintly hear coming from inside, she seriously doubted this was where her brother worked. Everything she saw as she stepped inside seemed to point that she was right, and Dorian was actually nowhere in sight. There was only a girl in sight, incredibly beautiful. Reminding her of her brother's boss, coworker--whatever she was. "Hi... sorry, I'm looking for someone, I'm ---actually not sure if he works here, but you know..." She shrugs, walking closer to the other, hands in her pockets. "Dorian... Holloway, do you know him?."

[marciaclaws]

Can you not be a dog for like... ten minutes?, Eliza asks, and Marcia's gaze softens into something half the Warwicks would laugh at her for if they'd see. A soft, puppy-like gaze. A fucking pout. Marcia is so fucking doomed. So fucking gone.

Though she blinks in surprise when the woman settles into her lap, and Marcia lifts her hands, as if held at gunpoint, closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Mh-Mh. No chance. You can't say no to me like that and then expect me to--" Marcia stops moving the moment Eliza's lips are on her's. There's many different thoughts rushing through her mind in that moment, many different things she feels. And then she snaps, her fingers moving down to the woman's waist, thumbs gently caressing her hipbones, pulling her in, closer.

When Eliza pulls away to talk and text, Marcia lowers her nose and rubs her scent into Eliza's skin -- covers her in it, to an extent. "Does that mean I get a date?", the alpha whispers into her skin, before pressing her nose into her skin harder, "I will be a dog the whole time, though. Can't take the dog out of the wolf, bird."

She draws away, crooks her head to the side and slowly licks her lips, "So I get one kiss, hm? That's it?" Her grin is soft, teasing, "I thought you hated me."

[cursedholloway]

There's something about being able to make Marcia stop talking, the words lost on her mouth and against her lips that send a rush through her chest. Her heart. It feels like it might beat out of her chest, different from the anxiety she sometimes feels creeping up her body when the memories become too loud and his voice reaches her mind. The hands on her hips feel like fire, and for the first time, she feels like burning. Letting the touch consume her. The gentle caresses taking away any thought from her mind.

She sighs as Marcia moves, closes her eyes at the sensation against her neck and finds herself wishing for the other to kiss, to bite. To mark. Sighs again at the question, a hum leaving her lips as she forces herself to focus. "This means you can take me to dinner... and I will be frustrated the whole time, and probably give myself a headache with how much I'll be rolling my eyes at you." But there's a smile on her lips even as the words leave her lips.

The fingers still on the werewolf's neck flex, almost tightening their hold and she pulls back. Eliza has to fight herself again to not pull her back in. Her eyes immediately falling on the woman's lips. "I told you I won't have sex with you while you're hurt..." And she can't help rolling her eyes again. "I don't hate you, you're just an ass... and a dog, like... ninety percent of the time."