the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark the dark a private mumu blog for charmingrpg
﹒zephyr & ezra ( @emptychcmbers )
﹒the guilded night
the town had shown up , and they'd shown out , despite the lingering weight of the fire that still clung to the air. the flames were out , the embers buried beneath sand , but the smoke hadn't quite let go. it choked the breath , thick and acrid , like a reminder that the damage wasn't gone just because the blaze was.
the promise of a night of casual freedom from the recent horror , from the rumors slinking in the shadows and whispering in the ears of those who knew better , had drawn the masses. and yet , the atmosphere felt heavy with something unspoken.
one individual , who should've known better , caught zephyr's eye .
to anyone else , she might've been just another face in the crowd. another beautiful stranger among the sea of others. but zephyr wasn't looking at her that way. his sharp gaze caught the flicker in her expression , the subtle break in her features that others might've missed. a slip of something out of place.
❝ if you didn't want to be here , ❞ his voice cut through the pulse of the music , low and rough , just enough for her to hear over the chaos. the kind of music that only made sense if your eardrums were already blown. ❝ why'd you show up ? ❞
he tilted his head slightly , his eyes scanning her with that quiet , calculating look. weighing her , wondering if she was bound to be a problem tonight.
❝ unless ... you were hoping to bump into me. ❞ the words hung in the air with that lazy smirk of his , as if the suggestion of it was a game he was more than willing to play.
the dead suited her far more than this ever would, and yet - she'd never stopped trying to infiltrate the lives of normal people. some underlying trauma response from her mothers pestering all those years ago she assumed. though it never prepared her for nights like this - those which she had to grin and bare it for a mere few hours all of which inevitably felt like the hours at which time stopped entirely. she'd fidget and chew on the inside of her cheek, wondering what kind of out might show its face first. and as if hell itself granted such a wish - he appeared..
it might have suited her perfectly to let his wondering fall to silence - bury it beneath the bass that reverberated throughout every surface of the club but bitten tongues could only remain silent for so long and zephyr maddox was proof that she could feel something other than indifference towards the living.
"i'm sure you showed up tonight hoping for as much," a languid response with a tired sigh riding its coattails. hues already rolling into the back of her head as she glanced across as him. "just because you know me, doesn't actually mean you need to speak to me every time you see me. It's honestly a little tiring." Rising to her tiptoes, she waved down the bartender - again, her smaller stature lost among those also waiting.
Fingertips rolled together, quickly seeking to remove the sticky residue the bartop seemed to be covered in and she grimaced inwardly. "god this place is filthy.."
"Nope. - no.. i don't.." ezra wouldn't necessarily have said she ripped her hand from their grasp, but there had been a certain, startling finality to it as she stepped back, corralled back in by the surging crowd. another gesture an attempt to persuade them otherwise. I don't dance... Something something hips -- questions and unwanted encouragements shattered within the sound of the surrounds. would her ears ring forever after this? would she spend the rest of her life thinking she'd suddenly become ailed by tinnitus? or would a split second decision to join her friends become a hauntingly life changing choice? she'd have put money on the latter. another damp cold hand paws at her, tugging her back into the fray of what she can only assume is this clubs excuse for a dancefloor. all she sees is entirely too much gyrating and misplaced purchase. "two left feet, clumsy." small words, minimal syllables. maybe it'd get through the sphere of noise a little easier - until recognition in the person slipping by from within the crowd fills her lungs with stale, putrid air, "my friend - they're, they're not well.. i'm uh," she's forced to pull away for a third time as the stranger reaches for her hand, "no, no dancing.. i already told you that."
oh, but how she loved a party. all of the grey, the drudgery of day-to-day, made to slink away under hot lights and that heavy, synthetic bass. allegra feels it penetrate her now; the resonance between her breasts, in her belly, and moving down and down— “ welcome in, kittens, ” she drawls with volume from atop the bar, eyeing their guests as they trickle through. in truth and in past, allegra’s aim had been to make a lark of every moment. she knew very little of pedestrian struggle, of one’s need to escape. for her, life was an amusement, always. and she would conceive of pleasures when there were none to be found. but things had changed, hadn’t they? and if this night was for pretending, well. who was she to deviate? “ leave your troubles at our door, ” cheekily, flung into the crowd. with gimlet in hand, allegra wiggles down from her mock-throne. she decides she will enter the fray, perhaps in search of something colorful she might bring back to her nephew. and once integrated, sets her eyes on the first lone figure she can corral.
“ evening, honey. is there, uh, something we … something i, can do for you? ”
"You?" regarding the woman as if she were a pitbull moments before sinking its teeth in in the most nonchalant way possible, tommy took a moment - looking beyond into the crowd. in another life time, it'd been a place he'd drowned himself in time and time again. old ghosts and skeletons haunted the four walls. but he was a different man now - still angry, but different. "we could be the last two people on earth and i wouldn't trust you to put me out of my misery, allegra." his scoff feels like gravel, sounds like boots upon dusty roads. definite. the woman is poison and he intends to turn it against her, somehow. his partner, somewhere in the crowd draws his attention, magnetically so. it's rarely ever that the pair can't pinpoint one another blindly, its become instinct more than anything. "just stopping in," tommy growls out rather pointedly, "as a friendly reminder." that even after the bullshit she'd pulled, he'd keep watching until he could make something stick.
it's kind of overwhelming but it does give her a rush she hasn't felt in months. lori's never stepped foot in the guilded room before, when in redford, she's more of a dirty dive bar kind of girl but, sue her, she's feeling a bit homesick for her other life—the staying out all night, the dancing, the fun. lori feels like she hasn't had a night like that since being back, not even once. she's still a little unsure if a party in the morettis' den is the best way to go about it but beggars can't be choosers. so she goes in, finds a spot at the bar, orders a vodka soda and puts her best smile on.
there's a split second when she regrets not bringing any company along, just for the comfort of a friendly face to run to—but she shakes it off. she needs to make new friends, anyway.
" can i buy you a drink? " she offers when they're close enough to hear. " no strings attached, promise. well. —ish. "
this is not a place that ezra belongs. there's nothing at all sanitary about it, the dim lighting pulls strain into the back of her eyes and whatever it is that classifies as music within these walls is something she never wants to hear again. she quickly decides she'll leave soon - never the type to remain uncomfortable for too long, but neither is she rude and the fact that she'd shown up with friends meant she owed them at least one more hour, or so she thought. a whole conversation within her own head, going so far as to nod to herself at the decision before her focus is ruptured by the voice of another. How did anyone converse in a place like this? it felt like the streets of new york, slick - sticky and a smell she couldn't place. "its hot in here, right? it's very hot in here.." be polite - be considerate; her mothers voice in the back of her head shocking her from the immediate issue she faced - "Oh, um.. - as long as its nothing fruity. i have this allergy..-- thing," not a thing, an allergy. "strings? what strings?"
⸻ brandon sklenar, 36, cismale, he/him ; … around redford, names don’t stay clean for long. Tommy Colton is no exception. they are thirty four, born and raised or just passing through the town. when the sun rises, they work as deputy but around here, that rarely tells the whole story. their name has been heard in connection to rivera family and like most in this town, they carry their weight in quiet ways. some say they can be destructive and altruistic, depending on who’s asking and what’s at stake. they’ve laid claim to old mill quarter though ownership in redford is never as simple as it looks. land shifts, loyalties change, and nothing stays untouched for long. lately, their name has been circling for being pro preservation. in a town where legacy matters and progress threatens, the only question that ever really lingers is this: will they hold their ground or lose everything trying?
Born where he wasn't wanted, tommy hit the ground running after a father that couldn't bare to stick around and a mother who wore a different face every day. there's nothing like the hellish childhood of a kid who can't stop and a caregiver that can't care enough to watch and before the age of five, it was very clear who tommy would one day become
with two half siblings to follow, the nature of his anger morphed into a volatile protective nature that he couldn't shake and god help the kid who tried to bully a colton on the playground. battered and bruised felt like nothing when it meant his siblings went unscathed.
when the unpredictable nature of his mother fell to the sweet relief narcotics brought, tommy already saw her as dead. taking the brunt of responsibility, he did all he could to make sure they had everything they needed - clinging by the skin of their teeth - and with a rap sheet a mile long for fighting, shoplifting, pickpocketing it became a running joke that tommy was part of the furniture at the redford police station by the time he was twelve
which made it all the more shocking when a deputy offered him something nobody else ever had. a safe place to land and a home he didn't have to keep afloat himself. though their adoption was never legal - sarah colton never did a damn thing to get her kids back, and the three spent the later years of childhood under the care of mason rogers, his wife, and his mother.
of course, it didn't keep him from old habits. and despite the way things had been in the past, tommy couldn't help but keep going back to the mother that never wanted him. in some hope that caring might lend him a shred of love.
to the surprise of everyone that knew him, when an opportunity at quantico sought him out and his younger brother pushed him to take it - to get out of here, to make something of himself, reluctance bore only the smallest hold on him. and then - he was gone
until two years ago, returning not as an agent, but a deputy. though he'll never say it out loud, it just wasn't for him. he'd never wanted answers, only justice and retribution. a concept that fell flat when he learned that his mother had overdosed and died only eighteen months prior to his return - under the watchful eye of his siblings.
WC's
half siblings (0/2)
highschool sweetheart (this ended badly don't @ me)
best friends (current and past, this could be messy)
i know he has sm serious enemies in this place, but i rly also want someone he hates just for the fun of it
⸻ ozge yagiz, 28, cisfemale, she/her ; … around redford, names don’t stay clean for long. EZRA OZKAN is no exception. they are THIRTY THREE, born and raised or just passing through the town. when the sun rises, they work as a MEDICAL EXAMINER/INFORMANT, but around here, that rarely tells the whole story. their name has been heard in connection to NONE and like most in this town, they carry their weight in quiet ways. some say they can be CANDID and RIGHTEOUS, depending on who’s asking and what’s at stake. they’ve laid claim to MAIN STREET DISTRICT, though ownership in redford is never as simple as it looks. land shifts, loyalties change, and nothing stays untouched for long. lately, their name has been circling for being PRO PRESERVATION. in a town where legacy matters and progress threatens, the only question that ever really lingers is this: will they hold their ground or lose everything trying?
The weight of brilliance rested on her shoulders from the moment she was born. Philanthropist father, medical genius of a mother and two older siblings quickly following in their steps, Ezra found it difficult to keep up even at the best of times. Every new expectation came with a level of stress and understanding that she simply did know how to comprehend.
A feeling that followed her through most of her life. Always being slightly out of place - just askew enough for people to notice. And therein, lay the problem. People. No matter how hard she tried, everything came easy to her except everyone around her. Conversation, social cues, the expectation of appropriate reactions. They all just... Fell short.
When she did finally find something that clicked, it raised even more eyebrows. The idea of a fourteen year old having such an affinity for death, violence and fhe afterlife, surely something had to be wrong. Alas, it grew to more than simple interest and when she found herself at the doorstep of the local funeral home, seeking out her first job - she all but tarnished the family name.
Even still, years later she took the step expected of her - medical school, with the best and brightest, except when the time came for her to announce her field, forensic pathology, whatever hope her parents might have had for her was lost. Not that it bothered her - in fact, Ezra barely realized their calls beginning to taper off, invites to gatherings becoming few and far between.
It didn't matter - her older siblings were still around and it wasn't as if she'd spent all that much time her parents to begin with. To her, it seemed nothing had changed.
Years following, Ezra was appointed state medical examiner for the state of new york and for damn good reason. Details, she never missed. Which, ironically became her very downfall.
After thirteen years in the field, Ezra made a call that put a price on her head and the underworld of new york calling her name. When throwing cold hard evidence into a triple homicide, she painted a target on her back that left law enforcement no other option.
Rushed from the city she knew, and the people she loved, Ezra was dropped into the heart of redford, with the direct instruction to lay low until they could close the case. If they could close the case.
Her only condition was that she'd continue working, even if it meant it couldn't be her name on each statement that passed through her office, but that of another. An alias that has been reported and understood by all those who'd lay eyes upon the paperwork.. An agreement only met with the understanding that should she ever find anything strange - anything untoward, she'd report it under the table.
Three years in redford hasn't changed her. Still cynical, with bad timing and poorly jokes. A skewed understanding of the people around her - but one thing she isn't, is stupid. And the bribes that cross her desk don't go forgotten, but maybe she's repeating old mistakes all over again.
WC's
Best friends 0/3
Homely neighbours or the opposite and it sucks
Exes/flings/fwb/will they won't they
Hateship: Zephyr Maddox
Members of the families/MC who have bribed her to lose or fake evidence to get away with literal murder
People shes feeding info to in law inforcement beyond just her job
People shes informed on (whether they know or not can be discussed)
Older siblings 0/2
People she met in new york where all of the above wcs can work too
discoholicmusic
snowghoul
areudirty
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
ellievsbear
andulkaphoto
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
