angelene

helena. 31 or 130. depends who's asking.

[icanbuymyownflowers]

"I'm the same way." She quickly admitted. She didn't want people's eyes to be on her if she wasn't looking perfect. She just needed people to admire her at all time, there was nothing bad with that. Or so she thought. She loved when she would meet people, especially girls, that were as confident as her and didn't care to show it. "What kind of work event?" She asked curiously and start applying mascara to her lashes. She then took the fake ones to apply glue on them as they spoke. She laughed at the nickname, blowing on the lashes. "No, poor guy was probably mortified when he realized what it looked like. It's amusing though, I think I should try dating more guys like him." She admitted. She was used to the bad guys, the rich men who thought they were controlling her, but she realized she actually had fun whenever she spent time with Fionn.

[helenaaspencer]

"Are you getting attached?" Just for a moment, Helena's eyebrow raised up, indicating her mild surprise and amusement at the comment, before it went right back down to return her neutral expression, face so still it was almost eery to observe, were one not accustomed to vampires. "More guys like him, or him?" She asked next, question phrased with a tinge of accusatory tone as much as it came from a curious nature.

"Don't lose sight of the plan," she added after the lashes were on, tone casual but meaning obvious. "You wanna throw away your whole revenge plan for what, fifty years of a dumb human boy just because he's friendly? Maybe less, I didn't account for his being an idiot."

[helenaaspencer]

for: @tony-baxter

location: helena's house

For many reasons, still feeling a little too vulnerable to go outside in the state she had been in since the mist hit being the most pressing out of them, Helena had requested that the tutoring take place in her home. It was no trouble, she at least had enough books to form a veritable library covering enough topics that should Tony's stint into academia extend past getting his GED, he'd most likely be all set. But that felt like a bit much to predict, so instead she perused the bookshelves for something useful, glancing back at him. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to start with? Math, or....?"

[helenaaspencer]

for: @wolfontheloose

location: helena's house

She hadn't really felt like going out. Sure, Helena perhaps wasn't quite as bothered as some about seeing herself so obviously inhuman, but there were still practicalities to consider - her increased hunger, for instance. - which made her feel that for the time being, until she fully understood her new limitations, staying in a safe environment where she had everything she needed close to hand was a safer choice. But that didn't mean she didn't want to have company, and being as Ryden had messaged to ask if she was okay, she figured she could check in on him just the same. "I made food," she offered quietly as he made his way inside. "I don't know if your appetite will be the same, though...."

[valentin-stjohn-archive]

"This quarrel has rented the gardens out every year for the past two decades," even if he hadn't been living in Opulence for that duration of time, the estate had been here under his management but a different name for his own name changed quite often in order to maintain the charade of humanity, changing his name after one alias 'died' and then took upon a new one and he had numerous people in his employ dedicated to the procurement of any photographs of him that might have been taken throughout the course of any life time so no one could point out in photographs that 'Declan Mallard' looked exactly like 'Tadhg Doyle' who looked exactly like 'Valentin St John.'

He continued to speak as they walked, the parking lot visible in the distance and drawing gradually closer. "They celebrate the end of life with the continuation of life, and yes, the gardens are hired out often as well as the ball room."

[helenaaspencer]

// end

[helenaaspencer]

for: @thalia-stone

location: erzsebet’s

Helena had been inconvenienced by the changes brought about by the strange occurrences at Founder’s Day, but she wouldn’t consider herself uncomfortable by appearing more as a vampire than a human. Perhaps she was just more fortunate in that being so old and thus so detached from her human existence, it bothered her less to see herself as she truly was - black eyes, pale skin, fangs clearly visible pressing against her full lower lip even when she closed her mouth. Needing to sleep again, perhaps, was a little more problematic. But most annoying of all was the thirst, the constant hunger that seemed to follow her and yet no matter how many blood donors she burned through, she couldn’t quite satiate it. She’d have spent the week alone at home, if it weren’t for Thalia, drinking and drinking again. But dinner company, even when dinner was going to have to be a long affair, was always appreciated. And spending time with other vampires felt preferable to seeing other creatures freak out. “Are you,” she asked hesitantly, despite the fact that the booth was empty other than them and their blood of choice, “ridiculously hungry, or is it just me? I feel the Founder’s Day mist must have done something to us….”

[thebellamybarnesarchive]

⌝ Bella laughed, a lot of her clothes were red, mostly pink, with accents of red and black, with the occasional dips into other shades that fit various situations and moods. Bella felt like every situation needed to have the right look and she typically wouldn't enter into one without feeling as though she was dressed in a way that would both draw eyes and leave people in awe of her. Frequently though they just sort of found her off putting and odd. "Clearly I enjoy red," she gestured to the clothing she wore presently.

⌝ "Who knows which vampires have done away with modesty these days?" she smiled, not going to make her feel poorly she didn't feel comfortable walking around practically nude the way Bella could, her Valentine's Day Luncheon dress had shown off everything with no hesitation from the young vampire.

⌝ Bellamy nodded, aware of her name but not saying so. "How long have you been in town for? Have we just missed each other for years on end?" Bella asked.

[helenaaspencer]

// end

[thalia-stone]

“It certainly is… and there’s plenty for us vamps to do. Lots of willing, warm-blooded humans who are just desperate to be bitten. If that’s your thing then I can assure you you’re in luck,” she chuckled softly, dark eyes darting over the woman’s delicate features. God she was beautiful. And those lips - so plump, so full, practically begging to be kissed. 

The forward nature of the woman’s question delighted Thalia, a soft hum of agreement vibrating in her throat as she offered a quick nod, pulling her phone from her pocket and handing it to Helena. “I think I’d like that,” she murmured, reaching over to tuck a loose strand of hair behind the woman’s ear as she busied herself adding her number to Thalia’s phone.

[helenaaspencer]

// end

[wolfontheloose]

Ryden’s thick eyebrows dropped into an even lower frown, a sort of a dumb squint someone terrible at math would give if they were asked what was fifty-two times thirteen. He spent a good, solid few seconds just thinking like that, the widgets, bolts and nuts in his head squeaking and turning, working overtime only to not get him too far. “Nah, ya were hot. I was into it - the fuckin’ part. I jus’ wasn’t smitten o’er ya.” He concluded with a shrug, knowing that he would not hurt any feelings there by being honest. He’d always been honest, ever since day one, to Helena and everyone else he’d ever encountered. It more often than not got him into trouble or made him the trouble but it seemed like that was the right way to go at least in Helena’s case. They had some good times, maybe especially because he'd been honest.

“M’calm.” Ryden said, and he actually truly was. Well, he was and he wasn’t, his no-chill, energetic, temperamental and very animated persona could show up if he was in the company of someone who he felt comfortable with. Otherwise, he appeared like a bored tough giant who could only do one facial expression and walked around like his menacing glare could stop traffic if he took his sweet time crossing the street and someone dared to honk. Ryden snorted a little, giving Helena a tiny smirk as he flicked off excess ash building up on the top of his cigarette. “I ain’t stressin’, for real. I’m jus’ fuckin’… stupified how I didn’t know.” Ryden didn’t like only that part of it, it felt like he’d been keeping secrets from himself and he was truly clueless that he did. Not that Ryden ever really trusted himself before because he didn’t, but he was always the devil he knew. Apparently not quite. And that was slightly frustrating, just a smidge. “I jus’ wish if sumone knew, they’d ‘ave told me. Cause I was bloody clueless.” He huffed out a noisy sigh through his nose, looking away again at nothing in particular.

“Oh we’re havin’ great time, s’not a concern at all. I ain’t questionin’ that. S’just…” He trailed off, unable to explain himself, introspection not something Ryden was very good at, especially if he had to verbalize it. It was more complex than what Helena seemed to assume. “It jus’ feels like I kicked meself in the arse and now I’m laughin’ at me. Ya know wha’ I mean? Like I’m so dumb I can even fool meself. I don’t know.” He shrugged, close to giving up on further analyzing something he couldn’t even form an explanation for himself in his head. “Guess m’jus’ sorry I didn’t figure it out sooner cause mebbe I wouldn’t have lost time to be honest. With that person. They been through sum shit back then and I wasn’t there. If I knew this shit, mebbe I would’ve been more honest and mebbe I would’ve been there.” Ryden trailed off, idle fingers twirling the lit cigarette between them.

[helenaaspencer]

“It doesn’t make you clueless. You’re a complex person. I don’t pretend to understand you,” she said bluntly, maybe a little too bluntly, but wasn’t that their dynamic? Ryden and Helena had always treated each other with brutal honesty, and it had seemed to work, helping to see them weathering through both their sexual relationship and now their friendship. She appreciated that trait in him and hoped that in turn he appreciated that he could find the truth from her words, or whatever she thought the truth was. She had no reason to lie or to sugar coat, she spoke it as it was and if a person didn’t like it then they were welcome to leave. Ryden seemed able to take it, and in turn had earned her respect for it, and for his own plain speaking nature. “Is it really so dumb to not have understood that part of yourself?”

“You can’t change the past,” Helena said quietly. “I would know. I’ve been around a lot longer than you.” Not to pull the age card, or to spite him - her intentions were more pure than that, wanting to show him that she cared and she was listening and trying to draw on her own experience to help. “It sucks. That you couldn’t be there then. But you can be now and that’s all that matters. You have so much time left to be with them. Focus on that instead of the time you missed. The person who gets all your attention is a lucky one. They’ll appreciate it regardless of what didn’t happen before.”

[matthewbaudelaire]

"You're probably right," she was a vampire and while he wasn't sure if she'd studied meteorology, she certainly had been alive for longer than most of the humans who studied it so it was easy enough to believe that what she said had a firm likelihood of being true.

Matthew tried not to laugh when she made a very poor attempt at small talk but it was difficult so a soft breath of amusement did leave his lips and he lightly shook his head, tongue catching between his teeth to mask the look of amusement now crossing his features. "So fun," he replied, "I love being reminded how human I am when I get body aches and sore knees from kneeling for an hour," he joked at his own expense, "It's been a few years. I think I started after I stopped fighting at The Cage," his eyes lifted to the side as he tried to remember exactly when but figured the exact specifics didn't matter all too much. "I don't know. It's been a while."

[helenaaspencer]

“Would you laugh if I told you some of us miss those aches and pains?” Maybe it was just through having spent years without them, but every so often she missed those little reminders of humanity. Every time she sat for hours in one position, without blinking, without feeling the cold or discomfort which a human in the same position might have felt, she was reminded a little more of her true identity. That she lacked the capacity to be a human ever again. And sometimes she wished she could feel them again, just once, just to remove some of the numb from her soul.

“It sounds rewarding anyway,” she offered as she shaded in some of her line work, looking up to examine the way the light was hitting his hair. “Even if it isn’t always the most fun. Sometimes it makes you feel better to give back. Or so I’ve heard,” Helena said slowly. “I’m not in the habit of doing much charity work myself.”

[icanbuymyownflowers]

"It's no problem at all." She said, applying the eyeliner on Helena's eyes. She was being really careful, but it was also the easiest thing to her. She had so much practice and even did it on people that moved way too much. "I totally get that. You looked beautiful before I started, but you need to be the one with the best makeup." She always dressed to impress, she would never go out if she didn't look perfect so she wouldn't wish that on anyone else. Especially not for a night out! The nightmare.

Her favorite people to paint were vampires. They were just so much easier because if they wanted to, they could literally not move or blink which helped so much. "Where are you going tonight?" She asked curiously as she closed her eyeliner and moved on to lashes. "You want some right?" She hoped she wanted some.

[helenaaspencer]

“Of course. I couldn’t go anywhere if I didn’t think I looked my best.” Perhaps it was shallow, she’d always felt there was an undercurrent of vanity running through her veins in place of the human pulse that had departed so long ago. Maybe Helena should have taken this time to work on that, sort herself out, become a better person. But she’d never subscribed to the philosophy that she’d been given eternal life to improve herself. Rather, accept her shortcomings and learn to live with them.

“It’s just a work event,” she said vaguely, nodding in response to the question regarding lashes. “Nothing interesting. How about you? How’s things with the human dumbo?” Helena questioned, eyebrow momentarily quirking up to demonstrate her thoughts on that matter. In their text communications, Rosita hadn’t exactly given the highest praise for Fionn. And Helena tended toward being one to believe her friends over anyone else. “Any more you up texts?”

[opheliasflood]

she did, footfall silent thanks to the trademark chunky white trainers on her feet. ophelia had been brought up to think that introductions were important, as a child she always would curtesy while meeting new people with a large expectant smile on her face as they coo'd how polite/adorable/well mannered! at her. compliments, even at a young age, gave her a dopamine rush like no other.

"helena," ophelia repeated with a humm, not one she had heard often. "i'm ophelia, if you care," the blonde said. "thanks. for walking with me,"

[helenaaspencer]

She could tell, nowadays, that her name had gone out of fashion long ago even without keeping up to date on trends. It was clear in the gaps between the words people spoke to her, in the way they repeated her name like it was a relic from another time. Like Helena herself, born in another world and out of place in the current one. She had contemplated changing it, only to decide against it: she wasn’t an Ava or an Olivia or Chloe. Hanging on to the last remnants of her former life was likely a poor choice, in the eyes of therapists and friends alike, but she chose it nonetheless.

“How Shakespearean,” she pointed out instead, more interested in Ophelia’s statement than continuing her internal soliloquy. Woe is me and even moderate internal reflection never quite suited her the way it did other vampires. “From Hamlet, if I’m not wrong? And I believe I slightly forced myself on you,” a wry smile emerged onto her features. “Gratitude unnecessary. Save your thanks for someone who needs it.”

[magicvet]

The witch doctor nodded, agreeing that it was indeed very interesting. After all, this was his chosen life-long profession, passion even dare he say, of course he found it interesting. “It would give me a peace of mind knowing that I’ve done everything I possibly could as a professional. After all, it is my duty to make sure the creatures and residents of this community are healthy and safe. Thank you and I apologize for inconveniencing you.” Of course, Corey had no insight into Helena’s mind and could not assume that he had somehow offended her with his offer, but if he did, he would assure her that this was not his intention. And given that, if she felt like a damsel in distress, then this was entirely up to her. Corey was merely going above and beyond to do his job and duty. He would’ve done the same for anyone else he met on the street tonight. And by the morning, if the creatures were not found and retrieved, the area would have a few warning signs put up, especially around parking lots and metal constructions.

“Pleased to have met you Helena. I am Corey. Corey Patterson. I am a veterinary expert in charge of Opulence Veterinary Care down the block that way.” He added, just to give her some more context to why he was doing all this, as he offered his hand for her to shake as he followed her down the street and to wherever she’d parked.

[helenaaspencer]

The man was polite, she noted. Polite enough to apologise even when an apology was likely unnecessary - he had after all simply been doing his job, and Helena personally, if put in the same situation, wouldn’t have bothered to do so. Nor had she become offended enough by his actions to deem the apology worthy, so her only acknowledgement of it was a simple head shake, just enough to show she had decided it was not a problem. “It’s not so much of an inconvenience.”

It always interested her how so many creatures of Opulence clung to niceties and polite behaviour, even when one could in all probability do away with such things, when surrounded by others of a supernatural origin. Of course, she didn’t yet know what Corey was - whether human or witch or something else entirely - but she found it intriguing nonetheless to watch him engage in such actions, introducing himself, apologising, going to shake her hand. (Helena’s own species was probably obvious from the moment she took his hand, her ice cold fingers making her lack of body warmth and pulse evident.) “I’m guessing being a vet in Opulence is far more interesting than elsewhere?”

[wolfontheloose]

[TXT]: its a riddle [TXT]: why would u lose it in the first place, who told u that?

[helenaaspencer]

[ text ]: nobody told me. i just had a moment.

[valentin-stjohn-archive]

“You are,” was his response to her question about whether she was allowed to ask about the event, of course she was allowed to ask about it, how much he was willing to share was an entirely different matter and while her question hadn’t directly been asking for more information about the event in particular, he understood it was implied. 

“A small quarrel has rented the botanical gardens for the evening to celebrate what was described as a wake and a birthday party. There is a strict no non-fae rule,” he explained as they walked toward the parking lots following the stone paved path of the garden, expansive and well manicured lawns, “If a non-fae so much as looks upon the fae in the seat of honour it would dispel all of their magicks until the next season.”

[helenaaspencer]

"Then that sounds completely reasonable," she agreed, whether the statement was true or not. Valentin had no reason to lie, no clear motivation, but Helena tended towards being suspicious regardless. Maybe it was self protection, or maybe it was just her distrusting nature, but either way it was the situation.

"A wake and a birthday party?" She pondered over the details as they made their way to the parking lot. How precisely would such a thing work? "And are the gardens hired out often?"

[thebellamybarnesarchive]

⌝ "Lay some newspaper down, wear a napkin," Bella joked, a lilting laugh falling from her lips because there was no way she would ever do either of those things, she would rather have the stained clothing and in fact kept some that she felt the blood added to the overall look of the garment. The truth was, Bella was much the same, she had certain items of clothing she had worn once on some special occasion and were now hung up on display for her to reflect on. With time it would probably become a real issue how much she hoarded.

⌝ The woman sensed a certain hesitance, 'pretty' was rarely enough of a compliment to induce a sale from someone. "What do you usually like to wear?" Bella asked, so the designer didn't have to. Bellamy adding as the designer went to put the dress back that she would take the shirt - two of the skirt, along with the other pieces she'd tried on earlier in her visit.

⌝ "I'm Bella, by the way," she offered, stepping closer but not holding out a hand or anything like that. Perhaps she might have but the scent of the woman hit her and a soft smile came across Bella's lips as she placed it. This was the woman Thalia had spoken to her of...

[helenaaspencer]

"I really couldn't imagine anything worse." She understood the joke, but she thought she would feel like a poorly behaved puppy if she began putting newspaper down, or a baby learning to feed itself. It had been a long time since Helena had been an infant, and she didn't feel inclined towards taking a step back to reminisce on it. "Maybe the solution is to have all of your clothes be red." Despite her hair being dyed the colour, she herself did not wear it often, so that sounded out of bounds for her as well. But these were both silly, hypothetical situations.

"The shape of the dress is perfect. It's just a little sheer for me," she emphasised for her, not wanting to sound judgemental. (Not in this instance, anyway.) She often admired such clothing on others, but felt out of place as soon as it hit her skin. Perhaps she was just too old for it, even if she perpetually appeared to be in her early thirties, even passing for her twenties in certain lighting. Hardly an old hag. But she still felt the years inside of her.

"Helena," she responded, her smile reciprocating Bella's even if she didn't exactly know the reasoning behind the girl's expression.

[wolfontheloose]

[TXT]: on a scale ftom blue cheese to smoked gouda u r brie [TXT]: date time?

[helenaaspencer]

helena: i have no way to comprehend that.

helena: no, just needed to check i still have it

[icanbuymyownflowers]

Rosita: Oh yeah, if I didn't have to worry about many factors he would already be buried somewhere in the woods.

Rosita: Have you already done this? Seems like maybe you did.

Rosita: Don't worry, I know probably too much about whats poisonous or not.

Rosita: I should've asked you right when I started thinking about doing this. I bet you would've found his parents before I even did.

[helenaaspencer]

helena: no, but i like to be prepared for everything

helena: i figured if i survived this long i'd eventually need to cover up a murder or two

helena: probably. but what's done is done. more important to make sure we succeed now.