HEY, i think i just saw JOSETTE ‘JO’ LEIGHTON walking down the strip. stop by to catch up and you’ll learn the FORTY TWO YEAR OLD is UNEMPLOYED and lives in MANOR SUITES. given they are HUMOROUS but ERRATIC, it’s likely that they ARE NOT a vampire. i bet you can find them tearing up the dance floor to RID OF ME BY PJ HARVEY and you’ll know why they’re called THE BLACK HOLE. ☾ .⭒˚ cis woman + she/her. bisexual + capricorn.
josette was born in england to an english father and a french mother. they were middle upper class, longing to belong to the upper class bracket and they would get there despite their daughter's tendencies. jo was an emotional child - one thing going wrong would make her cry but her mother told her to stop being so dramatic and her father would just ignore her. she always thought that she got on better with him because of his logical nature but that never transpired into much of a relationship because he kept her at arms length x2.
although she was emotional, josette did have friends in her younger years. she seemed close to them but for some reason, after they stayed the night, they never wanted to see her again. then when she got over it was relationships. josette would have amazing boyfriends (for the standard that teenage boys could be) but it was always her own mother telling them about how she was dangerous and not worth their time - she was sabotaging her. hadn't she always wanted for her to do well? when it came to light, josette had some sort of breakdown but her mother kept her off school for a few days and told her... to stop being dramatic.
jo felt like she needed to do something with her life and after she didn't get high enough grades for medical school (she would even say she didn't revise that much for exams but how could she?), she would go on to be a therapist in a different country - anywhere but close to her parents.
freshly graduated, she had relations with a married man whilst she was intoxicated but did get a job offer out of it... it had already happened between then but this was an opportunity and if not, she knew how it could hurt her. she went to that family home to support people, with both him and his wife in the house. shit happened between her and him and then she was pregnant, alone and she didn't know what to do. she'd have the baby and had the full intention of raising her, even came up with dream scenarios in her head but she was really unstable so a friend convinced her to let her go.
it was like a part of her had died when she'd let her daughter go goodness knows where and then went back to that house. somehow, she'd get sucked right back into him - for over twenty years...
they were on and off across that twenty years. he would pump her full of alcohol, degrade her and then worse. she had got a job as head of department out of the city they were in and she'd taken it; when she broke down on the phone because she had a crisis of confidence, he'd tell her to quit and come back... so she did...
things were okay at first. she had a job, her relationship felt stable but she couldn't see she was so out of it. it took a bad incident to break them up again and josette's friend moved in with her. after her employer got worried about her tearful state as well as her appearance, they put her on 'leave'.
it was clear that josette was struggling with something yet there were no doctors, no diagnosis, nothing - her relationship had felt better than this. then the absolute worst happened when she learned that her biological daughter had died a few days after finding her. josette blamed herself.
she deteriorated over the years but then bought a lottery ticket at her worst and she won. elated but with nothing to lose, she took that money to vegas, got a rich blonde lady hair cut (won't last long bc mun is inconsistent) and started renting an apartment...
jo still hasn't got a job but she's 'just living that life (von dutch)'
CLOSED STARTER FOR @joleighton ft. a muse of your chosing
Benny had not meant to sell out the person whose name had been given to him on a piece of paper at the Weiss wedding. But try as he might, he hadn’t been able to locate them. And while the prospect of an altercation was what had led him to deciding to keep the information to himself, it would be worthless now. So he’d handed the intell over, thinking it too vague anyway to be of any use to anyone. But he was rewarded, and that didn’t sit right with him.
He had hated the feeling.
He wasn’t a rat. He’d never been a rat. He promised himself next time he wouldn’t comply.
To deal with the horrible feeling, he’d turned to the one vice that did actually leave him with a high. Which was why he was sitting in a bus stall in the early morning, hair a mess, smelling of beer and cigarette smoke, and with a self satisfied smile on his face. He’d never understood why they called this the walk of shame.
it was that odd time of morning where the sun had started to come up the the alcohol was still very much in her veins but mostly in her head... josette didn't want to be home ever since that note, not during he night anyways but that was physically exhausting and there was never any rule to say they wouldn't turn up in the day time - was leaving herself more vulnerable in public at night a better way to keep herself safe? now that was quite the theory.
the best course of action would to opt for a cab of some sort but the time of 'day' was tricky so the woman had actually decided to wait for the very first bus. seeing someone join her as she was somewhat hunched on the bench, the woman frowned. "it's true. they could make a lot more money if they had a bus one hour earlier. when you're sat here on borrowed time, it does feel like a long wait but and least i have nothing to do tomorrow." or the day after that and that... the lottery winnings had given josette some comfort but the wrong type that she truly needed. raising her eyebrows and finally looking in the others direction, she straightened her back. "sooo... how was your night?"
The look of stupefaction was as if Josette had a phantom pass across her vision herself, and Salem restrained idle amusement. People were reluctant to believe in ghosts until they were affronted with it, a reckoning that was a tall tale from Charles Dickens stories. "Unfinished business with you, of course. There must be something in her life that she felt was unresolved between the two of you. I can't tell whether she is angry with you, or sad. Whatever the reason, it's never good. Spirits linger because of what they can't let go," the fortune teller explained to the woman in her office, and quieted to listen to the story she had to tell. Notes. Well, poltergeists couldn't write — she couldn't honestly attest that that was a spirit's doing. Without any more information, she refrained from offering theories, and instead rested her hands on the crystal ball. "I can't answer that for you. That would require something... stronger, and I don't know that you're ready for a seance if you're afraid. We could certainly arrange one with the shop psychic, if you'd like." Between. Understandable that she couldn't wrap her head around a limbo of nothingness. No one liked to linger on thoughts of the afterlife, the what comes next — a good number of the world's population required therapy to nurse the big pill of that revelation. Shaking her head, she pressed in return, "You know what I mean, it's what we don't like to think about. Being stuck here and unable to speak to anyone because you haven't found a way to move on to what comes next. Do you think we're really meant to stay on the same planet when we die, destined to wander forever and opening our mouths but never speaking a word? I can't think of a fate more tragic than death. Watching my loved ones carry on, and not knowing peace."
it wasn't a surprise that this was how it was going to be.. josette hadn't meant to slam the door (figuratively) in the girl's face but she wasn't even ever supposed to find her. things could have been so different so perhaps the lost future of what could have been was haunting josette... or she actually was seeing a dead person pop up at her new apartment's window. it was such an eerie thing - she claimed she couldn't sleep but would fall asleep nearly instantly at any moment but without feeling resting. it had happened at eliana's. what was going on? "no, no..." the woman put her hands up as her breathing shallowed. "i know that i've really messed up but i wouldn't have been right for her... i was trying to save her." that wasn't the entire truth as josette had not been very well but the intention had been there... "okay, so-" josette was manic how she breathed, her face was over expressive as the tears fell. "do you have any knowledge of the... in between. i could have sworn i saw her, was telling me to find her or she'd actually end up dead and now... i fell asleep." no, the woman hadn't been ready and it appeared the session had triggered some kind of episode. "there was a video... there was a video and i fucking lost it or it was taken." a quick nod of her head and the woman's eyebrows raised quickly. "is she not reall dead?"
"I don't think money is happiness. Money can destroy people." Melissa had imploded like a dying star over fame and fortune, and growing up in the circus, he'd never sought after that financial security. His passion for science could eventually find him a cushy job, once he had his PhD under his belt, but he wasn't too concerned. He'd heard about her outburst at the wedding last year. At the time, he was still Khadroma's spouse — but he had to leave the reception when Josette had showed up, and recalled that he had been helping a young guest through a panic attack with his child on his hip. Dustin didn't say anything of it; it wouldn't do either of them any good. Besides, it wasn't as if his life was going swimmingly himself, between the pending divorce and the deal with the Vitellis. "...I'd offer you a ride but I still can't drive." A poor jest, and one at his own expense, but he never shied from shedding levity on his neurological condition. Life had irreparably changed since the accident, but he maintained his independence as much as he could. On the roughest days, it would be his siblings he'd beckon for help now. I've got an apartment here, actually. Despite his best efforts, his body tensed. What he didn't want to restart was the illusion she could call upon him every time her own life was in tatters. "Really? Planning on getting your license back?" That was the query he settled on, testing the waters — if she were truly feeling better, would she not return to aiding others?
josette widened her eyes and nodded her head slowly - it was a true statement and she couldn't argue with it. before everything had gone incredibly south, josette leighton had no money troubles but after she'd spent everything, she'd ended up in a place she'd never imagined for herself. could she imagine anything for herself now? that was a sore spot that she didn't want to explore. "it's..." her eyebrows twitched slightly. "- it's alright. wasn't expecting anything." even when dustin had come to her aid, it had been with someone else driving. she'd never forget that night, she'd wore to herself not to but everything felt so blurry at this point and she couldn't understand why. josette had been hurt but she was trying to rationalise and that's how it always started... now she was apparently haunting her as well. "no, nope-" josette shook her head. had she felt her entire being sink? she would have loved to be able to get back to work - she had helped people despite her mistakes but now, it felt too late and she was never going to be that person for herself or anyone else. "-just... an opportunity came up... or more, i found a place to rent, so..." there was no particular pull unless amelia appearing really was linked to this place and her purpose. "how're you getting on?"
Zakir considered that. Actions... unlike speeching, said a whole other thing about a person. But no matter how much Zakir loved words, he knew actions would always speak louder than them. His family had been a very action-driven unit, love - and disappointment - was shown through deeds, rarely ever words. Words were used to describe bigger things, feelings that could not be uttered without them. Perhaps that was why he'd grown so fond of words and so poetic in thought.
"Hmm, while I love words, I do fear when deliberately chosen, they tend to shadow one's intentions. I'd like to think I wouldn't be swayed by them, but I also know if someone were to recite poetry to me now, even with a shaky voice, to lure me to some impending doom. I'd submit."
"The wedding?" Zakir flashed a smile. It was not hard to pin him down as a love-struck idiot. And he didn't mind. "It reminds me of home," he said. "Though... much less lavish and colourful. And when people marry for love. There is nothing greater than that, right?" One day, he would too.
josette had always wanted it to be her and whilst most would agree that she hadn't ever found the person for her, it didn't make it hurt less. she had really believed that matthew would ask her, eventually; she had never been the one to begin with and more 'the other woman' but after twenty years with him on and off, it had never happened. her 'relationship' had entered in disaster and whilst there was no going back, when vulnerable, she often thought of him... this was now wedding number two that she'd attended since being here in vegas, the first also ending with her in tears, seemingly ruining the speech.
"lucky them, yeah?" the raise of her eyebrows did give the woman's jealousy away. josette was sensitive with none of her traumas resolved; she wanted to ignore everything and hoped they would dissipate into thin air but that period had only been brief... now she was being haunted (literally, she believed). "ignore me, it's lovely." she didn't know them and those who had known her previously hardly wanted to give her the time of day. "i promise i'm not a cynic when it comes to these things, with the optimist." delusional was a more appropriate word.
Zakir thought weddings were beautiful. Whether it was because he had gone to his fair share both at home and here, or because his parents had married for love, he did not know. But he found himself basking in the luxury of the celebration. He’d taken out his notebook far too many times to write down small details and phrases. And he found himself to be exceptionally romantic. He felt the need to confess his undying love to someone. Anyone really. To serenade somebody - he’d seen Alice around but he instead tried to avoid her.
However, the pink cloud he was on quickly dissipated when Romi Weiss finished her speech. Zakir bit his lip and frowned as if he’d just eaten a sour apple.
“It doesn’t matter how fine the words are, if you fail to perform, they cannot save you,” he commented, mostly out of awkwardness for the speaker. “Not everyone is a born speecher,” he added.
for some reason that couldn't be explained, josette had found herself at another wedding reception, however there would be no repeat of the last one. it had been wise for her to only have a few before coming, the keep her head down but in doing so, her actions made her feel more and more alone. there had been a time that she would have sworn this would be her, that she'd marry him, that her mother would stop giving her such a hard time and she'd be loved. the red flags could have been seen from the other side of the planet but not in josette's eyes. it wasn't right, nothing about their relationship was right but if she were to admit that it would mean she'd wasted the best twenty years of her life on him. it had been a while since these thoughts had come about.. being intrusive but here he was to remind her that everything was better when she was with him and didn't step out of line.
"i'd know a bit about that..." the last wedding reception - stella and cyrek - what a disaster! "you know, i think i'm of the disposition to be swayed by words and not actions..." it was too late. everything was too late and now she was convinced she'd seen her- the thought was shut down as it was not the place. "you seem to really like it, though, the whole thing." josette smiled. "what is it about it? if you don't mind me asking."
The month of January had been long, and thus far, February had looked no brighter, save for the silver lining of the soon-to-be baby rattle of his ( equally soon-to-be ) ex-wife's son and daughter-in-law. Family to have and to hold warmed his heart when everything in his surroundings seemed to grow colder still. The howling of the wind was as destitute as his innards felt, the more he ruminated over how fucked he was, and the more that the radio host was spread thin between academia, and the station. You always catch me at a bad time, huh? The coffee cup in his hand was clenched tighter, almost walking right by the silhouette of another ghost from his past. For most, he had the will and the grace to relinquish a grudge, and he had forgiven Josette to some extent, but what they had would never be the same. On the other side of that, he couldn't say that he had anticipated on running into Josette again in a city that was as vast as the plunging darkness that had opened up inside of him, old wounds ripped open by the sharp end of a stitch splitter. Against his better judgement, he faced her, the service shepherd at his side heeling. "It's been a long time since you've been doing well, I think." He'd been at the wedding, after all. As far as he could tell, Josette was the same old same — still inept to put her broken parts back together and make sense of them all. "It's me," he confirmed, a hand spreading across his chest, before cupping both around the cup of coffee, in the futile hope not to spill it on the pavement. "...Waiting for the bus?"
the money had at least given her a way out of the trailer park that had become her last viable option - she'd lost it all. there had been a time she'd been in a relationship, had a lovely cottage, a well respected profession and now... she had nothing to show off but disappointment, failure of being a let down and now she felt her mind was truly gone after the night she could have sworn she'd seen amelia. how had she fallen asleep and missed the deadline? now she was angry with her? what did she want? all these questions had kept the woman up at night, staring at the same window waiting for her to reveal herself to her once more. evidently that had a worse affect on her as the dark circles hung low from her bloodshot eyes. "well, did come into some money so that helped. would consider that as well." it wasn't in such a defensive tone, more of a passive one as it was a positive but held little substance for fixing her deep seeded issues. josette had already made a scene at an event she hadn't even been invited to - going drunk - she couldn't even blame him for that (he hadn't been there to fuel that) - it was all her. frowning, she looked around. "am i waiting for the-" turning to her left, she saw the bus stop and sighed. "no, i was just... out." she could hardly admit to seeing a medium or disclose that it hadn't given her closure but quite the opposite... "i've got an apartment here, actually." jsette wanted to ask how everyone was on dustin's side but held back as she didn't know whether it would be inappropriate. the other had still helped her a lot and them no longer being friends would never diminish that fact.
Benny frowned. Maybe he did remember. But the banging her head apparently did taste like something more, and he gritted his teeth for a moment. It would be easy for anyone he sold to, to sell him out. His spots weren’t constantly rotating, he was easy to spot in a club, he was visible because he needed to be. He sold to almost everyone, didn’t check their references as long as they didn't check his. Some people though… clearly shouldn’t be on drugs. But who was he to deny them? He wasn’t a doctor. He was more likely to take a life than save one.
“Hmm,” he hummed, then shrugged. “Well, if it was me, then you’re welcome.” Because best to keep on the side of caution. “Is that why you approached me? Just to thank me?” It was… well, sweet in a way. She looked slightly dishevelled. But so did most of Las Vegas. That could either be because she was or because she’d just gone through a dishelving experience. Who was he to judge? “Lots of somethings in your story, must’ve been a hard bang.”
it had been a low point in josette's life for her to push herself so far but had anything actually changed? winning the lottery had its perks - she was out of that awful trailer park and had somewhere to live in a new city yet was a prime example that money did help with the wellbeing element, underlying issues were far from solved. josette could have sworn that the medium was right, that she was being haunted by her biological daughter with unfinished business - she could have sworn that she'd seen her in the window that night... it had completely derailed her and she could have left the conversation there, perhaps not even have had it with the other but she was continuing to talk.
"well, i recognised your face, weirdly. a lot's jumbled but i think i'm suffering with some familiarity curse as more and ore familiar faces are appearing-" cutting herself off realising she was overexplaining herself and making herself look worse, the woman sighed. "-but yeah, it was pretty hard, i guess." she sighed again as her brow sunk. "i just moved here recently, i suppose but it's good to see you so i could, you know, thank you and that..."
"I see a lot of skeptics in here, and most of them walk out feeling like they've been given a new world view." It wasn't hubris — it was a selling point. The idea that any medium or fortune teller wasn't, at least, hamming it up to cut a good deal of cash in tips was preposterous. They gestured for Josette to sit without further ado, offering, "Would you care to elaborate more on your... unique circumstances? It would be helpful to understand what's making your mind — and spirit — restless." The end of their acrylic toyed between their teeth, they stared at the woman for a moment, before letting out a soft guffaw. "Oh, you want to know about spirits? It's clear to me there's something attached to you, that's for sure." It was more of Aurelia's department than their own — they had lost the ability to envision the spirits years prior, but they might be able to conjure something up by way of communication if they lent enough energy and thought into the endeavor. Listening to the ramblings, her dark eyes fell to the ball, and then back to the woman. "I don't need a crystal ball to know that spirits who feel they have... unfinished business will find a way to demand your attention. It seems like yours, on the other hand, is somewhere between the living and the dead. And she's angry with you."
did josette want to welcome that into her life? most likely not but there were things that she couldn't explain. granted, logic was not one of jo's current strong suits (and hadn't been for some time) but another shift was happening and it felt dark. nodding, the woman sat down as instructed in a rushed manner and planted her palms against the other's table. as the other's words came, dread was cast upon her like something was pulling her down from her stomach. "unfinished bus-" eyes widening in a pretrified manner, the brunette swallowed and licked her lips as her mouth began to feel far too dry for her liking. "what does that mean? between? is she out there?" maybe she hadn't lost it as much as she believed as she swore she'd seen her. "i saw her... that night." her words were shaky but low. "there were notes but i fell asleep for some reason." how she had managed to fall asleep in the most critical hour was beyond her but perhaps it was a stress response that needed to be looked at - she had supposedly slept through a murder before and that was something she couldn't explain either. "i don't want her to be angry with me. what i said to her the last time we spoke, it was wrong but i really don't want her to be angry with me. was it because i didn't get there in time?" once josette got going, her mind couldn't stop. "but what is this between? what does it mean?" it was as if she was suddenly desperate for answers that would be oh so unkind towards her.
When the sun went down, the monsters came out to play. Or well, Benny supposed he counted as a monster now too, maybe had always been one, now he was just a monster that bit. And not the sexy kind of biting. His hands were deep in his bomber jacket's pockets, eyes on the horizon as he moved from whatever bar he'd been hiding in back to some spot in an alley where he could sell. He would rather spend the night at Kitty's, since the night smelled so good, but he didn't have a spot on the rooster and he needed the cash.
When someone offered a wave to get his attention, he stopped, frown deep on his face as he tried to recall her. Because he was good with faces, and he was sure he'd remember. Yes, he did recall her. His body slightly rigged at the memory of it. This was a big city, however, people tended to make bad choices, and the drugs couldn't as easily be led back to him. He didn't feel protected by the Weiss family constantly, but at least he could be sure if he fucked up, he was a clog in the system - even if he wanted to be more than just a simple piece of the puzzle. "Do I?" he asked, faking nonchalance. "And what is it I should remember you from?" Best to ignore any and all mistakes, if she'd in fact made one with the drugs he'd sold her.
josette was convinced that the person stood in front of her had been the one that had called emergency services but finding them here of all places... so many people here... it was all so surreal. despite her catastrophic start, the real spiral in her life had been in her late thirties and it had become worse in her forties. she hadn't necessarily thought of going back to him recently but she figured it was due to the money - he was the most unsafe safe bet she'd ever had going but the entire relationship had started on something far more sinister that she couldn't even see due to her warped perception.
"it was two years ago or something... i'd apparently banged my head-" josette would leave the recounting of taking illicit substances out of the equation - it was her attempt at being discreet. "- and you called an ambulance or something." the woman couldn't say that there weren't more times after that she'd ended up in the emergency room but she was trying to be in the mend. the money had fixed everything for a month or two but then old habits had creeped into the fold. "so, thank you."
OPEN STARTER for jasper kang. ( 2 / 4 )
@boneyardstarters
riviera casino, late.
Jasper had been working security at the Riviera for exactly seven days, and already he was tired. It wasn't the hours - those were nothing. It wasn't even the drunks; Vegas drunks were predictable, sloppy, and loud about their sins, no amount of time away could get rid of that. It was the pretending, the uniform, all a part of the hunt. A thousand other things were going on in the underbelly of this city, but Jasper had no choice in the sacrifices he'd make to obtain it. This job wasn't just a paycheck, it was a vantage point, and being watched while you watched back was its own special kind of layer.
Which meant, of course, someone had to make it his problem.
He's was posted near the main floor, neon bleeding into everything, bass from the lounge vibrating through his bones. The disturbance was small at first; too close to a dealer's space and a voice pitched just loud enough to draw eyes. Jasper clocked it immediately, the tension in the shoulders, the off-kilter energy, the way the crowd subtly leaned away. Could've been drunk, could've been so much worse. Either way, it was happening on his shift, which meant he had no choice. He stepped in with a practiced ease, all relaxed posture and professional calm, one hand lifting in a casual, disarming gesture, but ready to escalate if need be.
"Hey," Jasper said, voice smooth, firm. "We're gonna take a little walk. I think you're done for the night."
"what fucking gives you the right?" the woman's voice was already raised after a total of three minutes attempting to humour the stranger. it had probably been the knee jerk reaction that she hadn't been able to muster up in the past - josette felt like her boundaries were being crossed and in her current state, everything just made her feel worse. yes, she was drunk and along with her mental state it had blown everything out of proportion but it felt in proportion to her. it was some kind of fight or flight response that had the woman shuffling on her feet, looking unsteady and distressed. words were ready to spill out of her mouth but as she opened it, a security guard had stepped in front of her.
the words made her blood boil, the crevices in her forehead becoming deeper as she scowled at the other. "what?" scoffing, josette shook her head. "he was the one being inappropriate with me yet i'm the one you're taking out?" no, it wasn't fair but she should have realised this type of commotion would attract all the attention onto her. raising her eyebrows after being told she was done for the night, her eyes widened. "i'm not even that drunk!" there was a certain panic in her voice as she was tightly wound up with pent up emotions constantly threatening to burst over its small, shoddy dam.
@sourhercine / dustin - somewhere where jo is on a bench
"is that actually you?" it was the first thing out of her lips and she felt like it was warranted after recent events. josette leighton knew she was a lost cause but she had been given a chance that was severely misinterpreted. why on earth had she tried to be a blonde and why was someone who looked like her biological offspring at her window? her gaze meeting the other's was taken as an initial point because jo had no proof that he could actually be there too... granted, if the note and 'vision' hadn;t happened, josette would still be living up her cosplay but for now, this was very real and she had nothing else to occupy her (not even stressing about how she had nothing because the amount of money sitting with her was incredible). "you always catch me at a bad time, huh?" a shallow breath was released through the woman's nose. the presence of dustin felt like a figment and perhaps her initial resistance did give off warning signs. "don't let this fool you, i was doing well." blaming everything on her 'note' wasn't far as the wedding fiasco had gone down way before but it was still the thing that worried her the most. "is it you, though?"
ghosts from her past seemed to follow josette leighton around like a bad smell. whilst being rich had hushed them out for a time, once she'd seen her, the facade had quickly crumbled. it had been relieving for her to pretend to be something she wasn't, to briefly bleach her hair in an attempt to separate her old self but she wasn't able to do that with the memories. that's what they were, the guilt haunting her - the reality of the young woman being at her outside window must have been a hallucination because there was no logical explanation for her being alive. perhaps her mind had concocted up the idea to try seek comfort and severely failed. the note along with the sinister presence terrified her.
just as the negative ghosts of her past started to form, her positives seemingly popped up.
walking down the strip as the sun sank into the horizon, the woman looked up and saw an all too familiar face. despite him protesting, she was sure that the other had made that call that fateful night and had never accepted any of the arguments given. nodding, josette planned on saying nothing at all but she just couldn't. "hi, hello." her hand came out to wave awkwardly. "you remember me, right?"
with: @joleighton
where: aurelia's trance
when: anytime in november
Felixa didn't precisely eagerly await customers at their job — most people thought of mall outlets as something of a hoax, with curious tourists being most of the business that tumbled through the double doors. Sometimes, they entertained themselves by embellishing a little bit — after all, the fae was a fortune teller, a sense for the future, but often not the whole picture. Given that she was the only one holding down the fort for the afternoon, there was a sign collecting dust on the desk that read no palm readings today... and someone should have added no convening with the dead, if they had anticipated the next customer to walk in. When the bedraggled woman came through the door, Felixa's deep cherry lips pulled into a smile, and she placed her palms flat on the table in front of her, aglow with a crystal ball that was mostly for show. "Hey. How can I help you today?"
josette was having one of her 'better' days but she'd felt the need to leave her apartment and come here - it showed that she wasn't meant for a life of having money and doing nothing either. ever since she'd lost her career, it had been an unsteadiness in her life that wasn't pleasant for her but she knew that path was gone. if she were to be honest with herself, she'd fucked up within her first year of the job but had steadied herself, so much that she had got offered a head of department position she'd retracted from a couple months later - she couldn't have been that bad at it, right? maybe when she sorted her shit out she'd do something meaningful - maybe a counsellor, voluntary but she was in no shape to do that demonstrated by the way she'd entered. "well, i'm a sceptic but loads of weird shit has happened to me for ages so i guess i can't rule it out." even though she'd established her stance, a real sceptic wouldn't have come in the first place. "can your crystal ball thing tell me if ghosts that haunt you can actually physically manifest because-" josette cut herself off and sighed.
Ira listened to the woman, who was odd. But that didn't mean she didn't deserve help. A lot of people were odd, and were perfectly great people, “Wait- you got this note, then you ..fell asleep?” Ira wondered if that was just her. Perhaps she even had that, narcolepsy, like Azazel had. He remembered hearing that. It apparently got bad this last year, so he had been absent from a lot of most interactions. So he heard, through the gossip. Ira exhaled, “You didn't mean to?” He then questioned, trying to make sure he was asking the right questions, but wouldn't upset the woman. At saying his proposals weren't possible, he wasn't sure where this was going. Maybe there was more than he was equipped to deal with, here. Blinking, Ira still wanted to try, maybe he could learn something he could direct her properly to someone who was better equipped for what he was to learn. Though, he froze, hearing that the person in question was dead. Glancing down, his eyes shifted quickly as he tried to think of the right thing to say.
“I- ah…yeah. That would complicate things a lot.” Both for his being equipped to help, here, and for figuring out how to find someone who could help, with something like this. He wasn't into all that weird supernatural stuff. Even though those rumors of vampires were floating, do to the blood-drained bodies and such. Ira swallowed thickly, listening to Josette continue, “So, you both think she's dead, and still here?” He questioned, carefully. Not exactly his forte, but it was how he was processing it. Though, could it be vampires? No. He didn't think so, there must have been some mistake. Yes. A perfectly rational one! “How- uh. Do you know she died? Did you see…it?" The body, the death happening itself, either answer would suffice. “If she's out there, somewhere, where can you imagine she might be?”
"yeah... i'm mean, it's fuzzy..." something really wasn't sitting right with her. there was no doubt that she'd being distressed by the note so why had she fallen asleep after - had she passed out? things still felt hazy and that was evident from how she was trying to describe it all. this wasn't the first time this had happened. josette leighton had apparently slept through a murder when she had been distressed and intoxicated - perhaps that was another warning indicator that she was doing very poorly or that the circumstances were highly supsicious. the woman had tried to keep it together, had even changed her hair to fit into her dream self but she was far from it and being rich, rich wasn't going to change that.
"no, no." josette shook her head as she was quick to correct the other. "i don't know what i saw, okay but the fact i've slept and still believe it-" warning bells were going off in her own mind but that logic was fighting with the possibility that she was going to be the reason amelia died for the second time. "this is really bad..." a vocalisation left her but it was in such a breathless tone that it was barely legible. "we- well, we all saw it in one way of another... i had something that was it but then it was taken from me." it was getting darker and darker along with her and she could no longer put on the brakes. "she can't be but if she is... she' looks a bit like me-" after her pause to take a breath, the woman was talking faster "- but her face is a bit wider, but we have the same nose, and eyes, i think, early twenties-" was she really doing this? josette knew the truth and this wasn't hope - it was her being unsettled by that note.
"Yeah, Jo... it's Ava," the blonde reminded her with a gentle smile, eye widening with alarm when Josette began to stagger unsteadily on her feet. Barely taking note of the way the older woman thought twice of making physical contact with the hairdresser, she instinctively reached out to steady the other, offering her outstretched arms for support. Though she was a small and seemingly unimposing individual to most, barely over five feet tall, the young Adler had a deceptive amount of strength thanks to years of recreational sports. If Jo needed the extra help walking all the way home (or wherever was safest for her to rest her head that night), Ava would be happy to assist. "Whoa, easy there! You don't wanna get trampled by the crowds on the strip," she advised, moving them both off to an alcove in the foyer of the performance venue. Pale eyebrows scrunching together as Jo elaborated what she meant, Ava couldn't stop herself from cocking her head to the side at the sentiment expressed by her companion. "I don't understand. Is someone following you right now? When did they threaten you?" She wouldn't put it above someone in her hometown to terrorize Jo like that. Still, she was struggling to wrap her mind around the reasoning for something like this, shifting instead to help diffuse the situation. "Hey, I believe you, I promise. But what tipped you off that someone had been in your apartment? Are you okay to go back there tonight?"
"sorry about my DIY job-" the woman gestured towards her hair that was now a dark brown with a hint of red, akin to what she had been before ava had put blonde in it. had she tripped? felt faint? josette furrowed her brow at ava as she steadied her. everything was still eating away at her and money wasn't able to fix that. she had a couple of months of pretend but now felt like she was plunging back into that same darkness - and if someone was targeting her, it was only about to get worse. the girl was dead, she knew this but then she'd had that... vision of her looking into a window and the note had been there; someone had entered her new place but she'd never know who it was or if they spoke the truth. josette shook her head as she tried to keep up with the questions. looking back over her shoulder, the person who she thought she saw wasn't there, could have been anywhere. "no, no one's following me." the more she panicked, the worse her memory got - what had the note said, again? she knew the gist of it but wouldn't be able to repeat it word for word which was bizarre to her as it felt as if the words had been burned into her skull at the time. "decided to leave me a note, didn't they? but it was inside, not in the mail on the floor-" that was most likely still there. "ave-" josette swallowed as she began to tear up. "i'm really scared."
