LILITH

i'm coming up on infrared there is no running that can hide you 'cause I can see in the dark

[claire-walcott]

Dreamwalk || Lilith & Claire

[claire-walcott]

The parents give her nothing more. They talk a little bit about children, Claire says that they’ll do everything in their power to figure out what happened but she doesn’t promise that they’re son will return. She thinks they’ll get bones. A corpse. Ash. But not their son. Just what’s left of him and if it’s morbid, it’s just the way the world works. A world they may not know or choose not to admit they live in until it’s thrust on them, but it’s still their world. 

Claire had learned at a young age just what horrors were out there. She’d grown up with some of them in her home. Monsters weren’t monsters to her. It wasn’t black and white like it was to some people. This was her world and while she was human, she still thought she belonged here. Not just because of her knowledge, but because living in the world long enough, you started to belong. 

Stepping out into the hallway, she makes her way towards room 407, where Lilith had disappeared into. She stops just outside the door, leaning against the wall. There’s a child inside, but no parents and she wonders just where they are. If their life is too busy to come and stay with their child while he’s sick in the hospital. Do they even know what’s going on in this place? Are they even aware that their business could cause them to lose out on a life they’re raising. 

She doesn’t listen in. She just waits. Billie and Killian are off doing what they can, interviewing and establishing first hand knowledge of the place. They’ll regroup at the motel afterwards and then discuss what comes next, once they know what they’re dealing with. 

[lilith-arali]

The ominous creaking of the door signaled its arrival, the boy sucking in a breath next to her enough of a sign that this was what had terrified him. She’d had few expectations of what she might see, not shaded by a child’s imagination and a child’s dreamscape. But even so, the monster that stepped into view was human only in shape, and that shape was something back and shifting. The only thing truly visible were teeth, sharp and wide like a shark’s mouth in a human head.

It slides into the room, it’s attention on the bed next to them and the quiet shape that wasn’t there before. She can’t tell if the whimpering comes from the boy next to her or the ghost of one with his back against the mattress, but it echoes off the wall and the smile in front of her grows wider. She watches dispassionately as it leans over the small figure occupying the bed, back arching and hands out with long, sharp fingers stretched towards its prey. There’s a muffled scream, and the lights flicker around them, the whole room momentarily going black.

When the flick back to life, it’s gone, and so is the boy that they’d come here looking for. And she doesn’t have to guess what happened. The child next to her closed his eyes. It left him with only those screams in his head, no image of whether his roommate was devoured or stolen. It has her sighing in some mild disappointment before she closes her eyes and slips back out of the dream world and into something more like reality.

Her hand pulls back, head tilting to the side to focus on the door behind her. Somehow it doesn’t surprise her to see Claire waiting. "It feeds on fear. Shapeshifter, possibly,” she offers, and maybe that’s something.  “Whether he’s still dead or alive, our friend here didn’t see.”

[claire-walcott]

Dreamwalk || Lilith & Claire

[claire-walcott]

Lilith disappears and Claire listens with half an ear but full alert as the parents talk about their son. No, not feeling ill. Was getting ready to have tonsils removed, spiked a fever. Stayed overnight. All details she’d learned from the police report. Her attention is elsewhere. Mostly on the monsters she can list off the top of her head who are capable of such a thing. There are plenty. Plenty out there who would target something easy like a child. Those that could slip by unnoticed, shut off cameras, etc, narrows it down a bit and she has a few on her short list. 

She’ll leave it up to Lilith to name it. Not because she has to rely on the woman and her powers, but because Claire takes few instructions on her assignments but the one that was given to her by people higher than Ethan was observe. Being the quiet observer. Participate as much as what is necessary, don’t get attached, don’t get involved. Make sure people stay alive, step in to keep them that way if necessary. It leaves a weight on her shoulders that she doesn’t mind. That she had trouble balancing in the beginning, but with a cold detachment from everything, she’s found it to be easier. 

Save someone who can’t save themselves, injuries are warranted, deaths are not. She’s human. She’s human in a house full of hunters, monsters and inhumans. She’s capable of it but some days when she can take a step back and put her lifestyle into perspective, she can almost see the humor in it. 

“Do you have children, agent?” the mother asks her, making Claire’s head tip to the side and a practiced smile come to her lips. 

“A daughter,” she gives with ease. It’s a lie, but it’s easier to get parents to relate and open up when they feel like they’re talking to a kindred spirit. “She’s two.” 

The mother nods, on the verge of tears.”Oh the terrible two’s. Good luck to you.” 

[lilith-arali]

There’s no noticeable shift, at least not to anyone who might happen by the room and chance a glance inside. Just a woman standing over a child, some soft look on her face while her hand rests on the top of his head. Lilith is aware of that reality, but in the space of a breath it becomes a less solid thing than the one she slips into. Inside his head, the dream world his mind wanders through, and its easy for her to take shape there, to witness the wildness of an untamed imagination.

She can feel the presence of guilt, a thing that only makes him stronger and would make it that much simpler to twist his dreams into nightmares and feed off the boy for it. She doesn’t, because with children the guilt is rarely a deserved thing, and her preference is to torment those most worthy of it. But it’s the source of it that draws him in, makes it easier to step through hallways in his head.

The room looks like the one they stand in. A hospital room, even if the walls are peeling like the rot of years has taken hold of them. But the bed is vacant, and it doesn’t take her long to discover why.

She crouches down next to it, fingers tugging the sheet up to reveal the child hiding beneath the mattress. His eyes go wide when he sees her, the breath stalling in his lungs before his gaze flicks to the door. There’s light seeping in from underneath it, but it’s only an ominous thing when shadows slip by, the floor creaking in response to whatever lurks outside it. “Quick,” the boy hisses. “You need to hide. He’s coming.”

She tries not to smile as she does as she’s told. As though she’d ever need to hide in a dream. But she wants to see what he sees, and it has her kneeling to climb under the bed with him. “Who are we hiding from?” she asks, a tone more gentle than any in the Tenebrae have heard from her.

“The bad man,” he whispers back.

[claire-walcott]

Dreamwalk || Lilith & Claire

[claire-walcott]

Claire can tell the moment Lilith grows bored. It’s  not anything she didn’t expect, the woman was more forced when dealing with grieving parents than Claire was. At least Claire could fake it like the best. Lilith could if she put her mind to it, but she doubted it was worth it to h er. She didn’t honestly know what Lilith held dear anymore. Memories, perhaps. Family, though she doubted she had any left who still welcomed her into their circle. 

When she stops at the door and asks what room, Claire glances over at her and waits for the parents to answer. “407,” the wife says, wiping at her face as though there were any tears left for her to cry. “He was in there with another little boy. Thank God that other boy is alright.” It’s  nothing they hadn’t known. Claire took a look at the notes from the FBI case, getting her hands on them easily thanks to Tenebrae resources, and a nice smile in their direction. 

A small nod is the only motion she gives to Lilith to tell her that whatever she has to do, go do it. She knows why the woman was assigned to come along. Something taking kids at night, there are a few culprits, Lilith’s own kind being one of them. But others, night time is her domain. It’s where Lilith could get the most answers and Claire won’t be the one to hold her back. 

Turning back to the parents in front of her, she resumes questioning. “How was your son the last time you saw him? Still feeling ill?” The parents shake their head as Lilith disappears outside the door.

[lilith-arali]

The nod’s enough, assurance that she won’t stop her. Permission maybe, allowance, it doesn’t matter much to her. And if she’s not technically the woman she should be asking it for, it’s not completely ambivalence that has her disregarding it. Claire is more wholly Tenebrae than she’ll ever be, and she knows the games they like to play with their own. They’d all deny it, but it’s all a game in the end, and it’s half of what’s kept her entertained for all these years.

She slips down the hallway, content enough to leave the parents to someone more invested in exorcising the kind of patience required to deal with them. Instead she watches the numbers tick down, feet carrying her to 407. Where one child was stolen from his bed.

There are a number of monsters in the world that might be responsible. And if the FBI or local PD or whatever human authorities they called in like to dismiss the thought, Lilith isn’t completely convinced. They have just as many crimes committed against children as the monsters under the bed, and occasionally she’s been one of them. But children carry less guilt, and she’s never caused the death of one. She simply doubts she’d hesitate on it.

She presses the door open, slipping inside and shutting it quietly behind her. One bed sits empty, its vacancy somehow morbid in the silence. A thing filled only by quiet breathing,  a still form lying beneath his covers. She wonders if he thinks pulling them up over his head will protect him. She doesn’t ask. She just settles fingers over his head and offers a quiet “Sleep, sevgilim.“

[claire-walcott]

Dreamwalk || Lilith & Claire

[claire-walcott]

Lilith follows behind her and there’s a professionalism about the woman that Claire appreciates. She can’t say that she particularly likes the woman, but she can’t say that she dislikes her either. There’s a mysticism about her that Claire’s never bought into. She’s met creatures as old or older and Claire’s never been big on letting age or years under a person’s belt define the type of respect she’ll show them. Lilith had never done anything to earn her disrespect, however, and so Claire’s been content on keeping their interactions professional at all times. What the woman thinks about her doesn’t matter, if Lilith decides to tear the sect apart from the inside out, they won’t see it coming no matter how close they are. 

“These questions may be difficult to answer, but they are routine and they are meant to help find out what happened, so I appreciate your cooperation,” Claire says. The words may seem cold, abrupt, but it’s how she gets the job done. The Gearys in front of her nod their heads, the husband wrapping an arm around his wife. 

“Of course,” the woman says. 

Claire nods. “Has you family made any enemies. Anyone who would want to hurt either of you?” she asks. It’s not a question that’s relevant in their case. The Tenebrae wouldn’t have been given the case if it was simply a matter of a person kidnapping children. That wasn’t their jurisdiction unless that person was a witch using the children for sacrifice or some such. It was a possibility, but Claire didn’t think this fit the MO. 

“No,” the husband says. “No, no one who would go to these lengths. My wife’s non-confrontational and I usually sort out all my problems. There’s no one who would do this.” 

“Any of the medical staff who showed a peculiar interest in your child? Even the smallest detail that seemed out of the ordinary could be helpful.” 

Again, another shake of the head. “No. The staff had been all very helpful.,” this time the wife had answered. “They were so nice to Tommy.”The woman looks up at her with wide eyes. “Please, Miss, where is our son?” 

The smile Claire gives her is one of understanding and comfort, but it’s a practiced thing. One she can plaster on at a moment’s notice and not really mean. Their son is dead. Claire knows it. And if he’s not, he’s suffering. They’ll never see their boy again. It’s not the answer she gives. “We’re going to do everything in our power to be able to answer that question, ma’am.” 

[lilith-arali]

The answers don’t surprise her. They’re routine, but they have little to do with their presence here, more suited to human authorities that are already failing. It isn’t their fault, and she can’t say she cares, but on the whole humanity is content to pull blinders across their eyes and ignore the presence of anything they can’t understand. Or maybe it’s not understanding. Maybe it’s the presence of things older and more powerful that they can’t reconcile with.

She often thinks it must be that one, because when she was new there was more awareness of what lived in shadow. Things like her, vengeful spirits that would make them pay for their sins. She’d been stopped before by knives beneath pillows that left her with only aching claws. Now that almost never happens, and it’s no wonder the Americas are a fertile breeding ground for monsters.

Her attention wanders from the couple trying to hold back tears, though if it were required of her she might try and pay a little more attention. But Claire is better at handling them, when she thinks there’s little about her that’s honest to start. It’s no judgement. Simply observance.

It’s likely a lie to tell them they’ll ever see their child again, but it’s the one they ask to hear and she’s just as disinterested in that. They want reassurances, she can understand it, but they have to know that it’s nothing anyone can promise them and it leaves her almost irritated with the request. It’s just one more inspiration for restless feet to carry her away from their side, attention shifting to open doors, somewhere down the hall a nurse escorting a child by the hand.

She pauses in the doorway of the first room, eying empty beds and ones occupied by small frames. She glances back, attention focusing on Claire instead of the parents, but that has less to do with boredom and something closer to respect. If she tells her to sit and stay then she’ll do as she’s asked.  “Which room was his?”

[claire-walcott]

Dreamwalk || Lilith & Claire

There’s a detachment that comes with this case, the same type of detachment she feels with any job she gets sent on, any mission she reads the file on. This is a job. This is something the Tenebrae does to kill the monsters that shouldn’t be walking this plane. The type of monsters who threaten humanity and if there’s questionable goals when it comes to some of these jobs, Claire doesn’t voice those questions. Ever. Their mission wasn’t to come here and save the missing children. To Claire, that’d be wishful thinking. Rose tinted glasses and the likes. She knows those kids are already dead and that’s where the detachment comes into play. They’re not here to save the kids who were taken, they’re here to save the kids who haven’t been taken yet. 

It should be difficult to see the parents there in one of the hospital’s conference rooms. There’s an FBI agent who’s been talking to them for days now, but nothing new from any of them. The same story. The kid was admitted to the hospital for a routine tonsil removal. Dad fell asleep by the kid’s side and when he woke in the morning, the kid was gone. Right from under his nose this time. The hospital and the FBI couldn’t explain where they were going and the video cameras seemed to cut out at just the right time. 

Lilith and Claire are taking one set of parents while Killian and Billie take another and scour the hospital for anything they could find. Claire can fake it. Probably better than any of them. Lilith would lose interest, Claire already knew that. She eyes the parents in the corner and the fake badges that got them into the hospital come out as she makes her way over, going to stand in front of them and showing the badges to the parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Geary?” she asks, even though she already knows the answer. The looks on their faces tell her everything she needs to know about who they are.

[lilith-arali]

There’s a certain level of indifference on Lilith’s part that can’t be helped. She has no problem doing her job, in whatever capacity that entails, but things like this bore her. She occasionally wonders just how much the Tenebrae would appreciate knowing how much of this she does only for her own amusement, but then she’s never made a secret of it. Her kind aren’t hunters, they simply are. Some unholy vengeance meant for the guilty, and if she hopes for anything on this case it’s that the one responsible is something or someone who’s head she can wander inside and tear apart.

And the indifference stops there. While her emotional response to it is a limited thing, there’s a reason she’s called the Red Mother in the right circles. Sins involving children should be punished more brutally than any others.

Still, she’s not overly anxious to spend her time talking to distraught parents. If it makes her cruel just how little interest she usually has in the victims, it can’t be helped. It’s not in her nature to heal, or comfort. She’s a creature designed for vengeance, and little about that involves softness. It makes her more than willing to take a backseat when Claire leads the way towards them, especially when she at least can remember their names. But then she’s always been good at her job, and beyond that Lilith finds it hard to pin down any solid opinion of her.

The man nods, reaffirming his identity. “Yes. That’s us.” He straightens quickly, eyes widening as he focuses on Claire. Both of their faces reflect that conflict of emotion, a desire for hope crashing brutally against the thought that there’s only bad news waiting on the blonde’s tongue. “Did something happen? Do you have something new?”

“No,” Lilith says, the thought that she’d prefer this conversation over as quickly as possible. “Just some questions.” 

[charlottexhall]

Charlie simply shrugs the topic aside. Samson hadn’t wanted to talk about it with her and if she usually presses for information with others, she knows he wouldn’t bend to her prying. And it seems like a far more lucrative business in being on his good side than his bad. After all, she needs him to cover her back if they’re put on a mission together. And vice versa. Instead, the coffee is more interesting for now than anything that could’ve happened on that phone he had up to his ear. Steaming, dark liquid begins pouring into the pot and the redhead’s grin widens in delight. “Five,” she confesses to her friend proudly, “I made five cups.” They were supposed to all be for her. She’ll share, however.

[lilith-arali]

It’s impossible not to laugh, not with how proud the woman sounds, and perhaps it’s a warning sign that she already sounds overly energetic. The thought of any fae on caffeine sounds like some recipe for disaster. Charlie perhaps to a greater extent, but if she’ll only end up an annoyance to half their housemates, Lilith doubts she’ll find it anything but funny. Though it’s hard enough to irritate her even on her worst days. “Just don’t break anything irreplaceable.”

[lilith-arali]

Justice: A decision they wish they could do over

It’s a lie to say Lilith regrets joining the Tenebrae. She doesn’t truly regret anything, or at least not in any real sense of the word. But if she’d known just how massive the rift was that opened between her and her sisters then perhaps her own amusement wouldn’t have been enough to make her sign their contracts. Or at least she’d have found better words to make them understand. Instead she’s isolated herself, and if she’s too stubborn to think she made a bad call, it’s not enough to keep her from missing her family.

[gale-sullivan-blog]

Gale can’t help but chuckle at that. If that’s a jab at her and how Gale spends her past time, it’s nothing she really takes offense to. Gale glances down at the book and gingerly turns the pages until she finds the page she had original left off on. “Well there’s that and it never hurts to get a refresher course every now and then. Not that I’m forgetting because that’s definitely not the case.” she quickly tacks on with a quiet laugh. “I dunno, I just like this stuff.” It made her feel more connected to her craft and the magic coursing beneath her veins. 

[lilith-arali]

”Fair enough.” There’s a small shrug of her shoulders, leaning back to devote more of her attention tot he cup of coffee in hand. Truthfully she has little room to talk when this is the most exciting part of her day today. Which is no slight against the woman in front of her. She’s always been prone to restlessness.  “I supposed if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here.” 

[samsonxgray]

She laughs and he smiles back at her. The joke’s a lame one, he knows it. And she asks if he knows any filthier ones. He does. Ones he’s heard over the years, most that his brother has told him and that has his smile faltering. He nods his head. “I do.” He says and leans against the counter, purposely not telling her any of them. “But those are private.” 

[lilith-arali]

Her nose wrinkles at the answer, and for a moment there’s a comment hovering on her tongue. His brother would’ve told her one. She imagines pointing it out would dampen the mood considerably. Though there’s some curiosity there just what his response would be, if it would make that flare of guilt burn brighter. Instead she shrugs, leaning back with coffee in hand. “I don’t see anyone else here, do you?”

[charlottexhall]

“Sounded it,” Charlie calls out to her companion, back flat as she stretches out to balance her chin atop the back of her hands to watch the pot of coffee brew. And it fills the kitchen with the sweet aroma of the flavor it promises. She can feel her mouth water. Humans had good taste sometimes. And if she’s ever allowed home, relinquished from her duties as Tenebrae agen, she’ll bring her sisters back a coffee maker so that they could experience the treat too. And then the castle would be filled with a hundred little bouncing faeries, and the image makes her smile wider. “Apparently whoever it is had nothing and they need to report in if they hear anything,” she informs Lilith of the few details and it’s only after the words are out of her mouth she wonders if Samson would be angry with her.

[lilith-arali]

She situates herself next to her, lower back against the counter and elbows resting against its surface while the coffee brews. "Stop it. You’re making me curious and I’m too lazy for a mystery right now.” Which isn’t completely true. Chances are it’s someone about a mission, which doesn’t interest her unless it’s one she’s sent on. The possibility that it’s about a missing brother is only marginally more interesting to her, because she was never privy to the reason for his disappearance. It’s a curiosity, but not one that keeps her up at night. She doesn’t know that the same could be said about Samson. “Is it almost done? How many cups did you make?”

[gale-sullivan-blog]

There’s a part of Gale’s that’s disappointed, but it’s nothing she faults Lilith for. It was just an exciting prospect, being able to watch someone read and directly translate a dead language without need of the notes earlier in the chapter. “Aww, well that’s okay.” Gale assures her, even though she doubted that the woman need it. Instead she just pulls the book back in and closes it up with a quiet laugh. “I guess that’s true. I mean, why read when you can watch whenever’s a person’s dreaming of.” There’s a joke about not reading subtitles ,but she can’t quite think of it now. “So what have you been up to lately?”

[lilith-arali]

“It’s rarely just watching.” And if the words are faintly ominous, it doesn’t occur to her to be concerned by it. Her nature is to bring nightmares, torment, and occasionally death. There’s no doubt in her mind that all of them deserve it. It’s what the pressures of their guilt demands. “Nothing as exciting as old languages.” She nods her head at the book, though she doesn’t argue when she pulls it back. “What’s it for? Curiosity’s sake?”

[samsonxgray]

He knows what she is. He knows her nature and he knows how she operates. It still doesn’t keep the slight smile from crossing his features. Not only because his brother used to have a few things to say about the banter between them, but because he thought she was pretty. And he thought she was deceitful. And that made her one of the most dangerous things in this house, as far as he was concerned. “A guy walks into a bar with his golden retriever. The bartenders tells him he’s sorry, he can’t help anyone with dogs. The man tells the bartender it’s his seeing eye dog and the bartender lets him stay. Another man walks into the same bar with a chihuahua and the bartender tells him he’s sorry, he can’t help anyone with dogs. The man with the golden retriever tells the man with the chihuahua to say it’s a seeing eye dog so he can get served, so the man with the chihuahua tries again. The bartender tells him he’s sorry, he can’t help anyone with dogs and the man with the chihuahua says it’s his seeing eye dog. The bartender says that he’s never seen a Chihuahua as a seeing eye dog. The guy says, ‘they gave me a chihuahua?’”

[lilith-arali]

It’s a joke she’s heard before, but most of them are. It rarely keeps her from laughing and this time’s no exception, light and honest as most of hers are. There’s no reason to fake it unless she wants something, and this time she doesn’t. Except perhaps a glimpse inside his head, but she’s always been good about following Tenebrae guidelines. And if the temptation there, it’s not an overwhelming thing. “Samson told a joke. I’m impressed.” The words are teasing, the laughter fading into a smile as she settles her chin on her hand. “Do you know any filthier ones?"

[samsonxgray]

He smirks, glancing away from her as she asks the question. There’s no way to get himself out of it and he’s aware enough of it that he doesn’t try. So he sips his coffee instead and lifts his chin at her. “How’s your day going?” he asks, diverting the attention elsewhere if she’ll allow it. His own morning could have been better, but that wasn’t anything new. That was something he could say about every morning for the past six months now. 

[lilith-arali]

It doesn’t surprise her when he dodges the question, but she doesn’t comment on it either. Less to do with the thought of tempering her flirtatious nature than because it wouldn’t be wholly true. Her interest in him stems greatly from how much guilt radiates off him, for sins she could easily guess at if she ever climbed inside his dreams at night. Something firmly against policy, though it serves to keep the amused smirk on her lips as she moves to settle across from him, fingers curling around the coffee cup. “Uneventful and unremarkable. Entertain me.”

[gale-sullivan-blog]

Before she came here she had never met an Al Basti so there was always a bit of awe to be had whenever Gale saw Lilith. And Lilith’s statement just has Gale’s eyes lighting up in fascination. “Yeah? Reliving the old days?” Gale starts, cupping her chin in her free hand as though she were some child getting ready for a story and in reality she was probably just that to Lilith. Nothing but a mortal child with magic at her disposal. Gale turns the page so she can find a page with the cuneiform script with no translation. “Can you still read it?” she asks curiously.

[lilith-arali]

The smile doesn’t fade, though she almost regrets that she can’t offer her more. She shakes her head, adopting a similar position across from her with chin in hand. “Doubtful. I didn’t know much of it to start.” There’s little shame in the words, that if she’d gathered bits and pieces it was the Tenebrae that had taught her to read. No one expected hurricanes to read. She didn’t see much of a difference. “I had little use for it then. What need have I for symbols when walking dreams?”

[johnny-xenakis]

It’s Johnny’s turn to laugh at her comment, but before he can tell her he doesn’t mind a bit of trouble she’s moved past it, and he nods easily at her offer; it wasn’t as if he’d been holding out for anything in particular, but rather waiting to see what she would suggest. And it’s a question he’d have wanted answered, anyways. “You got yourself a deal.” He stands and extends a hand to shake. “Johnny Xenakis. Gonna have to hold up your end of the bargain before I go pouring you any coffee, though.”

[lilith-arali]

She nods in return, some sign of a bargain struck, and she takes his hand easily when he offers it. The name she commits to memory, and regardless of how short his lifespan might be, she’s always been decent with names. Less so with attachment to those carrying them. “Lilith Arali of the Al Basti. Occasionally Al Kardai, or the Red Mother. Depending on who you ask.” Truthfully she’ll be surprised if he knows what any of it means. As far as she knows she’s the only one of her sisters to join the Tenebrae, or even wander across the ocean for that matter.

[charlottexhall]

Charlie’s left giggling as Lilith stalks into the kitchen after her, painted cardboard fire at her heels, because the redhead knows the woman isn’t truly angry with her. Especially when the scent of hot coffee fills the air with an addictive aroma. The questions make her shrugs as she leans forward, arms folding atop the counter and chin resting on her forearms as she watches the dark liquid brew before her eyes. “No idea. Probably making a secret phone call. And no idea,” she answers with honesty, her tone disinterested when she’s minutes away from a fresh pot of coffee.

[lilith-arali]

“Figures.” She scoffs at the answer, though it’s no more serious than anything else that’s left her lips. As sects go, this one is fairly in order, though somedays that only serves to bore her. France was more exciting. But the redhead in front of her always promises entertainment, and it won’t bother her either way if that’s a thing that involves destruction. It still puts some glint in her eye, stretching up to open the cupboard and fetch them both mugs. “Well then, I hope that secret phone call is very important.”

[charlottexhall]

Charlie’s ear might twitch in recognition of the door opening and the voice that greets her is probably the most familiar tone to her. She had taken to many conversations with Lilith, if only because she thinks the woman has more of a sense of humor than most of the people here. Except Gale. But, sometimes, Charlie’s more concerned with protecting Gale’s ears and there’s not a worry for something like Lilith. Something more eternal. Poking her head around the doorway she grins widely at the woman, eyes bunching until she can’t see as she shouts “Meeeeee!” at her. The last place she had called home hid the coffee machine from her, but no one had stowed the device away yet in this house. And she’s already energizes by the fumes.

[lilith-arali]

The flash of red hair provides a more immediate answer, but the yell that follows has her stalling in her footsteps, some look of mock horror on her face. Though if anything she feels the opposite, the fae in front of her ranking among her favorite people in the house, if not firmly holding the number one position. And it’s likely because she reminds her too much of one of her sisters, a thought that only aches on hr bad days.  "Oh no, no, no. Who let you?” She shakes her head before she starts stalking towards her, still shaking her head.  “Where’s Ethan? Where’s Samson? Who's supposed to be running this place?”