u n d o n e

RAY CALDERA , JANE FORSTER , & WILL ADLER .

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ROSALIE‌.

rosie smiled softly at his question about the vampires – she might have even laughed if her heart wasn’t feeling so heavy at the moment. gently running her fingers through her hair, rosie fiddled with the ends as she tipped her head from side to side. it wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell ray, she just wasn’t sure if he would find her to be overreacting. 

“it’s the anniversary of his death,” the elder witch barely said her husband’s name anymore, like it was the name that brought her pain specifically. “and my children have a habit of not calling their mother more often. i would have liked to hear from one of them today.” she knew where all of her children were, if she couldn’t find them with a scrying spell, she could certainly find them through instagram. “the vampires have little to do with an old woman’s lamentations, i’m afraid.” 

“shit, that’s right. i swear i can’t cope with the passage of time.” it was always difficult, in situations like these, to come up with something more constructive to say than ‘kids these days’. “sorry, rosie. but hey, the day ain’t over yet. maybe it’s a time-zone thing.” ray didn’t take well to optimism; it felt strange in his mouth. but if he could handle black coffee, he could handle a little bit of positivity. “you feel like talking about it, or you looking for a distraction?”

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CALVIN‌.

“that is exactly why i want it.” calvin’s eyes practically lit up, and he tried not to seem too excited about a bloody walkman. “it’s a rarity. you can’t find these in stores or anywhere else for that matter, not even antique shops. she’s a beauty.” calvin sighed and glanced at his computer screen. “and i want her.”

“that’s rough.” will could relate, in a way, to an appreciation for antiques, though for him it had a lot more to do with a longing for a time before the internet existed and cameras were everywhere. “anything special about it? beyond rarity and age, i mean.”

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hey y’all sorry i’m so slow with replies / the intro i gotta write but i’ll be getting to everything (out of order, probably ??? my bad) asap

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@sylallenby.   –   he caught sight of her coming down the lane, and had to do a double-take. the moment he was sure it was sylvia he had to wonder if he really wanted to see her again or not. it had been a long time – they’d lost touch soon after she was changed, not because he’d had anything against her, but rather because he had places to be that weren’t london, and besides, he was pretty damn sure she’d become some sort of criminal. which was fine by him, really. he was the last person who could judge. that he didn’t know exactly where she’d gone and what she’d done was enough to tip the scales in a meeting’s favour; he walked over. “long time no see. what the hell are you doing in kansas?”

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jane / honey, read.

“‘a woman knows very well that, though a wit sends her his poems, praises her judgment, solicits her criticism, and drinks her tea, this by no means signifies that he respects her opinions, admires her understanding, or will refuse, though the rapier is denied him, to run through the body with his pen.’” she paused for a moment, reaching for a glass of water that wasn’t there; her hand rested on the table where she’d imagined it. it seemed she was often haunted by memories of water, or cigarettes, or coffee, or teacakes. “you know,” she said to honey, to fill the silence, “i think i love her writing. shame i’ve never bothered with it before. i didn't really think it was the sort of thing i was allowed to read, when i was younger. i only read magazines and shakespeare and the occasional jane austen. because of school, you know.”

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ROWAN.·

Rowan brought a hand to his beard, scratching the stubble that he hadn’t bothered to shave off over the past week. “They were selective about their religion,” he answered after a moment, far more interested in her experience than reliving his own. “My family used it as an excuse for a lot of things. They embraced it when it pushed them in the direction they wanted to go in and ignored it when it dictated they do something they didn’t want to.” He shrugged, smiling a bit. “And of course, I’m sure part of it was appeasing their in-laws as well. My grandparents were nasty creatures.” 

“they sound... complicated. i know most families are, mind you, but...” she smiled sheepishly. “oh, god, i don’t know what i’m saying. but selecting beliefs to suit their needs sounds like something my mother used to do. she was a lovely woman, but i was more than grateful when i woke up dead and she wasn’t waiting for me. anyway, here’s to escaping in-laws  –  i’d raise a glass, but i haven’t got one.”

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MIA.

“Oh, I’m sure that at some point or another, some witch, somewhere has tried just about everything. I don’t know how much success they might have had, though.” She shrugged, witches had a lot of time and a lot of imagination to cook up spells like that, but personally, Mia couldn’t really think of a reason to do that, unless it was for revenge. “I guess you can’t really pay the bill, huh… you could come use the computer at my place, if you wanted.” Mia volunteered, shrugging. She made it a point to keep up with technology, she didn’t want to get left behind.

“i read something once about it. it said something along the lines of ‘it’s easier to make someone think they’re a frog than to turn them into one.’ it was from some fantasy novel, though, hardly an actual guide to witchcraft. i’ve never had my hands on a genuine spellbook. or if i did, i never knew it.” jane hummed. “i don’t know. i might just leave it like this. it’s sort of charming. did you want some more wine?”

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CALVIN.

calvin was sitting near the window in the far corner of the cafe, tapping away at his laptop before he adjusted his glasses on his nose. he’s basically in a bid war on ebay for a walkman that he’s had his eyes on for a good two weeks, and well, he’s losing and he hates it. he’s basically pouting as he taps in $100, and $150 is the highest he’s going to be able to go. “damn it.” he sucks his bottom lip between his teeth, tapping his fingers on the coffee table. 

“i don’t get why you even went that high.” will would never understand the sort of people who couldn’t just go to the store and buy a walkman for fifty bucks. or else just keep their music on their phone. “that thing looks older than i am.”

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ROWAN.‌

Rowan nodded, oddly taking comfort in her words. At least there was death to look forward to eventually. He couldn’t help but snicker at her answer. “My siblings always pretended they enjoyed it, but that was just to impress my parents. I honestly don’t think I have one good memory of going. What about you? Was it a big part of your life?”

jane shrugged. “it was a mandatory part of my life. i think even then it annoyed me, but i didn’t know why, and if asked i definitely would have said that i was a believer. i mean, my husband was. and nobody ever asked. it made sense to say that everything made sense, you know? we were busy ignoring poverty and appeasing our in laws  –  we didn’t have time for any objections. were your parents particularly devout?”

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GIDEON‌.

       “  what  i’d  give  to  be  young  again.  ”  gideon  recalls  his  own  adventures  at  that  age  ;  sometime  around  the  renaissance,  surely  involving  lots of  wine  &  maidens  as  if  he  had  stepped  out  of  a  da vinci  painting.  her  question  earns  a  furrowed  brow  and  slight  frown   —  this  is  known  as  gideon’s  thinking  face,  which  isn’t  remotely  as  appealing  as  he  fancies  it  to  be.  “  i  couldn’t  tell  you  the  exact  day  or  what  changed.  just  that  over  time,  i  felt  different.  less  inclined  toward  sentimentality  and eventually  bored  of  it.  then  again,  i  was  never  …  like  you,  i guess.  i  worry  you  might  be  eternally  burdened  with  caring  about  other  people,  how  dreadful.  ”  despite  his  words,  a  faint  smile  curled  around  them.  he’d  expect  nothing  less  of  her  as  it  is.  he  begrudgingly  accepts  the  umbrella  &  braces  himself  for  the  muddied  path  that  awaits  them.  “  dare  i  ask  where  you’d  be  if  you  weren’t  tethered  here  for  eternity  ?  ”

jane raised an eyebrow. “what wouldn’t you give? would you trade your immortality for it? i wonder that, sometimes, about myself. though i suppose i am, by definition, mortal.” she was flattered, if a bit bemused, at his insistence that she would always care about people. jane didn’t want to stop, of course, but everyone seemed to begin tapering off emotionally at the age of about two-hundred, with a few exceptions, and she couldn’t see why she was special enough to escape it. then again, she could feel more or less entirely assured that she’d always be polite. “i just fear i’m going to turn into an old... i guess the best comparison would be to one of those old nuns. you know the type i mean? obsessed with tradition, a bit cruel to anyone who refuses to uphold it, with an unshakeable confidence that it’s for the greater good. but i’m not religious, and so long as i have people like you to keep me company there’s a high chance i’ll escape being senile. uh... and i don’t know. i think i’d be in new york.” she blushed. "sorry. i really rambled for a moment there, didn't i?"

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Would you go against your moral code for money?

he had to think about it for a few beats. “i have, but i have my limits. so i guess that’s a no.” will’s moral code was a great deal more flexible than most, but it hadn’t always been  –  hence the hesitation.

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[ stay ] - Raine / Will

“i’m not a dog,” said will, well aware that he was setting himself up for an argument mired in semantics  –  he was a canine, from time to time, which really didn’t help him. “besides, you’re not gonna have an easy time on your own.”

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[ stare ] stella/ray

the air is full up with something wrong, an energy with a similar consistency to smoke (but there’s no fire, and stella appears alive and well, and ray feels to weary to entertain the possibility that they’re dead, because if death comes with exhaustion then what’s life all been about). he opens his mouth to ask her if they’ve been successful, but before he can get the words out, the window shatters. the glass doesn’t even have the decency to pick a direction  –  it flies wherever it wants, some pieces bouncing off the ceiling. “fuck,” says ray emphatically, staring at stella as if this is all her fault, even as he knows it’s anything but  –  it’s easier to be angry at her than at the unseeable force he’s pretty sure he brought to the party. “what the fuck. did we… survive that?” he goes for the spellbook, which is next to stella. the moment he reaches it, it catches fire. this is not their day.

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[ teach ] again, whoever tickles ur fancy !

“straighten your back,” barked jane. “oh, for god’s– here.” she put a hand on the small of juniper’s back, for once not thinking about how cold her own skin was, and gave it a gentle little nudge, so that it was where she wanted it. “and then… imagine your head is being pulled up by a string.“ she stepped back to admire her handiwork. “thing is i used to skip ballet in favour of a cigarette, more often than not. so i’m really not sure if you’re doing this right. but who really cares?”

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[ pilot ] any of our muses !!

the idea of directing elsie anywhere, even just directing her gaze, seemed akin to directing a current  –  in other words, not something any human should attempt. but, ray reminded himself, he wasn’t human. even so, he was prepared for the worst as he steered elsie to the riverbank. “look, there. that’s what i was talking about. it’s a fucking werewolf, isn’t it?”

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CALLIOPE·.

“thank you.” she smiled softly at him, folded the map neatly in her hands before she shoved it into her purse. she took out of her cellphone and pursed her lips, glancing at the time before she locked the phone and returned it to its hiding place. “are you from faulk hollow? i just moved here — why i have no clue where the library is.” she smiled. 

being unwittingly caught up in conversation wasn’t what he’d planned for, especially not with a vampire, but he didn’t know her from anywhere, so he could hardly complain. “just passing through. where are you from?”

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honesty hour