(s)laughter

"The world was his to bend. His to burn." Rafael. Drifter. 24. (510.)

[sunsearchers-blog]

miriamashford:

     Miriam rested her head against his chest. “Waiting,” she said in answer, content and holding perfectly still.The time that had gone by was spent idly re-knowing Verth Hollow. She wouldn’t risk leaving to find him for fear of missing her mark, so she stayed in the town, trusting that he would track her down no matter how tender their bond had become. “My brother returned to this place…he’s a detective.” Miriam had become her brother’s official stalker, but she had yet to approach him again after the first time. Those facts set off a curiosity as she remembered what interacting with the locals had brought to her attention.

      “Do you remember there being so many non-humans around this place?”  

A detective.

Considering what they did to stay alive – and Miriam not looking a day older than what she’d been when he’d turned her, it.. might just become a problem. Perhaps selfishly, he found he didn’t want to immediately bring up all the reasons reaching out to her brother might go wrong. He didn’t doubt that she’d already gone over them herself, either way.

“There were a few, but.. not like this.”

The place had felt a little off last time, too, but it seemed like it was soaked through now, left to wallow in the strange energy that thrummed right beneath the surface.

Finally, he let her go, though he still kept himself close, one hand on her shoulder.

“Just that bar you left me the mark in alone had more than I was expecting.” Besides the two obvious ones, he’d caught the scent of other creatures, too, some stranger than others.

“I haven’t introduced myself to anyone, but..” He’d already caught the scent of a werewolf, and no doubt they might have caught the scent of him, too.

[sunsearchers-blog]

miriamashford:

      Hurt her? Physically no, but the thing that had been between them, the tether between their damned souls had been lost for a second– ruptured in the in-between of being and not. “No.” Miriam studied him, then she was a breath width away from him without thinking about it. “When I was…when they dropped me in this place, I couldn’t feel you. You had been ripped away from me and then I hit the ground near the forest and you were there again. Just barely.” It was the first time she’d felt such an agonizing emptiness. “What did they do to you?”

“Nothing,” he said, one hand reaching out to touch; curling an errant lock of dark hair around his finger before his palm lay against her shoulder, cold but present. “I threatened a few limbs before they told me where they’d sent you.” There was no heartbeat to listen to when he finally pulled her close, chin atop the crown of her head, but he had long-since grown used to the comforting familiarity of physical presence – the way there was a weight to her limbs, even if he wasn’t holding her up; the way she was there, undeniable and by his side.

“.. So," he began, and he knew she could hear the smile, even if she couldn't see it, "what’ve you been up to?”

[sunsearchers-blog]

miriamashford:

     This room had once been under her control, the music and dancing, the crowds’ emotions– they had all been ruled by her.  She was the monarch, the center of everyone and the maestro. Now it was an empty room, abandoned and in part forgotten.

      Ten years and so much had changed in the place she’d spent the majority of her human years in and yet none struck a chord until she’d found this husk of a place. The mirrors were still up, some broken, reflecting in fragments, and she had seen the backrooms, emptied and in disrepair, but in her mind, the memories played out with clarity. She saw the beams of light, millions of them moving all at once in every direction, she heard the bass of the music, the screams of her fans, and then she felt the weight atop her head.  

     She blinked.  Miriam’s human memories slipped away and it fell quiet, the lights stopped dancing, the room was once again, empty save her and… 

      His footsteps, purposefully making sound and then her name parted from him. Had she still had a beating heart, perhaps it would have paused in the moment it took for her to move and for her gaze to land on him. “I didn’t expect to be back here so soon.” And already, so much had changed, she wondered what it was like seeing whole cities change, countries, even, not just hometowns. It made her feel, many things, excitement the smallest among them.

The witches had neglected to give him details of what they’d done, but he had felt it snap – one split second, before it returned to him, fraying at the edges. Silk had turned to twine, no longer as strong or as stabile – but here she was, in front of him, and he could feel it mending.

(Centuries had passed since the heart in his chest ceased beating, and here it was, in front of him.)

“Neither did I,” he said, taking a step closer – and then another one; slowly, like he was afraid of the illusion falling apart, Miriam nowhere to be found. There were a lot of things he wanted to ask her, but in the end, one won out.

“.. They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

[akanicotortorella-deactivated20]

Consider a shirt. Or don’t. It’s a good vibe for you.

[sunsearchers-blog]

declanxfavreu:

     “No problem.” Declan nodded, “yeah, that’s fine. Hope you find your friend.” The warning of ‘don’t be a bother to her’ went unspoken, Declan figuring the young man wouldn’t be too much of a hassle. Still, he kept his eyes on the other as he went around picking up empty bottles and cups. 

“So do I.” 

He’d ask the bartender a couple of questions, if only perfunctory ones – he knew where Miriam would have left her message; all he’d have to do was decode it.

Rafael gave Declan a polite nod, mimicking the other man’s behaviour, and then he headed for the witch by the bar, the vampire towering over the rest of the patrons.

[sunsearchers-blog]

LOCATION: the now-derelict Echo  WITH: @miriamashford

She’d left him a riddle, back at the Butcher’s Arms. 

“At end of the rope, the Hangman waits till dawn.”

It should have been an obvious place to look from the start, when he thought about it – Echo, the club she’d been playing back before he turned her. It had shut down, from the looks of it, the old neon sign nowhere to be seen, its entrances boarded up.

From the looks of it, though, someone had broken in before him – the wire-fence gate in the back-alley was already open, no board covering up the back entrance. 

Inside, her old haunt was quiet, a ghost of its former glory. It had been vibrant, once, though that was hard to believe, looking at it now. Old posters lined the walls, their dates long-since passed, years back. He made certain his steps were quiet rather than silent as he headed for what had been the club proper – and what greeted him was the now-abandoned maze of mirrors; never-ending reflections looking back at him as he walked through it to get to the dance floor, where more mirrors lined the walls.

His mirror-selves were the only thing greeting him, and then–

“Miriam.”

[sunsearchers-blog]

dreamiingdevil:

Eli never meant dinner literally, but after all, it sounded much easier than prey in a public setting at the very least. Regardless they had no intention to explain. “Tequila,”

Rafael caught the gaze of the bartender. Rum and a glass of tequila, thanks – that was it, and he was back to considering his options, both in regards to the stranger, and to Miriam’s whereabouts. They didn’t seem particularly interested in conversation, but he made a note of their scent – the way it seemed.. human, but almost artificially so. Uncanny, in a way.

Their glasses were set down in front of them, and he glanced at his company,. “Salud,” he said, downing his rum in one go.

[sunsearchers-blog]

declanxfavreu:

     Declan put out his cigarette before he entered after the other, closing and securing the door behind them. “Declan. Nice to meet you. Don’t worry ‘bout it. You can buy your own drink at the bar.” He followed the man’s gaze to his bartender. “She’ll probably know a little more about your friend, if you’d like to ask her.” 

       “How long you in town for?” 

At Declan’s comment, he studied the witch by the bar a little closer, wondering what the arrangement was. If either of them knew – or if Verth Hollow was a gathering of coincidences, unraveling thread by thread. “Don’t know yet,” he said, his attention turned back to Declan. “Didn’t really have a plan besides finding Miriam.” It was true: he’d been alive for long enough to know how to think tactics, but she was his soft spot; her unexpected absence a dead man’s switch set to impulse.

“Figure I’ll be here for a while.”

“Depends on what’s going on with her.” 

She’d had family in Verth Hollow. Last he’d heard of her brother, the man had moved back to the town, thinking himself the only remaining Ashford. Maybe Miriam had found him. That might change things.

“Thanks. For letting me in.” And everything else.

“– ‘f you don’t mind, I’ll go chat with the bartender; see what she knows.”

[sunsearchers-blog]

declanxfavreu:

     You couldn’t be a man like him in a town like this and not know of some of its history. The thing that happened to the Ashford’s place years ago was all over the local paper, a main stage tragedy playing out in every conversation to this day. The thing about it– the thing that stuck out to Declan– was how similar the girl in the picture he’d held out looked to the girl in picture they’d used in the paper. “She was on her own. Came in alone, left alone. Miriam…is that…?” His brows furrowed center, his brain trying to work some puzzle out and then the back door opened. Light and a giggling couple spilled into the alleyway. Declan sighed and then the couple spotted the pair of them and froze. “Hey! That’s not a door for public use.” He stepped towards them and they yelped, starting to run towards the mouth of the alley, heels clacking against the asphalt. 

     With the interruption dealt with, he turned back to the other. “You might as well come in.”

“.. Thanks.” He was hoping the brief commotion had made the man forget the question he’d been about to ask, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t be that lucky. “I’m Rafael,” he said, taking a step towards the backdoor.

Inside, there was a decently sized crowd, but unlike his usual haunts, there was no neon to be found – just a warmly lit room, the music nowhere near drowning out the conversations. Behind the bar, there was a dark-haired woman tapping beer, and he could smell it as soon as he focused on her: witch. Had he stumbled onto a safehouse of some sort? Or a cross-species den?

“It’s a nice place,” he said, looking at the other out of the corner of his eye. “–– ‘S there a cover charge? I’ll pay. Seems only fair.”

[sunsearchers-blog]

dreamiingdevil:

Eli was always so overwhelmingly observant, dark eyes glossing over the uneventful fight taking place only a couple of feet away. If it had lasted longer it might’ve held their interest but there wasn’t much in an unmatched bar fight to desire. It completely sucked the fun out of terrifying people in dark allies or in the forest but that was besides the point. 

“I don’t believe date is the proper word maybe dinner, but a drink will do.” It was a far too casual statement for such a violent topic but for once surrounded by humans and creatures alike Eli did not seem too phased to speak their own mind.

Dinner?

They didn’t smell like a run-of-the-mill people eater. Smelled human, more or less, but that was the point of a guise, wasn’t it?

“What will you have, then?”

[sunsearchers-blog]

declanxfavreu:

     The other man was tall and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he was addressed by the stranger but it passed and Declan moved again. He had faced worse than this kid, he was sure of it. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and put the flame to the tip of his cigarette. “Not back here, no.” He started but then the other was pulling a picture out and Declan squinted to make it out in the back alley’s light. “Yeah. I’ve seen her. Came in once a couple days ago. What do you want with her?” The nephilim eyed the owner of the picture suspiciously, but from the looks of it they were good friends.

Miriam had been there? It felt odd, the relief washing over him. Out of place, in a way. Maybe he ought to have expected it. “She’s a friend of mine,” Rafael said, wondering about the man in front of him; who he was, what a creature like that was doing in a town like this. If he even knew. “Got in some trouble back home. Figured I’d go looking for her. Told me she had some family in the area, so.. Here I am.”

“Relieved to hear she's been seen, to say the least.” If she had died, he would have felt it – but the man didn’t know that, and the brief moment of complete disconnect had been torturous enough. But if Miriam had been there.. it meant there was something he had to check.

“.. Did she come here with someone? -- Sorry, just.. wanna know if she’s alright, or if she’s out there on her own.” Contrary to often popular belief, Miriam could handle herself just fine – though a majority of their meals tended to think otherwise. If she'd come here on her own, it meant there was a message for him inside – hell, even if she'd been in the company of someone, there might be one.

[sunsearchers-blog]

declanxfavreu:

     “This isn’t an entrance.” Declan said in a way that indicated this was not the first, nor the last time he would have to point that out. He had just thrown the trash out and decided to take a quick smoke break before returning to work. He looked towards his usual spot, a chair near the back door, longingly and then to the person he was addressing. “I can show you to the front, if you would like.”

“No, that’s alright,” Rafael said, “I was wondering if you’d seen someone.” He’d been trying – and failing – to not look ‘suspicious as fuck’, as Miriam had put it once when pressed. It was a harder game than it looked like, considering he was really only out after sundown. From the pocket of his jacket he produced a polaroid picture of the two of them: Rafael and Miriam, her arm stretched like she was the one taking the photo, Rafael crouching to be part of it. Behind them was a swirl of neon, dancing bodies lost in the dark.

“She’s about yea high,” he said, gesturing with his left hand. “Name’s Miriam.”

[sunsearchers-blog]

dreamiingdevil:

Eli grimaced at the glass in hand, setting the cheap alcohol down in disappointment. Over the years they’d grown a liking to expensive tequilas and stronger vodkas that were given names most people couldn’t pronounce, unfortunately they feared that kind of alcohol wouldn’t be found here. “Well that’s… unfortunate. Is there anything better to drink around here?” Worth my time, would’ve been the words to use but for once they chose them a lot more carefully.

He was at the dive bar to look for Miriam, but it hadn’t yielded much of anything until a man seated at the edge of a booth decided to pick a fight. The man landed a punch that made Rafael stagger backward, blood seeping from his nose, and Rafael had decided to play along. It had landed them here, in the span of moments: the man on the ground, cradling his face, his friends thinking better of trying to enact some ill-gotten revenge.

Rafael resisted the urge to lick the man’s blood from his knuckles. He never used his undead strength in situations like these – it removed the challenge of it. The fun. It didn’t seem like it was unusual for the dive bar; the staff didn’t bat an eye as Rafael approached the bar for a drink, to the immediate discomfort of a clean-shaven man in the process of chatting up the only other occupant by the bar. As Rafael ordered his drink ( “Rum, please, and if you got a rag I could borrow?” ) the man left, leaving only him and the stranger.

“Sorry if I scared away your date,” he said, smiling at them. “Get you a drink to make up for it?”

[80sgod-deactivated20170302]

dont ever talk to me or my 47 destructive tendencies again