Flashback: Just a few days before Pan’s murder
Location: Aušrinė's disgustingly opulent penthouse
It must be especially startling for their colleagues, Aušrinė realised, to see their precious little star of eternal brightness and innocence have their heart seemingly lacerated, twisted into knots over a mere disagreement with Pan. That was the extent Aušrinė had elaborated when asked, kindly, by the goddesses at Vamp when they were seen anxiously dabbing eyeshadow and glitter around their tear stricken, half swollen eyes a couple of nights ago. Erzulie especially, with her keen maternal instincts and protectiveness turbocharged towards her star performer, seemed weary of Aušrinė's rare, low-spirited mood. It’s nothing, it’s really more about me than him. Aušrinė wished they had said then, as with every passing day they kept to themselves, the harder it became to convince the goddesses otherwise. The truth is, Pan’s only fault in this disagreement had been his honesty. But he had the reputation of being as good at breaking hearts as he was at weaving lyrics, and he’s moved on from no small amount of pretty immortals from across Pantheons. Still, it seemed unthinkable to most that Aušrinė would ever become one of those bodies the nature god left teary eyed in his wake. The restraint shown by Erzulie and Megaera in not immediately bringing Pan in for a confrontation was proof of that.
Wanting to relieve the tension sooner rather than later, Aušrinė decided to confide. They approached the fury sister first, for Meg seemed the least likely to coddle them for the sake of it. It often seemed to Aušrinė that, to other deities, they were deemed to possess some kind of immutable innocence. However, they knew that they’ve been changing. At first all bright-eyed and restless upon their descent with a longing to experience humanity, they’ve eventually had to start acknowledging their ignorance, that there’s a depth to pain and suffering they will never know. Aušrinė noted to Meg that there were deeper things that they’ve been mulling over, while extending an invitation to their apartment (a rather understated way to describe their residence), knowing that even without the lure of fancy pools Meg would immediately jump to their support.
Their destination was not too far from Vamp, just outside the area where the most affluent among New Orleaners owned their luxurious homes. A bright and carpeted elevator swiftly took Aušrinė and Meg up a couple dozen floors, where they exited and then called a private elevator, this one with more industrial furnishing and had holographic jellyfish floating in and out of the walls. The door of the lift opened directly to a pristine gardened space like those in luxury resorts, a wide, clear cut and spotlighted stone path leading to sliding glass doors on both sides, one which led to the cloak room connected to the main hosting area of the apartment. Though the lights were off, the apartment was clearly visible under the New Orleans cityscape and basked faintly in the blue glow of Aušrinė's custom aquarium. Like a nexus of energy it filled the large, lavishly furnished space with a somewhat alien ambience, while above head ornate designs inspired by celestial imageries reflected light that glimmered in the low brightness. As Aušrinė has not had guests or indulged in the indoor life for a couple of weeks, the main floor of the multi-storied penthouse seemed at a glance inhabited, and had an almost sterile feel to it as if it was an empty event hall in a high end hotel.
“The sound system just got upgraded a week or so ago,” Aušrinė said, unprompted as they unloaded themself and fiddled with a controller pad anchored on the wall next to the cloak room and powder room. The space is suddenly flooded with a warm purple light, now the apartment suddenly has a cinematic quality to it, and faintly, in what felt like was the furthest end of the apartment to where they were standing, came the sound of splashing waves and seagulls, so realistic if could have been confused for a hallucination. “Got anywhere you’d like to be, Meg? Any atmosphere you crave?” Aušrinė asked with amusement, and hoped the relief was apparent enough on their face for Meg to see. Thank you for being here, Meg. I don’t need to tell you to make the place yours.
