Night's Omen

Prompt List

• New Year's Eve
• Tarot
• Anger
• Soul
• Devil
• Thunder
• Masquerade
• Shapeshifter
• Frustration
• Nightmare

  It was 9:30 at night and Bambi stumbled out of her cab and to the door of Blue Martini, tugging the dress she wore down against her tanned thighs to shield against the cold New York City air. The fabric was sequined and scratchy to her skin, but she was already half a bottle of champagne in, so the only thing that she was pressed about was the fact that the line was long enough she'd get cold waiting. She hadn't brought a jacket, it would have ruined the outfit.

Once she got inside, she marveled at both how packed the bar was, but also how HOT it was. She was glad that she had elected to keep it "human" for the holiday; she couldn't imagine how sweltering the bars loaded down with shapeshifters were right about then. It was like they thought the body heat they output wouldn't give them away, but who was she to judge about hiding in plain sight? She was a multi-gifted human wearing the masque of a twenty-something foreign college cutie, come to study abroad for a semester (or several -- Bambi hadn't gone to a class in ages) with her best friend Reese. Reese, who took an apprenticeship with one of the most powerful magic users she'd known who wasn't a natural Witch. Dash hadn't directly tried to recruit her, but Reese gave her the sales pitch. Unfortunately, working under Dash meant also working within his rules, and Bambi wasn't one for boundaries. That much was obvious as she held a round, white pill pinched between her sparkling gold manicured nails, studying the print on it with hungry eyes.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't eat things you find on the ground?"

Bambi nearly dropped the pill as she whipped her head around, sending her curly mane of blonde hair springing and giving her the appearance of being far more drunk than she actually was. With a gesture, she snapped, and the pill vanished. "Must be magic," she said with a grin, holding her palm open to show the pill was gone. In truth, she'd rolled it under her thumb nail, but it was hard to see the small dot under all of the changing lights in the bar.

The man who had addressed her stared at her critically for a second, like he was strongly debating exactly how much of an asshole he wanted to be, and then smiled. "Alright," he said, setting his beer down on the bar with a clunk. "I'll bite. But for your next trick, please don't drop that roofie into my drink."

Bambi's smile froze on her face and she looked down at her hand instinctively. She used her forefinger from her other hand to lift the pill from the curve of her thumb where print-meets-nail and brought the pill up for a better look. Not to be unhelpful, the man held his phone out with the flashlight on for her to get a better look. "So it seems this is definitely a roofie," she concluded, brows raised. She set the pill down on the bar, and without any warning, used the side of his bulky phone case as a pestle and smashed the living shit out of the pill. It turned to dust instantly, and she swept it off the counter with her hand. "Guess I'll have to rely on my charming personality then, huh?"

The man nodded a little at her inviting herself into his space, inwardly admitting he deserved that. He took the phone back as she offered it, and signaled the bar tender for another drink and "whatever the lady will have" which as it turns out was an extra dirty martini with extra olives - that she drank like a glass of water. The bartender raised an eyebrow as she set the martini glass down only just after she'd been handed it, but when he went to put his hand up for another, she gently pushed his hand down.

"I'm an expensive drunk, so while I appreciate the gesture, you will go broke if you insist on always buying. I'll get the next round," she informed him. The second martini she drank more slowly, and by the time the third had come around, they were in such engaged conversation that it was mostly forgotten about.

"So, Bambi," he said, turning fully on the stool to face her. "Tell me, do you know any more magic tricks?"

"Well, it so happens I do," she admitted, batting her lashes in fake humility with a hand to her chest. "I can see your future - but it requires a little effort on your part."

Leon, as she now knew his name to be, pretended to look shocked, although inwardly he felt his stomach knot by habit. He reminded himself that this girl's idea of magic was hiding drugs under her long almond-shaped manicure, and so to the benefit of the alcohol in his system, he talked his nerves off as unnecessary and pushed forward for more information. "Oh? What do I have to do? Say magic words?" In the background, people counted at the top of their lungs. The ball was dropping on Times Square.

"No, of course not," Bambi said with a laugh - like there was actually a right answer. "You just have to kiss me." She smiled. "Happy New Year," she added, just as the bar erupted with confetti and screaming. The funny thing, Bambi thought, amidst being lip-locked with this handsome stranger, was that Bambi actually could 'see' into people through physical contact. It just didn't always work - in fact, it hardly ever worked. It was one of her more easily ignored abilities because of how unreliable it was.

"So what's in my future?" he asked, pulling away from her  - but only partially.

Bambi scooped her warm martini up between two fingers and tossed it back, then set it on the counter pointedly as she looked at him. "You're going to start the year with a bang, that's for sure," she said sagely.

Thirty minutes later, Bambi was straddling Leon in his posh hotel room, working at his belt buckle while the sequined dress lay in a pool on the floor at his feet. He stopped kissing her neck briefly for her to get her own turn, but the moment she locked lips with him, something hit her. Actually, it grabbed her - she felt like he'd begun to choke her, but when she threw her hands up frantically to remove his, she found that they weren't on her neck. In fact, they were at her arms, trying to shove her off of him - which he succeeded in doing, causing her to hit the floor by the edge of the bed and roll away from him, her own hands now firmly at her throat.

It took a moment for everything to stop hurting, for her to feel like she wasn't choking on - she couldn't even describe it, really. It was like a black ichor, not liquid, not solid, yet somehow both. She coughed, hard, a full deep chest cough, the sobriety scared right back into her. What the fuck had she just seen? What the fuck was that? Whatever it was, it tried to - to JUMP into her, through him - and she was not having a single ounce of that bullshit. She grabbed her dress as soon as she could breathe again, and much to her dismay he was there on the floor on his knees trying to touch her again (presumably to help her) but she jerked back.

"Don't TOUCH me!" she shouted. "I will NOT experience that twice." She was physically unimposing, but her voice was fully in command, and even as she backed away from him, she maintained eye contact, as though she were waiting for him to leap forward at her. She finally felt like she had put enough distance between them, because he wisely stopped as soon as she said to back off, and had taken seat at the foot of the bed where they had been, still without a shirt. With feverish movements, Bambi managed to pull her dress back on, clearing her blonde hair from her face. She reached down to grab her heels without looking, never once turning her back fully towards him.

"Listen, I don't know what just happened, but I'm sorry?" he said, trying to speak more calmly than he felt.

"No, fuck you!" she shouted, yanking on a stiletto and attempting not to fall over in the process. She angrily tugged on the other one, then threw her hands up. "You can't just - I mean - you need to warn a bitch before you unload some shit like that!" She was still shouting at him, but she hadn't left yet, and wasn't going for the door right then, which Leon counted as a point in his favor.

"I'm sorry! Really - listen, Bambi, I don't know what you think you saw, but -"

"What I -think- I saw? Leon - mate, I don't have time for this. Really, it was brilliant, right up until all that power you ate up that ISN'T YOURS by the way, tried to jump from you to me and make me an unwilling host. You have problems, my friend, b i g problems."

He sighed, putting a hand to his head. "Okay, well there's no coming back from this," he muttered. "But to be fair, it isn't exactly like I knew that, a, you were magically inclined at all, and b, it definitely isn't like I consciously made an effort to try and suffocate you. I don't know what you saw, again, but I promise you that magic ISN'T mine. I want it gone just as much as it wants to be gone."

Bambi looked away, annoyed, because she knew he wasn't lying. Oh, she'd seen enough. But that didn't mean she couldn't still be angry about it. "And you never thought to, I don't know, have anyone bind it for a while? You just like to roll the dice and hope that maybe it isn't hungrier than you are?"

"Bind it? I - I'm sorry," he said, standing up, gesturing with his hands at her. "Your dress is on backwards, and if you're about to hit that door, you might want to fix it."

Bambi STARED at him. Wordlessly, she pulled one arm in through the thin strap of the dress, spinning it around slowly until it was facing the right way. As she slid her arm back through, it wasn't lost on her how ridiculous she must've just looked. "I am going," she warned him, "but first I'll tell you this: if nobody has ever told you that you should look to binding that magic, you're surrounded by awful friends. I'm maybe just above novice (she wasn't - Bambi was moderate for sure) and even I know this. It wouldn't even be hard," she added. "But from what I gather, you'll need more help than I can give. So, again, lovely to have met you, but now I really must go bleach my brain from your impromptu mind-raping session."

"Bambi, wait," he said. She hung her head, shoulders shaking as she sighed deeply. Her hand was on the doorknob - ON the doorknob.

"I was so close," she whispered. She turned around anyways, about to tell him that if this was all an elaborate rouse for him to murder her and wear her skin as a suit, he might as well just get on with it, but the look on his face stopped her. "...what?" she prompted him, after several long, uncomfortable beats of silence had passed.

"How would you like a job?" he asked. His expression was thoughtful, but deadly serious. "I'm serious," he added, just as she mentally asked if he was kidding. "I could really use someone who knows about this... area, so to speak, of interest. Because I don't, I'm not ashamed to admit it. And I'd like to, so I can get rid of it - or at least control it."

"Are you serious?" she asked, skepticism showing on her expressive face.

"As a heart attack," he promised her.

"Come ON, Bambi, can we please just talk about this?"

Bambi ignored Leon's exasperated plea, walking swiftly down the darkened hall of the house, the stomping of her bare feet muffled by the thick pile of the carpet. "No," she snapped, not bothering to turn around. "I know you cannot see my face right now, but Leon, this isn't a game," she warned him. "Back. Off."

He stopped for a split second, just long enough to decide that he hadn't done enough damage, and smacked the light panel on the side of the kitchen with his fist. There she was, pink plaid shorts and t-shirt and a mess of blonde hair. "Well, now I can see you just fine," he said smoothly. Maybe if he just antagonized her a little more, it would make her argue back. If Bambi started to argue, she'd never leave. She never could. Christ, it was how they met.

Bambi stopped. Leon sighed inwardly, and advanced on her, ready for her to hit him with whatever anger she'd built up. He wasn't the only one who had control issues, that was for sure, but Bambi's were at least far less destructive in the end. He expected her to turn around and let him have it, but when he saw her shoulders drop with a sigh, he realized that there wasn't any fight coming, and that something was legitimately wrong.

"Bam?" he asked, confusion softening the edge right out of his voice. He put a hand on her shoulder, only to get a healthy jolt of power that felt like the worst static shock of his life. He ripped his hand back. "What the fuck!" he yelled, far louder than he meant to.

"I said don't," she snapped. "Don't touch me. Don't call me 'Bam' like you're, for one second, concerned with my well-being, Leon. Do not."

"Okay," he said, holding his hands up. Fuck, that stung. "I need to know what exactly I'm about to be accused of, Bambi. Because, twenty minutes ago, everything was fine. You got into bed, gave me a kiss goodnight, you were asleep, and now you're - leaving me? Leaving? Quitting? I really don't feel like fucking guessing, so if you could just skip to the part where you tell me what I did, I can apologize and make it up to you?" He rubbed his hands against his face, stubble scratching at his palms. God help him, if this woman wasn't the most confusing creature on the green earth.

"Okay, sure," she said, holding her arms up, though not defensively, more like the 'come at me bro' way. "When you and Jonathan were at lunch today, what did you talk about? Did you talk about the future of the business? Your plans for the merger here in the city? Did you ask him how do you and Chase survive because loving someone who can see into your mind is literally the worst thing you can think of? Does that sound, at all, in any way, familiar?"

THAT'S WHAT THIS WAS ABOUT? "Bambi, that's SO out of context!" he sputtered, one hand in his hair as he tried to wrap his brain around how the fuck he was going to dig himself out of this. "First of all, if this was in one of your 'dreams', you know those are always HAZY at best. But beyond that, I feel like I need to point out the obvious that WE ARE DOING THIS" he gestured between them angrily "RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE OF ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE CAPABLE OF DOING, ONE OF THOSE THINGS ISN'T TO JUST FUCKING ASK ME ABOUT SOMETHING?"

"I can't control how I see the shit, Leon!" she yelled back. "It's just the way the magic is, and 'HAZY AT BEST'? You had BROCCOLI STUCK IN YOUR TEETH FOR HALF THE LUNCH MEETING, HE DIDN'T TELL YOU UNTIL THE END," she added, cementing how accurate her "hazy" dream was.

"I - oh my god, seriously FUCK your magic. You got up out of a dead sleep, said, 'I'm leaving', and then -- ?!?" he asked, gesturing wildly. The look on her face made him regret his words, and he held his hands up. "Not - not fuck your magic, god damnit Bambi, you know what I MEAN."

Instead of reacting explosively, which is what she normally did, Bambi just folded her arms and stared at him. She was calm. Too calm. "You're right, Leon." Full stop.

"I - I am?" he asked. For all of his military prowess, he couldn't see the trap right in front of him.

"Yeah. You are. I should have just asked. Do you love me?"

[insert footage of the bomb being dropped over Hiroshima]

"---Bambi," he said, her voice a sigh. "What do you want me to say? That's not just a yes or no question." He felt like all the fight and energy had just been sucked right out of him. This was not the conversation he had wanted to have, not for a long time. He was barely capable of maintaining a steady stream of conscious thought when the bindings wore thin, and he relied on her far too much to keep him safe - and sane. Would it have been fair to tell her the truth? Would it have made her stay, or leave, knowing?

"You could have just said no," she told him, her voice strangely quiet. She looked like she wanted to say more, but simply nodded. "Okay," she said softly. "Okay." She turned around and continued on her intended path, slipping on her furry boots, and went through the door into the garage with a bang.

He heard her Audi start and the garage door open, but he was in such a state of disbelief at everything that had just occurred, he didn't go after her. She was really upset. The type of upset where she didn't cry. No, she was too calm at the end, like this had been on her mind for some time. Why hadn't he just said something? Anything? He could have stopped her. But she clearly needed space - and so did he. Leon stood in the kitchen for a long while, completely oblivious to the passage of time until the rain pelting the house roused him from his stupor. He turned the light off and went back upstairs, to his cold bed in his dark room, and laid down.

After a low rolling rumble of thunder stirred racing thoughts about her well-being, Leon reached for his phone in the dark and unlock it. He squinted against the backlight, struggling to get into his contacts, and pressed send on Edward's name. Even if it was the middle of the night, time never seemed to matter to the man. "Bambi just left," he said.

"Left," Edward repeated, his voice low.

"Yeah... left." Leon was quiet for a moment. "See that she returns home safely."

"Do you have a preference as to which home that might be?" Edward asked - it was innocent enough, but there was still a question of how much pressure Edward would need to apply.

"Whichever one she wants, Edward," he said flatly.

The older man chuckled. "Never hurts to clarify intent, Leon. I'll handle it."

The scent of funnel cake and cotton candy and popcorn hung thick on the unusually warm fall air as hundreds of locals (and some not) wandered the grounds of the Ramsa Fall Carnival. Bambi had initially not wanted to go at all, but had been convinced by her friend Mandy to accompany a small group of them. It certainly beat sitting around the posh flat that she occupied thanks to Leon's steady paychecks, that was for sure. The only downside was that Edward had insisted he accompany her. He wouldn't outright say why, but if Bambi had to guess, either he or Leon didn't care for her present company much. At the end of the day, regardless of whatever relationship did or didn't occur, Bambi was still an asset to Leon - one that was ensuring his well-being pretty much around the clock. And wouldn't he want to ensure that something so precious had the best protection possible?

It sounded a lot better when he gave her the speech initially versus when she replayed it back in her head at 3x speed, and with a bit of her own bitterness at finding herself babysat thrown in for good measure. Leon was good at talking, that was for certain. He was just as silver-tongued as she was, except he applied himself all the time. Bambi was fucking lazy, and although she was certainly intelligent, Leon could sales pitch anything to anyone and have them buying it in spades, so she wasn't really surprised that he'd convinced her to essentially agree to being "cared for".

Still, the grimace on Edward's face as his sunglasses reflected the rather impressive set-up before him was not missed. "You know, if you don't like it, you can always go," Bambi suggested, walking a wide circle around him as she texted her friends to let them know that she was inbound. They'd all agreed to meet up by the Fun House, now Bambi just had to look up from her phone for two seconds to find it.

She tripped over a railroad tie that lined the makeshift parking lot, feeling a jerk on her arm as Edward wordlessly caught her before she fell and ate absolute shit. "I think I'll stay," he told her flatly. He glanced at his watch as he released her, ignoring as she made a point to straighten the sleeve of the floral top she wore. "We're late."

"Would it kill you to pretend to like these people?" she asked, her red mouth pulling into a frown. They pushed their way inside and towards the Fun House, which was just down the midway from the entrance. She could see the long, vibrant pink hair of one of the girls from where they were.

"Yes," Edward said. "Because I don't like them. And I don't trust them." He paused. "And neither-"

"And neither should I, yes, Edward, I know. You've made it perfectly clear that you don't care for anyone I know that isn't Leon. Or Reese, although I don't think you're totally sold on him either," she added, pointing at him with her sunglasses before she slipped them on.

"That's not true," he protested, struggling to slow his pace to match hers. She was leggy but she was never in any sort of hurry, as if she had no sense of purpose. How did Leon ever find this strange creature? She reminded him of Fae he'd known lifetimes ago - big eyes, bigger smile, and even bigger hair. And the personality that overshadowed it all. But she was tricky, and despite Leon's ability to convince anyone of anything, Bambi could bargain to such an extent that it felt like when you struck a deal with her, it was the Devil himself shaking your hand. If Edward had to guess, somewhere buried in her lineage, there was Unseelie blood. "I like Hudson just fine," he said, struggling to remember which of her friends he wouldn't shoot first if he had to choose an order. "Alexis is okay," he added.

"Alexis is a Succubus," Bambi reminded him.

"Trash," he said, switching his opinion. "She'd die first." All of that musing of Fae aside, Edward didn't care for any of them. And he was Fae, in a manner of speaking.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she muttered. "Look, there they are. Just - just don't say anything," she instructed, waving her hands as she turned her back on her friends to show how serious she was. "You're going to come off as big and scary and rude as it is, so just go with it." She turned back around, smiling. "Holly, hey!" she called. "Sorry I'm late - traffic."

Edward rolled his eyes. By traffic Bambi, of course, meant that she stood around for forty-five minutes before she even got in the shower, and when she told them she was on her way she was just reaching the mascara portion of her makeup - which wasn't even in the last three steps. She was lucky she was talented, because otherwise he would have wholly attempted to convince Leon to get rid of her. Not kill her, of course. Just - something. Humans were so tiresome.

He ignored the general conversation from the group and followed just behind Bambi, only speaking when someone addressed him directly. From most of the girls he received nods, though Mandy outright ignored him. Scott shook his hand, and Hudson offered him a firm pat on the back, which he returned at 50 percent so he didn't knock the Avian over. They wandered through the Fun House, which Edward noted had been built for someone much shorter than him, as he hit his head on almost every walkway if he didn't consciously duck. At least he wasn't alone in that regard; anyone over 5'8 seemed to be worse for wear coming out.

He mostly ignored everyone, gently guiding Bambi from missing disaster after disaster (she almost dropped her drink, then almost spilled her popcorn, a clown jumped at her and she almost punched him, etc) like some unseen entity, but when the words "card reading" and "gypsy" started getting thrown around, he'd had just about enough.

"Bambi, traveling merchants have been telling people they could read palms and leaves and cards for as long as I have been across these realms, and I have never seen one that's nothing more than a skilled liar," he warned her.

"Wait a minute," Mandy said, fixing her aqua eyes on him. They were large and round, like a doll's eyes, but if Mandy were a doll, he'd call her Annabelle. "You're telling me that you - a literal fucking gargoyle - who works with a girl that's like Pandora's mystery Box of magical talent - draws the line at tarot cards? That of all the things that you have seen, nevermind what we've seen in our half-lives compared to your one very long life, that THIS is where you put your foot down. This is where your suspension of disbelief ends? I'm sorry, that's like watching Harry Potter and saying that the thing that was most unrealistic about it was the tree that beats the shit out of people." Mandy ignored Scott hissing her name and slapped his hand away from her as he tried to physically restrain her - as though she were doing anything more than standing there talking? Seriously fuck off Scott.

God, he did not fucking like that girl. He opened his mouth, but Bambi sensed that he was about to start explaining to Mandy where she and her opinion fell on his list of priorities, and touched his arm gently. "What I think Mandy is trying to say is that we're all magical enough that playing at fortune telling isn't all the way out of the cards, so to speak. Oookay, bad pun, but anyways, look, she's a Boswell gypsy, and she's really good," she insisted.

He stared down at her, tugging on his sleeve, begging like a child, trying to reason with him. "We can leave right after, I promise, we'll go straight back to the flat and I'll eat my veggies and go to bed. Pleeease?" She smiled, brows perked as she waited for him to answer her. The truth was, if Edward said no, she'd probably relent. But, was it Edward's place to tell her no? Leon only said make sure she was safe, not protect her from stupid financial decisions.

"Alright," he said. "But then we're leaving, Bambi," he warned. It was too late - she had vanished into the purple and orange striped tent, the three girls behind her. He stood there for a moment, and then swore. Another day, another deal - at least this one was small potatos. He and Leon agreed to never speak about the time she made a deal with them that somehow resulted in her owing a goat for a week. Black Philip. It had been a fucking fitting name, indeed.

"Ah, it's okay man - Holly gets me with that shit at least ten times a day. It's like she has a tractor beam in her stupid eyes." Edward glanced up as a man that was actually bigger than he was spoke up for the first time. "Jax," he said, holding his hand out. "Pleasure."

Inside the tent, the brunette smiled mysteriously as she laid the cards out. Bambi sat directly across from her, while her entourage of hair crowded around her - to the point where Rook had to break character and tell them to back up. They all laughed a little, and Rook went back to her exaggerated accent. She began to point to each card after they were laid out, explaining them to Bambi - giving Bambi a vague interpretation that could be applied to anyone, really. She wasn't done drawing cards, though, and as she put her fingers on the next one up, she hesitated a little.

"What?" Bambi asked. "What's wrong?"

Rook frowned. She abandoned her silly character altogether, and set the card down. "The Hangman," she said. "It's - this doesn't make any sense," she muttered. She pulled another card. Justice. It fell to the table with a smacking sound. She looked up at Bambi. "What the fuck are you caught up in?" she asked her softly.

"What do you mean?" Bambi asked. She was beginning to grow nervous. Behind her, Alexis spoke up. "Bambi, those - those are not cards you want to be where she's got them. Not how she's got them." Bambi turned to look at Alexis, but Alexis and Rook were looking at eachother like they were having a conversation that nobody could hear.

Rook hesitated, then held the deck out to Bambi. "Pull the last card," she said slowly. "And look at it. And tell me what you see."

Bambi reached forward and drew a card. They felt cool to the touch, not as slippery as playing cards. Bambi had never seen such a deck before, and she looked at the back of it for a few moments before she turned it over. It was The Tower. A monolithic structure erected in the sea, an affront to God, a symbol of a man's arrogance. Beneath it, waves crashed violently - she could almost hear them. The winds were turbulent, a maelstrom seiged the seascape around the stone creation. Bits of it crumbled into the water, yielding to the violence of rain and air. A bolt of lighting slung down, as if from Heaven itself - punishment. A reckoning. Flames poured out of the windows of the tower, illuminating the scene where the bolts of lightning struck and went dark.

Was there - was there someone inside? Bambi held the card closer to her face, brows knitting in concentration and confusion. Around her, the girls were talking - quickly - Rook was saying something, telling her to put the card down. But Bambi heard herself saying "Wait" because she just needed a minute, she was squinting, but there was rain getting in her eyes and the wind was so loud - SOMEONE was in the window - a woman? "Wait, there's someone there, she's yelling something!" Bambi said, standing up and moving away from the table as Rook tried to take the card from her.

"I can't hear you, what are you trying to tell me?" she muttered, and she knew that the figure could hear her, because - well, she just KNEW. Bambi suddenly felt as though she were underwater - she wasn't in the tent anymore, she was in the ocean, at the base of the tower. Rocks were hitting the water next to her, and she was struggling to keep her head above the waves while trying to dodge massive stone and flaming wood as it exploded from the building. She felt something grab her hand and start to pull her out, but when Bambi tried to see who it was, it was on top of her - in her face - screaming in her and all around her - and so she screamed too.

She was still screaming when Rook smacked the card out of her hand. "Don't touch it!" she yelled. She held her hands up, trying to get the girls to keep their distance. "Who. The Fuck. Was that?" she demanded, looking at Bambi.

Bambi was too horrified to answer. She felt like she'd been hit with lightning herself - a sudden snapping pain, like she'd been slammed into those rocks in the picture, only not her body but her soul. She had her hands over her ears because she could still hear that awful screaming, which didn't sound like anything she'd ever heard, when Edward and the others came rushing in, a flurry of "what happened" and "are you okay" being shouted.

"Bambi, what happened?" Edward asked, finally getting her to focus.

"I think - I think Leon's binding just broke," she said, black tears streaking her face. She had to get waterproof mascara. "I don't know how - I just - you have to get me to him, now." She wasn't yelling, she was speaking, but her voice was still coming from a state of shock. She didn't even realize that she was crying. She felt damp all over, she could still taste salt in her mouth. And she could still smell the flames.

He nodded, giving a long, lingering look at the gypsy, who was keeping a healthy distance from the cards, a horrified expression on her face. All of them looked horrified, actually - all but Mandy, whose mouth hung slightly open in curiosity, as it always did when she focused.

Bambi was miserable. Leon had gone off with Shane and Jonathan and "the wives" and Bambi didn't really have enough in common with Arielle or Chase (well, she had a little in common with Chase) to feel comfortable accompanying them. She'd mistakenly elected to hover around Edward and the gargoyles who had chosen to attend, though she imagined Leon would've told Edward to hover over her otherwise. This party would have been more fun if she were drinking, but after she'd thrown up all over the dinner table a few weeks prior, coating the 'surprise' Leon had made for her with a vino surprise of her own, she'd been "advised" (read: Leon said the word 'meetings') to cut back. She slipped away from the rock-type Fae quietly, and while her absence didn't go unnoticed by Edward, he figured she would be safe enough. They were literally surrounded by some of the most powerful people in the world.

Of course, nobody knew that Trevor Browning was being taken for a ride by Lucifer that night, either. Well, Claudia and Eli were about to find out, but Lucifer wasn't done playing just yet. Not when there was other mischief to be made. Because he spied, with his little black eyes, not one, not two, but four more people that he knew - and had, in fact, hosted as denizens of his own once upon a time.

"Alexei, Benji, Britton, how wonderful to see you all together!"he announced loudly, coming to stand beside them. He clapped Benjamin and Alexei on the back. "Look at this, you two, getting along! Oh, now don't look at me like that, Britton - you had to know I'd never miss the biggest party of the year." Lucifer smiled broadly, but it was more like bared teeth.

"Lucifer, how lovely to see you," Irene interjected, her hand gently grazing her husband's. "I trust you've already made the rounds?" She snapped for a tray of champagne and the server pivoted, quickly moving to their direction. They each plucked a glass, though Lucifer took two.

"Irene, lovely as always," he said. "Benjamin, you are a lucky man. None of my other generals ever managed to trap such an enchanting creature like you did. Britton - oh, he tried, but I'm afraid mortal love just isn't for our kind, is it?" he said, a dramatic, sad expression on his face. The dark-haired vampire said nothing, taking a healthy drink of his glass in lieu of being forced to converse. Lucifer ignored it for the time being. There would be other opportunities. Britton had always been more emotional than the rest. So sensitive.

"Tell me, what have I missed since my - unfortunate absence?" he asked.

"Oh," Alexei shrugged. "Bit of chaos here, bit of chaos there. Making daddy proud, and all that," he added, his green eyes narrowed at the demon-king.

"Indeed," Lucifer responded, but his tone was displeased. "Irene, my darling, would you be a lamb and excuse us for a moment?" Irene nodded, and after she'd risen to her toes to kiss her husband's cheek, she disappeared into the crowd. Once she was gone, Lucifer's eyes darkened, and his tone shifted.

"I don't know precisely what the fuck you all think it is that's happening here, but imagine my surprise when I find out that you're all actively working to put me back in that box," he hissed. "If anything, I should drag the two of you back to Hell with me to remind you where exactly it is you came from." He shifted his attention to Benjamin. "Are you almost done playing at vampire, are you ready to come back to your real job?" He glanced at Britton. "And don't think you're in the clear, either. I can rip that right out of you and reinstate you. You didn't make any deal with me that I can't unmake, boy."

Benjamin held his hand up, stopping Lucifer's rant as he drew breath for another round. "Father, please," he said, tone reasonable and even. "Alexei and I are not supporting these measures at all. It's true that we haven't thrown our weight in the other way either, but we have certainly not assisted them." He paused. "Come, let's speak on this matter at the bar. Alexei and Britton are incredibly more removed from the situation than I am - neither are Diamond, and neither is privy to the details that I know."

"As usual, big brother steps in for us," Alexei commented, watching Benjamin lead Lucifer to the bar and away from them. "One day, that'll get old."

"Speak for yourself," Britton said.

"Oh, shut up, little brother. You couldn't wait to get out and get your human life back. Well, what a fine mess you've made of it, eh? What a mess we've all made." He raised his glass. "Cheers, mate," he said bitterly, then turned and walked away.

At the bar, conveniently where Bambi now stood, Lucifer and Benjamin waited for a round of drinks. It was an open bar, which meant it was a busy bar. Lucifer didn't like to be kept waiting, but he supposed if he had his favourite general one-on-one, it would be worth at least five minutes. Somewhere in that, Irene had re-emerged, requesting her husband's appearance at a small gathering  of Diamond personnel. "It would be strange if he wasn't there," Irene said, apologizing to Lucifer. He assured her it was fine. He'd always thought Irene a fine wife - she could have been demon material, herself, if she could relinquish what little hold she had to the humanity inside of her. Maybe in a few hundred more years. If she turned to him, surely Benjamin would come back. What a splendid (and good looking) family he'd have.

At that thought, he turned to the other blonde now seated at his right. "Don't I know you?" he asked. He felt like he did.

Bambi shrugged, looking at the attractive man who was speaking. "Don't think so," she said. God, she was painfully sober. She looked at her phone, a heavy sigh leaving her body as her shoulders dropped. Leon was pimping the firm, no doubt. He'd probably forgotten she was alive.

Lucifer tapped his fingers against his glass, thoughtful for a moment. "No, I'm sure I do. I never forget a face. Jacqueline, right?"

She laughed without being able to stop herself, which only made Lucifer purse his lips a little.

"Of course, not Jacqueline. No, she would never have straightened her hair. You must be little Bambi." He grinned. "Tell me, how is Phillip treating you?"

Bambi stopped laughing immediately. "What?" She didn't know what else to say, and waved a drink to her from the bartender. "I don't care, just whatever," she hissed at him. "How do you know that? Who are you?"

"She'll have a Whiskey Sour," Lucifer interjected. He focused back on Bambi. "I'd recognize a Blake witch anywhere. Don't look so surprised! I remember all of you - you just all look so damned similar that sometimes it's hard to forget which era I'm in. You know, your name is in a book of mine. Your mum signed it when you were just a little thing - it was sweet, really. What, don't tell me she never told you?" He sighed. "Where did you think your magic came from? From God? Or, ugh, nature?" he scoffed.

Bambi was dumbstruck. "No, of course not - don't be ridiculous. I know my magic doesn't come from the trees. I mean, I always just kind of thought it simply was, there are so many different types, but then again... does that mean you're - "

"The one and only, sweetheart," he purred.

How would she explain this later? Oh how was your night Leon ah yes no I just MET LUCIFER AND ALSO APPARENTLY THAT'S THE KIND OF MAGIC I USE. That would go over like a lead balloon. Where was Edward, speaking of things that wouldn't go over well. Surely the man KNEW the devil himself when he saw him?

Lucifer scratched his face idly. "You'd be surprised how many people here don't know who I am," he said, casually reading her thoughts. "But I assure you, as a daughter of mine, you are very safe. In fact, this is probably the safest you'll ever be. Well, until they figure out how to send me home. Then - well, I guess it'll be post cards and missed phone calls at Christmas, won't it?"

"Send you home?" she parroted dumbly. Bambi never knew where her magic came from, she just knew she had it. She knew her mother had it. She knew her whole family had it - it was matriarchal. Or was it? She'd met Benjamin before - he'd commented about how he knew her name before he ever saw her, but she thought it was just because her awful reputation preceded her. What if he had been literal in that sense?

"Ah, yes. Seems the dear old Prince of Darkness gig is only good as long as it's useful for these morons trying to get rid of some old ancient Fae thing they unlocked because they like to meddle in things that they shouldn't. And now that I've outlived my usefulness, they're sending me back to Hell with a quarter in my pocket and a pat on my back with a 'so long and thanks for fixing our mess'," he explained. My, but he spun it to make himself out to be the victim, didn't he? He noticed Benjamin coming back, Irene in tow, and realized that he may not want to expose his connection with one of his own just yet.

"Go, enjoy the party. I've got business to attend to." At Bambi's protest, he shook his head. "Just ask Black Phillip how to get hold of me. Oh, he's told me all manner of things, don't worry. I'm a little sad to know that you've never been told about your particular flavour of magic or where it came from, but that's in the past now. I think I can help with your little sorceress problem, too. Well, if I don't get vacuum sealed back into the can, that is. But don't worry about that now, dear - go find your tall beau and have a dance. I'll keep the drink between us," he added, winking at her.

At his urging, she made an exit - none too late either, as Benjamin finally found his way back. She found Leon almost immediately after, downstairs by the dance floor, listening to Mike tell him about the time Shane tried to kill him with garden gnomes. "Hey, there you are!" he greeted her, holding an arm out for her to take. She nestled under it, still reeling from what had just happened. As the story carried on, the laughter and talking and music all blended together in some dream-like din that she couldn't sort out.

What did Lucifer mean, help with her problem? She needed to talk to her mother. How had nobody ever told her? Or had they known, and kept it from her? Was his presence why she had been able to overpower that annoying coven the last time and put a new binding down after they broke the previous one? What would happen if he left? Would her magic wane? She'd only been getting stronger over the last few months. That was right about when she remembered hearing the rumours that they were getting 'help' on the 'problem'.

No, she couldn't allow him to be sent back so suddenly. She'd only just met him - and she needed answers.

"You're awfully quiet," Leon said, rousing her from her reverie.

Bambi blinked. She was in the car - they were on the road just outside of his neighborhood. "Oh," she said, in the most British fashion ever. She fluttered her lashes, bringing herself fully to the now. She felt Leon's hand touch her knee gently.

"Are you okay? Too much party for my party girl?" he teased.

"No - I'm fine, really," she replied, offering a smile. "Just tired." She paused. "I have some family in town," she added. "Just found out tonight."

"Oh?" Leon perked. He guided the car into the garage finally. "Close family? You don't talk about them much." He got out and came around to open her door.

"As much as you talk about yours," she pointed out.

"Fair," he said. "Alright. I won't pry. Good terms, at least?"

Bambi nodded, following him inside. "I think so, yes. He's been away for a significant amount of time, and there's a chance he may be leaving again soon. I'd like to put some quality time in while I can." It wasn't technically a lie, was it? "Go on up to bed. I'm going to go check on Black Phillip. You know, I wish you'd reconsider the doggy door. He's an inside pet," she chastised.

"Absolutely not," he half-shouted, already up the stairs.

"Come out, it can't be that bad," Bambi called. She was seated on a soft grey couch in the back of a clothing store, though seated didn't really describe it so much as she was draped across her best friend Reese. She had her feet over the arm, and was sprawled across both cushions, a pillow beneath her head that was nestled on Reese's thigh. Reese was angled the same way she was, and he was tossing trail mix into Bambi's mouth every so often. So far, she was catching most of it.

"Did you pick this out?" Leon's voice said from behind the curtain. "I'm not wearing this." He stood in the spacious dressing room, staring at himself in the mirror. He looked fucking ridiculous. "What is this even supposed to be?" he demanded.

"Haven't you ever seen the Three Musketeers?" Reese asked, popping some M&M's into his mouth. It was the only part of the trail mix he cared about; Bambi could enjoy all the raisins and nuts she wanted.

"Yeah, when I was a kid," Leon said. "They didn't dress like this."

"No, the new one. Look, just come out so I can see you!" Bambi snapped.

Leon heaved a sigh, and then drew back the curtain.

"Wow," Reese said. "That is a lot of gold brocade."

"Ohhhh my gooooood," Bambi breathed, sitting up. "Leon, you look - "

"Fucking ridiculous," he spat. "What are these, bloomers?" He turned around, gesturing to the turquoise blue fabric of the pants. "The only thing I like about this is that it comes with a cape." At that, he tossed the gold sheet around, striking a pose for a second, and then reverting back to his irritated stance. "Bambi, if I dress up like this, you are dressing up like Lady DeWinter."

Reese snorted, and Bambi swatted a hand back idly as she laid back down, missing him entirely, but succeeding in smacking the trail mix bag. "No, I've already got my costume," she informed him. "It's you that's been entirely frustrating about this whole ordeal."

"I don't see why I can't just go as like, Bucky Barnes or something," Leon said. "You'd think you'd jump at the chance to put black eyeshadow all over my face."

"You really think you're Bucky Barnes material?" Reese shot, arching a brow. He abandoned the trail mix, laying a hand down on Bambi's midsection casually. "Please. You're more like angsty Batman. You practically scream DC to me with your broody eyes and secrets," Reese said, raising his other hand to wiggle his fingers as he spoke.

Leon huffed. "Well, I'm out of ideas."

"How are you guys doing back here?" Roxy asked, interrupting them. "Oh - wow, that is... that is something," she said, looking at Leon.

"See?" he shouted, jerking his hand to point at her. "Even the girl who runs the store thinks it's stupid!"

"No, no," she said, though she was on the verge of laughing and was absolutely not convincing them at all. "I just, uh, hm - I don't think being swathed entirely in gold and blue is your colour story," she said tactfully. "I like the throwback to another era, but this is way too much fashion for you. No, what we need is..." she put a finger to her chin, thinking. "Hey Whit, can you come here for a sec?"

A second redhead emerged. "What's up? Hey, Draco, hit me," she said, turning to Reese and opening her mouth.

Reese rolled a blue M&M around in his fingertips, sizing Whitney up. "With pleasure," he said suavely, and tossed the candy to her. She caught it expertly, and gave him a wink. Reese and Bambi exchanged glances, grinning to eachother. Sometimes, he missed his twin in crime, but sometimes, not sharing was okay, too.

"What are you thinking for tall, dark and smoldering here?" Roxy asked, approaching Leon and slowly circling him.

"Ooh, something fantasy-medieval-ish, but not Orlando of Buckingham," she said, gesturing to the outfit he wore. "What about..." She trailed off, walking to a massive rack of costumes, and began digging. She pulled out a simple white linen shirt and a pair of black leather breeches. "Can you grab me the boots for this?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at her sister, who nodded and vanished into the stock room.

"Once your done trying to get your way out of that golden maze, try this," Whitney said, handing him the clothing.

"What is it supposed to be?" Leon asked, suspicious.

"You'll see," Whitney told him, raising her brows. Roxy reappeared, and she took the boots and handed them to him as well. "Quickly, now, we're closing soon."

Leon disappeared, mumbling things that they couldn't hear but were surely not positive. He was happy, at least, to strip out of that fancy bullshit they'd convinced him to try on. Why had he let Bambi and Reese drag him here? He should have lied and said he had to work for the Halloween party, but Bambi was looking forward to it so much. He was incredibly suspicious of what she was going to be, too. Knowing her, she'd take one of her brews and just shapeshift into something, which he would consider cheating, and he would 100% inform the costume contest people of.

He pulled on the top and bottoms, and sat down to tug the boots up. He glanced quickly in the mirror, pausing for a moment. Why did he look familiar? He looked like a character out of something he'd seen recently, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Slowly, he brushed his hair out of his eyes, staring at himself critically. He needed a haircut, that was for sure. But, moreover, he looked tired. Like, tired tired. It wasn't that he wasn't getting enough sleep, either - it was this magic in him. He felt like it was going to eat him from the inside out at times like this.

"Babe, come on!" Bambi yelled.

When he came back from out of the curtain, Bambi and Reese were both sitting up, with Whitney between them. Christ, he thought to himself. When he had been more adventurous... He rolled his eyes, dismissing the thought. "What do you think?" he asked.

"What are you supposed to be?" Bambi asked, genuine confusion on her face. "You look so familiar."

Reese snapped his fingers, sitting forward suddenly. "Prince Caspian!" he shouted.

"Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" Whitney said, slapping his leg. Her hand lingered a moment, which Reese positively did not miss. "What do you think? It's fantasy, but not glitter and gold."

Leon shrugged. "I like it," he said honestly. "It's simple. It's just like, three things. I could probably find a sword or something to accessorize, but - you don't think people will ask what I am all night?"

"No, I think they'll know," Bambi said, a tone to her voice he didn't trust.

"Bambi, what are you going as?" Leon asked, for the hundredth time.

"Weeeeeell," she began.

"Oh, for fuck sake, you two lovebirds kill me," Reese interjected. "She's going as the White Witch."

Whitney clapped her hands, and jumped off the couch. "Okay, so one Prince Caspian costume, coming right up! Bambi, you already got everything you needed from us earlier this week, right?" she asked, lingering at the entrance of the dressing room. When Bambi nodded, Whitney gave them a little wave, and went to go ring everything up.

"You were gonna go as the fucking White Witch and you were actually going to let me dress up like Buckingbloom?" Leon asked as they stood at the counter to checkout.

"No!" Bambi said. "No, I just... really wanted to see what you'd look like in all that silly royal frippery," she admitted. "Can you blame me?"

"A little," he said hotly. When she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, he smiled. "A little less, then."

"Oh? How do I get the blame meter down to not at all?" she asked, nuzzling his neck a little.

"Aw, that's so cute," Roxy said, interrupting them as she read off Leon's total. "You guys are gonna have a great time at your party, I can feel it," she said, which gave Leon a slight pause. He looked at Roxy as she ran his card and handed it, and his bag, back to him, and inwardly grimaced. That was a fucking Fae if he'd ever seen one. Aloud, he said, "Thanks so much, you two, have a good night," and headed for the door.

"Damn," Reese said as soon as they got outside. "Those sisters? I'm getting crazy energy spikes off of them."

"Yeah," Leon said dryly. "Fucking Fae."

Bambi perked up. "Really? I didn't even realize," she muttered.

"Let's be real, Blake, when Leon's around, you don't realize anything outside of his sphere," Reese japed, opening the door of the car and sliding in.

"That's not fair," Bambi snapped. "You'd only realize his sphere too if you know how bi-"

"Bambi," Leon warned.

"How bright it is," she corrected herself.

"Right," Reese said. "Anyways, I got their number, so, it wasn't a total bust. That and seeing Leon in those fancy digs. Dude, you gotta dress like that at least once a month. Do it like, the first Monday of every month."

Leon rolled his eyes, but Bambi only picked up on Reese's energy and the two of them gabbed at him mercilessly the entire way home.

Being Bambi sucked sometimes. Her ability came and went, and there was no way to turn it off completely. Sometimes, she could feel a vision coming on, and she could break away from the situation before it hit her, but she didn't like to do that, because the whole point of having visions was to have them, right? At any rate, it happened at bad times on rare occasion, but really it had never done anything so severe as what occurred to her that night.

The problem with it being connected to physical touch, of course, was that it made touch complicated. And Bambi didn't need anything more complicated than it already was. Fortunately, she'd been with Leon for long enough that her ability had sort of learned to "mute" him, as it were. She touched him almost every day; there was no way for her to get visions that much, not unless she were to just get a live feed of him eating lunch and arguing with Judge Judy during his mid-afternoon break from the office. As laughable as that would be, the visions only served to tell her things, or more importantly to warn her, so that she could in turn warn the subject - or not, as had been a few cases before she'd met him.

Since she hadn't had any visions in a while, she felt pretty comfortable, and they fell into a routine. Bambi sometimes slept in the guest room when she felt jittery, something she felt incredibly bad about, regardless of how much she didn't express that. She hated to leave him alone at night. It was so stupid, that she felt protective of him, but the man needed it. It seemed like he'd spent a large chunk of his life protecting others, which had landed him in this massive, magical mess, and now it was up to Bambi to protect him.

Except Bambi was just one witch, with a stupid precognitive ability based on intimate contact, and she couldn't even control her pet goat. Speaking of the goat, Black Phillip - so affectionately named after the goat in VVITCH - was awake, and standing at the edge of the guest bed, staring at her. She stared back at him in the darkness, and the two of them stayed like that for a while. Edward always called it "mind melding", but really, Bambi just thought it was a staring contest with the goat - and sometimes, when she did, she would space out a little, and she would come out of it with a sense of something she needed to do. Right now, she felt very strongly like she needed to go back into the master bedroom.

"Really?" she whispered to the goat. "But you hate Leon," she said.

The goat just bit into a piece of the blanket and began trying to chew on it, which earned him a swat from Bambi on her way out.

"No," she hissed. "Go back downstairs if you can't behave," she commanded. When he didn't move, she narrowed her eyes. "Go, or I'll take you down myself and put the baby gate up."

At that, the goat turned and left, and if an animal could walk with righteous indignation, it would have been that fucking goat, right then. Bambi rolled her eyes, glad that nobody had been there to witness it. What a unique, and strange, familiar her father had given her. Irulan hadn't gotten one yet, but Bambi had helpfully suggested a white goose, and Mikhail had been tickled at the idea. She shook her head as she walked down the hall, pushing the door open into the shared bedroom Bambi and Leon had.

Leon was out of the blankets, sprawled across her side of the bed, which made her smile - but he was twitching in his sleep, which immediately wiped the smile from her face.

"Stop," she heard him say. He rolled over quickly, drawing an arm up. "Stop!" he said again.

"Oh, shit," Bambi muttered. Night terrors. She rolled her eyes, feeling guilt welling up in her chest. He so rarely had them when she was around, and since he hadn't mentioned them in so long, Bambi had stupidly assumed they'd stopped. She crossed the room, crawling into bed with him, and very, very carefully, placed her hand on his shoulder, stroking it lightly.

"Leon," she whispered. "Wake up, you're dreaming." She put just a little honey on her voice, giving it that magical push to try and get to him through whatever was clouding his brain. Bambi's magic didn't often work on Leon directly due to his encapsulated power, but she'd found that her candied up voice sometimes proved influential. She could try, it wouldn't hurt, right?

He stirred in his sleep, and she said his name again, this time a little more loudly. She still didn't want to shake him - that's how she fucking got hit last time. He'd never stop apologizing for it, and she wasn't mad about it, but boy when Edward had showed up to work that morning and saw her, he wanted answers immediately.

"Wake. Up." There was no more sugar in her voice; now she was speaking at normal tone, firmly. "You are dreaming. Wake up."

Finally, it worked, and she jumped back as he swung, just like she fucking knew he would. He sat bolt upright in the process, and then immediately put his hands to his head. "Fuck," he breathed. "Fucking fuck." It took him a minute to realize Bambi was there, and then he reached out, grabbing her and pulling her closer. "I'm sorry," he said, resting his head on her shoulder. "Didn't hit you, did I?"

"That's amateur shit," she told him with a smile. "I learned to move." She kissed him lightly, realizing that he had been sweating, and raised a hand to touch his hair. "Jesus, what were you dreaming about?" she asked, wiping it on his arm.

He laughed, then pulled away, turning and standing up so that he could go to the bathroom and splash some water on his face. "It was - I don't know," he said finally, drying his hands on the towel. He felt a little better, but if we're keeping track, he still felt overall like hammered shit. He didn't want to tell Bambi about his dream, honestly; he knew keeping shit from his loved ones wasn't the best idea, but at the same time, he just didn't want to feel all the feelings it made him feel. He climbed back into bed. "Are you going to stay?" he asked, looking at her. Something in his face said he wanted her to, even if he was always open to her choices.

"Yeah, of course," Bambi said, a look on her face that said that she'd never considered an alternative. "Come here." She held her arms out to him, and he scooted over to her, enjoying the feeling of her embrace. Also, his face was pressed into her chest, which was a fucking win as far as he was concerned. He pulled away after a few blissful moments, straightening back out. Bambi stared at him for a long moment, admittedly lost in his dark brown eyes. She thought of nothing, but felt that tug from before - that need she'd had to go to him. Wordlessly, she leaned forward, and began kissing him.

Not so long after, clothing was discarded. Rolling around like weasels was always a good way to cheer someone up after incredibly violent and detailed night terrors that they repressed, so it was no surprise that the energy level was fairly high. Unfortunately for Bambi, as she lost herself in his eyes again, on the verge of ecstasy, a vision ripped through her, and her gasps became less of pleasure and more of fear. Leon, though, realized immediately what was happening, despite it not having happened in a long time, but she had gripped him so tightly that he almost couldn't sit up.

It wasn't until her fucking eyes rolled into the back of her head that she let go of his arms, and he was able to sit up, not really throwing her off of him, but getting out from under her and kneeling next to her as she sort of fell into a ball on the bed. "Bambi, Bambi, come back," he coaxed. Fucking Christ, this was a long one.

She began to cough, like she'd been holding her breath for too long, and he gently patted her back, offering her some of the blanket as she came back into the present. "Fuck," she hissed, accepting it shakily. She jerked her hand away from his, though, and shifted so that he couldn't reach her back anymore. He held his hands up to show that he wasn't going to try and touch her any further, and she took a few moments to get her bearings.

During that time, Leon got up and got her water. When he brought it back, she was sitting up, her chemise back on, and she was staring intently at the carpet. "Here," he said, holding it out. "How do you feel?" His voice was laden with genuine concern; he didn't know if he loved her or if he was just so attached to her. He didn't know if love was a good word, considering he didn't really know what love was, if his past was to be understood in clarity. The word was so tainted to him now, but he knew that he cared about her, that was certain.

She was quiet for a while, and then looked at him. She looked like she was in physical pain for a moment, shaking her head as she remembered the scattered pieces she saw. She could only see them as non-linear, past/present/future all colliding on top of one another, and it hurt her fucking head.  "Who the fuck is Cassandra?" she asked, her voice stressed and betraying her fatigue.

The glass of water slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.