We propose a better way Who: Bianca and K-lee Where: The park When: Just after dark
There were some things that Bianca knew beyond a shadow of doubt and other things that she only suspected. Currently she had extremely strong suspicions that maybe what had happened during the last wave of demons had not been an accident but a bit of knowledge that she needed. The demon that she had taken pictures of, the one with the water spout in the middle of the street killing that man, had not attempted to harm her or that other girl... Dagmar, that was her name. It had given some excuse of not hurting its own and wandered off. Bianca still had the pictures, one of them stuck up in the space above her desk while another was on the fridge, but she did not understand what it had meant. Well, that was a lie. She understood, if she allowed herself to. Technically speaking she did not want to understand. Understanding meant adding in yet another bit of ‘not quite normal’ that she accepted as part of herself and she had done quite enough of that when it came to this black-blooded raising the dead necromancer thing. One step at a time was easier than running full-stop and getting whiplash for her efforts. No, Bianca was trying to not think about the demon thing. Because demons were just a nuisance that ruined her place of employment even if they were nice enough to give her a bunch of interesting stories to read in the paper.
But, despite her lack of desire to acknowledge that, Bianca still knew that she did not have to worry about the demons taking her head off if she went for a walk. Which was exactly why she wandered down to the park a few hours before the start of her shift, camera slung over one shoulder. There was also a part of her that hoped that she would see that woman again. The one who had given her a ‘lucky rabbit’s foot’ that was tucked into her pocket; and had sliced her hand open. The skin on her palm was still dark pink and tender from that. That woman had been a witch but she had been intriguing and despite Bianca’s supposed protest to supernaturals she could not deny the bit of interest that made her want to learn more about what was possible to be done. Nicodemus, to add his list of faults, claimed to be a witch as well. And if he could do it then Bianca was sure as hell capable. Not that I’m thinking about it, the young woman reminded herself as she took a swig from the Nalgene bottle she had filled with vodka and lemonade. No one had ever said that she needed to be sober at work. Well okay, there might have been something that amounted to that mentioned at her interview and hiring but she had not been listening. Plus Jared always showed up higher than a kite so if she was a little buzzed... Screwing the top back onto the bottle Bianca leaned against a tree and glanced around. The sun had gone down so it was a little harder to see but it still looked like the park was pretty empty. Pulling her camera up she nonetheless took a few shots. Just to see if anything interesting might turn up on the film later.
K-lee just didn’t get this town. It was small, supposed to be a nothing place that she stayed in just because Whisper Charlton was giving her work, and yet all these things kept happening. Demons - which were everywhere, yeah, but this place was it’s own special brand of freak - were awesome but the baby-eating thing was a little weird. The whole place was weird. And the weirdest part about it was that she couldn’t get and keep a date to save her life. The closest she had come was Ada but that girl had headed off to do god knew what and Brenna wasn’t date-material; she was a talented bedwarmer. If it wasn’t for the mermaid then she’d have tried playing with Roxy again but nooo, the now-pink-haired girl preferred hitting her with cars and beating her face in with a hockey stick. Bitch. Blowing a loose piece of hair out of her face, K-lee looked around to see where Malo had gotten himself off to. The bobcat had been whining about needing to get a good hunt in and while K-lee didn’t care if he went off on his own he’d been sulking about her not paying enough attention to him. Which was true. She wasn’t paying attention. She had a life of her own and it wasn’t intricately linked to the bobcat. His may have been sort of connected to hers but like she actually cared about that. She’d care the second that it affected her and that wouldn’t happen unless he got squished.
’There’s someone on that bench up there who sorta smells like you,’ Malo commented. ’Only... more like death. A lot more like death. By how she smells I think she should be dead.’ Yeah K-lee knew she wasn’t the only one who would think that her bobcat was making next to no sense right there. If anyone else was around to hear him then they’d probably agree with her. But lo and behold there was someone under that tree and since they were the only someone in sight K-lee was going to assume that this was who Malo was referring to. Except even as she drew closer K-lee didn’t smell anything dead. You’re smelling things. ‘Am not!’ “You realize you’re taking pictures of absolutely nothing, right?” K-lee asked as she noticed what the younger woman was doing. Younger but not too young. Or bad looking. Prospect?
Bianca did not know that there was a small bobcat anywhere near her, having the same senses as practically any other human, but she did hear the footsteps that came just a bit before someone spoke to her. What the hell was it with people in this place? They always asked questions that made no sense or should not even be answered. Taking pictures of nothing, right, because Bianca would totally waste her film or memory space on absolutely nothing. There was still a line of light over there and you never knew what was out there in the dark. Just waiting to come say hello or attempt slitting your throat. Glancing over at the woman who had spoken, Bianca studied her briefly. She carried herself like a model would and there was something vaguely familiar about her face that made Bianca think that she was a model, that she had seen her in a magazine or on TV. Maybe she had. There was a supposedly famous fashion designer somewhere in town so models must be as well. Whatever. “If I was taking pictures of nothing then that wouldn’t be your business, now would it?” This was not the only person that Bianca had really been interested in seeing. Even if she was not consciously accepting it she did want to see that witch again.
’She smells like death. I don’t think you should go by her.’ The scent was unnerving Malo with its unnaturalness and he even came out from stalking a squirrel to set himself on K-lee’s foot. ’It bothers me. Evil death.’ K-lee didn’t know what he was carrying on about. There was probably a dead dog somewhere that a demon had tried eating and gotten sick of. He was just smelling that. there was nothing dead about this girl. Though her tone was totally unappreciated. As was that blank, smooth look that she was given. “No but I’m bored and you’re the only one around so I decided to...” What? Pop over because her familiar had told her the brunette smelled like death walking? Yeah that was pretty much it. But there was also something in her posture and tone that reminded K-lee of someone. ’You.’ “Okay, I don’t do small talk if I’m not trying to get laid so basically I took time away from letting my familiar hunt down the local squirrel population because he said he smelled something dead. You kill a demon and stash it’s body up the tree? Because if so that’s just not right. You wanna go for the angels.” If they were really real. Which K-lee was doubting. Angelic blood, sure, but not real angels. Because that’d be a pain in her ass.
Why was she still there instead of going away? So she had a bobcat sitting on her foot, the movement had been noted and Bianca had practically been required to look, good for her. And of course she was bored and decided to just bug the only other living person in sight. Oh great, it had just gotten better because apparently that little bobcat was her familiar which made her some sort of higher level supernatural and she was talking about killing demons - no, accusing Bianca of having done so. Did she even realize how dumb she sounded right then? Because it was pretty bad so far as she was concerned. Talking about demons and angels like they were no big thing. Although... this woman had a vaguely similar feel as that Dagmar had. A sort of spark that made her think of kindred spirits, only without the kindred and all of the hype attached to it by stories and all that bull. “Oh yeah,” Bianca smirked as she took another picture before lowering her camera. “I killed a demon by taking its picture and then stuffed it up in this tree.” Her foot came up behind her to kick it. “Because I may look like a strong wind would blow me over but I can lift a whole demon and carry it without getting its blood all over my clothes. Yeah, good thinking process you just didn’t waste time going through.” Rolling her eyes, Bianca waited for her to go away.
K-lee wasn’t easy to get rid of once she’d decided that she was intrigued in something though. And Malo’s fear of how this woman smelled was intriguing in and of itself. Add in that smart mouth and she was the sort of person that K-lee might be able to carry a conversation on with without wanting to gouge her own eyes out in boredom. “Hey, looks can be deceiving, weres and all of that with their super strength and vampires too.” Even if this girl wasn’t either of them, as Malo was insisting she wasn’t. But when K-lee asked what she was the bobcat just curled up tighter on her foot and gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. He had no idea. He just knew that she smelled like death and unnaturalness. And it was the second more than the first that bothered him. “But your spunk, like that. Just gotta direct it in the right places... okay, so Malo here’s freaked the hell out by you and I want to know why. Since you didn’t kill a demon, which I guess means you didn’t take an angel out either too bad, I’m just going to guess that it’s something about what you are.”
Seriously. What the hell. Bianca just wanted to take her pictures, wander around, drink the rest of her Nalgene and go to work in a pleasant haze of ‘I don’t give a fuck what’s going on’. Was that really so much to ask for? Did she have to stay locked up in her apartment with the phone off, curtains drawn and the mail service cancelled just to be able to be left the hell alone? It would have been better if a demon had come along to disturb her because at least she could take pictures without the thing bothering her about what she was, what she was doing, etc. Demons did not seem to care about that sort of thing. And in that, Bianca thought that the rest of the world needed to take a leaf out of their - that little bobcat was a problem. Bianca had yet to come into contact with any familiar that she could recall so she had never once been told that she ‘freaked them out’. Could they smell her or something? Go figure that she would smell different than any human. Probably had something to do with her damn black blood. Hope you’re happy, Nicodemus, ever since you said something it seems like everyone is picking up on it. I really, really hope a demon makes you his breakfast. Or would wishing that an angel did it be more appropriate? She imagined demons would approve of them while angels would turn in disgust. “And what makes you think there’s anything about me that would put an animal off? Last time that I looked in the mirror I was a completely normal girl.” Last time she had looked her eyes were also a nice shade of brown. When they were black... but they were not. She checked practically obsessively.
’Can’t we just go?’ Malo whined. ’I had one squirrel and that’s plenty. I won’t bug you to come with me for a week if we can just go now.’ Except that wasn’t going to work because now K-lee was intrigued and when she was intrigued by something she couldn’t just walk away until she’d figured it out. Maybe that wasn’t always the best thing but hey, did she care? (No) Intruding on people’s personal space wasn’t a big deal to her. She’d used magic to aid her in figuring things out before and she wouldn’t be opposed to doing so again right here in this if it proved to be necessary. Which it might. Stubborn people could need a lot of convincing and words or sheer force didn’t always work. Besides, K-lee didn’t like straight up force. There was too much chance that the other person might try hitting back and then she’d get hurt... and just no, she didn’t want that. Pain wasn’t her friend and she still wasn’t all the way recovered from what Roxy’d done to put her in the hospital. Doubted that her body could take another beating like that without saying ‘fuck you I quit’. Whisper wouldn’t like it either. And it was sort of important that the designer liked whatever look you were trying to pull off if you wanted to stay employed. Which she really did. Whisper was one of the last designers left who mattered and didn’t care about the true rumors that circulated about her being a witch. “It’s your scent that he says is weird and I tend to trust his nose since it’s better than mine. And looking normal has nothing to do with it, sweetheart, I look normal as any model but I’m clearly not.” Talking cat, hello. And if this girl wanted proof then she’d give it without blinking. Not one of her better spells since they were there for being used but enough to make her blink and maybe back away. Or tell her what she wanted to know. “So, come on now, making me wait isn’t really all that polite.”
And what made her think that Bianca cared about what was or was not considered polite? Sure she had manners, living with the family that she had made the lack of them an impossibility, but she also did not always feel a need to exercise them. At the current moment in time she felt no desire to do that so she decided against it. “Yeah, uh-huh, you’re not normal and that’s great for you. Special snowflake that won’t melt in the sun or whatever you are I don’t really care.” A turning motion to undo the cap of her Nalgene and Bianca took another long drink, wiping away the tears that sprung to her eyes at the sting from the alcohol as it burned her throat. “I happen to have nothing abnormal about me except for that thing where I can’t handle listening to people go on about things that don’t matter so if you could do me a favor and go away that’d be great.” Few more pictures, bit of silence and she would go wander before hitting up work. Provided that this model and her bobcat would just leave her alone. Had she erected a sign above her head that only she was blind to that asked for people to come annoy her? She was going to need to get that checked out.
K-lee was a little surprised with how unwilling to share this girl was. It wasn’t like she was asking her for a vial of blood or anything. She just wanted to know what the hell was up with her so that she could understand why Malo was freaked. And then because he’d be able to identify whatever it was in other people that they came across. Though he hadn’t had this reaction to anyone else in town so far so maybe it wasn’t all that common a thing. Still. “Yeah well, that’s a barbed response but I’m not like most people who’ll just wander off because they can’t take a little jabbing. So. Just tell me what you are so we can figure this little mystery out and none of us will be any worse for the wear.” It was implicated, if not directly, that K-lee was going to find out the answer whether she wanted to share or not. She wasn’t the sort of girl who took ‘no’ for an answer. ’Maybe you should think about doing that just this once. I don’t think that she feels up to sharing today.’ And K-lee didn’t care. She wasn't asking for a heart-to-heart chat that ended with them giggling and braiding each other's hair. Simple question, simple answer.
Lowering her Nalgene, Bianca turned her head so that she could take this woman in fully. Yeah, she definitely knew that face from a magazine. Which magazine was escaping her because Bianca never really read magazines unless she was in a waiting room somewhere and her phone was dead. She was not one of those girls who was really big on the whole fashion scene, or even close to it, but she knew a few very basic details. Like the popular faces. Just not their names. "Are you threatening me?" she asked, almost amused by the idea. And okay, there was a little shiver of fear in the back of her mind because she could not be sure what this woman was to have a familiar, but she ignored it. If she was a fire elemental and burned her then she would go to the police. If she was a witch and cursed her then same thing. Bianca was not afraid of getting people involved if she got hurt. The police were there for a reason after all. And that reasons was to keep people from getting out of hand, including supernaturals. "I don't know who you think you are, but there's no law anywhere that says I have to tell a random stranger in the park anything if I don't feel like it. And guess what? Don't feel like it."
If K-lee had been a cat then she'd have growled by now. There was a difference to having a bit of spunk, which was admirable, and being irritating just for the hell of it. Which she was pretty sure this particular girl was doing. 'I don't think-' Be quiet, Malo. She wasn't in the mood for this girl to tell her no and she wasn't in the mood for her familiar to tell her she should let it go. She didn't want to let it go and she didn't intend on letting anyone tell her that she had to. Now that she wanted an answer she was damn well going to get it. "No I don't make threats, I make promises." A dip into her pocket left her with a small stone and a few whispered words caused a little cloud of smoke to go up. It could've been a parlor trick with no magic involved, but it wasn't and when K-lee blew the smoke at the girl's face she knew it'd smell like whatever she hated the most. A minor curse but one that she'd always enjoyed when she was a kid. "How about this. My name's K-lee and you tell me your name, then we're not strangers and you can tell me what the fuck you are so Malo can chill and I can go home." There was a bottle of tequila with her name written all over it. Maybe she'd even give Malo a shot so that the fuzzball would calm down.
Oh K-lee, that was it. The model from California who tended more towards lingerie ads. K-lee who was also a witch as demonstrated by that and - oh god, that was terrible. Bianca ducked down to escape the puff of smoke that reeked of her blood and roses. Huh. Well this was not what she had really wanted to find at the park but she supposed that if one model witch was not around then a second could not be much worse. What is it with models and witchcraft? Maybe they think that they'll be able to find a spell that will keep them young and beautiful forever... bet half of them try to sell their souls for exactly that. Now that she knew demons were real she figured that selling your soul for things was actually possible. Maybe she could give that a shot sometime when she needed something. It was not like her soul was really serving her much of a purpose since her lack of ability to have faith doomed her to whatever hell might actually be real. So yeah, if she could actually get something for it then that would be cool. "So you're a witch, good for you, I'm not impressed." Lie, she actually sort of was in that same way she was impressed by the more intriguing deaths that she read about in the newspapers or saw on TV. Which meant a way that she knew was wrong but simply could not help. "I have a better idea. I'll tell you my name, you'll agree to teach me a bit about magic if you practice the interesting kind, and then I'll tell you what I am." There was a little voice in the back of her head screaming that this was wrong. She was already enough of a supernatural with the black blood running through her veins... but her blood was not going to turn a more normal shade just because she wished it that way. She was not going to live to be any older by pretending that she was normal when people kept telling her she was not. It was one thing to ignore it when Nicodemus had said something because his opinion mattered to her about as much as, well, nothing. But then Delta had showed up and it had taken on a completely different, unexpected track. Because of that damn worn picture she had had in her wallet of the girl who looked just like her. "My name's Bianca." She lifted her hand to motion at K-lee.
Well. Girl was a bit smarter than K-lee'd been figuring she was. And into deals. 'I really don't think you should do something that keeps you around this girl. I don't like how she smells.' K-lee ignored Malo. He wasn't there to be her conscience. Or maybe he was but that only worked with people who actually cared about that sort of thing and could be convinced to listen. K-lee? Not so much. If the powers that be had given her a grasshopper called Jiminy Cricket she'd have gone looking for a whale just to see if she'd find a way to get 'turned into a real boy'. Familiars were a touch ridiculous and quite possibly completely unnecessary. 'You're lucky I know your mind well enough to not be affected by that. And I know you don't care, don't even say it.' She thought it anyhow. "Bianca, not a bad name. And if you're interested in witchcraft then I can probably find you a way better teacher. All I know is black and a bit of blood." Though if this girl smelled of death like Malo claimed then she probably wasn't keen on white magic. But seriously, K-lee wasn't a teacher. She didn't like people enough to teach them things. And that included this girl with her smart mouth and inability to just answer a simple question. "But since we're not strangers anymore there's no reason you can't tell me what you are."
Yeah, like Bianca was going to go looking for a teacher when people would be able to trace it back to her. The second word got back to her adopted parents - and she had a feeling that they were doing their best to keep an eye on her - they would have no problem with cutting her off. And she could not afford university without them footing the bill. So if she was going to learn anything about magic it was going to be from a sort of random, sort of sought out, encounter that she would not have to tell anyone about if she did not feel like it. And she did not feel like telling anyone. Of course, if she had not been so irritated by Nicodemus and decided to take it back out on him then she would not have found it necessary to look for someone else. She could have just asked him to show her. Thanks, but no thanks she did not want him to show her anything about necromancy, much less magic. "There's the reason of I still don't want to so I'm not going to," Bianca corrected with her very best smile. Now she pushed off the tree and stretched out, stumbling a little as she realized that she had drunk a touch more than she had thought. Ah good, there was a buzz going on. Maybe that was why it was so easy to ask for K-lee to teach her magic, because her senses were just slightly numbed by the alcohol she had poured in with the lemonade. "But hey, if you decide that you want to teach me at least a few little something's then I'll tell you... bet you know enough that the basics are like second nature to you." A little flattery never hurt even if it made her grind her teeth behind that smile she was presenting.
God freaking damn it this girl was stubborn, persistent and hey, she even had a cute smile. K-lee did her best to not show that she wanted to just curse the information out of her and pretended to think. She didn't want to teach her. She never wanted to teach anyone anything that she knew. Selfish? Hell yes, that was her knowledge and it wasn't her job to make the information known to the masses. Her aunt and mother had taught her but it wasn't like K-lee thought for a second that they'd taught her everything that they knew. That'd just be idiotic. She learned from them, their spellbooks, other spellbooks and other witches that she'd managed to worm the knowledge out of for this or that favor. But she supposed that teaching this girl a few of the more basic spells wouldn't really be that bad. It wasn't like she was going to lose the knowledge just because she shared it or that Bianca was going to slit her throat and steal her knowledge that way. That only happened in the movies and besides, she wasn't a high level blood witch so it wasn't like that'd be all that great. "Fine," she grated out, forcing a smile onto her face that she often flashed at the cameras. If Bianca could smile then she was going to too, even if she was pretty sure that the girl was drunk off whatever was in the Nalgene she'd been swigging out of. "I'll teach you a few things. When do you want to start?"
And that's the sound of me winning. Again there was that little voice protesting that she put herself out there and be exposed to more of the supernatural, but it was even more muted than before thanks to the alcohol and the little rush of excitement that Bianca felt at learning something because she wanted to. University was supposed to be about that but her major was not even something that she had wanted to really be in, so it was a choice made for her. Or the necromancy that was there whether she wanted it to be or not. This? She was choosing it. It was all her and not a bit anyone else. And she loved that feeling of control and power over her own life, even if she had not actually done anything yet. "I'm free tomorrow night. Tonight I have to go to work." Tipsy. Yes, this was going to be an absolutely wonderful shift once the alcohol wore off. Or I just keep drinking and don't let it do that. If she ended up trying to make dead bugs skitter across the counter top then she was going to make sure to have words with... someone. "Where should I meet you?"
'I still think this is a bad idea.' Didn't I already tell you to stop trying to tell me what to do? I'm very clearly not ever going to listen to you. 'When you get killed because you didn't listen...' Then you can yowl at my corpse that it belonged to an idiot. Until then? Your opinion - keep it to yourself. K-lee wanted to know what the girl was and if she was that pretty and able to have a sharp tongue then maybe the time would be worth it. Wasn't a complete waste if she could get something else out of it, right? And K-lee never took into consideration the fact that whoever she was looking at might be involved or not interested. Please. Who out there wasn't interested in her if she showed a flicker of interest in them? No one that she was aware of. 'The mermaid.' I will put you in a zoo. "I'd say back here but I'm not big on spells outside unless they're major. And I don't want to haul things to wherever you're living." She didn't say it, but her thoughts also included how little time she wanted to spend in what was probably a cramped little apartment hardly worth the space it took up. Pulling a pen out of her purse she reached out for Bianca's hand and flipped it open to scribble her address on her palm. "There, at say seven?" By then she'd be able to pick out all the little spells she was willing to share. Not that she'd need to worry about more than one. She was a born witch and it'd taken her time to learn her first spell; this girl wasn't born so it'd probably take her longer. Plus, K-lee had demonic blood flowing in her veins. "Now, tell."
When K-lee grabbed her hand, Bianca made a face, but let her write on it before she pulled it back. Rolling her eyes she reached into her pocket with her free hand to pull out her phone. "What, didn't they teach you about technology where you're from? Or do models just not know how to do anything but dial numbers... writing on my palm. What are we in, middle school?" Like Bianca was actually going to let the writing remain for longer than a few seconds. Plus it would involved staring at her skin again and every time that she did that she ended up remembering that the blood that flowed not so far beneath it was blacker than night. "Sure, seven and I'll be at Cherryblossom." Fancy. Pocketing her phone again, Bianca turned and started off on a path that would take her further into the park before depositing her on the other end, closer to where she was headed. "Oh, yeah, right." Stopping several feet away Bianca turned and tapped her lips. "Tell you what, I'll tell you tomorrow. Because um, I've just got a promise of what I want and that's pretty much all the leverage I've got against you. So yeah, sorry about that but you'll know this time then." Like Bianca was actually going to tell her when they were out in the middle of the park, please! Plus it was true that to do that would be giving away her only bargaining chip. She would rather keep that in her pocket until she was sure that K-lee was going to carry through with her end of the deal. Pointing a finger at K-lee, her smile changed from her sweetest into one more like a smirk as she started backing away, waiting a minute before twisting around to walk right. Walking backwards was not something that should be done after you had downed a certain amount of alcohol. That amount being whatever was currently swimming around in her veins.
K-lee didn't even need the told so that echoed through Malo's mind. Her eyes narrowed and she debated tossing several curses in Bianca's direction before she managed to appreciate what had just happened. For the first time in awhile she'd been outfoxed and that was pretty rare. Unless it was just actual knowledge being bartered and not a mini battle of the wits for a potentially inconsequential bit of knowledge. The demon in her blood didn't appreciate being a step behind, but she'd find a way to get back ahead. She always did. "Be that way then," she called after Bianca. "But don't think you can keep that secret up too long." If she didn't tell her tomorrow then she wouldn't be leaving Cherryblossom until she did. K-lee could appreciate someone outwitting her sure, but that didn't mean she'd take it twice. Once was more than enough for her to remember that it was possible and that was really all she needed to do. And now that Malo was done hunting she could go home and get started on figuring out what she wasn't too fussed over giving up. It's not giving up, she reminded herself as she turned and started back on the path she'd been on originally, Malo trotting along beside her. I won't forget the spell just because I share it. Otherwise her aunt wouldn't have had anything left by the time that she died. 'Maybe she won't turn up. Maybe whatever makes her smell so wrong will kill her by then.' K-lee shrugged. If that was the case then she wouldn't have to worry about sharing anything, or figuring out if Bianca was anything but human. Malo would've just been smelling sickness. Weird, but it could be weirder. And it'd be a mystery solved.