And all the sinners, saints and winners just wink and walk on by Who: Everyone! What: Mercy puts on a Mardi Gras party, and of course it's the setting for some drama. Where: Pax Emeritus, second floor. When: Feb. 13!
"You got that?"
"Mhm," Mercy replied, carefully balancing a nearly brimming punch bowl between two hands. It would have, of course, been smarter to pour the punch when it was already out on the table, but that also meant everyone and sundry would have been able to see what she'd put in it, and where was the fun in that? BB followed behind her with four bags of chips, two apiece per hand, to plunk on the table they'd set up. It was covered with a white table cloth, atop which were tons and tons of multicolored plastic beads. A cut up King Cake sat on another side, along with paper plates, napkins, and utensils, all ready for those daring enough to see if they could find the plastic baby within the pastry (and Mercy had definitely gotten authentic King Cake, or as close as she could come).
The two had wrapped gold, green, and purple streamers around the railing that lined the edge of the floor. Masks were stuck on the walls with tape, or hung from door knobs and the railing. Confetti covered the floor and the food table. The pair of them had "donated" as many chairs between them as they could (and Mercy had helped herself to Nate's apartment, uncaring if he minded his furniture being moved about without his knowing) to populate the hall space and give people a place to sit and chat. The final touch was a small boom box BlueToothed to Mercy's phone, playing the best jazz she could find on Spotify.
She settled the punch bowl on the table, and then put her hands on her hips as she eyed the spread, and the decorations.
"Not half bad," she said, turning to grin at BB. "Now we just need people."
June was first to arrive, her black feathered domino and black leather coat a fine tribute to her inner deity. In one hand she carried a bottle of rum, and she raised it as she entered the corridor. "Girls," she called out. She moved to BB's side, enveloping her in a tight, one-armed hug that BB returned with gusto. "This is already looking great. Is that spiked yet or should I do the honors?"
"Um, of course it's spiked," Mercy replied with a small drawl, rolling her eyes. She moved forward and helped herself to June's bottle all the same, finding it a place on the table. It did not remain there for long; she helped herself to a cup and poured a generous portion, licking her lips after taking a long, satisfying swallow.
"Mm-mm!" She said, smacking her lips. An index finger extended in June's direction. "You're definitely telling me where you picked this up."
A fourth figure appeared on the stairwell in the distance, a hand lingering on a bannister as they seemed to reconsider the idea of accepting the publicly posted invitation. Dressed in a black wife-beater, which tapered nicely down to a pair of blank pants laced with a studded black belt, over black boots, two sleeves of tattoos were immediately and vividly apparently on pale skin. The hand on the bannister rose to toss a wave of black-dyed hair over one shoulder, away from her face, only to have it fall before her eyes again.
Rolling one shoulder, Theo seemed to steel herself and started forward. BB, leaning back from where June was standing in front of her, immediately interceded.
"Hey! You're the chick who posted on the forum, right?"
Caught out, Theo paused, then ducked her head. Her sallow face pinched around her mouth, but she seemed to rethink whatever comment nearly came flying out.
"Uh, yeah. Hi. I'm Theo—I guess everyone knows everybody else? You all go to school together or something?"
June snorted a laugh. "A couple of us," she said, "but not for a long, long time." She gave Theo another long, appraising look. The little toss of her hair that followed made clear she liked what she saw. "I'm June." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, gesturing to each woman in turn. "That's Mercy, and that's BB. Very much like the gun, so watch yourself around that one." BB cut a wide grin, her hands going to her hips as though she were on proud display. Mercy merely rolled her eyes, downing more of her drink. Theo's hair fell back in front of her face, which she pushed back.
She picked up a spare cup from the table. Waggling it gently in Theo's direction, she cocked one brow in question. "Rum or punch? Or both?"
"It already has moscato in it," Mercy interjected, crossing her arms over her chest. She shrugged. "I mean, unless you're a lush or something. Not judging." June made a soft sound of disagreement as Mercy moved forward, taking the bottle of Kraken in hand in a hypocritical fashion to refresh her drink. BB rolled her eyes, leaning into Theo's space.
"It's giggle juice, you'll like it! And I love your tattoos—they're so pretty!" She started to reach out, her hand hovering before a shoulder as she seemed to remember it would be impolite to actually touch the art. Instead, BB shoved her hands into her pockets.
Theo seemed to eye them all like an animal in a zoo, unsure behind the bars of its cage but at least with its back to a wall. "Uh, thanks. It's what I do for a living. And I'll take a cup of the punch," she added, nodding at June.
June nodded, promptly filling the cup and striding over to their newest addition. "How long have you been tattooing? Your linework is sharp enough to cut. Damn." She leaned over Theo's arm, observing, and close enough that a whisper of breath over skin could be felt, but not so close as to be accused of touching; Theo paced back, uncomfortable. Then June smiled, and stuck out the cup. "All yours," she offered. Her full lips parted to say something else, something perhaps more pointed and direct. But then footfalls announced new arrivals, and everyone turned to see who had joined.
Rafael, with Gabe in tow, reached the floor's landing before he noticed Theo in among the crowd. Immediately his face fell. He tried to hide it, and found some degree of success fairly quickly, but a shadow of his fear remained. He clasped Gabe's hand tighter and forced a smile to his lips.
"I see we're a little late," he said. He raised a bottle of red wine, the fingers of his free hand wrapped in a death grip around its neck. "I hope that's not too… pretentious, Mercy. I've never been to a real Mardi Gras party, so I wasn't sure…"
Mercy made a half-garbled sound, her head thrown back in a laugh as she finished off another cup of rum.
"Only pretentious thing is not sharing! Come on, come on," she replied, shouldering through the small crowd of women to approach the two men, grabbing their clasped hands and dragging them forward. Theo eyed Rafe's discomfort, hiding her mouth behind her cup as she gratefully sank to the back of everyone's attention for the moment.
BB pounced forward, ready and willing to make use of any situation. "Oh my god, Rafe, I saw your latest film and unf." She pressed a hand to her chest, eyes rolling up toward the ceiling in cartoony appreciation. "You have to tell me what your glute workout is, because those buns are totally made of steel."
Theo snorted into her cup; Gabe likewise had to bite his lip. He intervened, squeezing Rafe's hand and giving his beau some options. "You want some King Cake, anjo?"
"I, uh…" Rafael nodded, but he did not loose his grip on Gabe's hand. Not wanting to appear rude but unwilling to be left without a buffer between himself and Theo, he did his best to detach himself from his partner while still remaining close enough to use Gabe as a shield should anything go awry. "No, just some of the punch, thank you."
Gabe nodded, and disappeared for a moment, easily reading Rafe's unease with the situation. He had not missed the seemingly black-and-white, tattooed young woman standing just off to the side, looking just as uncomfortable as Rafe with the scenario. Still, he focused on his task and filled two cups, returning to Rafe's side without pause.
Somewhat recovered from the initial shock of Theo's presence, Rafe turned to those tenants with whom he was on friendlier terms. He set down the bottle of wine on the table near Mercy, then favored BB with a bright, earnest smile.
"Come to the gym with me some time," he said. "I could use a training partner."
"Oh, my god, ye&mdash" BB started to squeal out, her hands going to her cheeks as she almost started vibrating with excitement.
"Hey now," June teased, nodding to Gabe. Gabe smiled in reply, tipping a sip down his throat as he listened. "That's what he's for."
"Oh, that's definitely not what he means by gym," Gabe returned smoothly, smiling all the while even as he teased. "And I would not at all mind someone else helping Rafe out with the weights. Gives me more time to catch up on my deadlines. Not that I dislike the gym... I'd just hate to hoard Rafe all to myself." He hip checked Rafe, grinning, standing so close to the other man that they were nearly inseparable. His hand rose, brushing the small of Rafe's back.
"Oh, oh, oh, I will so hit the gym with you!" BB interjected, grabbing the conversation to pull it back toward her. "Do you do 5x5?? I've been wanting to get into weights! I just, ugh, I don't know about barbells, yah know? They look so heavy," she offered with as much drama as she could manage, her hands gripping an imaginary bar as she gritted against the mock weight. Rafael laughed against the rim of his cup, biding his time until he could get a word in edgewise.
Behind them, Theo studied the group, taking mental notes. Her eyes kept drifting back toward Rafe, her interest clearly piqued by the man. She did not, however, make a move toward him, and instead Mercy interrupted the happy fray.
"OK, OK, OK, um, no," she said, her voice a hair too high. "This isn't to talk about the gym," she chided, stepping around June to grab BB's arm. "This is about having fun, so let's go dance."
"Yes," June said, inserting herself into the small group. Sipping from her cup she reached out with her free hand, tugging Gabe—and with him, Rafe—over toward the others. She caught Theo's glances, but misinterpreted them to better suit her own desires. She tossed the tattooed woman a flirtatious wink. One of Theo's black brows rose, but she did not otherwise respond to the look, though she understood it for what it was. Instead, her eyes were still on Rafe, but her gaze flickered between the whole of the group periodically.
Rafe kept close to Gabe as the little group fell into easy but sporadic conversation, interspersed as they danced together to the thumping music. BB quickly made herself at home, grinding up on June, and then suddenly interspersed herself between her friend and Gabe. Gabe, meanwhile, was doing his best to hold onto his drink and Rafe, though his wide smile and laughter implied that he felt perfectly fine with the scenario.
Theo remained off to the side, leaning against a wall, watching. Eventually, Gabe dipped out, pleading the need to pee—it wasn't hard to notice that he was also breathing a little heavily, his chest expanding at a rapid pace that he was trying to get under control. The tattooed young woman watched him move away from the herd, but he wasn't the prey she was curious about, and she waited to see if Rafe would follow his partner.
But he remained where he was, pulling away from the small but lively throng of dancers. He sidled up to the table laden with food and drink, and began to replenish his dwindling cup. Happy and distracted, he did not notice Theo's continued stare, or her approach. Still humming to the music, he sucked a bit of icing from his thumb as he plucked a thin slice of king cake from one plate.
"So... You scared of me or something?" Her voice appeared before she did, audible even through the din of the music, and he started at the sound. Theo appeared next to Rafe, nearly close enough to touch, certainly enough to discomfort as she reached for the punch bowl's label. She refilled her cup, and took a step back from Rafe, eyeing him now that she was up close.
"You're looking at me like I'm gonna bite."
He gave a shaky laugh. "You might," he said. His tone fell far short of the levity he intended. His grip was too tight on both the cup and the cake; crumbs dribbled down to the floor, and the cup creaked wearily. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met. Um. I'm Rafael. You're, uh, Theo, right? Parrish?"
His throat closed up at her surname, as though he were choking on those small syllables. He tried to smile, but it was timorous and small. He swallowed around that dry, tight knot and nodded toward the table. "Care for a drink?" Dark eyes flicked down, seeing too late the cup in her hand. "Oh. Sorry. Cake, then."
"Nah," she replied, sipping from the cup that seemed to continuously hover close to her mouth, hiding her chin. Her eyes narrowed. "Thanks," she added, a swift, punctuated afterthought perhaps meant to comfort, but nothing followed that would weigh the scale in that direction. Instead, she studied Rafe for another minute before pressing on what seemed like the most obvious explanation.
"So, d'you see the post I left up on the forum? About my brother?"
"Mm. Mm-hm." The small sounds broke against his cup, meaningless and barely audible. Unable to eat, he simply set the cake aside on a discarded plate. He wet his lips with another sip of rum. His head spun, and he knew it had little to do with the liquor.
"I saw it." His voice cracked. "I, um… meant to answer. I saw others did, though. Did you find what you were looking for?"
His slow unraveling only spurred her on.
"No," she replied, her voice flat, unhappy. Sipping more of her drink, she lowered the cup to hang by fingertips close to her hip. Her other hand rose, circling her opposing elbow, creating a defensive pose across her stomach. A serpent wound down her arm, ending on the top of her hand; its scales were intricate, so detailed that it seemed one could brush fingers against it and feel their keratin armor instead of her own human skin. For a moment Rafe lost himself in that pattern; it seemed almost familiar, resonant on some subconscious level.
"Some guy on the forum told me that Abel just...disappeared. Who the fuck does that?" She sneered, stabbing randomly in the dark. "And no one notices? No one even put out a police report?"
For all the chilled liquid Rafael poured over his tongue his mouth remained dry as bone. He found his cup suddenly empty. His hands and mouth ached for a smoke. His thumbnail pressed into the fingertips of his free hand, one by one, as though he might prod himself awake from this nightmare. Theo's gaze remained unflinchingly on his face, watching each tic and trying to measure it for what it might mean.
"A—" He stopped as quickly as he had begun. Started over, more careful this time. "He wasn't very sociable. He certainly didn't say much about himself. So we just thought he left. Moved out. That happened a lot at the old building. It's… I wouldn't think too much of it."
"Well I would," Theo replied, leaning into the words. Rafael flinched as if struck. "He flat out stopped responding to my texts or my calls a month ago. And then I get here and no one knows where the fuck he went? That sounds fucking suspicious to me." Her fingers dented the cup they were holding, and her mouth opened to hurl more questions and obscenities in his direction. But Rafe was saved by the reappearance of Gabe, who walked up behind the other man, his hand going to the small of his back. He could readily understand Rafe's tense posture, and darted a questioning look at both him and Theo.
"What's wrong, anjo?" He asked, softly, but Theo was not content to be left out.
"I—"
"We were talking," she interrupted, each clipped sentence spat out in a staccato fashion. "About my brother. Abel Parrish. Heard of him?"
Gabe's brows rose, his gaze swinging back to Rafe's conversational partner. The hand on the small of Rafe's back tensed, but he tried to force himself to relax.
"I have," he replied, far more coldly than anyone would have heard him speak normally. "And I don't have any information for you. Personally, I think this whole community is better off without him. He's sick, and he's gone. That's all I care about. Now, if you'll excuse—"
"Hold the fuck up," Theo said, her cup bouncing and spilling on the floor. Her voice rose, nearly cutting over the music. BB stopped, glancing at the mounting confrontation, and grabbed June's arm, pulling her attention to it. Mercy continued to blissfully dance, unaware of the escalating tensions. "Everyone needs to stop fucking dancing around the fucking subject and just tell me where the fuck my brother is!"
"We don't care!" Rafe's voice broke like glass. The red Solo cup was crushed in one shaking hand, while his other hand hung at his side, balled into a fist. Fine droplets of blood dotted his palm beneath the biting press of his nails.
"Espero que apodreça na prisão mas we don't know."
June's fingers laced with BB's. She pulled her friend nearer to the tense trio, every line of her body taut as she waited for the fight that seemed imminent; BB grabbed Mercy at the last moment, tugging the buzzed young woman away from the dance floor with a sudden jerk. But Rafael seemed to crumble, then, slumping back against his partner's hand. A steady stream of half-mumbled words fell from his lips. June understood none of them, but the sentiment was clear enough. Tears stood in his eyes, and seemed mere seconds from falling.
"Chill out, girl with the dragon tattoo," June said, her voice too loud by half. "You want to investigate, maybe ask the owners. They got all the records when we changed buildings, right? I'd assume? He obviously doesn't know shit about shit." She twitched a small smile at Rafael, who did not notice it in the least. "No offense."
Gabe's arm moved around Rafe protectively, ready to intercede on the man's behalf again; his gaze darted toward June for a moment, and when his met hers, he nodded in thanks.
Theo, on the other hand, was thoroughly confused as to why she was suddenly being shouted at in what sounded like Spanish, and why everyone was suddenly being so openly hostile toward her.
"What, can't a girl as a few fucking questions?" She started, stepping closer to the snack table to deposit her cup. "You guys aren't the friendliest bunch, are yah?"
"Oh my god, you all need to stop ruining my party," Mercy all but shrieked, jerking her hand away from BB's in order to stumble over to the drinks and finish off what remained of the rum bottle into her red cup. Theo stepped away from her, feeling ostracized by the group at large. She glanced back at Rafe, then Gabe, around the hall as she clearly began to back down.
Gabe leaned forward, his mouth hovering near Rafe's ear. "Do you want to stay, anjo? We can just head back to the apartment..."
"No." Rafael was trembling, though he did not feel it. Every breath came too shallow, too quick. "No, I'm fine. I'm fine. I need a cigarette. Or another drink. Both?" Gabe nodded, and immediately began to attend to his partner's needs, staying away from him only as long as it took him to refresh his drink.
"Let's head outside for a minute, yeah? I don't know how the Brandts would feel about us smoking in the hallway..." he started, lacing his fingers through Rafe's.
June swept in alongside them, dragging BB along in a tight grip. She glanced over the couple only briefly, then stepped solidly in front of them and turned her high-wattage smile in Theo's direction. "Sorry about that," she said. "Don't take it personally. This is a weird fuckin' place. You'll get used to it after a while. But why don't we get you some more of that punch and you can tell your two local busybodies here about your brother. 'K?"
Theo's frown didn't abate, but the line of her shoulders softened, her entire posture making her look less like an animal about to take flight. After a moment, she nodded, and eased her way back toward the snack table.
Down the hallway another door opened and shut. Nate entered the corridor, a top hat rakishly balanced on his head, its thick purple band a close but not exact match to the purple suit he wore. He had no mask, and felt he needed none, looking dapper as he did. His smile faded at the sight of Mercy's drawn features; something had upset her, and she did not appear to be alone in this. He fought back a frown.
"Turn that music up," he said, affecting the loud, booming cheer he so often displayed Sunday mornings in the pulpit. "Y'all are the saddest-looking krewe I've ever seen."
"For the love of—" Mercy shouted, shoving her way past both June, Theo, and Gabe, the last edging closer to Rafe with some displeased surprise; he tugged Rafe's hand again and started to lead him toward the stairs, and the outdoors. "Just show up whenever you feel like it, hmmm?" She reached out and took Nate first by the sleeve, then by the hand as she dragged him into the fray, her own demeanor suddenly much improved.
Theo glanced from them back to June and BB, one tapered brow rising. Her arms came up and crossed over her chest. "So what do you two know about Abel?"
June shrugged; the black feathers on her mask bobbed with the motion. "Not much," she admitted. "He'd left before I got here, uh, right around Halloween. I've just heard bits and pieces, 'cause like I said, I'm a busybody. But when I tell you this place is weird, I'm kinda underselling it, OK? Like… the old building was some next level shit. When I moved in there were these… altars, I guess, in the hallway, and I had to move in literally around them. And that's just one small example. So it might not actually be that crazy that he just up and left."
Theo's brows knit; for a moment her gaze moved toward Mercy, busy shoving King Cake and what little was left of the rum into her brother's hands. Then she looked back at June, BB lingering just at her side. The small Asian woman moved around to kitty-corner both of them, her posture mirroring Theo's in crossing her arms over her chest.
"That doesn't make any sense," she said, not realizing how harsh her tone came off. "So what, your guys's management was doing some construction work? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"No," BB said, sighing. "It was a lot more than that, like..." She paused, her eyes meeting June's for a moment as she considered what to say. Looking back at Theo, her voice went very, very low. "Have you had any weird dreams since moving in here?"
Theo looked at her like she'd suggested the woman had a growth on her neck. "No. What the fuck does that mean?"
"What it sounds like," June said. "Like… not just weird dreams, but specific weird ones. Maybe you keep seeing the same person or animal or… thing. Or you feel like you're having kind of an out of body experience. Seeing yourself from somebody else's point of view." June sighed, her shoulders rising and falling as she reached for words that might make their meaning understood.
"OK, so for me it's a raven." She raised a hand to brush across the feathers that adorned her domino. "I don't always dream about it, but when I do, the dreams are really clear. They… resonate, my mom would say. Other people here… they have those kinds of dreams, too. You get what I'm saying?"
The expression on Theo's face said she did not get what June was saying. BB tried to intercede.
"OK, like, for me, it's... Well..." Her eyes narrowed as her gaze looked up into the massive skylight above everything. "It's kind of like everything, and just weird. Like, who's that guy, with the mustache, who painted all the melting clocks?"
"Dali?" Theo supplied, not looking one whit more on the same page as the other two women.
"Maybe? I dunno, but, it's a lot like that." She nodded, a satisfied smile pressed to her lips. Theo merely stared at her blankly.
"Look, if you guys don't actually know, I mean, I'm not gonna crucify anyone, I was just looking for a lead, anything..." She rolled one shoulder, frowning. "The guy who answered my forum post, Daniel, he said you guys moved out of the old building. Like, mass exodus?"
"Yeah, and pretty quick," June said. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the mention of her friend's ex, but she glossed over this in short order. It was enough, though, for Theo to note—what it might mean, she had no idea, but the relationships in this small group were already more complex than immediately apparent.
"Halloween was fuckin' batshit and I'm pretty sure we were all drugged or something." A lie, but close enough to the truth that June hoped their new neighbor would not mind overmuch. BB glanced sidelong at June, her hesitation telling Theo that not everything June was explaining was the God's honest truth. "I guess a few people started looking for somewhere else and passing the word along, and by the new year we were in here. The ones of us who stuck together, anyway.
"The Brandts bought this building. Obed and Isobel? So I dunno. They're the most likely to know anything, but I don't know them well enough to tell you if they'll actually share that information."
Theo scowled. "Why's that?"
"Uh, duh," BB interjected, rolling her eyes. "Because it was some scary shit. I mean, at the Halloween party, Obed almost—"
"Completely flipped his shit," June quickly cut in. She shot a warning look to her friend, a flash of black eyes and a single raised brow. BB looked confused for a moment, but then quickly nodded her head in agreement with June's assertion. It was not, however, enough to pacify Theo, who'd seen the beginnings of the word BB's mouth had begun to shape before she'd been cut off. "He's, uh, normally really chill, almost standoffish, but there was a fight and he got right in the thick of it. So when you meet him try not to be weird about his, uh, scars. Some dude brought a knife to the fuckin' party, I guess. What the fuck is wrong with people…"
Theo rolled her eyes, her arms adjusting to a new position; it was enough to draw attention to not only the tattooed artwork, but a number of nasty looking scars on her arms and shoulders. June took that moment to take a quick appraisal of them—while getting an eyeful of that ink—but bit her tongue against utterly derailing the conversation for the sake of her own sordid interests.
"OK, so they let in a bad tenant. Maybe that assfuck did something to my brother; no one ever thought of that?" She glanced from June to BB, one brow arched.
"What, the knife guy? Or Obed?" It was June's turn to look confused; her brows knit for an instant before a peal of laughter broke from her full lips. "Oh my God, just wait until you meet him. I mean sure, maybe he evicted your brother, but I don't see him doing anything worse than that. And like I said, I think your brother was already gone by then. Now the knife guy, maybe. I dunno how long the folks who'd been fighting had lived here, or if somebody brought a guest, or a homeless dude walked in…" She shrugged. "Like I said, we were all drunk and uh, possibly otherwise out of it."
Theo opened her mouth to correct June, but then the other woman was so off on a torrent of explanation that she thought it better to let the misunderstanding fly. The frown on her face settled deeper, looking all too natural on her pale face.
"Man, that doesn't fuckin help me much," she replied, sourly.
"Well, no, it does," BB said, shrugging. Theo's unhappy gaze turned in her direction. "Just, that's one lead. And, I mean, Obed and... Your brother's Abel, right? Kinda pale and scrawny, like... Well, I can see the family resemblance."
Theo's lips pressed into a thin line, her overall expression even more displeased; the expression was mirrored on June's face as well. BB continued on, completely oblivious to the reaction she was engendering.
"Anyway," she said, one hand rising to gesticulate,"it did seem like your brother and Obed were friendly, to say the least. Unless they had a falling out or, I dunno, something like that, I don't think he would've evicted him or whatever. And besides, the Brandts didn't even own the building back then."
"OK, OK," Theo said, hands rising to force BB to pause. "I'm fuckin lost, and I need a drink."
"I can fix that." June quickly and gladly stepped in, looping her arm around Theo's. Her hand lightly brushed a series of scars as she did, and as she pulled Theo toward the drinks table, she seized the opportunity she had earlier shied from. Theo's eyes widened a little, but she didn't immediately shut down the touching. BB, meanwhile, lingered for a moment, caught off-guard and then confused between whether she should follow or find some other form of entertainment. She opted for the latter, beelining for Mercy and Nate.
"So can I ask what these are from, or is that off-limits?" June's dark eyes darted toward Theo's shoulder for an instant. "They seem… intentional, is why I ask."
She guided them neatly around Mercy and Nate, not pausing to apologize as she brushed into the increasingly intoxicated pastor. Nate, happy to see his sister in her element, grinned broadly and waved to the women. Theo glanced sidelong at the siblings, noting they seemed chummier than she might have expected; Mercy's hand was under Nate's jacket, the exact placement hidden but for a small bump over the small of his back. She outrightly ignored the other women, pouting a little when his attention was drawn elsewhere. BB only exacerbated the issue by interrupting their conversation, causing Mercy to pull her arm away, frowning heavily at the young woman who pressed herself between them to gain a plate of King Cake, jabbering on endlessly.
Theo went back to June's question, brows raised slightly. One side of her mouth curved; her hand came up and settled on June's, pressing it harder into her flesh; scars on the inside of her wrist, down to the elbow, seemed to rise up under her fingers.
"It's 'cause they are," Theo replied. There was no shame, no hesitancy in her answer. "Most of 'em are from cutting when I was a kid. Bad environment. The rest are from suspension." She left it there, waiting to see if June would continue to pry.
"Suspension," June echoed. She stopped just before the table and turned to better face Theo. He fingers pressed into the scars as their newest neighbor had directed; she felt their lines, their marks, as she pulled her hand away. Her continued curiosity was written plain on her face.
"I've heard about that. Never seen it, though. You uh, still do that?" She grinned, trying to hide the flush that had risen to her cheeks. Hoping to blame it on liquor, she served herself a fresh cup of punch to match Theo's. "I mean is it a public thing, like a performance, or just a private deal?"
Theo passed her refreshed cup from one hand to the other, tattooed fingers curling around the red. She shrugged.
"It can be either. I get off more from the public display, but the private deal's definitely it's own thing. The right dom can make all the difference." She sipped at the spiked punch, and then stepped into June's space; a hand went to rest delicately on one of June's hips. "Why? You looking to branch out? I'm not much of a switch, but I'm willing to make the effort if it's worth my while."
June, who had been halfway through a sip of rum punch, was reduced to coughing at this unexpected response. Her watering eyes met Theo's. "Well sure," she said. "I mean… I'm always down to learn something new, especially, you know, with the right teacher. And nothing says I can't just come watch, right? If it is this public… display. Right? Just seems like something that might be… fun? Is that the right word?"
Theo chuckled, three dark, slim sounds; she withdrew her hand, brushing upward before pulling away entirely.
"It is, to me," she said. "Watching isn't as much fun as doing though, but... I'll let you know when my group's having another public session. Never know, and consider it my thank you for being so helpful." No small hint of sarcasm colored her words, and she followed the offering with a quick chaser.
"Is that the sort of thing you're usually into, June? You strike me more as the fuzzy handcuffs sort. Not the I need to bleed to cum sort."
Color flared bright in June's dusky cheeks. She stammered a moment, then hid it with great gulps of her punch. She composed herself quickly enough, but the redness in her cheeks did not fade. "No," she said, "no, I'm not that sort at all. I'm just curious. But this sounds like the kind of thing I might be an unwanted tourist in, so… forget I asked, I guess.
"What else are you into? When you're not playing detective or mutilating yourself."
A harsh bark of a laugh erupted from Theo's mouth, but she quashed it just as quickly. She shrugged, tossing her head to remove hair that immediately fell back into her eyes.
"Not much. Tattoo people, pierce people, even outside of my sex life. Draw." She went quiet, momentarily shifting from foot to foot. The liquid in her cup sloshed. "I should probably go, actually," she said, shifting her cup from one hand to the other so she could pull her mobile phone from a pocket.
"Sure," June said, hoping she hit the right balance of hope and apathy. "Well I did enjoy meeting you. Sorry it went so weird at first." She shrugged and took a sip of her punch. "I'll see you around, I'm sure. Let me know if you find anything else out about your brother, hm? You've got me curious now."
Theo nodded, making a clicking sound with her tongue as she pointed, half turned away already from the conversation.
"Sure thing, dollface." She emptied the remainder of the cup into her mouth, and then idly tossed the empty onto the snack table; Mercy's eyes followed the gesture, but it wasn't enough to pull her away from the spectacle BB was somehow making of herself in front of Nate.
Theo wound her way back down the stairs and to her own apartment, feeling her shoulders ease as she moved away from the sounds of conversation and music. It wasn't much of a start, but it never felt that way in the beginning; it would take more time, and far more aggression than she'd been able to muster amid all the strangers in this new building.