InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Belly!!!!!!"

paxnarrator (paxnarrator) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2017-06-21 08:45:00

Entry tags:

ares, chernobog, coyote, event post, freyr, hades, hel, hermes, loki, maui, pan, persephone, tyr, uke mochi, xochipilli

hot summer streets
Who: EVERYONE.
What: Pax Letale pool party.
Where: Pax pool.
When: Wednesday, June 20; in-game time, 7 p.m.
Notes: Hey guys -- you know the rules. Tag/label your posts, ask for permission coming into threads, etc etc. Any questions, toss 'em at the the modbox.

Despite the mildly warm weather, a pall seemed cast over the planned festivities. All throughout the day, clouds had swarmed the skies, covering the apartment complex in shadow. The passing of the sun did little to aid in this, though as it grew closer and closer to the established party time, the pool area was made ready for its assumed guests.

A sickly green light emanated from the pool itself, the glow growing stronger as the darkness encroached. Strung lights hung from the covered sitting areas, their colors punching through the darkness without shame. Music scattered itself, blaring softly from a nearby boombox that was controlled by an unseen hand; nearby, a table was laden with as expensive of foods as had become expected from these types of social situations: shrimp cakes, lobster sliders, three-queso dip with accompanying chips, and more. Perhaps to the guest's chagrin, there were no alcoholic beverages to be spoken of, but those who decided to BYOB would not find it difficult to do so. Otherwise, a flavorful fruit punch was on hand for thirsty attendees.

As the hour grew nearer, people started to collect outside of the pool, helping themselves to food, some sitting at the pool's edge with their feet dangling in the water. The music, which had been alternating between old summer time hits and the latest pop ballads, began to croon out a familiar tune, though only those listening closely might have heard any true malice in the lyrics.

Hot summer streets
And the pavements are burning
I sit around
Trying to smile but
The air is so heavy and dry...

...it's a cruel, cruel summer...

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Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

obedear
2017-06-23 12:41 pm UTC (link)

Obed was late. In truth, he had not especially wanted to come at all. He had guessed Isobel would be there, and while he had not been avoiding her, this gathering marked the first time he had seen hre since their all too brief exchange regarding Hanni. He wanted to help her—that need kept him up the nights his nightmares didn't—but he had not the first idea how. And whatever plan he might concoct, Obed knew it was truly no longer his place. She had a support network now, however small, as evidenced by Alice and a tanned, dark-haired man who seemed to know her. So although he had seen her, had watched her graceful movements around the distant food tables, he had kept solidly to himself.

He sat now at the edge of the pool, his pale legs dangling down into cool water. He almost hoped it would rain. But as it had not, he lit a cigarette in spite of all posted signs, and nursed its terrible burn with long, slow drags. This, too, was a new habit, one taken up over the course of long nights spent trying to avoid, or trying to recover from, dreams that left him shaking and slicked in sweat. He tapped ash to the concrete beside him, watching it drift away on the wind.

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$Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone: please don't run from me$ Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

praxidike
2017-06-23 01:10 pm UTC (link)

"Spot me one?" A pair of long, white legs paused beside him; Isobel towered over his seated figure, almost surprised at her own audacity. Mixed emotions warred in her breast—lingering fear, a comfortable sense of familiarity, and a strong want that gave truth to nearly everything he'd told her before. Now that she'd had time to process their earlier interaction, she found it less overwhelming to approach him. Light glinted off of her glasses, and she pushed them back up the bridge of her nose.

She bent, sitting down next to him, sliding her feet into the water. "I'm sorry, about the other day. I'm sure it must have been very strange." Which, in itself, was a strange thing for her to say to him; yet she realized her confusion and uncertainty about her own situation affected more than herself. Isobel held out a hand, waiting for the asked-for cigarette, wondering if he would say something about how she'd never smoked before. The smell was too familiar; either she had, or he had a regular habit.

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Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

obedear
2017-06-23 03:30 pm UTC (link)

It took Obed some time to properly formulate a response. Her apology only made him more uncomfortable, and in the interests of not showing it, he busied his hands with raising the packet of cigarettes up toward her, the cheap plastic lighter he had bought from a gas station stuffed into the cellophane at the back.

"We've both picked up bad habits, I see." His feet trailed in the water, droplets falling in his wake. His hands curled around the edge of the pool, as though to still them from reaching out to her. He twitched a small smile. "You don't have to apologize. I can't imagine how strange it must have been for you." The next draw from his cigarette flared the cherry at its tip, illuminating the deep shadows beneath his eyes. "How... how have you been, Isobel? Are you feeling any better?"

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$Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone: silver age hollywood$ Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

praxidike
2017-06-23 06:24 pm UTC (link)

The motions were too practiced for her to not have done this before; she drew a cigarette out, placed it between her lips, and lit the lighter with one stroke of her thumb. The whole package was then passed back, her freed hand going to pull the filter away from her lips.

"I don't know if better is the word," she said, looking at the cigarette. "Very little feels familiar, and I still don't remember much, if anything. Alice," she tipped her head in the direction of where Alice still sat, in the middle of a conversation with a dark-haired man who, just the same as everyone else, looked unfamiliar. "She's been helping me, a lot. Explained some things. Like how I apparently have a crazy ex who just torched a business I owned?" She carefully tapped ash out on her left hand side, away from Obed, glancing at him in the process. She studied his face in detail, his smile echoing back on hers for a moment.

"She told me what you said was true. I... This is just all so weird." She went quiet, bringing the cigarette back to her lips. Before it finished its trek, just as it was hovering before her mouth, she spoke again, the smoke billowing out with each word. "You look tired. I guess...with all the strange things happening, must be hard to sleep, here?"

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Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

obedear
2017-06-25 08:41 pm UTC (link)

Exhaustion almost made him slip. The words were right there on the tip of his tongue: That it was harder to sleep without her by his side, that his cavernous apartment was too large and too empty with only a tiny dog for company. He filled his mouth with smoke to keep these confessions from tumbling out. He exhaled only when he could trust himself not to say something foolish.

"You could say that," he allowed, as unwilling to overtly lie to her as he was to tell the full truth. "I'm glad Alice is helping you. And your ex... I offered earlier to help, if you needed. I have a good legal team, security connections..." He shrugged. "I'm sure you don't want my help, and I understand if you don't. But the offer still stands. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

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$Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone: nothing's what it seems$ Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

praxidike
2017-06-25 09:54 pm UTC (link)

She exhaled smoke in a long line, uncertainty covering her face as much as it had before.

"I might want it, I don't know. I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that Bryan did all of that. It doesn't..." She shook her head, ashed the cigarette again. "I was getting phone calls from a woman, and insurance companies. I... I just told them I wasn't in a good place to handle it right now. I'm not sure if I will be, and then I'm not sure what I'll say." It all felt too strange, and as she glanced at Obed sidelong again, a pang of guilt and sadness struck her that made her clench her teeth.

"How's Hanni?" She asked, instead, clearly still as avoidant as before.

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Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

obedear
2017-06-26 06:36 pm UTC (link)

Unfortunately her avoidance did not extend to Obed. Though he did not want to cause her pain, he could no more keep from showing his own in small, subtle ways. His hand between them toyed with the packet of cigarettes, the wrapper crinkling as he turned it around and around on the concrete.

"He misses you," he answered. "He goes around the apartment at night, looking for you." A twist of a smile played over his lips, gone in an instant. "Do you... want me to find someone to handle the calls? At least until you're ready to deal with them. It would be better not to put off the insurance work too long."

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$Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone: fear to kill$ Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

praxidike
2017-06-26 06:53 pm UTC (link)

Isobel paused halfway in bringing the cigarette back to her mouth; she opted to complete the motion before answering.

"I would really appreciate that. I feel like... I'm just an imposter, right now, in someone else's life. I wouldn't know what to do, or where to even start. Are you sure...? I don't want to be a bother." Her brows drew together, smoke gently wafting out of her mouth before she finally exhaled it to the far side.

"You're being terribly nice to the person who dumped you, you know," she teased, gently. The beginnings of a smile quirked one side of her mouth. "I hope you don't feel you owe me something, when I don't even know what it is." Her other hand lifted, pushing her glasses back up her nose as they slipped forward. Cool water lapped around her calves, currents drawn by the pool's automated cleaning system circulating around her and Obed's feet.

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Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

obedear
2017-06-28 04:18 pm UTC (link)

Obed plainly could not help himself: His eyes followed the path of her hand on the bridge of her glasses, traced the curve of that small, secret smile. A minuscule smirk curved his lips as her words sank in, and he was reminded of the yawning distance that separated them now.

"I know. But I—" He stopped himself, literally biting his tongue to keep those now-familiar words from falling free. They echoed in his mind, paining him with each reverberation, but at least she could not hear. "I want to help. You don't owe me anything, I just..." Want to fix it. Us. Everything. He shook his head. "You have enough on your mind right now. Let me handle this one small thing."

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$Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone: no words to fight$ Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

praxidike
2017-06-29 11:46 am UTC (link)

It didn't seem like a small thing, to her mind; but then again, she was handling figuring out who she was, which, in the larger scheme, affected everything else. It hadn't sounded like she'd held ill will against him, and the texts in her phone that she'd come across while researching her life (a thing that never failed to feel unnerving) made it sound like there were lingering feelings between them. Isobel studied Obed's face as she thought over his offer right then and there, and then she nodded.

"OK," she said, swallowing after speaking as though a fresh sense of uncertainty were needling its way through her mind. "Thank you. I'm sure I could find some way to make it up to you," she quickly added. "More dog sitting, maybe, or..." The small smile on her face flared out wider, a laugh bubbling out of her throat. Then she turned away and ashed the cigarette on the concrete next to her. "I would like to see Hanni again. I didn't realize it, but I miss him, too." Maybe among other things, but one step at a time, she chastised herself.

"And I guess we should talk. If... I mean, if you're open to it. I still have... a lot of questions." She took another long drag of her cigarette, her brows drawing together as her eyes drifted back to his face.

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Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m.

obedear
2017-06-30 01:59 pm UTC (link)

Obed shook his head, dismissing every offer of repayment as it came. The thought of asking anything from her now felt crass; adding another obligation, even one she placed on herself, to all she already dealt with was unconscionable.

"We can talk," he said. "We probably should. Not here, of course, and..." He sighed, a thin jet of smoke rendering the slight sound tangible. He smiled, a mirthless little thing, and crushed his nearly gone cigarette out on the concrete between them. "I need a little more time, I think. Just to get my thoughts together, and try to figure out how to even answer some of the questions I'm sure you have." He gathered up the little packet beside him. He did not rise from his little perch, not yet, but it was clear he was preparing to do so. Equally clear, of course, was the fact that he wanted to linger in her presence for as long as he could.

"Give me a week or so," he said. "And when you have the time, just let me know. You're welcome to stop by, or Hanni and I can come to you. Whatever you need."

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$Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone: flower crown$ Re: Obed/Isobel - poolside - 7:55 p.m. (closed/completed)

praxidike
2017-06-30 04:38 pm UTC (link)

She nodded, watching all the little movements that said he was making ready to depart. Part of her wanted him to stay, even if they had nothing else to say to each other, despite that so clearly not being the case. But she kept her hands and her thoughts to herself, letting him have his space.

"I think I'll come to you," she replied. She took another drag from her cigarette, but made no sign that she would follow him if he departed. "I think there's probably more for me to find if I go upstairs, and... maybe it would make you feel more comfortable." She certainly couldn't dispel the fact that she cared about him on some level; though her memories had fled, it seemed that her emotions had not. At least, not entirely. Blowing out smoke, her legs moved incrementally in the pool's current. Her other arm wrapped around her middle, her eyes unable to move away from his face.

"Let me know when."

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