Zania Castell (brokendoll) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-04-03 21:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, rylee, rylee x zania, zania |
Who: Zania and Rylee
Where: The Castell House
When: Friday, June 8
Status: Complete
While they had kept in touch over text and the like while Rylee had been living in Virginia, it had been a long time since she had been able to see Zania face to face. It sucked that it was only to say goodbye again, but it wasn’t like they would never see each other. Rylee and Carson would drive back to visit and all of that. And if the full moon proved to be a bit of a pain in the ass in Virginia, they would be back at least once a month.
While Carson was visiting with his family, she drove over to Ludlow to see Zania. As always, their house stood out among the eye sores… save for whatever had happened to the Zinneman house. It certainly didn’t look haunted anymore. Whoever had bought it had probably gotten it on a dime and then had plenty of money to make it look brand new.
She sighed wistfully. It had always been fun to sneak about the house at night. Creepy. Though now she’d had enough creepy to last her a lifetime.
After she parked in the driveway, Rylee walked up to knock, excited to see her friend, especially if it was going to be the last time they spoke for a while.
As far as Zania was concerned, things were good. Better than they’d been in a while, at least. Most of the people that had disappeared out on Witcham Road had returned, lifting the dark cloud that had hovered over her life all spring. She hadn’t been as directly impacted by the incident as some, but watching Nic and Lem both battle depression had been difficult and almost everyone she knew seemed to know someone who had disappeared. She knew that their return didn’t just fix everything, but it seemed to make things a hell of a lot better, and just in time for summer.
Though she wasn’t expecting anyone, Zania left what she was doing to answer the front door. Opening it to Rylee was a pleasant surprise. “Hey!” she smiled and immediately hugged her friend. “What’s up? Just thought you’d drop by?” It had been a while since they last talked, and even longer since they’d seen each other. Zania kind of thought Rylee was avoiding her after what Nic had done, but maybe that was all resolved now that Carson had returned.
Rylee had been avoiding Nic since Carson disappeared, which meant not really coming to visit Zania at her home. But she had been sure to say goodbye before moving to Virginia and now that Carson was back, her anger towards Nic had softened a bit. "Carson is with his family for a bit so I thought I would come by to say hi before we left," she said, returning Zania's hug. "We talked about staying in town a bit longer, but I think Carson is eager to put this place behind him for a while." Rylee smiled and glanced around. "Is Nic home?"
“I know we haven’t hung out a lot lately, but I’m gonna miss you,” Zania said, lips turning down in a mock pout before perking up again. “I don’t blame you though. This place hasn’t exactly been kind to you lately. Come on in. Have some coffee, or tea, we always have tea.” As soon as Rylee had stepped inside, Zania shut the door and led the way back to the kitchen. Bastet, who had been sleeping quietly on a sunny spot on the couch, looked up as they walked by, then went back to sleep. “Nic’s at the shop. We don’t have to worry about him popping in on us. He’ll be there till close today.”
"Well, it's hard to hang out when I've been living in Virginia for the past three months," Rylee pointed out with a small smile. "I did miss you though and I'm sorry we couldn't hang out more while I've been home this week. Things have been a bit chaotic since Carson came home." She followed Zania towards the kitchen. "Will you tell Nic I said hello? I would stop at the shop later but I think it might just be weird after all this time."
"Well, yeah, but even before that, things were, you know, weird," Zania shrugged. Rylee had been upset, reasonably so, and Zania had been adjusting to seeing people's auras. It was still a work in progress, but not one that bothered her on a daily basis. Rylee had a healthy white glow about her, which Zania generally took as a good sign. "I'll tell him," she said. "He'll be glad to hear it. I'm pretty sure he thinks you hate him."
Rylee nodded. Things had been weird... and weird was probably an understatement. She hadn't been pleasant to be around, mourning Carson, angry at everyone involved who she deemed responsible for his disappearance. It had been so bad that she had moved states. Now she was putting this town in her rearview again, but this time with Carson by her side. "I don't hate him," she murmured. "It was just hard for me to understand what had happened, you know? Carson's been through so much already and..." Rylee trailed off and took a breath before managing a smile. "He's back now though and he's doing okay. Maybe next time we come to visit Nic and I can talk. But what about you? How have you been doing? How's Gabriel?"
Zania held her tongue, rather than point out that Nic’s life hadn’t exactly been a cake walk. They were very different men with very different circumstances, and Zan knew a big part of Nic’s problem was that he often took on more than he could handle, including his share of the blame. The last few months had been rough in that regard, and Nic probably would’ve benefitted from moving out of state himself. But he’d have never left Lem. Zania was glad that the situation had resolved itself before it had gotten much worse. “I’ve been doing okay,” she smiled. “Gabriel moved in with us a few months ago and that’s been really, really good. I like having him here and he’s not sick of me yet, so that’s a plus. And his business has taken off, which is great. Otherwise, things have been quiet, which, I mean, thank god, because we really didn’t need anything else, you know?”
Rylee's eyes widened. "Gabriel moved in? That's huge." She and Carson had the benefit of already being roommates before all of the other... stuff happened. It was so hard for her to imagine moving in with a guy, if she was able to separate Carson from her life. Which seemed impossible. "I'm glad to hear things are going well though. My mom's been keeping me updated on things around here and it does seem like it's been pretty... normal? Is that the right word?" She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. "I hope it stays that way for a while. If it does... who knows, maybe we'll move back home. I've missed hanging out with you. You and Gabriel should take a weekend and drive down to Virginia. We can all go to a proper beach."
"I know," Zania grinned. "I was a little worried it was too fast, but you know, he was still with me after all the crazy shit that went down, so I thought, why the hell not? We went down to New Orleans this spring and visited his family and it's just--just really good." She kept expecting things to implode, because that's what happened in her experience, but so far, so good. "I don't know what normal means around here. It kind of makes me nervous, but there's nothing I can do, so it's not worth worrying about. I think a road trip to a proper beach would be amazing. Do you guys live near the beach? Is Carson able to move in with you, or do you need to get a new apartment?"
"That's amazing," Rylee said. "I'm really happy for you." Zania definitely deserved to have a good guy in her life and Rylee liked Gabriel a lot. They made a good pair and she hoped he kept Zania happy. "We're about forty five minutes from the ocean, which is amazing, especially now that the weather is getting warmer. I have a studio apartment right now, but I'm going to look for something bigger as soon as we get back. I didn't really have a lot of time to plan all of this." She smiled sheepishly. "But I know getting out of Point Pleasant will be good for Carson. He can get involved in the Wounded Warriers program down there and meet some new people. I think the important thing for him right now is to try and get back to leading a normal life. Werewolf, aside."
“I think it’s good for both of you,” Zania said. “I obviously love having you here, but there’s bound to be a little less crazy almost anywhere else. And the werewolf thing is only one night a month. It’s not a fun reason to come back, but at least I know I’ll still see you, if you keep using Vex and Lem’s basement.” She had the feeling that that was still an open invitation for Carson whenever he needed it. From what Nic had said, Vex might miss Carson more than anyone else. “How’s your family taking the move? They used to it yet?” Zania didn’t have the best relationship with her parents, but she knew Rylee’s mom and sister probably missed having her around. On the other hand, it wouldn’t even surprise her if Rylee hadn’t told her dad she was gone.
"Yeah, mom is happy I'm doing what I want to do," Rylee said with a small smile. "I think Carson's family is having a hard time with it though, since it feels like they just got him back from where he was. Not that they know the truth... but still. Mom's come to visit me a couple times already so I'm sure she'll come see us again, especially with the warmer weather. And like I said, if we can't find a good place for Carson to hole up for the night of the full moon, we'll be back. He's actually found out that he can control it. I mean, he can turn into a werewolf now whenever he wants. It's pretty crazy. We don't know if that means he could hold off the full moon or not, but I guess we'll find out at the end of the month." Rylee paused. "Vex seems pretty attached to Carson."
“If he’s found a way to control it, that’s fantastic!” Zania said, eyes bright with excitement. She didn’t know a lot about werewolves, but as far as she knew controlling the wolf was unheard of. It had to be some weird side effect of living in that other place for so long, something good to come out of something horrible. The witch in her wanted to experiment on him, see if there was some magic there that could be shared, but she knew how horrible that train of thought was and tried to shut it down immediately. The last thing Carson needed was someone poking and prodding at him, looking for something that might not even be there. She was willing to bet the cure was in the other world, a place no one wanted to go. “I kind of think Carson kept Vex sane over there. Maybe like Lem does here. Or maybe it’s different, since, you know, Carson couldn’t really talk over there. I dunno. They do seem attached though. I know he’ll miss him. Maybe you can come visit even if you don’t need to on the full moon.”
"Vex probably did the same for Carson, to be honest." And yes, she did feel a little guilty for taking Carson away from someone who had become a friend. But it wasn't like they were leaving forever. They both deserved a break from this town and Rylee was afraid if they stayed Carson could get drawn into something far more dangerous than what had already happened. And that was saying something. "We'll definitely come visit, even when it's not the full moon. Our families are still here, and our friends." She smiled at Zania. "We'll Facetime some weekend and have wine and gossip, like we used to. I don't want to lose touch."
“Me neither,” Zania smiled, though she kind of felt like they already had. It wasn’t the same when she was a few states away, when she didn’t know Rylee’s new life and Zania felt like she needed to keep her talk of magic and darkness to a minimum. She’d done it for years, so that was nothing new, but it also meant there were chunks of her life that Rylee just didn’t see. It was probably for the better, would keep her sane if not safe, but it made it hard to talk about some of the things going on in her own life. She wasn’t sure a glass of wine over the phone would have the same feel as sharing one out on the porch, but she’d try her best. “You better tell me if you meet someone,” she smiled. “You’ve got a whole new town of guys to sift through. There’s gotta be one worth your time.”
Rylee knew long distance friendships were difficult but she also knew that she and Zania would at least try. And Rylee could come visit and vice versa. Her smile felt a bit forced when Zania mentioned Rylee finding a guy. “Well, now that I know Carson is okay, I can relax and try some of those normal social things. You’ll be the first one I call if I find Mr. Right.” Not really wanting to talk about her love life beyond that, Rylee stepped forward to hug Zania. “Please be safe, okay? This town is rotten. Anything you need, call me. I’m not a witch or whatever, but I’ll do my best, okay?”
It worried Zania just a little that Rylee hadn’t found a guy to distract her, but only because it broke the trend she was used to with her friend. Maybe she wanted more than a distraction these days and Zania knew how hard that could be to find, especially when your life was complicated. Leaving Point Pleasant should make things easier, with new people to surround herself with and significantly less stress. “Never cared that you weren’t a witch,” she said, returning the hug. “I’ve got enough of those in my life. They tend to make things more complicated, not easier. You stay safe too, okay? Have fun, be happy, and call me if anything exciting happens.”
Rylee was well aware of her reputation in town. Before Carson, she had been pretty promiscuous and had never been apologetic about it. But she felt like she had an adequate excuse not to be with a guy lately. At least when it came to her friends and family and no one had really asked her any questions. "Yeah, of course. Hopefully all of my exciting news will be void of scary weather." She hugged Zan tight, already missing her friend. A part of her wished Nic was home, just so she could hug him goodbye. When she pulled back from Zan, Rylee smiled. "We'll talk soon, okay? Tell Nic I said goodbye?" That would have to do for now. Maybe the next time she was in town, they could get some coffee and talk things out. Rylee was feeling more forgiving now that she had gotten Carson back. "I've got to get going so I can pick up Carson's medication. Be good, okay?"
“I’ll tell him,” Zania said, but she hoped Nic and Rylee could get a chance to talk next time she came to town. She thought it would be good for him, maybe for both of them. Nic wasn’t near as social as his sister and she knew it bothered him to lose a friend as old as Rylee. “I’ll be as good as I can be,” she laughed. “Tell Carson I said bye! We’ll talk soon!” She wasn’t always the best at keeping up with people over the phone, but for Rylee she’d try her best.