Rostislav Zelenka (ghostsongs) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-02-28 10:12:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, rostislav, rostislav x sabrina, sabrina |
Who: Sabrina and Rost
When: Friday, Oct 6, afternoon
Where: outside school, on the streets
Status: Complete
Rost felt guilty that it had taken him a week to get back to Sabrina. She and her girlfriend had come to him the weekend before to tell him about their haunting, about the Ouija board -- usually useless pieces of trash, but it sounded like they’d stumbled upon one that was legitimate. They’d been frightened and exhausted, as haunted people tended to be. He couldn’t do much for them but confirm that they were really experiencing a real thing, and it sounded malevolent, and he would try to find some way to help.
Occupied as he’d been with work and his newfound friends over that week, Rost had only had a few ideas, and he tried to find some solutions. He was considering asking Dev and Greer if they could help as well, but he didn’t want to tell someone’s story without their permission. So he intended to ask Sabrina first. In the meantime, he did have a few things for her that might help with the symptoms at least. Plus, he just wanted to check up on her.
Rost found a place to stand near the front of the school to wait, leaned against one of the bike racks and smoking and looking entirely out of place for a high school. He was in bright colors today, red skinny jeans with a green-blue-purple Hawaiian shirt under his worn brown leather jacket. He garnered some looks as the students started to pour out of the building after the last bell, but he ignored them, keeping his eyes peeled for one dark head in particular.
Sabrina was having a rough day. It had been difficult to sleep after the night before, though she worried less about getting caught for breaking - technically Sebastian's fault - and entering - her fault - than she did the Ouija board that was still locked away in her bathroom. She hadn't told Sebastian about that particular detail because he had helped her out and she didn't want to freak him out too badly. Maybe Sunday, if they still went to visit that witch, whoever it was, together. Sabrina was barely able to concentrate on school itself, and she got lectured a couple times for dozing off in class. But eventually it was time to go and Sabrina was already thinking about tracking down Mak just to see if she could sleep in her girlfriend's bed for a couple of hours before she had to go home. It was Friday, so she was hoping she could find something to do that would keep her out until late, but... she had to find some energy first.
When she walked out of one of the many doors, she shifted her bag on her shoulder and her gaze was immediately drawn to the colorful figure standing near the bike racks. Despite her exhaustion, Sabrina's lips twitched at the sight of Rost and she headed in his direction. "That's a pretty rockin' shirt," Sabrina said as she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. "What are you doing here?"
Rost spotted Sabrina about the same time she did him, and he straightened up to his full height with a lopsided smile. He knew he looked out of place there, but he was used to being looked on with suspicion wherever he went, why not look like the weird guy in front of a high school too? His intentions were good. He smoothed a hand down the front of his shirt and chuckled. “You like? I got it at a thrift store in Boston,” he said, even though Sabrina hadn’t asked at all. Rost flicked the cherry out of his cigarette with his long fingers and palmed the butt for now. “I have a few things for you, that might help your situation. May I walk you wherever you are going?” Rost didn’t exactly want to stand around in a sea of teenagers and talk about the supernatural -- he didn’t mind it, but Sabrina might.
Sabrina didn't mind Rost looking out of place at all. She knew her fishnet stockings, boots and frayed skirts weren't really modern fashion, but she didn't care either. She had her own style, and so did Rost, and that was one of the reasons she liked talking to him. Her gaze ran over his shirt and her lips quirked into an amused smile. It faded just a bit when he mentioned her 'situation'. More like a nightmare. "Yeah, I'm headed home, so..." She motioned for him to follow, definitely not wanting to talk about this kind of stuff while her peers were wandering by. People were nosy assholes. "I'm at Castle View, so it's not super far," she said, just in case he was wondering. "How's things going at the cemetery?"
Rost started walking with her, shortening his strides to match her pace, glad that she wanted to get some space between them and the school. That worked just fine for him. Castle View wasn’t too far, but even if Sabrina had lived on the other side of town, Rost wouldn’t have minded. He walked most places to start with. “Ech,” he said, tilting his head back and forth a bit in a ‘so so’ expression. “Slightly busier after last week. But everyone is staying in their graves, so I cannot complain.” There were other reasons he could complain, and he found himself kind of bursting to tell someone, but a teenage girl who bought weed from him sometimes and was caught up in a terrible haunting was not the person to tell. Rost looked over at her, his thin face concerned. “How are you holding up? Any new news?”
Sabrina snorted at that, imagining zombies crawling out of the graves near Rost's trailer. It could so totally happen, she was convinced of that now. But yes, some really shitty things had happened in the cemetery, and she was super happy she wasn't the one having to deal with that. She had her own troubles. Sabrina glanced up at him with a grimace before she shook her head. "Nothing super new, other than the dreams are getting worse." The bruising around her eye had faded to a dull purplish yellow, and she had covered most of it up with make up. "Oh, and so I broke into Loomis's shop last night and returned the board, and it showed up on my bed again by the time I got home. So I'm pretty sure I'm super fucked. Unless whatever you have for me is capable of banishing demons back to whatever world they come from."
Rost looked sympathetic. He’d dealt with some weird and disturbing shit in his time, but luckily he’d never been haunted or stalked by demons, or whatever was going on with the teenagers. He didn’t look too surprised over the teleporting Ouija board -- it sounded kind of par for the course on this one. There was something terrible going on, and terrible things didn’t release their claws that easily. The girls had told him all about the dreams where they ended up getting hurt in the waking world, and Rost at least thought he could help with that a little bit. “I wish that was within my power,” he told her, meaning it absolutely sincerely. “But I do have something that perhaps will calm down the dreams.” Rost dipped his hand into his jacket pocket and brought out a small silver object on a short chain. It had started out life as a tea strainer meant to go in a mug of hot water, but it had been repurposed and stuffed full of herbs and a prayer written in Romani on a tiny scroll. It smelled strongly of mint as he offered it over. “Sleep with it under your pillow, it will help protect you.”
Sabrina slowed a bit and reached out to take the offered chain. She could smell the mint now and Sabrina lifted it up to examine it, not at all surprised that Rost would give her something like this. It made her think of the hex bags Sebastian talked about. She had no idea if something like this would actually work, but she felt desperate enough to try anything. "Thanks," Sabrina said, reaching down to open her bag and slip it inside. "I'll try it. Can I ask you something? What do you think about witches? I mean, not the hag, wart nosed kind, but like, do you believe in real witches? A friend said one might be able to help..." Rost was one of the most open minded people Sabrina knew, and she also knew he wouldn't bullshit her. If witches were bunk, Sabrina might ditch Sebastian, as she didn't want to waste her time.
Rost had given a slight nod to the request to ask him something -- she was always free to ask him anything. There was no question too weird for Rostislav Zelenka. “Absolutely I believe,” he told Sabrina without hesitation. There was absolutely no irony in his tone, he was serious. “I know several real witches. They have helped keep me protected in the cemetery for years. Perhaps one could help you ... where did you hear of them? Do you know any names?” He was always curious how people found out about the truth of those sorts of things, things that didn’t happen directly to them. The witches Rost knew were pretty keen on staying underground, for good reasons.
Sabrina hesitated, because she had no idea if Sebastian wanted people to know he knew witches... or a witch. But this was Rost, not someone they went to school with, and she highly doubted he was the kind of guy to ever talk to the McCarthys. "I didn't hear of a specific name," she admitted. "This guy I go to school with helped me last night with the board. And he said he knew a witch who might be able to help with like, protection bags and stuff. We're supposed to go see her Sunday. God forbid he misses Homecoming." Sabrina rolled her eyes. "So like, it's true that there are witches in town? That just seems... weird. But I guess nothing should seem weird anymore. Are they creepy?"
Rost didn’t need any details about her classmate really, he was fine with not knowing. It wasn’t like he had all the teenagers in town memorized, really the only ones who came to buy from him. And the Barretts, because he was supposed to not sell to them; it kept the peace with the cops. He huffed a faint laugh at her last question and shook his head a little. “It is true, yes. There are a few I know about, some descended from the old families, some not. There are probably more I do not know. They are only people who have special skills. Powerful skills, yes, but they are still people. So, most are not creepy,” he assured Sabrina with a small smile. “Especially not to you, you do not seem afraid of much.”
People with special skills. Sabrina had to admit, she was curious as to what kind of skills they had. What could they do? But she supposed she would find out. Sabrina looked up at Rost again and snorted loudly, a laugh catching in her throat. "I'm afraid of a lot of things. I'm just really good at not showing it. When people know you're afraid, you're an easier target. Same with demons? I don't know." She paused and took a deep breath. "Anyway, thanks... for the thingy you gave me. I hope it works. It's nice to know that some adults in this town know what's up. I think most of them would try to have me committed I told them the stuff I told you. I just don't know what else to do. Loomis is never open when I go by, which is why I broke in there. He's like a fucking ghost."
It was kind of sad that a girl that young had that sort of wisdom, the kind that only came from hard experience. It made Rost want to hug her, but that was probably inappropriate. “Most are blissfully ignorant until they cannot be anymore. It will work,” he told her gently, pretty confident of that. “It will need to be refreshed every couple weeks, but bring to me to do. Do not fill with store mint, it has to be home grown in special soil from Romania, only I have, understand? And I would get salt -- store salt is okay -- and put it down over thresholds. Door, in front of windows. And cover any mirror in your room before sleep. Small precautions. I would also stay away from that man. He avoids because he knows what he gave you.”
Sabrina recalled Sebastian giving her the same advice. Salt. She had been too freaked out the night before to try it, but she definitely would tonight. "I'll do all that stuff," Sabrina promised with a nod. She would tell Hunter, Jade and Mak too, for sure. She sighed at the thought of staying away from Loomis. If she could just talk to him, maybe he would know how to stop everything. Or... he wanted it all to happen? She didn't know and it was frustrating. Sabrina's lips twitched and she looked at Rost. "How do you get mint home grown from Romania when you live here? Do you have people there who send it to you?"
From what Sabrina had told Rost about the shop she’d gotten the Ouija board from, he wouldn’t trust that Loomis guy as far as he could throw him. In his experience, the people who brought chaos into your life, even peripherally, weren’t the type of people who were going to help you fix it. He couldn’t tell her what to do though, Rost could just help in the small ways he was capable of. He knew a lot about protection, but most of it was out of his reach. He gave the girl a brighter, gold-toothed smile at her question. “The dirt, it grows in Romania, and I am sent jars of it now and then. I grow the mint out of it here, in a pot,” he explained. “The earth there, it is different.” He pointed a finger at her and cocked an eyebrow all serious-like. “No store mint. Promise.”
Sabrina didn't know what to believe, or what to do... about anything. She was kind of taking it day to day and hoping something would change. Maybe running into Sebastian the night before was what she needed, and maybe this witch would help her. She hated going to bed in an empty apartment and being afraid. But she had something. Advice from Sebastian, and advice from Rost with some Romanian dirt and mint and stuff. Something had to give. His smile was a bit contagious and Sabrina found herself smiling back. "Wow, you're hardcore. I promise, no store mint. I'd probably end up mistaking it for kale or something so... I'll come see you in a few weeks to get some new mint. Do you think... if this works, could you make me a couple more?"
It was good to see her smile, even a little. The poor girl just looked so tired. Rost had always liked her, like he kind of liked all the kids he sold to. The people who complained about this upcoming generation being useless had it all wrong. But then, people had been complaining about that since the beginning of time, more or less. Rost grinned again when Sabrina mentioned kale. Okay, maybe they did have some things to learn, but who didn’t. He pursed his lips at the question -- he didn’t have any other silver tea strainers on hand, but he thought he could scare up something. There were usually lots of things like that at thrift and antique stores. “For your friends? I can, yes. Not right away, I will need some supplies. How many do you need?”
She really didn't want it to get too complicated for Rost, but she was feeling a little desperate, and it wasn't just Sabrina dealing with all of this dark stuff. Her friends were too. It felt unfair to have things to protect her when they had nothing. "Um, three?" Sabrina asked, wincing a little. "I can totally pay you, if you need to buy stuff for it or like... uh, ship more Romanian dirt over. It’s just, they don't have this kind of stuff, you know? And they don't know people like you who can help. At least I don't think they do. I would totally owe you."
Rost shook his head and waved a hand at her. “Nonsense,” he declared. “I am just happy to help. You bring me business anyway.” Rost gave her another lopsided smile and briefly touched her shoulder. “Tell them about the salt and the mirrors as well. Until I can give you more.” He only knew of the little black girl who had come with Sabrina to his trailer the weekend before, they’d made reference to other friends who had been involved in the whole thing, but Rost didn’t need to know them to want to help them too. What they were going through sounded awful, especially for people of their ages.
"The guy who helped me yesterday... he told me about salt too. I was just too freaked out last night to try it. I'll do it tonight for sure." Sabrina exhaled, feeling a little bit better about the whole thing. "I think I'm going to need to buy more weed from you soon, when this is all over and I just want to like, chill for a whole week non-stop." She realized she was a couple blocks from home now and she offered Rost a faint smile. "You don't have to walk me all the way home if you don't want to. I know this is kind of out of your way."
Rost chuckled. “You are always welcome, and much deserving of a week of chill. Chillaxing, is that how it is said?” He made another amused noise and glanced around at where they were, then looked at Sabrina again. “I do not mind, I do not have a particular way today. But I can leave you to it if you wish.” He didn’t really know Sabrina’s home situation, and he was aware there were parents in the world that would get upset seeing a man like him walking their young daughter home.
Sabrina couldn’t help but laugh then and she covered her face with one hand before shaking her head. “Oh my god, no. Nobody says chillaxing anymore. It sounds super weird coming from you too.” She dropped her hand, still amused, and wondering if he knew what Netflix and chill meant. She was so not asking. “I don’t mind it… if you want to walk the rest of the way,” Sabrina said with a soft shrug. She liked Rost’s company, and it sort of made her feel safe. She knew as soon as she stepped into her apartment she would feel differently, so she was sort of clinging to this for awhile longer. “So, things in the cemetery are back to normal? You know Halloween is coming up, so like… you’ll probably have people running around after dark.”
Rost grinned when she laughed, because that felt like an accomplishment, especially lately. He didn’t mind walking with her at all; he thought he would feel better if he delivered her to her front door. Though her home didn’t sound very safe either, from what she’d told him the other day. There was only so much he could do, though, unfortunately. “It is as normal as it can be,” he answered with a shrug. “As long as they do not try to dig anyone up, I do not mind too much. It happens every year.” Rost let out a chuckle. He sometimes felt mischievous enough to leave little macabre surprises for the teens who always came around Halloween -- nothing too extreme, just enough to get them creeped out. That was what they were coming for anyway. “I hope for you this is over before then so you feel like celebrating.”
Sabrina had spent countless Halloweens in the cemetery. Usually smoking weed with friends and trying to figure out how people had died. It was morbid but... well, fun. She sighed softly, thinking she might skip it this year, considering. She was more than ready to watch some rom coms and retire the horror flicks for a while. "Me too," she murmured, glancing both ways down the street before she started to cross over toward the apartment complex. "Though I may skip the morbid shit this year and opt for like, dressing up like... oh, I don't know, Hannah Montana or some shit. What do you do for Halloween? Anything, like, New Age-y?"
He glanced for traffic as well just out of habit, and chuckled at the reference, glad he actually knew what Hannah Montana was. He didn’t always know what people were talking about. “I have a few traditions I have picked up,” Rost told Sabrina, sounding amused. “I would call them old-age. It is a day to honor the dead, to say the names of ancestors and remember. I also get very, very drunk.” He flashed another a wide grin and dropped a wink. “And perhaps this year I will not drink alone.” If things were still going well with Dev and Greer by Halloween, maybe they could all do something together.
“Old age,” Sabrina said with a soft chuckle. “Old age that includes talking and getting wasted. Sounds like a lot of holidays, if you ask me.” She would have called it gypsy-stuff, but she didn’t want to offend him. She had no idea if he was an actual gypsy or not, though he definitely looked the part, if you asked her. Sabrina began to dig around in her bag for her apartment key and she glanced up at him with a curious, pointed look. “Rost, do you have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend?” It was, admittedly, hard to imagine Rost with a woman, or like, relationship. He was so… eccentric? But she also viewed him as sort of asexual too, so now she was curious.
“Many holiday traditions are older than you think,” Rost told her sagely. Then he laughed at her questions, not at all put off by her calling out his bisexuality. Or the possibility thereof, anyway. Teenagers today were much more open and accepting about that kind of thing. It was refreshing. “Perhaps one of each?” he answered, giving her a crinkle-eyed smile. “I have made some new friends.” Nothing was official between the three of them yet, so Rost hesitated to claim them as his own, but things were at least pointed in that direction. He thought maybe Devlin and Greer might be able to help with Sabrina’s situation too, but he didn’t want to bring that up to her yet in case he was wrong.
It didn't occur to Sabrina that she ought to be more tactful in asking about his love life. She was bisexual and she didn't care if people knew. Obviously it was different for everyone, but Rost didn't seem like the type to harbor a lot of deep, dark secrets. He seemed to be comfortable being himself. "One of each?" Sabrina's mouth parted in surprise before she grinned. "Lucky asshole. But that's awesome. It's always more fun to get stoned or wasted with other people." She found her keys and paused outside the complex. "Thanks for your help and everything. I'm going to try everything you suggested. Hopefully something works and then next time I come see you, it'll just to be for buying pot."
Lucky asshole indeed. Even if nothing else happened and the two of them moved along elsewhere or something, Rost would consider himself lucky. People drifted in and out of each others’ lives all the time, you just had to thoroughly appreciate the bits that you got. That was Rost’s philosophy anyway. He stopped walking when Sabrina did, squinting briefly up at the apartment building and tucking his hands back into his jacket pockets. He supposed this was Sabrina’s stop. “You are welcome,” he told her sincerely, giving her a nod. “I hope it helps you as well. I will get back to you with more protection for your friends. Take care, Sabrina.”