ιѕαвєℓα (rivaini) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-01-11 08:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alecto carrow, isabela |
Who: Alecto & Isabela (and guest appearance by the glorious Dog)
What: Showing Alecto a cute little flat on the second floor she can stay in for a bit
When: Uhmmm today, idk
Where: The Hanged Man
Rating/Warnings: Persuasive boobs, but notherwise no
Status: Complete
The Hanged Man was warm, inviting, and most importantly? It was clean. At least in this day and age it was. The purpose of the tavern back then, in a land so far away and confined to Isabela’s dreams, was similar to the purpose today - not much changed there. It was a place where someone could buy a drink and food and meet with other people from the city, see, simple nothing different about that. Only differences were that in Kirkwall, the amount of filth was noticeable, since all kinds of actual shit and mud (depending on the season, likely urine-based) collected in straw on the floor, and food tended to rot. No outhouse, so it was all chamber pots, and anyone could imagine the fallout of dozens of men shitting in the same bucket. Not a great smell. But here, thank the Maker for indoor plumbing and electricity. Running the place was also difficult work, but Isabela liked it. Business was booming, and she didn’t expect to have to rent out a room upstairs (that had belonged to Varric, in those blasted dreams) but if a kitten she knew needed a place to stay, then this would do for a bit. Hawke was more hesitant than she was, but she'd managed to sway him to her side - Bela wasn’t exactly a hardass when it came to being a landlord as long as the rent was paid on time. She busied herself at the bar now, organising supplies and glasses, serving a few customers the specialty cocktails and pouring mugs of Rat Droppings ale. The tip jar was running over, same with her tits in the shirt she was wearing - low cut and scandalous like always, but she got hot, alright, with all this running around! Besides, more skin meant more money. It was simple math. Alecto still hadn’t really sorted her feelings about moving out. She put on a good show if she said so herself (and she did say so). Amycus might notice if he looked close enough, but she made a point to always seem at peace with everything that was happening. When she talked about it with her parents, she’d said it was a mutual decision. She needed a place of her own anyway, of course. She couldn’t be stuck to her twin’s side for her whole life. Even though a part of her balked at the very idea. She’d always meant to be with him for the rest of her life. Even if they had separate families, but then she’d never thought about her having one until recently either. And even then, she’d thought about it for a brief second before diagnosing herself as mentally unstable and promptly ignoring it. Luckily she’d found someone with a place that didn’t bother her. She didn’t really know a lot of people with places to rent out, but maybe Rebekah could still live with her...or near her. Maybe she’d stay with Enzo. Alecto had to get to know him better in order to decide if he was acceptable, but she’d leave that for later. Today’s outfit consisted of bright red skinny jeans, a skull shirt, and a jacket. When she showed up at the tavern, she stood outside for a moment. She’d been there before, so it wasn’t really her first time. Still, it was interesting. She spotted Isabela almost instantly when she walked through the door, casually making her way over. “Nice tits,” was the thing she’d decided to say as she got closer. “Oh, you!” Bela winked, since that was a greeting a dirty pirate the likes of her could appreciate. “So glad you noticed.” She grabbed for a dish towel, giving her hands a wipe before tossing it over her shoulder. Now that the girl was here, Isabela would take her upstairs to see the room - it was near her and Hawke’s flat, on the second floor, so they’d be neighbours. And she’d already had the room cleaned so fantastically that you could eat off the floor, plus she’d worked out things like a lease and rent and all that shite - the plumbing worked fine, Alecto would have hot water and lights to flip on and off, so really, it was a pretty lovely deal. Then again, it was possible that Bela was biased toward her happy medieval-inspired home. But she and Hawke had worked so hard and hoarded so much treasure to be able to afford this place! “Want a drink first or anything?” she asked. “We’ve also got pub food now. I’m sure you can smell the poutine and spiced potatoes.” Alecto flashed her a quick smile. She preferred unusual greetings to the normal ones people used. “It’s kind of hard not to. Not that I mind.” She’d seen more naked girls than she could entirely remember when she was in boarding school. It happened. She couldn’t say if there’d ever been a point where she actually cared or not, but there had probably been a point where she was more surprised by it than she was now. She considered the option of food and drink. Without Rebekah around to do all the cooking, Alecto found that eating was much more depressing and involved a lot more burnt or partially burnt things when she tried to make food. She also had been eating out a lot more. “Maybe I’ll grab something on the way out food wise. My brother’s nanny turned into a vampire and had to move out for fear that she’d eat my nieces, so the food situation’s been a little bleak. Mostly because I can’t cook.” There was a pause. “But Amycus manages okay. Sandwiches and boxed mac and cheese sometimes.” She shrugged. “But I’ll take the drink.” Mostly because she didn’t feel like turning it down and it was possible the situation called for a drink. But probably only one. She was quiet for a moment before saying, “Whiskey. Neat. I don’t need to water down my booze since I’m probably forcing myself to have just this one drink. I’ll see how I feel later.” Whiskey, neat, coming right up. Isabela poured a generous measure of the good stuff (in Kirkwall, it had been flavoured with rat droppings - here, not so much, but that’s why the Rat Droppings ale was a homage to Bela’s drink of choice back then). It would go down smoothly, and warm the throat and innards. “Feel free to grab dinner on the way out, certainly. I’ll rustle up something in the kitchen,” she promised, giving Alecto her drink. “I’m not much of a cook myself, but I make do. So the thing with you and your brother - you alright with moving out of his place?” The girl seemed a little down, a little dour. Not like Alecto was all sunshine and rainbows to begin with, but twins were usually close and all that. Carver and Bethany were - they still lived in the same house, even if they drove each other mad sometimes. “I think a friend of a…” She frowned for a moment, holding her drink a little closer. “Well, Remus’ friend said she’d show me something.” Alecto froze for a moment before she went back to her usual, relaxed and casual way of moving. She didn’t really smile, but then she didn’t let herself look like she was upset either. She was a sort of neutral middle-ground with a little hint of okay. She’d worked out almost all the responses she needed to say these days and she practiced them so they sounded real. It was necessary. No one needed to look bad. “It’s fine. He has kids, so it’s easier for me to have my own place. All that noise.” She shrugged. It was fine. It wasn’t, but it had to be or else Alecto didn’t know if she could deal with it. “It was a mutual decision anyway. We both need our own space.” Alecto might have hoped for less, but not everything worked out the way she imagined. Events changed people, time changed them. Alecto just hadn’t changed enough. Or it seemed that way, she guessed. She just...was different. She was messy, not neat, not put together like a person who knew what she was doing with her life. Even her emotions were messy, but she tucked them underneath terrible jokes and loud laughter until no one noticed them. She finished her drink, setting the cup on the bar. “So let’s see this flat.” Bless her - Alecto was honestly the most emotionally constipated friend Isabela had. And that was saying a lot, because the pirate herself wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of emotional maturity either. Or at least, she hadn’t been - she remembered dreaming about how it took her literally years to get her shit together in Kirkwall, enough to the point where she could handle a relationship (great timing, since she decided that right on the brink of a mage-templar war). She liked to think that she’d evolved since then, in a whole other version of herself. “Well, it takes two to tango - so hopefully you can work things out even if you’re not fighting exactly, but,” she tilted her head a bit, “I don’t talk to my sisters at all. Or my mum, really. It’s nice to have family you feel comfortable around though.” Putting someone else at the head of the bar and leading the way upstairs, first she stopped at her and Hawke’s flat down the hall to see what Dog was up to. As she assumed, the mabari had been sleeping on his back, paws in the air. Snoring. Bela roused him with promises of a treat however, holding out a spoonful of peanut butter and luring him into the hallway. He was stocky and solid, looked almost like a pitbull were it not for the unique fur coat he had - and how much bigger he was than even a pitbull. “Told you I’d introduce you to Dog, and here he is. Yes, his name is actually Dog - Hawke’s not very creative. Say hello now, don’t be rude.” The warhound barked twice, and danced on his paws a little in a circle, giving the new visitor a sniff. Meeting people was fun! Alecto nodded, looking a little off to the side. She wasn’t sure what would necessarily put it all back together, but they hadn’t fought recently. She’d kept herself in check and didn’t react to things in a way that would make an argument happen. She didn’t think it was all her fault that they were in the place that they were, but she could at least control herself enough to keep from being the one that started anything. If she didn’t start things, no one could say that it was all on her. So she put a lot of effort into her work and into spending time outdoors with the dogs and various other animals in the surrounding woods in England. “I think maybe...sometimes...people don’t fit anymore.” She shrugged again in an effort to make it look like she didn’t really care. It didn’t matter. But she followed her up the stairs, waiting patiently for Isabela to return from her flat. When she came back out with her dog, Alecto smiled. Dogs were always easier to understand than people. Then again, most animals were. “Hello, Dog.” She knelt down in front of him, reaching out first to let him sniff before she pet him. “It’s okay about the name. Sometimes people give ridiculous names. I met a cat once named Mrs. Fluffernutter. I don’t know what that name was about. But there’s also names like Snowy and Soot which...are not any more creative, really.” Standing up, she looked down at Dog, letting him lick at her hand. “I once saved a fox from my dad’s fox hunts. I named him Leopold. He didn’t really stick around after he got saved, but he’s probably dead now. I was seven at the time.” “You had a fox named Leopold? That’s precious for the likes of you,” Isabela grinned. Oh, and Dog definitely licked Alecto’s hand - slobbered all on her, more like, but that was simply him showing his love. And talking to her. Ruff, ruff! Rrrrrrruf! “Dog thinks it’s sweet too - see, he likes you. He’s going to adore being neighbours too, aren’t you, you drooly thing?” Now to show the girl her new home - or what would perhaps be her new home, but Bela hoped it would be. Her and Hawke’s flat had an actual master bedroom, a loo, and was the bigger place overall but this one was nice too. She unlocked the door and showed them inside to what was essentially a studio flat, the space Hawke occasionally used as an office, but the layout was such that you could make it work and not have to cram everything in here. Hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, a medieval chandelier with natural rust finish. The bathroom was off to the side, the kitchenette also tucked away with its glass hutches and small island. “We’ll have to add some appliances and such, like a fridge,” she stated. “Get all the apartment essentials in here. But it’ll work nicely, I think. I also think you were right about some people just not fitting together anymore - Maker knows I don’t, with my blood. So I built a new family. Friends became like family. Here it’ll be a good start for that, maybe?” She leaned over against a surface in the kitchenette, her voice echoing slightly. And cleavage squished together, of course. They were always persuasive in their own right. “I was seven,” she said after a moment. “It’s hard not to be precious at seven.” She raised one shoulder up in a shrug. “Dog has good taste in humans, naturally. I’m pretty much the best.” She moved her hand to pet him again. “Well, I’m a pretty great neighbour. I should know.” Though, the truth was she’d really only been a neighbour before once. If you didn’t count boarding school (and she didn’t). She looked around, taking in what happened as Isabela led her into the flat. It was different from what she’d had before when Amycus had been married. It was nicer, but that was because she’d decided not to accept money from their parents and she’d really only just started working, so she didn’t really have anything. Now she was allowing her parents to give her some money and she had plenty saved up from over the years. It was a different style from what she’d probably have looked at. But then this was probably similar to the places she was used to in the dreams. “A fridge would probably be important. For all my take away.” She laughed a little at that. “Plenty of space for me. I’m luckily pretty small and I don’t take up much space.” And if anything didn’t fit, she could just practice shrinking things. Remus probably wouldn’t argue with that. She was probably going to drag him into helping her move anyway. She glanced over at Isabela for a moment, opening her mouth to comment on the fact that twins were always meant to fit. They were two pieces of a whole. At least she was certain of it. After a moment, however, she just cleared her throat and shrugged. “I’m not very good at family. It happens.” For as often as she flirted with girls, Alecto wasn’t really swayed as easily by boobs as one might think. Still, she was a little lazy when it came to searching for places to live. “What’s the rent look like? Just so I know. Also are there any secret rules I should know about?” “Secret rules?” Isabela chuckled. “Besides don’t wreck the place? Not really. If you ever want to earn extra money you can even do some work ‘round the tavern too.” She knew Alecto had her dead people, picture-taking thing but just in case. “I’ve got all the paperwork downstairs, so I’ll show you the lease and the rent details and all that. Not like we’d rent out the place to someone other than a friend anyway, so it’ll be cheap.” To the tune of $500, $600 a month, something like that - considering studio apartments in some parts of the county went for thousands, it was a good deal. Dog barked and bounced again, his bum wiggling all excitedly when those large paws hit the hardwood floor. Bela grinned and scratched him behind the ears, the adorable mutt. “So you’re not good at family, or so you say,” she shrugged. “You start a new chapter and all that, see how it goes, do things for yourself. It all sometimes has a way of working out.” “Sometimes there’s secret rules I don’t know about until I’ve broken them. I don’t know.” She wasn’t going to say it never happened. Especially in boarding school. “And then people get really angry at you for breaking them. Sometimes just thinking about breaking them.” But it was good to know that simply not wrecking the place was the only rule she had to follow. “I could probably fix it if I wrecked it anyway. With help. I’m practicing my magic.” She lightly patted her pocket where her wand was. She was eventually going to find a way to get one of those nifty arm holsters she’d seen in her dreams, but until then, she was just going to have to carry it in various pockets. The price was good, though. Considering what she remembered paying for something shittier in New York. “I’m mostly appalled that my shitty place in New York was more expensive. It was shit.” It was decidedly more difficult to say no to an excited dog than it was boobs. Alecto looked at Dog again and let out a sigh. “All right, all right. I am weak against dogs and I sort of need to get a place. But don’t tell anyone my weakness. I intend to appear as if I have none for the rest of my days.” Another sigh. “And what sort of help around the tavern does this involve...if I decide I need extra money for some reason? If it involves toilets, I’m asking Remus to teach me how to magically clean things.” “Remus is the...boytoy?” Isabela asked, just to be sure. She liked to be nosy and keep herself abreast (ha! That was a funny pun, no?) of all the developments in her friends lives. “But no toilets, unless you want him to teach you to magically clean things. That might be fun, actually, so then no one would ever have to do the toilets. But really, you know - serving drinks, bartending, inventory, washing dishes, maybe we’ll even have you learn how to cook. The possibilities are endless.” She grinned coyly, patting Alecto’s shoulder. “Aren’t you glad you decided to move to Orange County after all?” It was always a treat living here - some good and some bad, but overall, likely where most of them were meant to be. “Yeah. He’s a dream arch nemesis. I mean, I don’t think that I see him like that, but his dream self probably would feel that way about me. Dream me just wouldn’t like him because he’s a werewolf and a Gryffindor, but mostly the werewolf.” She shrugged slightly. “But here he’s the boytoy or whatever.” He was the first boyfriend she’d had and she still didn’t know how to feel about it. She guessed living here meant she’d be able to have him over whenever she liked. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to magically be able to clean.” But she’d play it by ear and see how she felt. “But yeah, I guess I could help out sometimes if you need people.” She wasn’t sure of the epic cooking abilities, but maybe it would be good to be able to make food for herself. Maybe. “Still deciding. I guess. Maybe. I couldn’t let Amycus go somewhere new without me.” And now here she was. In this weird place where weird things happened. But she didn’t regret it. Not really. Dating a werewolf, was she? That was bound to be a hairy situation sometimes. But still, how primal. Alecto was welcome to bring her boytoy ‘round for shenanigans - the walls were soundproof. They sort of had to be, because of the din in the tavern lasting until the wee hours. “Things aren’t always the same as in the dreams,” she noted, and Isabela was quite glad for that, because in her ‘verse,’ Hawke hadn’t made it out of the Fade during the time of the Inquisition. She’d much rather have an alive husband than a dead one. Unless he was her ex-husband, but the current one she actually liked. “Alright, kitten, come on. Let’s go back downstairs and we’ll get all that boring paperwork settled.” Dog would have to be left back in Bela and Hawke’s flat, but no matter. They were developing such a lovely fam here on the second floor, she was delighted to see how it would all unfold! |