Who: Alecto Carrow & Lina Inverse What: Disney adventures Where: Disneyland When: Early February Rating: PG-13ish? There's mentions of torturing and murder, but mostly just that Alecto does that and not any descriptions Status: Complete when posted
Oh, Disney.
Lina didn’t think she’d be here without her kid but, hey, it was her suggestion as a distraction and who the hell went to Disney all by themselves, anyway? If something popped up from the depths of hell lurking underneath, she and Alecto had it handled - and there was part of her that wouldn’t mind it, anyway, with witchy fingers twitching to toss a flaming ball at something.
But, eh. Not the best thing to do unprovoked at a center of attraction for kids.
“You know what’s bullshit?” New Orleans Square reminded her of home, sort of - the Mickey Mouse-shaped beignets were a little much, though, but tasty. The ears were chomped on at first as they sat at a bistro table messy with powdered sugar. “This area is based off what is literally the city of booze, but the one place you can get it from is some special admissions club that isn’t really open to the public? So much for authenticity.”
Good thing they came prepared. Lina’s father was a generous man, you see, with plenty of vodka to spare - clear vodka, bacon-infused vodka, and while she was still on the fence with it (she liked meat, but meat-flavored alcohol??) she’d brought some in a harmless looking water bottle to spare for Alecto to taste.
Because that’s what friends were for.
Alecto felt gross. And it was only partly due to the fact that she’d dreamt bothersome things. The majority of it was the fact that she was feeling things. Like concern and guilt. She didn’t know what that was about, but she didn’t like it. Probably because emotions were stupid. She’d gone this long without them bothering her. But now she found that they were crowding her in and making her feel like she was being suffocated.
It was why she was here, in Disney...getting drunk. Stupid feelings.
She looked around the place they were, wondering idly why people seemed to have so much fun here. Everything was so happy and people tried to hug you. She was as subtle as she could be with stinging hexes to keep most of the dressed up people away from her. Stupid people. “I’ve never been here. It seems okay. But that’s also stupid. People need alcohol. Not dumb people telling them they can’t have it.”
She was quiet for a moment as she scanned the surrounding area. “Remus said I’m not supposed to puke on any children.”
It was, uh, definitely a happy place? Family outings, the sound of laughing children - but was it hypocritical of her to think she could really do without the mass of strollers and snot-nosed kids? Lina liked hers best, and would only tolerate hers. And maybe a select few, too. “Puking on kids is frowned upon,” the sorceress informed. “But I’m not here to tell you what to do. Just give advice, hold your hair back when you do barf, and provide you with the means of what could make you barf.’
Another bite of Mickey beignets were taken before she pushed the ‘water’ bottle towards her. Lina had taken a sip and that was it. Powerful stuff. Pops didn’t fuck around with it, and she still thought it smelled much better than it tasted. Flavored vodka always did. “My dad’s a functional alcoholic and in a way, a wizard in his own terms. Try it.”
“It sounds about right,” she said after a moment. Children were a weird sort of people, but she liked her nieces all right. They were so far the only children that she could tolerate. She hadn’t really tried to tolerate anyone else’s. She was pretty sure her mother’s friend’s children had some obnoxious ones. Disney seemed to be full of them. They reminded her of her brother when he was younger, but considering none of them were actually him, they were somehow more annoying. “You are the only friend I know right now.”
Alecto carefully took the bottle before opening it and smelling. Bacon. Very strong bacon. She eyed Lina quietly for a moment before deciding to take a sip. It wasn’t, by far, the worst stuff she’d ever tasted, but it wasn’t the best either. What mattered was how strong it was...and it tasted pretty strong at that moment. So she took another sip. “I’m surprised my parents never tried to take us somewhere like this when we were little. I’m not sure it would have successfully bribed me to behave, but...eh.”
Disney was chock-full of obnoxious kids - one of her first exposures to this place was when Pete had brought her out for fireworks, a couple years back, when their relationship was still a very flirtatious friendship. This was her first time immersing herself completely in the whole culture of it, but god, the lack of easily obtainable alcohol was thoroughly disappointing.
There was still stuff for them to do. Just sober, unless Alecto planned on drinking more of the bacon-vodka.
“Mine were too broke, this place isn’t exactly cheap,” she said, wiping her hands from the excess powdered sugar. “You and your brother been in touch, though? What’s he say about all your dream stuff?”
Alecto was willing to hold off on drinking herself to a stupid level in order to do things that required her to be sober. She just wasn’t sure what there was to do. She hadn’t really researched all the different things. Mostly she was counting on Lina to know what to do.
“That’s true. I guess I’ve had money all my life, so I’m sort of used to it.” She shrugged slightly. “I mean, I’ve tried to pay for my own stuff most of the time.” Except for living with Amycus, but she guessed that it wasn’t really a big deal. It wasn’t like she never offered to help pay for groceries or anything. She did. “Yeah, we’ve talked. He doesn’t really like the dreams, but he’s early in them. He’s still in school. I don’t know how he’s going to deal with all the things that he’s going to see. We’re not...good people.”
Oh, money would have been nice growing up. Not like she lacked much - the Ifraimovs were happily dysfunctional and made due with what they had, even if the complications that were hurled their way. “My parents went into a debt that drove me into smuggling drugs, and then upgrading to guns,” she shared, casually, because Disney was just the place to share stories of illegal weapons trafficking. Crime paid better than a legitimately legal job. “Grew out of that phase, though, the hard way.”
It was all swell, though - the debt was paid, they were tearfully reunited, life went on.
As for her bro... “You two are on the same boat of evil, huh.” Geez. Lina pushed the bottle that much closer to to Alecto, for reasons. “Have you tried giving him a heads up? To soften the blow in a way?” If that was even possible, but sometimes a warning could help people process it easier if they knew what to expect.
Alecto made a small noise of interest at the mention of smuggling. She’d never met a smuggler. There wasn’t much by way of smuggling in the magical world and she’d never needed to smuggle anything. Not unless you counted smuggling alcohol into boarding school, but that wasn’t really the same thing. “Really? I want to say that sounds cool, but I’m not sure that’s how people react to that normally.” It probably wasn’t true either. But maybe it was.
But the boat of evil was the only adventure she got. She accepted the bottle, but didn’t drink from it at that moment. “No. I don’t know...how to tell him. I mean, I guess he can see my posts if he wants, but…” She shrugged. “He already hates the dreams now. I don’t know how to...make it better. He doesn’t want to have his wand because he thinks it’ll put the girls in danger even though we don’t know if they have magic. He...I don’t know. I don’t know if he wants to know.” It was after that that she took a drink from the bottle again.
“It seems badass until your morals are put to a test,” she grinned, impishly, and leaned her chin into her palm. “And if he can see your posts and hasn’t said anything then he’s swimming in the river of denial, and looking the other way is going to harm his girls more than anything. If you want to protect someone, you better understand what you’re protecting them from. Or leave so you don’t have to keep them from the stranger things in life.”
In regards to her daughter, Lina and Pete had already weighed their options - Amelia would have the mutant gene and the magic exposure, and there was no better place to learn how to handle things like that except here. There was a degree of secrecy kept, sure, but that ‘hidden community’ of dreamers with all sorts of abilities would be a good support system.
Anyway, Alecto seemed to be at uncomfortable odds with her brother, and the redhead could see it was taking a toll. If only siblings could be dismissed so goddamn easily. “The best thing you can do is be as prepared as you can - he’ll come running to you sooner or later, and you’ll be the best support he’ll have.” Especially with little ones involved.
Morals. Alecto wasn’t sure her morals were really a thing. She couldn’t say they even existed at this point. Only then she was feeling things like guilt, so maybe they did. The thought made her sigh. “I wish I could swim in the river of denial.” It would probably help, but her denial wouldn’t be about the dreams. She’d happily live in denial about everything outside of the dreams. Except Remus and her friends. But she didn’t say that.
Alecto nodded at the part about him coming to her eventually. She was already practising magic. She was already learning what she needed to learn because she wanted to, but she guessed if the girls did have magic, someone had to make sure they knew how to handle that. She trusted that, given the option of protecting the girls over disliking the dreams and what came with them, Amycus would choose to learn magic and teach them. But she really didn’t want to think about this or Amycus. “I’m okay, though.” A lie, but she’d pretend until it was true. “I know a lot of magic now and I’ll learn more with time.”
Lina figured it was a lie - it wasn’t a thing anyone would be okay with, but she knew the drill. That whole thing of trying to convince yourself to believe your own words. It helped, sometimes, but eventually the music had to be faced.
It didn’t have to be at Disney, though. Happiest place on Earth, right? She heard that somewhere.
“It all comes with time,” she promised. “I’m on version three of the dreams, and there’s always something new I learn - there’s an underground Magic Guild that’s available for magic users. It’s a safe haven for those who don’t have something personal at home to practice safely. A friend of mine started it, I handle the funds that help the supplies flow in.” Herbs, bottles, black mirrors, runestones, practice tarot cards. Her sister-in-law ran an occult shop so there was a business deal set up; helping out local businesses, that whole thing. “If there’s anything with a little more violence you need to work on, I tend to stick to Death Valley. A lot of my magic’s destructive, and unless necessary I’m trying to keep that destruction out of here.”
Hey, she was considerate. Sometimes. It was also nice way to unleash stress. Summon some golems for targets, toss out fire and ice left and right - put a crater or two here and there. It was a good rush, and she liked the thrill of ruin.
Alecto was very skilled in the art of lying to herself. It was something she’d honed over the years. She was always getting better at it, but things seemed to catch up to her over time. That didn’t make her any less likely to lie to herself or others.
“I can’t remember if I knew about that or not.” It was hard to say. She didn’t remember everyone that she talked to. “It sounds pretty great time, though. I don’t know if some of the stuff I can do is too bad, but I guess fiendfyre would count as pretty destructive. I think I’m going to stay away from Unforgiveables outside of the dreams.” Because torturing and killing was probably best to stay away. Also the mind control was probably good to leave alone, too. She took a drink to avoid the look on Remus’ face that her mind conjured up should she decide to do any of those things. “I guess I could try some of the other things out there, though. If you’re sharing secret magic places.”
“Aside from going on crazy rides at Disney...” Which was still happening, by the way - something high-speed and loopy that made their stomachs rise to their throats! Lina lifted the brochure they got from the entrance to assess their options. Space mountain wasn’t a bad starter. “You want some productive distractions? Lose yourself in figuring out the kinks and works of your magic.”
Actually...
The sorceress clicked her tongue in thought, and looked over at Aleco with a leer. “How would you rate any sort of combat skills with your magic? Think it’d be good enough to give a couple people a scare or two?”
There was an offer there, somewhere, but she was trying to gauge Alecto’s reaction first.
Alecto considered what Lina said before saying, “They are okay, I guess. I mean, I haven’t gotten to practise them as much.” Which was true. She’d mostly practised the easier spells, but she had gone to school hadn’t she? Maybe she could figure it out and wing things. She just had to remember the spells and how to cast them.
“I’d be winging it a lot, but it might give people a sort of scare. There’s probably some non-combat magic that could do that, too, but if we’re talking combat magic, I think it could be interesting to see what I can manage. Just don’t kill me or anything dramatic like that.” Because, while Alecto didn’t mind dramatics, she did mind dying. It was a bit much for her.
Hmmm. Wouldn’t hurt to do a trial run with them, would it? “We should give your combative magic a test run,” Lina advised, the devil in her eyes. “If I get a little pissy about something and need to vent -” In the situation fucking wasn’t an option, because she’d ravish her husband to unleash plenty of stress. “I’ve had some nights going out and messing with a couple low-lives. Drugrunners, thieves. They’re easy to find once you know the right neighborhoods.”
Back then, before she settled into a more stable life, she would rob them for income. Steal from the thieves and give to herself like some twisted version of Robin Hood. It’s not like she would ever steal from innocent people or a bank, nah. Wasn’t her thing. But thugs? Different story. They deserved a good beating, and she’d help herself to their belongings as a reward.
“It’s a decent way to get some quick cash if you’re running low - most of the time they’ve got a pistol on them or a bat, but if you can think quick on your feet and stop them before they reach their weapon, it’s like taking candy from a baby. Why don’t you come join me? You’ll get actual practice in a very real situation, you’re doing a favor to society, and if they’ve got valuables on them we can see how much they’re worth.”
Alecto tilted her head to the side as she considered it. Remus would probably disapprove. He also had disapproved of her coming to Disney and getting drunk to deal with her problems. He was one of those people that regularly did good things and was generally on the right side of things. For all he worried about being a monster, Alecto was pretty sure he was the least monstrous person she knew. She could not say the same for herself. Though, she also didn't really care about that. She just didn't want to do anything to hurt Remus.
“Well, if they're criminals, I'm just doing my duty as an employee of the police department.” Or something. She probably could use her camera to get pictures of them before they noticed her. If not, she could use it to lure them in. It was worth good money and she didn't really look like a girl that could fight. “I have a good way of luring people, I think. Well, thieves. But I'd need my camera bag.” She paused, “And probably don't mention it to my boyfriend because he is a do gooder and he gets these disappointed looks on his face like you just called a dog ugly in front of its friends.”
Ohhh, the boyfriend front. Lina briefly grimaced. “Not going to touch your relationship,” she said, hands up in surrender. She and Pete, they were at least on the same level of gray when it came to the moral compass - they weren’t awful people but situations often had them be awful people out of necessity, and guilty pleasures rested in some hostility. Her penchant of hunting down crooks was a mirror of her bandit wrangling habits in the dreams; she’d sneak out at night from their camping grounds (or tavern, depending) and do her rounds, then come back to a very disappointed swordsman companion who worried too much.
At least here, when she had that itch, Pete let her do her thing. This wildfire could only be tamed so much.
“If you two ever happen to discuss it, you can sell it as…” Hmmm. “Well, look, it’s not like you’re mugging an old lady in a grocery line. It’s practical to want to put your skills to use, and real life scenarios are best suited for adapting. I won’t put you in a seriously sticky situation.”
The boyfriend. Alecto liked Remus. She liked him more than she’d actually liked just about anyone, which made it complicated. Because she wasn’t the good guy in any situation. Yes, she worked for the police, but no, she wasn’t in it for the good feels. “Good to know.” She’d figure out how to explain it to him eventually.
Alecto shrugged slightly. “If he asks…” It would be easy to lie, but she wasn’t sure if it was okay to do. She’d never really questioned herself this much. “Well, they can always have started it. I guess eventually he’ll figure things out, but I guess you’re right about the old lady thing.” She frowned for a moment. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out with him. And it’s not like I’m running around torturing and killing people either, so it’s a step up. Better than the dreams. So hopefully he won’t worry about it too much.” Because she didn’t really know how to be a different sort of person.
Lina pushed her plate of nothing but powdered sugar and used up napkins away, folding the brochure shut. “If you say so,” she submitted, ginger brow hiked up a little. “I just don’t want it to become a problem and then I get blamed for something, is all - but to be fair, most of the time they do start it.”
That petite figure, challenged height, cute-as-a-button (or as Neal had once said, Bambi With Blowtorch Eyes) image worked in her favor and against her. It meant she was always underestimated, and it also meant everyone thought she was always easy pickings to start shit with. Sigh. “But just simmer in it, will ya? Take another shot of the bacon-vodka and let’s hit up something fast. I’m going to make good on my promise to make you lose your insides on some obnoxious kid.”
Alecto smiled. “I won’t blame you for it. You’re not the one that made my decision.” She knew how to take responsibility for her actions anyway. At least with these things. She knew her actions were all hers even if the crazy man named Voldemort had just sort of used the lot of them for whatever he was trying to do.
“Okay.” And she did take another sip of the bacon vodka. It was no less weird, but vodka was vodka. She felt a lot warmer than she had previously, but that was how things were. “At least it’s pretty strong. Weak alcohol is the worst. I feel bad for whoever gets thrown up on. Sort of. Probably not. I’ve done worse things.”
“As long as it isn’t me,” Lina reminded, tucking the vodka for them in a satchel strapped across her person - didn’t matter the amount of stuff in it because thanks to an enchantment, it laid flat like it was empty and was fairly weightless. “If it’s me you won’t have someone holding your hair back during the nasty process - remember that!”