undergrounds | do you fly in the day, darling

[A June catch-all! Pick an option and say hello, or start something more specific in the comments. Hit me up on plurk if you want a specific starter!]

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A Just another Saturday night out, Nancy's lips painted blood red and staining the side of her low-ball glass. Her legs are crossed at the ankles, black pumps and fishnets on full display under her short leather skirt. It's a night out, another night working. People around here knew who she was, what she offered. It was easier in supernatural bars, Nancy knew, to find vampires looking for a feeding, or even just a john wanting some company.

She props an elbow up on the bar, and looks down the the way, eyes peeled for any familiar, or unfamiliar, face. She'll just try not to think about how great it would be to be watching Netflix right now instead of work.

B Do you believe in fate, baby, ask me, ask me, the music played in her earbuds as Nancy jogged in place at a cross-walk. Trainers on her feet and hair pulled up in a pony-tail, she was doing her usual exercise routine. Always good to be fast on your feet, she'd learned as a child, and running was a great way to keep that up. Even if she had ways to get away, her feet were still just as important.

Besides, there was something relaxing about running, she'd found. She could shove the world away and concentrate on the music and running and the city. She'd found her way down to the Thames, and was running on the paths near it, past youths with skateboards and graffiti'd walls, business men grabbing a bite to eat right outside the Globe. It was astounding the way the culture and history blended together so seamlessly. She'd never get over that.

The light turned green, and on she ran.

C Choose your own! Private starters in the comments.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Someone threw a brick through my window." She sounds calmer than she looks. "With a hex on it. It didn't work--the hex, I mean, it was more powerful than whoever drew it."

She sits, hunched.

"I know they're blustering. Do you think they're blustering? Just trying to make sure I don't tell anyone what I saw them doing. I don't think they'd have the guts to really hurt me. They want to pretend at being important and dangerous but they're no more powerful than I am."

Nancy purses her bottom lip, and moves in towards the couch where Pel sits, grabbing her blanket as she does so. As she sits at her friend's side, she wraps the additional layer around her shoulders. Thank goodness it didn't work. "What did the hex look like?" That was important to know. Then maybe she'd be able to figure out if they were just trying to scare her or not.

Especially as there were more of them than her.

"I'll get you some tea." English, born and raised.

Pel takes a deep breath and tugs the blanket tight around her shoulders.

"I'll draw it in a bit." Her hands are shaking too much right now. "Tae would be grand."

The North Irish in her speech is coming out stronger than usual, a sure sign that she is shaken. She raises a hand to brush away tears that are on the verge of dripping from her eyelashes.

"Thank you." Her voice trembles at last.

Nancy, for her part, shakes her head. "Don't thank me. There's some tissues on the coffee table. I'll start the kettle." Nancy rises again, pulling the box of tissues closer to Pel. "Any particular flavor?" She had probably far too much tea, loose-leaf and bags. Even a few blossoms.

The flat is small enough that she's practically still in the living room with Pel as she runs the water.

Pel snatches a tissue and dabs at her eyes. "Just a breakfast black, thanks."

Two deep breaths.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart like that."

"That I can do." Her PG Tips was easiest to reach, anyway. No need for a stool for the petite girl or anything.

She sets the kettle to run while returning back towards the couch.

"No, don't ever apologize for rational emotions."

"It's not the emotions I was apologizing for."

Pel hugs her knees to her chest, feeling strangely small. But she's relaxing, collecting herself now that she's in a safe place.

"I just feel like I did something incredibly stupid and you're probably the only person who won't laugh at me to learn of this. I won't feel sorry for myself."

Nancy pauses and frowns, just as the kettle starts to sing. Electric kettles. They were the best.

She moves from her spot again, back to the kitchen to pour them each a cup of tea, before setting them on a tray with milk and sugar and bringing it into the living room. She set the tray down on the coffee table and handed Pel her mug, first.

"C'mon then. Tell me what happened, if you can. I won't say anything until you're done, and you have my word, I won't laugh." She perches back next to Pel, just as her cat, Juliet, peeks her head around from Nancy's bedroom and decides the noise is something to investigate.

Pel adds significant amounts of sugar to her tea. Comfort sugar because she's upset; otherwise, she leaves it black. She sips.

"I got...mixed up in a bad sort of group a while back. Mostly witches my age, wanting to really change things. At first it was just, I don't know, philosophy. Talking about things we already knew we agreed on. A little dark magic, but nothing daft."

A deep breath.

"Then someone found a spell so far above everyone's power it wasn't really ever going to work. I don't know how she convinced everyone it was a good idea. It was stupid. They were going to summon and sacrifice a fae. It was supposed to...you know, it doesn't matter what it was supposed to do, because it probably wouldn't have worked even if they'd been as powerful as they thought they were. And it's not the point, anyway. Point is, they were away in the head and I thought I needed to put an end to it before we all got murdered by the fae. So I went in and interrupted the ritual and freed the fae they'd summoned. Now they're all feeling scundered and want to make sure I don't tell anyone."

She huffs out her breath. There. It's not all that bad after all, is it?

Oh. That's. That's not good.

"You were going to summon and sacrifice a Fae?" There's a hard note in her voice as she looks at Pel. "They're bloody idiots." Summoning a Fae was how she'd wound up in Fagin's care, and she wasn't about to suggest anyone do it ever. EVER.

But she couldn't very well yell about this right now. Pel had the right idea, and she said so. "No, you did the right thing." And just told someone. "If these witches are willing to sacrifice a Fae, though..." Things were not looking up for her friend.

do you fly in the day, darling

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cw: reference to violence/urban warfare

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