undergrounds | cross your heart && hope to die

[An August catch-all! Please note that Nancy has been cursed to compelled to tell the truth. This curse lasts until she reveals 3 things that she never would have otherwise, or until the next full moon (Aug 29). Please mention if a thread occurs AFTER the 29th as for now, she's defaulting to cursed.

Lots of fun. Please see these lovely starters, and check the comment section for a few starters. Want something specific? you know where to find me (

sheakespeare).]

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Option A
The day after Lammas, Nancy woke up like any other day. She fed her cat, had some coffee and cooked up a bit of bacon to keep her hangover at bay. Today was supposed to be like any other day, grab a few bottles of Blood Replenisher to give to Cooper, more VT for her, and maybe stop by a local cafe to read for a while. And everything was going just great.

At least, until she got to the apothecary. When she was asked how she was doing, instead of just saying 'alright' and moving on like any normal person would do, she found herself looking at him and saying, "I'm bloody hungover and I don't know what just happened." But she'd said those words, even if they weren't the ones she wanted to. Blinking, she tried again, but the results were the same. Even after a third time.

"Fine, just ring me up I can tell you're impatient and think I'm crazy." He gave her a look, but rang up her purchases. Nancy was only too glad to get out of there.

Once on the street, that's where she was able to take stock of herself. Putting her bags down, she leaned against the wall. "Alright, Nancy. What's going on with you? This isn't like you." And that was the first of many incidents that day, where she thought one thing, and wound up saying something entirely else. Something, she found, that was true, and only occurred when she was lying.

Someone had cursed her. And she still had to run errands.

Option B

Nancy was determined not to let this curse keep her from working. So here she was, another night, another bar, dolled up. Whenever she approached men, however, she still couldn't, try as she might, even dance around telling the truth.

She sounded desperate, awful, and her game was at an all-time-low. At this rate, she'd have to ask Fagin for money, and he was notoriously tight with his purse strings. The only thing worse than that would be asking someone like Killian to help her out. Completely unacceptable.

Another failed solicitation, and the bartender finally nodded to the bouncer. said bouncer, who had once happily checked Nancy's ID, marched over to the petite girl and promptly informed her that this bar had no room for prostitutes, and she was therefore banned from the establishment for the rest of forever.

Shoulders sagging forward, Nancy trekked through London, trying to keep her tears at bay. Tonight, she decided, she was just going to walk home. Usually, she'd find herself at Fagin's, pouring herself a drink of gin on nights like tonight. But seeing the old man would only be a disaster tonight. Besides, she needed some time to think to herself.

Option C

If anyone has cared to notice, it's been a few days since Nancy'd been seen around London, or even responded to any sort of texts or anything. Her phone is off, and she's more than happy to spend her time right now sitting on the couch with her cat in her lap and read. Reading would lead to drinking and watching television, or even practicing videogaming but all the same, the fact remained she was lonely. Lonely and bored. First July kept her in the house for the Hunt, and now August had her nearly unable to open her mouth at all to have any sort of normal human interaction.

And, when it was feeling like it was going to be impossible to ever lift the curse, she started researching. She had a few books hidden away from when she lived at the Den, and poured over them, attempting to find a solution to her problem.

Option D
Wild Card. Make your own prompt.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No, no. I do. It's just..." He paused, gathering his words together. It was a rarity for him to think before speaking. Marvels never did cease. ".... My life's been defined more by a lack of love then by presence of it. Sometimes, I forget what it feels like 'till it comes 'round again." Hundreds of years old and he could still be as clueless as any other teenager when it came to his emotions.

He smiled, eyes crinkling up at the corners as she scratched his head. "All is forgiven, so long as you keep on scratching my head like that."

"I'll keep doing it as long as you want," she said, not even bothering to react to the easy truth. She knew how many men crumbled before a well-placed head-scratch. She'd even fluff his hair some. Aren't you just the luckiest, Cooper?

She offered a tender smile. "No one's life should be defined by lack of love." Even she knew what love was, felt it deeply for those she cared for. Once, she'd felt it even for Fagin. Though it was long gone now, despite the connection she would never be able to sever.

"Just remember you've got me for the rest of my life. And that's a promise."

"That's a vampire's life for you, sweetheart." He shrugged philosophically. "Looks all glamorous on the outside, but on the inside, it's a lonely sort of life."

Cooper just sort of flopped over so that his head was in her lap. His eyes closed and he sighed contentedly. He could fall straight to sleep with her playing around with his hair. "Good. I expect you to live t'be a hundred-and-two at the very least. Promise?" He pointed his pinkie upwards, looking quite solemn as he did so.

Cooper could flop all over her however he wanted. She situated herself a bit better, but allowed him to keep his head on her lap, her painted nails threading through his hair naturally.

Soft, she realized. It was nice.

"Promise," Nancy said, wrapping his pinkie in hers. "But you're going to have to stick around until then, y'got it?" It was an interesting thought, really. She'd never expected to live much longer than twenty, truth be told. Not with the sort of life she was in, how much danger she put herself in every day. Every night.

"If I ever have a family, though, you'll have to make sure they're doing well for the rest of forever, alright?" It was only fair. She doubted she'd have a family, but she'd wanted one. A good, handsome husband, beautiful children. Only if she got them away from Fagin. Only then.

"I will. If I've lived this long, chances are I'll live another two-hundred years. Maybe even longer if hunters stay as dumb as they are." He was supremely confident in his ability to stay alive. If he had survived his early years when he was so young and foolish, he was practically immortal at this point. His voice had gone a little muzzy as he went closer to the edge towards sleep. He was completely relaxed now.

"Alright. You can count on ol' Cooper t'be watching over them till the end of forever. But I make no promises about not flirting with your granddaughters if they turn out to be as pretty as you." He grinned impishly.

"Let's hope, so long as you don't drain any more fae, yeah?" She closed her eyes and exhaled for a moment at the words. "And I'll do what I can t'keep you safe while I'm around." She moved from his hair down to his brows, gently massaging his forehead with her thumbs.

"Oh, shush, you!" Nancy gasped, giving him a little shove on his shoulder. "I'm sure that'll go over great, when you tell 'em you're grandmum's friend." She shook her head. "I'll warn 'em to watch out for you, when they get old enough."

The contented look on his face fell away in favor of a more serious one. "I'll try not to." No jokes or flippant words there. He was done with fae blood, though privately, he worried that it wasn't quite done with him. He'd have to be on guard for the rest of his life, always on the lookout for a relapse.

"I could tell 'em I was the divvil's nephew and they wouldn't care if I gave 'em a wink 'n a smile. Works on you, don't it?" He opened his eyes and gives a demonstration, actively working to turn on the charm as he smiled up at his friend.

"I'm always here," she muttered, looking down over him so her hair pooled around them both creating a ginger, curly curtain of sorts.

"Oi- you forget I'm the devil's daughter, so you best rethink that." She wrinkled her nose a little at him. Fagin was, as far as she was concerned, the devil himself. The wrinkles only intensified as she blushed, a small dimple visible on her left cheek and the lightest smattering of freckles.

"You're bloody awful."

He curled a finger around a red strand of hair, tweaking it slightly. "I know. You love it, don't try t'deny it." Cooper could be charming when he put forth some effort into it. It wasn't his fault that it was just so much easier to rile some people and act like a jerk instead.

Blinking his blue eyes up at Nancy, he stifled a yawn using the back of his hand. Despite not having done anything but lie in a bed for the past few days, he was still exhausted from purging the blood from his system.

She wrinkled her nose at him again, and this time stuck her tongue out. "I'm not going to tell you, one way or another." Because two could play that game.

His yawning didn't go unnoticed. "D'you want to take a nap? You can lay down in my room for now, if you want."

cross your heart && hope to die

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