SADIE VALENCIA
Human
Posts: 100
Age:
28
Occupation:
Author
Status:
Single
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 1, 2024 17:05:25 GMT
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Post by SADIE VALENCIA on Jan 23, 2023 19:03:52 GMT
One twitch of a pencil was all it took. He of the cheeky smile and pretty eyes scooped up his laptop and coffee cup and made a beeline for her table. She’d have likened them to a stormy sea, changeable, the blue-grey dappled lighter and darker in spots, but look where getting all poetic about cinnamon and cream had gotten her before.
Sadie hitched a brow, smirking as she nudged back the chair in front of her with a toe. Those eyes had caught hers a half hour before, the lines that creased his forehead as he frowned at his laptop screen vanished, the first of those smiles tugging at his full lips- those couldn’t have been more different, especially when it came to how fast they were to curve. It had been easy to start losing focus then. Editing deadline, what now?
”Never thought you’d ask. Looked like you were well focused. All work and no …"
Just no full stop. One English accented word out of his mouth – London, she was pretty fucking sure it was London – and she was done. Third time wasn’t the charm, it was the reason to leave him nursing a fresh triple espresso (hey, she’d paid, she wasn’t that kind of a bitch) and bolt for the liquor store and the pizza place just off the square instead. Those pillowy lips had fallen open then pouted at the finger that had gone up in front of his face. She wasn’t gonna bother bullshitting him the way she had done to get out of things in the past – more times than she wanted to count – by saying she had a deadline. Yeah, she did, but that wasn’t the reason she was scurrying home with the two large pizza boxes probably leaking pepperoni and cheese grease into her back seat. She was freaking cursed, that was why.
Propping her elbows on the belly of the wheel as the lights at the corner of the square went red, Sadie scrubbed her hands over her face and pushed her hair back. Three times, three. There was probably some sort of message the universe was trying to tell her in a gravelly voice and that accent, but she didn’t want to hear it. She needed to block it out, crank the music – Elton poured out of the radio as she flicked it on and goosed the accelerator (finally!) - and find her way back into her old routine. That meant the club tomorrow night, the beer, pizza and maybe a 2am burst on the rewrites her editor had requested on the draft she’d sent in if she got drunk enough off of the beers and tequila (if it didn’t make her happy she was gonna take out a suit) to be able to tolerate even the imagined English drawl in her head.
She glanced at the store in the rear-view mirror, but only for the second it took the light to flip to green. Open, like it had been at lunchtime when she’d parked up in front of the Coffee Bean. The space between the two felt like a no man’s land, not to be crossed under threat of death. If she wanted his permission on what she’d put in of his family she’d have to soon though and that was going to fucking suck. ’Hey, I know you practically called me a home wrecking whore, but am I still good to fictionalise your family?’. Her ass was probably legally covered either way since they were heavily fictionalised, but, repeat, she wasn’t that kind of a bitch. If Darcey said no she was screwed, but some tiny, stupid feeling part of her held out hope at least.
Ugh. Maybe she should’ve just taken He of the Pretty Eyes home anyway. Burn everything out with something that wasn’t gonna add five more pounds to her hips.
Flipping a finger vaguely in the direction of the store, ignoring the look shot at her by the old dude who’d pulled up in his Volvo next to her, Sadie peeled out. The beer and pizza would do, she wasn’t going screw away her feelings. She’d spent a decade doing that and all it had gotten her was an empty apartment and feelings when she’d have been better off without them.
The short way home cut off of the square, winding through the backstreets, past the glitzy hotel first, then the motel – smaller, cheaper, probably far less likely to have room service and just the sort of place her publisher had put her up in before. She’d have roared past it, but she saw one of the room doors open, a now familiar looking brunette walk out. Ruby. Someone else who’d practically pulled the ‘no thanks, bye’ act. No ma’am, not today. Today she wanted to vent and have someone tell her that she hadn’t been a complete moron in not taking a guy home.
Once upon a time they’d shared everything, maybe it’d changed, but Sadie was willing to lay money on that Ruby still being in there under that shell of leave me the fuck alone. She pulled into the entrance of the motel, blocking it to anybody coming in or out. Screw it. Sadie buzzed down the window, grinning at Ruby as she propped her elbows on the frame. ”Hey … I guess you lost my number. You know, it’s fine, it happens. Put something important away and...” She made a soft popping sound, fluttering her fingers in the air. ”...it just vanishes. Forget soul sucking demons, I swear there are things out there that just eat words and it’s got a taste for me. Half a freaking chapter last week. Five hours work, all gone.” Like the number Ruby had probably tossed the second she’d walked away at the store.
He of the Pretty Eyes had been pretty stocky when he’d stood – beefy, sure, with the sorta frame that would’ve left taller, but skinnier guys looking small – but not leggy. This one was all legs. Like a crane still learning how to use those stilts as he trotted after Ruby. Broad in the shoulders too, and oh look, pretty eyes. They were fixed on Ruby though, something flitting across his face that looked a little like desperation as he called out her name. ”Hi to you too.” Sadie wriggled her fingers in greeting, earning herself a blush and his gaze darting away.
”I know you wanted me to leave you alone, but we should talk. Ruby, I wanna help. If you’ll let me. What are the cops doing …"
Cops huh? Sadie looked back from him to Ruby, drinking in everything that was probably nothing to do with her – since their friendship ended twenty odd years ago and all.
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RUBY HERRERA
Werecreature
were-jaguar
Posts: 41
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Sept 30, 2024 19:44:28 GMT
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Post by RUBY HERRERA on Feb 19, 2023 17:05:11 GMT
 ━ an ache for home; a shelter against storms ━
Same with her aunts. Why did nobody get the message? She was only in Mystic Falls ‘cause of the cops. If she was free to leave, she’d go right back to Mexico and carve something nasty into her dad before she killed him. If she survived that long.
She was stuck. She’d rather be stuck somewhere else━between Mystic Falls and Mexico━as they were the two places she could and couldn’t be. Couldn’t leave: she’d die or spend the rest of her life in prison. Couldn’t stay: there was too much history here, too much family, and she became sick of it from the moment she’d met them.
“Pendejo.” Ruby muttered under her breath as Cory followed her along the motel’s outside walkway. It wasn’t her go-to curse, but it was helpful that most Americans knew what it meant.
She ignored him, fast-walking towards the sidewalk. She couldn’t teleport like he could, but there was a sense of safety in leaving the motel’s property. At least on the streets of Mystic Falls there was more space to attempt to avoid him. “You really stalked me here? Go away.” Ruby hissed to Cory and stopped just short of the car that pulled in.
Great.
Another piece of the history she didn’t fucking want; that she didn’t remember. Someone else who was probably lying to her, just wanting to say whatever the fuck they could to get an exclusive on her story.
Arms crossed (more for protection than annoyance, but she’d be happy if they took it that way), Ruby listened to the chick━shit, what was her name? Sadie. Sadie-with-the-big-t*ts who said they were childhood friends━more bullshit.
“What?” Ruby puffed, only half listening. She shook her head like she could forget whateverthefuck Sadie just said to her. Half a freaking chapter? Of what?
Help. Cory piped up again. He wanted to help. By doing what? Getting her tied up with the police again?
Ruby looked from Sadie━who was staring at her so intently━to Cory and back again. She huffed out a breath. Sadie seemed human enough, and significantly less harmful than a man with strange abilities to whom she owed a debt. She’d take the lesser of two evils.
Instead of answering him, Ruby stomped around to the passenger’s side of Sadie’s car and tugged open the door, dropping heavily to the seat. She didn’t look at Cory for more than a second (for all of which she glared), and instead stared straight ahead. “Go.” She grumbled, “Just drive. Get me outta this shithole.”
Leaning back in her seat as they finally began to take off, Ruby watched Cory fade through her window (and side mirror), making sure he stayed put. Finally, her dark eyes ticked sideways to Sadie. “What, you stalkin’ me, too, now? I thought Mystic Falls was full-a dead bodies and shit; why’s one missing kid everybody’s favourite gossip? Damn.” She kissed her teeth, rolling her eyes away again.
SADIE VALENCIA | no notes. |
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SADIE VALENCIA
Human
Posts: 100
Age:
28
Occupation:
Author
Status:
Single
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 1, 2024 17:05:25 GMT
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Post by SADIE VALENCIA on Mar 7, 2023 20:58:04 GMT
Nope, she wasn’t falling for another set of pretty eyes, especially since they were absolutely not trained on her. Sadie stared at him, while he stared at Ruby. Obviously she’d arrived right in the middle of something that obviously wasn’t any of her business – as though she’d ever let that stop her before. She’d grown up people watching, knew how to read a situation – most of the time, she wasn’t about to count those times when someone had pulled a one-eighty on her unexpectedly, that was on them, not her. This one screamed back the fuck up Sadie, but here she was smiling at the baby Giraffe while probably-Ruby folded her arms over her chest.
Maybe they both wanted her out of there, but the guy was being polite about it at least, just standing there looking anxious, almost like his knees were shaking inside the narrow legs of his jeans. He probably wasn’t getting much more of what she was babbling on about, unfortunately. That was an ear she could’ve bent for … what in the holy fuck balls was wrong with her?
She had to bite back that hum of self-censure, most folks didn’t get that you weren’t crazy when you were doing that, you were just finding some self-control. ”File eating gremlins,” she told Ruby, that bright edge to her voice, like everybody’d get the idea. ”You hit save and they just laugh. It’s a curse, honestly.” The least of the ones that seemed to have dogged her life in the last couple of years. Words came and went and okay, maybe you cried a little when you realised you were never gonna get that moment of genius back, but it was replacing them than the assholes who consciously walked away, leaving you stinging in other ways, those mental and emotional welts not clearing up the same way.
Giraffe-boy’s shoulders hunched in, his expression turning a little desperate as Ruby looked at him. Interesting. Not half as much as the whole ‘cop’ thing, but there was more going on here than one of the sheriff’s people trying to clear up what had to be the coldest case on their books.
Pooching her lips out, Sadie jerked a thumb towards the back seat. She could smell the pizza still, even though at this point it was probably inching towards cold (heating it up was never the same, it changed the texture of the dough, drew more of the grease out). ”I got enough to share…” Her lips tipped up at the corners, her dark brows waggling. The party for one was being opened up, even though she’d sworn she didn’t need it to. Fine on her own didn’t mean she had to be on her own at all times. This was just two people coming with her instead of the one she absolutely would’ve slipped down the rabbit hole with – that look of disappointment on his face as she’d left had made it clear he was willing to play Alice and follow her wherever she wanted to take it.
Ruby didn’t answer his plea – not that was cold – just stomped around the car. Sadie watched her for a moment and then flicked a glance back towards him, shrugging in apology. She twisted as Ruby dropped into her passenger seat. ”You wanna bring him? Nope … alright then,” she crooned as the order to go was grumbled at her. ”Sorry!” She called out the window to him as she pulled away, leaving him standing there, looking like a kicked puppy in the rear view mirror.
She didn’t ask where it was she wanted to go. Sadie started back towards her apartment automatically. Stone cold pizza absolutely wasn’t in her plans. After a moment she side eyed Ruby, met her gaze and snorted. ”Cause I’ve got nothing better to do with my time than sit outside a motel to try and lure you into my car with pizza and beer? Please.” Peeling a hand off of the wheel, she flashed her palm at Ruby, waving off that train of thought. ”Call it a lucky find. I was heading home and spotted you. You’re welcome, by the way.” She glanced back to the rear view, but the motel was already out of sight. ”He didn’t look too stalkery … what the fuck do I know though. Apparently guys with pretty eyes and or accents are my kryptonite. I end up blind, deaf and stupid. You wanna share your tips for resisting them?” Probably not. That state of Sadie’s-union speech was probably gonna earn her another one of those confused looks.
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RUBY HERRERA
Werecreature
were-jaguar
Posts: 41
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Sept 30, 2024 19:44:28 GMT
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Post by RUBY HERRERA on Apr 13, 2023 21:08:55 GMT
━ an ache for home; a shelter against storms ━
This wasn’t.
The edges of her lips twisted up into something of a smile (though it was stiff and somehow almost like a scowl) as she glanced sideways at Sadie. “Lucky.” She said wryly, forgoing a “thank you” or any acknowledgement of the spontaneity of it all. She didn’t really think Sadie was waiting around the motel for her to come out (unlike some people), but it seemed a little too convenient, and Ruby was nothing if not distrusting.
If she only got a beer in exchange for listening to Sadie’s “boy talk,” then it definitely wasn’t worth it. Ruby wasn’t a particularly big drinker, but she could appreciate a cold beer after a stressful day of avoiding people that wanted to talk to her. She didn’t have advice to give, nor did she want any━y’know, if it ended up going there.
Ruby was just glad Sadie followed up with “but what do I know,” because seriously, what the fuck did she know about Ruby’s situation?
“Ain’t never met any.” Ruby grumbled, looking sideways out her window, surveying all the stupid buildings they passed in this stupid fucking town she couldn’t get away from. “Guys with ‘pretty eyes’ or irresistible ones. I find threatenin’ t’stab ‘em usually works, or castration.” Again, her twisted non-smile smile appeared. “Just be sure you’ll really follow up. Don’t bitch out.” And as soon as she was allowed to defend herself, Ruby had. Ruthlessly.
The apartment wasn’t half bad. She didn’t offer to carry anything on the way up, and was relatively silent. Her dark eyes ticked around the inside of each place (the lobby, the elevator, the hallway, and, eventually, Sadie’s apartment), searching each corner for nothing in particular. Ruby liked to know her surroundings and have precise knowledge about what was in each area━what could be used to her advantage, escape routes, everything. Sadie’s place wasn’t half as bad as some of the nicest homes she’d seen in Mexico, but it wasn’t anywhere near as flashy as some of the luxury hotels she’d been in. It was Mystic Falls, though, and Ruby wasn’t picky. Nor did she care. She wasn’t staying long.
In fact, she’d planned to ditch Sadie before they even made it here, but her plan never manifested. There wasn’t a good time and, besides, she didn’t think Cory had the balls to blip himself into someone else’s home. Seemed like the kinda shit he’d sweat about━being rude or whatever. Waste of fuckin’ time in her opinion.
“Cold beer’s in here?” Ruby asked hopefully, pointing to the fridge before helping herself. She tugged it open, answered her own question, and grabbed a bottle for herself, not once considering that Sadie might also want one. She pointed at the couch as if asking for permission━not because she felt inferior to Sadie, but because this wasn’t her space. Ruby took a slice of pizza on her way to sink into one of the cushions, and popped the bottle’s cap off on the edge of the table, uncaring if it left a mark━not even thinking about it, either. She bit into the semi-cold pizza, washed it down with a mouthful of beer, then swigged another to be safe.
“So… you got a six-pack and a whole pizza for yourself?” Ruby’s lips twisted like she was making fun of Sadie (as if she wouldn’t do the same thing, or hadn’t done it many times before). “Real pissed ‘bout dudes and file-eaters, huh?” Not that she cared. Ruby’s intention was to rub it in━though, she should’ve known better than to engage with people who thought they knew her. Cory would’ve been elated that she said more than three words to him, and that was enough warning that she’d gone too far.
SADIE VALENCIA | no notes. |
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SADIE VALENCIA
Human
Posts: 100
Age:
28
Occupation:
Author
Status:
Single
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 1, 2024 17:05:25 GMT
|
Post by SADIE VALENCIA on May 2, 2023 17:36:56 GMT
Did she mind being the lesser of two evils? Nope. Although Giraffe Boy didn’t look like he’d ever had much real evil in him. Truth was Sadie was glad that the guy had maybe chased Ruby right into her arms, so to speak. At the grocery store she looked like she couldn’t wait to bolt, tossing the childhood friendship back into the past without even blinking. Now there wasn’t much chance that Ruby was gonna be able to deny that there’d been that connection – or not convincingly at least. Maybe once they got around the block and Legs-for-Days vanished from the rear view mirror Ruby would tear the car door open and go combat rolling out into the street, but she doubted it.
She darted a glance a glance at the central locking button, considering hitting it to stave off the idea. That was like locking an animal in a cage though and there was a chance in hell she could stand the sight of Ruby clawing at the door to escape her anymore than she had the class guineapig in the fifth grade. Three weeks into the term and Princess Leia’s cage door might have popped open on a Friday afternoon. At least half a dozen kids had cried when they’d come in on the Monday morning to discover her gone, but she still imagined Princess Leia out there in the woods somewhere, kicking galactic ass one triumphant squeal at a time. Nope, she wasn’t locking either one of them in for a repeat of that. She wrote for a living, she could tell enough stories to sway Rubes in the end.
Sadie met Ruby’s – well, it was almost a smile – with a grin and dipped her head, accepting all the gratitude she thought she was likely to get. Ruby hadn’t wanted either one of them there, but she’d offered a fast way out and maybe there’d been some appeal in the scent of pepperoni wafting around on the current from the shitty AC and the cans of beer she wouldn’t have gotten all the way through on her own before she was sprawled in a miserable lump on the couch wondering when her luck had turned so shitty.
‘
”Bullshit,” Sadie snorted. She stared dubiously at Ruby and then made a point of twisting in her seat to look over her shoulder. ”I couldn’t tell if he had much of an accent, but he definitely had pretty fucking eyes.” Ooookkkkay. She almost fumbled the wheel as Ruby casually told her to threaten stabbing or castrating the pretty problems in her life. A curse slipped out and she focused on the road, making sure she didn’t run up onto the sidewalk and straight over someone’s granny. ”Was that why he looked like he was ready to pee his pants back there? You threatened to cut his nuts off?” God, Jude had been a fucking worldclass asshole, Darcey had thrown her help back in her face and called her the next best thing to a lying whore, but the thought of getting a blade within inches of their family jewels had her squirming in her seat like it was her nads at risk.
I don’t bitch out, ever. The temptation had been there to announce it as she parked up in the lot behind her building and the silence stretched out to the point where it felt like she just had to gabble some bullshit to fill it. Sadie bit down on her tongue though. She had kinda bitched out, backing off with her pride stinging when Darcey had cracked and lashed out, instead of turning back up at the apartment the next day to tell him to go fuck his shitty – and fully false – impression of her.
Balancing the pizza box and the beer, Sadie huffed into the elevator with Ruby. She swung her oversized bag open at the apartment door, having to fish awkwardly through it for the keys before she opened the door and jerked her chin up to urge Ruby in ahead of her. Ruby was glancing around the place, like her mom when she came over and immediately started looking for dust bunnies in the corners to look disappointed over. Ruby wasn’t gonna find anyway – vacuuming was a good excuse not to be working on the book. ”Make yourself at home,” Sadie called out to her as she dumped her bag on the floor by the door and kicked off her boots. She needn’t have bothered, Ruby was already heading into the kitchen and the fridge.
Er. Right here in my hands. Sadie wiggled the pack of beers in her hands, puffing out a sigh as Ruby found the bottles in the fridge – the ones that had seemed like they wouldn’t be enough for the drunk she wanted to get on. ”Yep, help yourself. Got plenty more here for later.” She juggled the pizza box onto the table before she padded into the kitchen to deposit the warm cans in the fridge – even with Darcey spending time here, she hadn’t gotten into the gross English habit of warm beer in those giant glass stein things (the internet had been freaking full of real ale bullshit when she’d gone researching, and it’d all sounded hideous).
Out of the corner of her eye she caught Ruby pointing at the couch and gestured at her with a bottle. She’d meant the make yourself at home, although the bottle pop was … Sadie grimaced faintly, grabbing the bottle opener from its spot in the cutlery drawer. She popped the cap off her own, then headed out to drop onto the other end of the couch. Ruby wasn’t backwards in coming forward, she already had a slice of pizza out of the box. Taking a swig of her beer, Sadie grabbed herself a slice and flopped back, shooting Ruby a huffy flare at the question. ”Hey, no pizza and six-pack shaming me. It’s been a bad couple of months.” She could’ve protested that she’d work it off later, but who she was kidding.
Sadie chewed, letting out a sigh as the mouthful went down. Her brow furrowed, then she huffed out something that sounded far more like amusement. ”More about the dudes. The file-eaters aren’t getting a chance these days because the dudes are pissing me off enough that there’s not much writing happening. One of the dudes was my muse. If I try writing anything about him now I’m likely to just castrate him … fictionally of course. Have you actually…” Grimacing, she dropped the bottle to the level of her lap and wiggled it before the mental image cross her out and she was bringing it up to try and wash the thought away by draining half the bottle.
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RUBY HERRERA
Werecreature
were-jaguar
Posts: 41
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Sept 30, 2024 19:44:28 GMT
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Post by RUBY HERRERA on May 25, 2023 19:56:25 GMT
━ an ache for home; a shelter against storms ━
Once they were finally at Sadie’s, she grabbed a beer, pizza, and a seat on the couch. Sadie’s words hadn’t meant anything; they wouldn’t change the way Ruby acted or her comfort level, and they certainly wouldn’t stop her from noting all available exits and possible weapons. Sadie looked slow, and her heartbeat sounded relatively normal━Ruby was sure she could take her.
She shifted slightly when Sadie joined her on the couch, though, pressing her hip into the couch’s arm until it hurt. “Bad coupla months?” Ruby scoffed, “And you’re just doin’ pizza and beer? Haven’t considered, y’know,” She raised her beer bottle to her temple and pressed her middle and forefinger pads to it, making a low clicking sound near her molars. Ruby smiled wryly at her dark “joke,” then ripped another mouthful of pizza from the slice with her teeth. Ruby’s entire had been difficult, but she’d never considered the coward’s way out. Didn’t have the luxury. It just seemed like a white girl thing.
Ruby greedily finished her slice, suddenly feeling hunger as if she hadn’t eaten for three days. When was the last time she had a meal? Didn’t matter. All that mattered was the next time she’d have one, and because that was unclear, she went for another slice while the crust was still getting mashed between her teeth.
She washed down the mouthful as Sadie yammered on, dark eyes flicking to her almost nervously━unsure, like a rescued dog getting its first bowl of food━then back to her slice.
With her pizza finally swallowed, Ruby took a smaller bite of her next slice. She scoffed again, watching Sadie get all twitchy and nervous with a little more comfort in her own expression this time. She wished she could say she had. “Nah. Been close, though,” Ruby admitted proudly, remembering how her knife had embedded itself in his skull like butter. She had a list of guys whose balls she’d take first.
“But…” Now she was gonna fuck up by gettin’ herself in too deep. She didn’t care about Sadie or her bullshit, but she just didn’t get it. “You’re lettin’ some pendejo stop you from doin’ your, like, whole… thing? Who cares if he’s a douche.” Ruby shook her head, “Men ain’t shit, they ain’t do nothin’, good or bad, so why the fuck should you sit ‘round cryin’ ‘bout it?” She’d leaned forward at some point during her passionate speech, but now Ruby dropped back into the cushion and rolled her eyes.
“Stop puttin’ everything on him. Ain’t worth it. What happens if he never comes back? You never gonna write nothin’ ever again?” She raised her brows, hoping Sadie saw how stupid she was being. Ruby sipped her beer, muttering, “Fuck he do anyway?” ‘Cause she was sure it was some gringa shit like he didn’t bring her flowers or call her pretty enough times.
SADIE VALENCIA | no notes. |
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SADIE VALENCIA
Human
Posts: 100
Age:
28
Occupation:
Author
Status:
Single
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 1, 2024 17:05:25 GMT
|
Post by SADIE VALENCIA on Jun 16, 2023 17:42:45 GMT
That castration thing was going to stick with her. The problem with having a creative mind was that you filed all these details away – in the dusty junk store of her memory – just in case you could work that one weird (worrying) detail into something later. Sadie felt her stomach knot as the image of that tall drink of water screaming and bleeding was stuffed out of sight. Cutting off some guy’s joystick wasn’t exactly the same as a family business, an unusual name or a scatter of freckles though.
Those little looks she’d been sneaking at Ruby hadn’t revealed anything more of what she’d gone through while she’d been gone. Sadie supposed she could’ve taken the coward’s way out after that first meeting and gone down rabbit hole of Google to try and piece things together about what had turned her once-upon-a-time best friend into the bristly, kinda scary woman making herself at home in her apartment – she'd never been a coward though. And honestly? That was an asshole move. It was obvious that something bad had happened to leave Ruby’s skin thing as rhino hide, but it was entirely up to her if she wanted to share that story. If she then did then she’d be here – with a shoulder to cry on, something a lot stronger than beer – and, hey, if it was needed – there was a KA-BAR knife in her underwear drawer too.
As a kid her weapon of choice had always been her fists. Some mouthy little asshole questioned her second grade report on her biggest hero being her dad and she’d dealt out of her first black eye. Momentary stings in her knuckles, the bruises already gone by the time they did class photos two weeks later. She might have sulked over other ‘wounds’ later, but even the hole her dad’s absence had left permanently cut through her wasn’t a patch on the scars that maybe seared every inch of Ruby beneath that porcupine like exterior.
”I know, I know,” Sadie grumbled as the weight on the months in Ruby’s snide tone had her rolling her eyes. In a contest her bad months wouldn’t get close to Ruby’s bad years. She wasn’t one of those dumb, overly dramatic bitches who called a broken nail or an unreturned text message their thirteenth reason why. A bite of her pizza almost went down the wrong way. Ruby was doubling down on the sarcasm, salt in a wound she already knew she’d been over egging a little. Narrowing her eyes, Sadie aimed her slice at Ruby. ”Please. Why risk not leaving a pretty corpse? I have some standards. It would be poison, some of them just take you right out.” Without the puking and fits and possible weeks of lingering agony first.
Letting herself feel anything other than friendship for a man still grieving as Darcey as might have said otherwise, but she wasn’t a masochist. She just made occasional bad life choices, sulked a little too long and couldn’t stop shit from swinging back around in her brain. Sadie rolled her gaze away from the bottle she used to feign the object of the castration. ”That’s kind of a relief … that you haven’t, I mean.” Her nose wrinkled at the thought. That was a dozen steps up on nearly tasering assholes in parking lots or using an overstuffed bag as a battering ram on a guy’s crotch to put him on his knees.
Luckily for Darcey, she didn’t solve her problems with a blade. Little lines sprung up between her brows again as she swallowed a mouthful of beer. Of course, Ruby chose that moment of distraction to give it to her with both barrels again. ”Woah,” she spluttered, her eyes going wide. ”Who said there was any crying going on?” She shifted, sitting up straighter. Maybe there’d been a few tears when she’d got back from the diner – her emergency freezer vodka had taken care of that – but she hadn’t been disconsolate, sobbing into her pillow for days on end.
”Slowing me down for five minutes maybe.” The pendejo wasn’t entirely a douche and that was part of the problem. Sadie aimed the bottle at Ruby and smirked, letting the sting of her words bleed off. ”You’re wrong there, they can definitely do bad, but when they’re good, they’re very, very good.” She should have let things stay the way they always had been, enjoying the good while it tangled the sheers and pissed off the neighbours with how loud she got, and then kicked it out of the door before the other shoe dropped.
Ugh. This was why she hadn’t let anything else in while she’d wallowed – there was too much common sense coming her way. Sadie let her head loll back against the couch with a thump. ”He’s not stealing my thunder permanently. I’d have written him out of this book, then put him in somewhere else just to kill him off painfully. Fictional castration’s legal.” And it wouldn’t been pointless cause Darcey wouldn’t have read a word of it anyway.
”Accused me of giving people the impression that he was sleeping around on his wife. Like I was up on the rooftops screaming 'I slept with that skinny, pasty English guy. So fucking hot.” Everything had been overinflated and heated by the circumstances, as though they were getting breakfast on the Hindenburg. ”I’m not saying I wouldn’t have slept with him, but, you know, when he makes out like the idea of it is just totally repulsive, your ego takes a hit.” And keeps on stinging when neither the apology or a reappearance had been forthcoming.
Sadie lifted her hand just enough to rip off a bite of pizza. Maybe she hadn’t been Darcey’s cup of tea, but she absofreakinglutely wasn’t repulsive. Her pale eyes narrowed, fixing on Ruby as she gestured with her slice. ”What about you? What’s the story with the baby giraffe?” OK, he would’ve been knocking on the doors, probably with a dozen roses to boot. Scratch that, he wouldn’t have said it in the first place.
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RUBY HERRERA
Werecreature
were-jaguar
Posts: 41
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Sept 30, 2024 19:44:28 GMT
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Post by RUBY HERRERA on Jun 28, 2023 16:38:32 GMT
━ an ache for home; a shelter against storms ━
“Is it?” Ruby muttered into her pizza, then ate another slice. It wasn’t a relief for her. She wished she had more than a dozen times throughout her life. Maybe if she’d amputated her dad, she wouldn’t be where she was now. He probably woulda killed her before he went out, but it was still better than this.
No crying? Ruby lifted a brow, her eyes moving from the pizza to the beer and back to Sadie, indicating all of it. Maybe they weren’t actual tears, but it was certainly all the same to Ruby. Whining. This didn’t look like a “five-minute slowdown,” but Ruby managed to shrink her arguments into one judgemental scoff, punctuating it with an eye roll before she finished her second slice and went for another. She tried to take a few sips of her beer, too, but she was fucking hungry, and she hadn’t had shit like this in a while.
A blank stare was all Sadie got for her profession about how “good” guys could be. They couldn’t. None of them. They were fucking evil, and Ruby didn’t give a fuck what Sadie said, either━she was too stupid to see it. She lived in her fucking fantasy world, this small town where nothing happened except… some bitch’s bones getting discovered twenty years after her murder. Ruby was clearly smarter, and though it’d come from a lifetime of difficulty, she wasn’t happy that Sadie had clearly gotten a better life. She was weak, that’s all it was.
“What’s legal gotta do with it?” Ruby asked, only half-genuine. Despite how cathartic it'd be, she knew Sadie wouldn’t do it. Ruby would’ve if she didn’t value her life with a cockroach-like desperation. She barely got away with taking out one of her boss’s guys. Should’ve gone for the balls instead of the head.
What she really wanted to know, though, was what this guy had done to cause Sadie to react like this. When Ruby finally found out, she frowned as she considered it, trying to figure out what it was like outside of the places she’d grown up in. “Were you makin’ it out like that?” Ruby asked, still denying any curiosity━she wanted to catch Sadie in a lie. If she so much as hesitated, Ruby was gonna call ‘er on her bullshit. “Did ‘e say it was repulsive?” Her brows went up, another bite of pizza washed down with her beer. “‘Cause most guys━‘specially married ones━would kill for some p-ssy. Or were you just mad ‘cause you thought you shouldn’t wanna sleep with ‘im?” Ruby smirked rudely, like she was the only one in on the joke, her eyes flicking down to her pizza.
She shoulda fuckin’ known this was gonna become some kinda “girl talk” shit. She didn’t have to talk about jack shit with Sadie, and she wasn’t gonna do it just ‘cause she asked. But Sadie had a lot more experience with… well, fuckin’ Americans in general, especially the dudes. Ruby didn’t want advice, she would handle this shit on her own━like she did with everything else━but maybe talking about it would force Sadie to realize that her problem wasn’t actually that bad.
“He pulled me out the car.” She figured Sadie’d had her nose buried in her phone for the fucking news stories. And even if the police hadn’t shared every detail (just most, probably, fuckin’ pigs), she had to know about Ruby ending up in the river. “Think I said too much. Shoulda just walked. But he took me to the cop shop, now I gotta stay. And he keeps fuckin’ followin’ me ‘round like I got some shit to give ‘im. I don’t know what the fuck he wants from me━I guess I owe him, right? He just won’t tell me what he wants, so I can’t get rid of him.” Ruby cursed in Spanish, burying the last of the slice in her mouth. “You take ‘im off my back, huh? Bet he’d love you, y’know,” Despite the beer in one hand, she cupped both hands near her chest, indicating a rack far bigger than her own. “Ain’t your type ‘cause he ain’t married, though, sí?” Ruby grinned again━it was almost a well-meaning tease this time.
SADIE VALENCIA | no notes. |
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SADIE VALENCIA
Human
Posts: 100
Age:
28
Occupation:
Author
Status:
Single
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 1, 2024 17:05:25 GMT
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Post by SADIE VALENCIA on Jul 16, 2023 18:40:10 GMT
”Yeah, definitely,” Sadie snorted. She shook her head and jammed her slice of pizza into her mouth. Of course it was a relief that her friend hadn’t had to cut off some guy’s junk out of self-preservation. That sort of stuff left a stain on you, no matter who you were. Maybe it would’ve just been one more laid over whatever had bloomed on Ruby’s life like bruises while she’d been gone. Sadie swallowed the mouthful of pizza hard, feeling it scratch its way down her throat. There’d been enough news stories about kids who’d turned up decades after they went missing and there were enough common brutalities to them that she honestly didn’t want to think too hard about it. You could be there for someone without knowing all those agonising little details – although if Ruby did wanna open up at some point, she’d listen and then try and drink it all out of her head afterwards.
As a coping method, the bottle wasn’t the best one, but it’d been a solid crutch for her. Drink enough vodka, or beer, and the edges of those wounds started to numb. Keep it up and they eventually scarred over to the point where you could raise a glass to past idiocy. Sadie made a disgusted sound at her own protests and swigged back a mouthful of the cold beer. Maybe there was still the occasional bout of self-pity, but no matter how many ways Ruby questioned it, she wasn’t going to fall back into one now. ”Hey! This is not crying!” She lifted her chin, pride not letting her cave to the idea. ”It’s a last goodbye to the moping.” Alright, it might not have been if she was alone with it, but she wasn’t and if there was one thing she loved doing, it was proving people wrong.
Hopefully this was doing just that with Ruby, although she was looking at her all blank and guileless now. Her dark brows drew together. Had she not got what she meant? Maybe. Maybe it was a tragedy that Ruby hadn’t known that side of any man before. If she hadn’t then she was in for the best sort of surprise at some point.
Sadie let out a wistful sigh a moment before Ruby’s question had her snorting. Her brows rose, her pale eyes fixing on the woman in front of her. ”Some of us don’t look good in orange jumpsuits … no matter how satisfying the act that got us there might be.” And some of them were squeamish and chickenshit – and alright, some weren’t entirely sure that the asshole that had hurt them entirely deserved that.
”No!” Sadie scowled, shifting uneasily on the couch. ”He had some shit going on in his life, trouble with his sister. I was helping out, being supportive. One of my mom’s coworkers saw me squeezing his hand and a ring on his finger. She put two and two together and came up with six thousand. That wasn’t on me at all.” Scratching the label on her bottle with her thumb, Sadie practically rolled her eyes back in her head trying to remember what he had said. ”I said it was a compliment that she thought I’d actually found someone who’d marry me and he said he couldn’t see how it was a compliment that he was stepping out on his wife. He stormed off, told me that I’d done enough. It kinda felt as though the idea of sleeping with me was pretty fucking awful.” Or that cheating on his wife would’ve been. The hole yawed in the pit of her stomach. It hadn’t been all about her.
Heat rose in her cheeks that she tried to wash away with what remained in her bottle of beer. Setting it down on the table she immediately reached for another. ”He’s a widow, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to sleep with someone whose wife is dead.” There was no cheating in that, although Darcey definitely hadn’t seemed as though he was ready to move on and she’d been respecting that, and all the other hazards in the minefield his life had become. Twisting the top off of a fresh bottle, Sadie plonked it in front of Ruby without asking and then went back for another for herself.
They’d already run through the shitshow that was her life – although now it felt there was a lot less of the shit than she’d felt there was at the time. The pizza stuck in her throat again, taking an extra swallow to get down. ”What car? Were you in some sorta wreck?” Alright, now it was clear that maybe she should’ve gone digging into what had happened. Now it was Sadie’s turn to be smug. She smirked at Ruby. ”Now you’ve got a puppy dog. He’s imprinted on you. Did he tell you that you owe him something?” He didn’t seem the sort to be counting up favours, there’d been something almost painfully earnest about him – like he was a stretched out Luke Skywalker.
Sadie’s eyes dropped to where Ruby’s hands were cupped in front of her chest, snorted and glanced down at her own. Maybe if his eyes had been there when she’d rolled up on the two of them, but his had been all for Ruby. ”Maybe he’s one of those guys who just likes a lil handful. Oh my God!” Groaning out a laugh, Sadie lobbed what was left of the crust in her hand at Ruby. ”I was gonna argue, but the last one was all tied all like that too. Bugged out on all of this to chase after his baby mama, I think. Maybe it’s time for the nunnery, or to, you know, switch teams. Women have gotta be less trouble.” They held no appeal for her though, college explorations had proved that. She was damn by her affection for the dangling bits and assholes who proved to her that she should stick to avoiding commitment at all costs. You didn’t get butthurt if you didn’t start getting attached.
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RUBY HERRERA
Werecreature
were-jaguar
Posts: 41
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Sept 30, 2024 19:44:28 GMT
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Post by RUBY HERRERA on Aug 9, 2023 16:45:39 GMT
━ an ache for home; a shelter against storms ━
Anyway, she could’ve lobbed off a dude’s nuts without ending up in prison for it, but she wasn’t gonna debate that with Sadie.
What she would debate, though, was Sadie not havin’ somethin’ to do with her married guy flippin’ out. Sadie got all defensive, and Ruby smirked like a little boy who’d just egged on his sister ‘til she threw a tantrum. There wasn’t hesitation (like she’d expected), but this was almost better. In all honesty, it didn’t sound like Sadie had done anything wrong, but she wasn’t gonna let her get off that easy (apparently, neither was the married guy).
“Hmm,” Ruby hummed as she considered it and sipped on the dwindling amount of beer in her bottle. She didn’t wanna stop busting Sadie’s balls, but there wasn’t a lot left to bother her about. “So it was on the waitress. But, y’know, nobody’s gonna get mad at her━he doesn’t know ‘er, he knows you, so he can be pissed at you. You say those words exactly? ‘S’a compliment someone wants to marry me’? ‘Cause, I dunno… maybe he was already thinkin’ ‘bout bangin’ you, and when ya brought it up, he was like, ‘oh shit, gotta feel guilty.’” She shrugged. Even though Ruby wasn’t great at conversation and interpersonal relationships, she was an expert on human behaviour━or so she thought. People weren’t complicated, really, but she’d had a lot of practice reading moods. It made it easier to tell when some little bitch was gonna try to run.
Then, finally, it came out. The dude’s wife was dead. Ruby hummed and nodded twice slowly, sipping her beer again. “Now that makes more sense. How long’s his wife been dead?” Ruby figured Sadie knew better than to make a comment too soon, but she also had this problem where her mouth didn’t always follow the rules of social etiquette. Ruby wasn’t sayin’ she was the best conversationalist, but that’s ‘cause she hated talkin’ to people━another example was her nod in lieu of a “thank you” when a fresh beer was set in front of her. Sadie, however, seemed like the definition of an extrovert.
But it wasn’t like she had some sorta power to make other people fuckin’ extroverted. Ruby wasn’t sayin’ shit ‘cause she felt compelled to; it was just the only way to get Sadie off her back. Ruby might’ve understood women, or girls, in a purely instinctual, physical way, like how a zookeeper understood its animals, but she didn’t know them like Sadie did. Plus, she wasn’t gonna tell her much more than she’d already read in some article.
Or… so Ruby thought she would’ve. Ruby woulda said it was bullshit, that Sadie couldn’t possibly be tellin’ the truth, but her pulse didn’t stutter. Her eyes didn’t jump away; there was no sweat or nothin’. So either Sadie was as good a liar as Ruby or━far more likely━she wasn’t lying.
“You didn’t know?” Ruby muttered, her brow furrowed. “Thought you said we usedta be friends. Didn’t wanna check up on the sensación of Mystic Falls or her mama?” One brow went up, frowning as she looked over Sadie’s face. “S’how he found me. Car was goin’ down━off the bridge━and Cory pulled me out ‘fore I drowned.” She wasn’t gonna go into any more detail. Firstly because she didn’t want to, and also ‘cause the rest of it would lead to questions about supernatural shit. Cory was a good swimmer, end of story.
Ruby’s eyes rolled at the puppy dog comment. She wasn’t wrong, though. She couldn’t remember ever wantin’ a God damn puppy in her whole life━okay, maybe once when she was little━and she definitely didn’t want one now. ‘Specially not an extended-human-sized one who thought he was fuckin’ hero. “No,” She grumbled. Now Sadie sounded just like him. “But he does. Who wouldn’t? People don’t just do shit for free. I just want him to fuck off, but ‘e won’t, keeps sayin’ he wants t’help. Like, yeah, even if I needed it, why would I wanna owe him some other shit?” She added that extra line in for Sadie━she didn’t need or want help.
And Cory’s help, no matter how much he did, wasn’t gonna get him a big handful. Not like Sadie’s. She didn’t really consider the fact that Cory might wanna fuck. Well, okay, she did, but now he just seemed like a Ken doll ‘cause he was so… fuckin’ soft. Ken doll, like, smooth between the legs. Obviously.
Ruby’s joke had been mostly that━a joke. Partly good-natured, mostly teasing, not really supposedta make Sadie upset. Well, not supposedta make her cry, at least.
But she didn’t.
She threw her crust at Ruby.
It whizzed over the table and hit Ruby in the chest, then bounced off and rolled over her thigh, eventually stopping on the cushion. She stared at the crust for a long moment, then slowly slid her gaze up to Sadie’s. That was… supposed to be friendly, right? It wasn’t an attack. It didn’t even hurt. And Sadie laughed. Ruby’s lips even curled, something akin to a wild animal’s snarl in her smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. Slowly, Ruby picked up the crust and tossed it back into the box.
“Nah, women are whiney as fuck.” ‘Specially when they were younger, but she wasn’t gonna add that part. Ruby tossed back the last few drops of her beer and moved onto the new one Sadie had given her. She took a big gulp before continuing, “Example,” She said, which sounded more like “essample,” and grinned again, motioning between them━Ruby wasn’t whiney, but pointing at Sadie seemed a little too mean.
Not that she cared about Sadie’s feelings. She just didn’t wanna get thrown out when there was warm pizza and cold beer here.
“You got too big-a rack and too pretty-a face t’be a nun. Jus’ stop wantin’ more with ‘em. Men ain’t good for that━marriage ‘n shit, y’know? Useless. Ain’t never met nobody happily married. One of her uncles was dead, the other… well, their marriage seemed okay on the surface, but Ruby never talked to ‘em that much. “Get off an’ get goin’. Hit it an’ quit it, y’know? Like they do. Or wait ‘til your skinny, white boy’s over his dead wife.” She suggested plainly, and relaxed back into the couch. “Seriously, you go for these dudes on purpose, or what? Somethin’ ‘bout them bein’ unavailable?” Ruby teased, grinning into her bottle as she took another sip. She couldn’t say much for her own choices, but Michael was alright ‘til he fuckin’ chomped on her. He wasn’t, like, married or nothin’, and he wasn’t trouble (other than that last meeting), so maybe her “choices” weren’t so bad. Ain’t like there’d be more.
SADIE VALENCIA | lets wrap soon & start somethin new for them?  |
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SADIE VALENCIA
Human
Posts: 100
Age:
28
Occupation:
Author
Status:
Single
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 1, 2024 17:05:25 GMT
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Post by SADIE VALENCIA on Sept 13, 2023 20:02:42 GMT
Nobody liked realising that they were wrong – getting to tell someone they were was fun, though, and Ruby’s mirk screamed ‘told yo’'. Sadie would’ve huffed and grumbled and made out like there’d been something to it all that Ruby wasn’t seeing, but from her spot well outside of the situation, she did have the better view. One stupid comment had been compounded by both of them and more reasons than she could count on her fingers. Darcey had shoved it clean out of his mind and the waitress had probably puffed a few apologies at her mom before she too had gotten over it. And she’d sat here in her apartment, brooding over the fact that he’d not even considered that might’ve found something appealing enough in the skinny widower that she might’ve (oh, and it was a really tiny fucking chance considering her experience with the whole dead love thing) considered marrying him. God damn it she was pathetic.
Sadie sighed, rolling her head far enough to glance at Ruby. ”I did for about five minutes – I didn’t even get to have pancakes to make up for it all – but honestly, it wasn’t really her fault either. It was an honest mistake, just an unfortunate one.” She was bobbing her head at Ruby’s question, knowing that she hadn’t twisted that bit of it in her memory at least, then paused. Maybe Darcey had been … well fuck. She shifted, reconsidering almost every interaction they’d had – that first night when he’d sat right here on the couch and she’d patched him up, the roast dinner (there was no way it actually was some sort of British mating ritual. ”Nah, he can’t have done…” she protested, but her argument trailed off. He’d said she’d done enough and maybe that did include unknowingly seducing him.
It wasn’t like there was a set time for feeling things for someone again after the love of your life died – at least she was assuming that his marriage had been a good one before his wife had died. ”A couple of years.” Maybe closer to three, it wasn’t like she’d asked for her death certificate to calculate it down to the day after Darcey had told her. The tabloids always screamed about it when celebrities were moving on just months after their spouse had died. In comparison three years seemed reasonable, but Darcey still seemed like he was wrapped up in grief. In that state it might’ve been no wonder that he might’ve felt guilty over appreciating her.
She was glad to shove the whole conversation over to Ruby’s side again, washing back the less bitter new perspective with a gulp of beer. Maybe some part of her hadn’t wanted to dig too deep, respect putting up boundaries the same way they had been put up around what had happened to Ruby. Sadie’s expression screwed up, the slice of pizza set down on her thigh. ”Nope. I figured if you wanted me to know you’d tell me. I wasn’t about to go tryin’ to dig out all the gossip about it – especially since most of that was gonna be bullshit.” Mystic Falls’ sensation, that was a spotlight she’d never want. ”Shit,” Sadie puffed. ”I definitely didn’t see him as the superhero type, but now … I guess I should thank him for saving your ass.” Maybe he’d blush about it, the same way he had done when Ruby had been telling him to back off.
Gratitude wasn’t about to pour out of Ruby. The porcupine quills sprouting from her were definitely too long and sharp for that. She shot a wry look at Ruby, wondering for just a second how jaded she was not to see that some people did shit out of the goodness of their hearts. ”Good people don’t and before you argue, there are some of them out there. Just seems like you haven’t seen any in a while.” And that was sad and scary as hell. ”It’s not a balancing game, you know. Not everything needs to be paid back. Just take the help, same as you took the pizza.” Hold on to the guy. At least he wanted to be there with Ruby.
Alright, that was verging on pity party territory again. But, Ruby was gonna pull her out of it, one mouthy comment at a time. The bitch. The word flitted affectionately through her head as she lobbed the curst of her pizza at Ruby. Sadie watched it hit her flatter chest and drop down onto the cushion, probably to add to the little grease stains that already had her seeing a deep cleaning session at some point in her future. As Ruby looked back up at her, Sadie’s laugh brightened, her teeth flashing in a grin that was a little less scary than Ruby’s. That was progress at least.
”Some women are, and yeah, yeah, I’ll admit that I was tonight. I knew I had someone who’d smack the whine right out of me though.” Undoubtedly Ruby would, the same way she’d lighten things up for any asshole dude who tried to push things too far.
Maybe she shouldn’t have taken Ruby’s words as such a compliment, but she was tossing her hair back and glancing down at that perfect rack, the pretty face lighting up. ”Amen,” she admitted with a sigh eventually. ”Look how all that shit worked out for my mom. I just need to go back to my old ways.” She leaned over, clinked her bottle against Ruby’s. ”Nope, no way, skinny, white boy can mourn, and I’ll get some appreciation for all of this somewhere else. It’s not worth fucking everything up for that.” She gestured down at herself with the bottle before she sighed. ”Who knows at this point. Maybe it’s time for a little therapy … or for something harder than this.” Ruby’s brand of therapy had been just what she needed and leaning over the side of the couch, she snagged the bottle of rum from the bottom shelf of her bookcase. They’d celebrate her pulling her head out of her ass with it. It was about time after all.
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