MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
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Post by MAB CARMELLO on May 21, 2023 16:46:38 GMT
If she hadn’t shucked her sweater and jeans at some point in the night, the combined heat of the covers and Mikey’s body at her back would’ve left her tearing her way free of the bed. Mab lay still in that pocket of warmth in the dark, feeling the rise and fall of Mikey’s breathing, muscles shifting, skin pressed to skin, little puffs of breath stirring against her neck. She could just see one hand above the top edge of the sheets, splaying against her skin in a way that wouldn’t happen if he’d been awake. Even the first stirrings of consciousness would have the invisible wall slipping back between them.
The first night she’d thrown back the covers on her own bed to cut off the grumbling about the job the couch was doing on his back it might as well have bene a mile wide. Things between them weren’t as bitter as they had been – Mikey wouldn’t have been in her apartment, let alone her bedroom if he still believe she was an ice cold witch, and something a single letter away from one. Her truth, the still morsel of it she’d offered up to him to explain what had happened at the college had started to change things and the night of the Founder’s Ball had just accelerated the change.
”I won’t bite, Mikey.” A promised she’d made before, but Mab had flashed her teeth in a smirk all the same. Something had made him cave in the end. In the couple of weeks it took for Chase to reach out to his big brother it had almost become routine, waking up to find that they’d migrated from opposite sides of the bed to the centre, tangling up with one another not startling anymore. When he’d finally gone the space she’d wanted after months in the prison cell like motel room had suddenly felt too much.
For close to three hours on the first night she’d been alone again she’d laid there in the dark – not unlike this – acutely aware of his absence and kick herself for getting used to someone being in her space. Pissed, Mab had rolled over, onto Mikey’s side (only it had never really been that, the stay was temporary), reclaiming what had always been hers and falling asleep with his scent wrapped around her like the covers.
Both were not shroud tight around her again. A combination she wasn’t getting used to. The intention had been to head out after the movie last night, not fall asleep like she was in some cheesy romantic comedy and not one of Grimm’s original fairy tales. Soon enough St. John would raise his head again – here or a thousand miles away – or her wicked great-grandmother would make an appearance and all of this would end. When that time hit it would be better for Mikey to be as far away from her family as possible. People who got within her great-grandmother’s grasp didn’t tend to escape it alive.
Her fingers had settled over his while her mind had drifted, tracing the knobs of knuckles, the tiny scars that must’ve been inflicted before he’d been turned. Now, as the thought of finding him dead, the same way she had Joseph, hit her, Mab snatched hers back. Anxiety built, wedging itself in her throat as she pushed back the covers and worked her way out from under Mikey’s arm. It was too much, too many steps ahead from a shitty – alright, what she’d seen of it hadn’t been bad – movie and an intentional sleepover.
Not bothering to hunt for her clothes in the dark, Mab snagged a t-shirt from the top of a stack of clean laundry shed seen on a chair in the corner of the room earlier. It hit mid-thigh, the scent of detergent clinging to it rather than the scent of the man still breathing deeply in the bed behind her. Low light spilled into the room from the hallway outside, leaving her wincing as she closed the door quietly before her.
Nobody stirred in the apartment as she padded through it, although she presumed that Chase had come home at some point while they’d been sleeping. An overnight shift was a possibility, though, cops were always on the clock weren’t they? The guy might’ve been blind to what had happened between his girlfriend and his brother, but idiots didn’t make detective. A man like Chase Buckley could make too much trouble for her if she gave him a reason to start looking at her.
Gooseflesh rippled over her bare legs as she crossed the dark kitchen and tugged open the fridge. Frowning, she squinted into the bright light that spilled out of it. Coffee would’ve been better, but …
”Shit!” The curse slipped out of her, the bottle of water she’d reached for tumbling away from her fingers as she caught the sound from the hallway. The damn light from the fridge left her squinting as the woman came into view. Not the brother, at least. ”You’ve gotta be the girlfriend. It’s Roxxi, right?” The corners of her mouth tipped up as she retrieved the bottle and closed the door, throwing them both into the dark again. It looked like Mikey wasn’t eh only one who’d been welcomed back.
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ROXANNE BRASCHI
Chimera
psychic-skinwalker
Posts: 188
Age:
30
Occupation:
Professor at Whitmore College
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Chase Buckley
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:39:32 GMT
|
Post by ROXANNE BRASCHI on Jun 11, 2023 16:33:25 GMT
 ━ i don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been ━
Even if he loved comic book stuff a little too much.
It was cute, as well, how he worshipped them like she used to think of him. Well, not in the same way━Chase was real━but she’d never met him; he was just this far-away figure she thought was the strongest man (morally and otherwise) she’d ever heard of… apart from her father.
Anyway, none of this meant she wanted to sit through a fucking cartoon. Chase bribed her with junk food, and Roxxi was the designated snack holder for the movie. A trip to Dollar Tree beforehand (she was not letting him buy full-price snacks at the theatre other than popcorn) got them stocked up, and she scoffed at their fancy seats for the night. Jesus, it was a kid’s movie, wasn’t it? Why did they even sell these kinds of seats?
Evidently, she was wrong. Most of the room was filled by adults, and apparently this movie was so important that he rejected her hand sliding up the inside of his thigh. Dio, what could make a man refuse an advance like that? Why was a cartoon competing for her boyfriend’s attention and winning?
It was alright overall. The animation was cool, even Roxxi could appreciate that, it just wasn’t something she’d watch on her own━or ever again. Willingly, at least. And why were there so many Spider-Mans? Spider-Men? And why were so many of them girls? Chase tried to explain throughout the movie, and his little snippets offered her some understanding. By the end, she wasn’t sure what she’d watched, her stomach hurt from all the candy, and she was sure he’d drag her to the next one. Because of course there had to be more than one.
After the movie, she had her way. Roxxi teased him the entire ride home, her fingertips drawing little shapes on the inside of his thigh, slowly hiking her skirt higher and higher, talking about how cute their kids would look when he inevitably dressed them up as superheroes for Halloween. “I can’t wait until you give me one, Chase…” She purred in his ear. It was funny how that was her enticement now; they were so domestic. “... Then you’ll have a date who actually wants to see these movies.” Roxxi cackled and pulled away, but she’d find a way to slink back into his space a few more times before they got home.
And when they did, well, she made sure they tried again. And again. And again, until Chase practically passed out from exhaustion.
Satisfied with her work, Roxxi wrapped her arm around his middle and buried her face in his neck, falling asleep with her legs tangled in his.
When she awoke partway through the night, she thought she was going to die of dehydration, and smacked her dry lips together, frowning at the sound of someone slinking through the apartment. It didn’t sound like Mikey, the steps were too gentle, the body not solid enough, but she didn’t think it was an intruder. Not at first, anyway.
And then the thought started to niggle at her. She remembered the look in Nemo’s eyes when he put a gun to Chase’s head, and that weird way he scurried around all the time. She shouldn’t have checked, but, she was thirsty, so she could kill two birds with one stone. Quench her thirst and make sure nobody was breaking in to attack her boyfriend or his snake brother.
Roxxi slipped away quietly, threw on one of Chase’s shirts━which dangled around her thighs like a dress━and padded quietly through the apartment, heading straight to the kitchen. She lingered in the darkness, just outside of the threshold, and watched some woman reach into the fridge. She was pretty, dressed like Roxxi, and perhaps also plotting her escape, just as Roxxi had done in the beginning parts of their relationship. At least she’d had the sense to get changed first.
She cleared her throat, going for a light approach, which still seemed to scare the shit out of the stranger. Roxxi gasped a quiet, “Dio,” At the woman’s curse, then slowly moved closer, eyeing the rolling water bottle. The light from the fridge was gone, and Roxxi’s eyes only took a moment to adjust before she was looking the woman over again, her chin tipped up like she was the one who owned this space.
“The girlfriend.” She repeated with a quiet snort. Roxxi didn’t know why something so demeaning made her stomach flutter. She was just Chase’s girlfriend in some circles, and she liked that. “Yes. Roxxi. And you are…?” Mikey’s guest, she presumed. Roxxi wasn’t jealous, it was just… weird. “Also the girlfriend? I didn’t think he could pick up women without smiling or talking, but I guess you like the Quiet Type, hm?” She teased, the edges of her lips tipping up. If there was an edge to her words, it was directed at Mikey, not at the woman. Roxxi just hoped she knew what being with one of the Buckley boys meant.
MAB CARMELLO | no notes. |
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MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
|
Post by MAB CARMELLO on Jul 1, 2023 21:05:15 GMT
It was just meant to have been breakfast with a stranger. A chance run-in deep in the woods, company at the table while she ate. Then she’d called him up again. Her bad. If Mikey had held strong to his belief that she was just a bitch who was going to drag him back down into the sort of trouble he’d apparently dragged himself clear of, then even that would’ve been it. She’d wanted to change that though, to see something other than disappointment and disgust in those dark eyes, a reflection of the feelings she’d drowned herself in with her great-grandmother’s thumb holding her down there. In the confessional of the booth at the bar the principessa had told him the bare bones of what had happened to her. She’d felt him soften and it hadn’t stopped there.
The heat of Mikey’s body still seemed to be there in the spots the cool air spilling out of the fridge didn’t reach. Maybe if he hadn’t come to her place when Chase had kicked him out of this very kitchen then it all would’ve fizzled out. Eventually she’d have rolled back out of town after the son of a bitch who’d yanked her life around like a puppet master, not a fottuto idiota who’d gotten himself in too deep with a woman that chewed up everybody who came her way. Mikey would’ve carried on his quiet little life here with his brother and that old bitch wouldn’t have been any the wiser. This was more, this was messier. Especially with the reason Mikey had stayed with her in the first place standing right in front of her.
Dio. Oh, she had to be Italian too, that was almost poetic. Mab hummed out her amusement at just how much the two of them mirrored one another. That view vanished as she closed the fridge door. Even that small light might’ve revealed more than she wanted to show. It didn’t seem to bother Roxxi any, she saw the woman’s chin lift. Was she gonna mark out her territory over both Bruckley brothers?
”L'altra fidanzata italiana.” she said glibly, knowing that Mikey likely would’ve had an issue with the description. Maybe she should’ve weighted it like a teenaged girl trying to deny just who she’d been writing marriage announcements to in her notebook. Girl friend. Nothing more, but hey, she was just as tempted to start peeing those lines in the sand. Mikey had said things were over between him and Roxxi here, but what Mikey knew of women probably wasn’t gonna have him understanding that need to claim people.
Leaning back against the counter, Mab popped open the bottle of water, taking her time with those first couple of gulps – washing the guilt away before she built it back up again. ”He’s got his charms.” Humming again, Mab swiped the back of her hand over her damp lips like she was contemplating the appeal (as though being a decent guy wasn’t enough). ”Maybe it’s just the tall, dark and broody thing that appealed.” Mikey was definitely all three – along with the good and the good looking, if you liked your men a little rough around the edges and boiled down until they were all solid muscle and granite faced.
Mab tapped her fingers against the bottle, taking another long look up and down. She switched the bottle to her left hand, offered her right to Roxxi with a smile that was just a little sharp around the edges. ”Mab. I’m guessing that maybe Mikey didn’t mention me. He did you though. There was plenty of talking while he was staying at my place. I guess you guys got home after we’d already tired ourselves out.” Thankfully. It meant no awkward introductions to Chase, no opportunity for the little brother to start digging around in just where his brother had been for those three weeks and who he’d been staying with.
Translation: Fucking idiot / The other Italian girlfriend |
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ROXANNE BRASCHI
Chimera
psychic-skinwalker
Posts: 188
Age:
30
Occupation:
Professor at Whitmore College
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Chase Buckley
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:39:32 GMT
|
Post by ROXANNE BRASCHI on Jul 23, 2023 16:13:24 GMT
━ i don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been ━
Apparently, this Italian girlfriend hadn’t been raised in an Italian household. If she had, she would’ve offered Roxxi a drink. She was still parched. Watching the woman lean back into the counter, Roxxi puffed out a breath and opened the fridge again to retrieve her own. Though she could see the woman just as well in the dark, she snuck another glance at her before closing it again and stepping back. She really was pretty.
And mouthy. It’d always been obvious they liked the same kind of woman (Roxxi was proof), but really?
Breaking open her own bottle, she took a few gulps, then grinned lightly at the woman’s description of Mikey. “Maybe,” She teased, “And if he opens his mouth, he isn’t so bad.” Roxxi didn’t know why she felt the need to defend Mikey after just taking a (playful) swing at him, but perhaps it was that after everything her family had put him through, he didn’t need someone who didn’t appreciate how good of a guy he was. And she was sure this “new girlfriend” did know, Roxxi just… wanted to make sure.
Roxxi took her hand before Mab could get out the rest of her sentence. If she had, Roxxi wasn’t sure she would’ve shaken her hand. Her brow furrowed, then she scoffed, pulling away after as minimal contact as possible. What a bitch. If she knew anything at all, it would be obvious that what Roxxi and Mikey “shared” wasn’t something to get jealous over. Roxxi, very clearly, had her own brother, one whom she was happy with. She didn’t want Mikey. He was welcome to his own bitchy Italian.
“I wouldn’t have noticed anyway, as I was too busy getting ra*led by my own boyfriend. Since we feel the need to talk about having s-x with our respective men.” Her voice was flat, her expression matching. This wasn’t a pissing contest she was looking to get involved in; Mab wasn’t a worthy “foe,” nor was she one Roxxi wanted. “Non penso che tutto questo sia necessario, vero? Voglio Mikey quanto tu vuoi Chase. Cosa che non dovrebbe essere affatto.” Her voice took on an edge again, one brow quirking as she slipped into the language she preferred.
Roxxi exhaled slowly, frowning at Mab as she took a small step forward, though everything about her was softer now━non-threatening. “Non voglio problemi con te, soprattutto perché alla fine creerebbero problemi a Mikey ea Chase.” She hoped Mab hadn’t been waiting to pick a fight with her, as it wasn’t likely to end well for anyone.
MAB CARMELLO | Translation:
I do not think any of this is necessary, do you? I want Mikey as much as you want Chase. Which it should be not at all.
I do not want trouble with you, especially as it would make trouble for Mikey, and, in the end, Chase. |
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MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
|
Post by MAB CARMELLO on Aug 15, 2023 20:10:31 GMT
Monkish Mikey, fresh in town from whatever trouble he’d been in – she still wasn’t looking to pry that out of him like he was nothing but a stubborn clam – would likely have fallen for that laugh and that pretty face. It hadn’t lasted, but something had hooked him. Mab studied the other woman in the dark, not darting her gaze away like she was some blushing little wallflower the bad boy had brought home.
Light spilled over her as she opened the fridge to retrieve the bottle that she hadn’t offered to her. Mab saw the brunette studying her just as she had her a few moments before. Perhaps sizing her up like there was only room for one Italian broad in this apartment. Mikey hadn’t suggested that she was territorial, but when you came across another woman in your space in the middle of the night there was a chance that lines would start to be drawn. Mab puffed out a breath, tapping her finger against the side of the bottle. If she’d been more like her great-grandmother the apartment would’ve erupted with violence. Chiara Meraviglia was a woman who had to control everything around her, holding onto her spot at the top of their gang by blood, guts and power. Unfortunately for her the great-grandchild she’d snatched from the hands of her desperate, soon to be dead mother hadn’t taken after her.
Mikey wouldn’t have found anything in her to forgive if she’d been half as savage. If Chiara had ever been capable of tenderness or regret, then she’d lost that ability when her son had died. There was nothing redeemable left in that wizened sack of bones now. Mab dragged her thumbnail over the side of the bottle as her hand dropped away from her mouth. Her lips curved faintly, the joke shared between the two of them. ”Either way he’s not so bad. He just takes a little cracking sometimes, like an oyster.” Maybe there were times when Mikey regretted that he’d allowed her to get any sort of a grip on him, there were definitely times when she felt all of those cutting into the centre of her like a shell into the pads of her fingers as she gripped it tight. If only it was as easy to get that sort of grip on her life.
Her fingers were cool against Roxxi’s, only sweating after Roxxi pulled away and swung back at her, payback for her choice of words. She wouldn’t crack and splutter, trying to convince her that there’d been nothing like that going on between her and Mikey. At the suggestion of it he’d probably have choked, arguing so hard the words would emerge bloody. Mab made a small sound in her throat, shifting back against her counter. ”Only one of us came right out and said it,” Mab said dryly. The other had practically implied it despite the actual innocence in the words. With all those sharpened senses, it was no wonder Mikey had been driven to eventually say something about his brother. Night after night with what was happening in the next room ringing in his ears, hitting his conscience like hammer blows until he’d blurted it out.
Raising both hands, fingers spread, Mab silently warded off the warning in Roxxi’s words. She had zero interest in the little brother – the one who probably could’ve had her behind bars if he tried digging even shallowly into what she’d spent her adult life doing. Freedom was in her future, she had no intention of fucking it up before then. ”Non preoccuparti, non è il mio tipo.” She hadn’t intended on Mikey behind her type either – people who were had a habit of ending up with a target on their backs, one her great-grandmother could hit with shocking accuracy.
”Sembra che siamo sulla stessa pagina con tutto. Your boyfriend’s safe in all regards.” Trouble might follow her anyway, but she had no intention on leading it here. Another swallow of water went down hard, seeming to catch in a throat that was constricting at the thought. ”You’re not from New York …” Mab said hoarsely, her eyes narrowing faintly again. ”South? Somewhere around here?” She swirled the water in the bottle, that itch between her shoulders warning that there was more at stake here than just a little cat fighting. Promises had been made after the situation at Whitmore had fallen apart the first time. Mikey’s trouble with his brother’s girlfriend wasn’t on her, it had happened before the two of them had even met, but if there was anything that might spill over from what remained of her great-grandmother’s reach (as short as it could be now), then she wanted to know it was coming – whatever direction it might appear from.
Tagged: ROXANNE BRASCHI * Word Count: 801 Translation: Don't worry, he's not my type / Looks like we're on the same page with it all |
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ROXANNE BRASCHI
Chimera
psychic-skinwalker
Posts: 188
Age:
30
Occupation:
Professor at Whitmore College
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Chase Buckley
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 20:39:32 GMT
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Post by ROXANNE BRASCHI on Sept 5, 2023 16:58:10 GMT
━ i don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been ━
Immediately, Mab put her hands up in surrender, and Roxxi already knew her behaviour had helped her win another confrontation. She’d never existed any other way, and perhaps this was part of the reason━it worked for her.
“Bene.” Roxxi said sternly, though she almost said: What do you mean? He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life. But that really wouldn’t be the greatest argument to have.
She nodded sharply as soon as Mab confirmed it: they were fine. Roxxi really hoped she didn’t have to go through this shit again, or, at the very least, that Mikey wouldn’t tell his next girlfriend about her.
New York? Oh, she had to hold back a laugh. That made sense━Mab was one of those Jersey girls who thought they were Italian but hadn’t been there. She knew more of the language than Roxxi would’ve assumed (had she known this factoid first), but all that meant was she probably had a grandparent or someone to thank for being bilingual. “Rome.” Roxxi stated simply, “And you are… New York?” She wasn’t going to comment on her accent before, and it likely wouldn’t benefit anything now, but at least she could speak Italian. “Why did you move to Mystic Falls? You were tired of the excitement, the amount of people and choice?” Roxxi teased softly, sipping her water. She took a step back as their conversation became a little less serious, and glanced toward the hallway that would lead her back to Chase’s room. She could only imagine her spot becoming increasingly cold, and hoped he hadn’t moved, so she could wiggle her way back into the same spot.
MAB CARMELLO | wanna wrap w yours?
Translation: Good. |
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MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
|
Post by MAB CARMELLO on Oct 16, 2023 22:04:01 GMT
There was something about this one that her great-grandmother might have approved of – before she attempted to claw her eyes out with those gnarled old fingers. Both sharp of tongue and unapologetic in the way Chiara had made her be by osmosis. Mab’s half smile flickered back into place as the momentary surprise was rapidly buried back under a poker face that had cracked too often since St. John had slipped from her grasp. Teeth were bared for just a moment as she shook her head. She doubted that this woman had that sort of apology in her vocabulary, even if she wanted to offer one just for the sake of it. Neither one of them was built for it – although it turned out she wasn’t built for glib bullshit with the woman who’d come between the Buckley brothers either.
Dio. She hadn’t considered putting herself in the same spot, not even for the sake of blowing off steam here. There was enough trouble ahead of her in Mystic Falls if she remained here, all focused around the black hole that St. John continued to tear through the centre of her family’s lives. The intention hadn’t even been there to fall into bed with Mikey in any regard, but the vampire’s hand had guided that too. Stay in town, continue to search for a rat she was sure still cowered here, find herself taking those slow steps into another good man’s life. It was probably a mistake that would come back to bite her, but she’d found herself powerless with it all the same.
Mab puffed out a breath as the girlfriend hammered that warning home one last time with her good, amused just a little at this pissing contest, knowing that it would likely all bleed away when she went telling Mikey about her meeting his girlfriend last night. That would be a whole other awkward conversation.
She’d gulped at the water to try and wash that away, along with the thought that her personal trouble might follow her here. There was already a chance her great-grandmother had a finger in all of this, some old connection giving her a hold on a situation that should have been well outside of her radar. If the girlfriend did have some tie back to the Black Hand then she’d been psychic about how she would run into Mikey out in the woods.
Twisting the lid back onto the bottle, Mab nodded. Her green eyes narrowed faintly and cut to the woman. ”Mm hmm, the Bronx … originally Sicily though.” The girlfriend wasn’t just from Rome, but she wasn’t about to pry the lid off of that can of worms. ”For family,” Mab said simply. ”They have connections here and I was sent to look them up. The excitement and the other folks that live here? They’re just a bonus.” And that wasn’t a lie like it would’ve been when she’d first called Mikey up to help her at Whitmore. Things had changed, she’d changed and how that was going to work out for her was still to be seen.
”I guess both of us should be heading back to bed before we wake everybody up,” Mab murmured, seeing her glance back towards the bedrooms. This was a conversation she didn’t want Mikey walking in on, the explanation would only turn the entire situation awkward again. ”Buona notte.” Gesturing at her with the bottle of water Mab slipped past her and back towards the bed she’d hurried out of a short time before, still not any clearer about just what cost Mikey might pay for whatever this was between the two of them.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
