WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 168
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 29, 2024 20:13:54 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Dec 18, 2023 19:23:09 GMT
’Now is not the time. If you want someone representing the family at the party, I suggest you go yourself…’
The refusal had sat on his computer screen long enough for it to have gone into sleep mode. Creaking back in his chair, Will had continued to stare at the dark screen. There was no guarantee that the invitation had been passed along by Dalton, but he could practically feel Dalton’s touch radiating from it. Why bother having to try to schmooze people when you had someone to do it for you?
It had been sitting on his desk when he’d arrived that morning, on top of the rest of his post as though his partners had already noticed it. Neither one had been sitting there watching for his reaction when he’d thumbed it open and had seen the Grey Haven’s familiar brand sitting on top of the embossed card, but they’d likely known the outcome all the same. Another refusal to be Dalton’s mule, to play up his father’s charitable contributions while a bunch of drunk assholes kissed ass around him.
A handful of years ago he wouldn’t have had to do it alone, Zoey would’ve been there as a distraction, his safe harbour in a sea treacherous enough to drown him. Eventually one would drag the other out and they could escape from the cloying atmosphere of hypocrisy and false admiration. After their divorce he’d avoided every possible event in New York, only attending the ones here that Dalton had practically blackmailed him into (and that he’d seen some possible gain for himself in). This year he’d planned to do the same, clinging to another quiet Christmas if he could, unsure if he’d need to head to New York on short notice when he didn’t want Zoey to be alone with her father through celebrations overshadowed by his illness. In the end it had been the thought of her dad that had him drifting to her office door with the offer on his lips – a night out, a chance to put it out of her mind for a short time. A break.
Climbing from his car outside the Grey Haven, Will passed his keys to the valet. He rounded the car, opened Zoey’s door for her and offering his arm to her as she got out. Maybe a crowded ballroom full of the deepest pockets in Mystic Falls wasn’t going to be the perfect distraction from what was going on, but after all that had happened between them since she’d come to town, some part of him had wanted another taste of what he missed so badly – his partner, his wife, the only woman he’d ever loved.
”Looks like he’s invited half the town,” Will murmured lightly as he drew her close. The corners of his mouth twitched up, his eyes searching her face like he’d find some sign of how well this was working to take her mind off of all that was going on.
Grey Maddox, owner of the Grey Haven chain (the name had a Dalton-esque feel to it, ego practically dripping from what was probably meant to be a discrete sign over the door) had obviously thrown a lot of money at the event, undoubtedly trying to wrap the Founding Families around his little finger. The more they were on your side, the less of an impediment they became to your plans to expand in their sleepy little town.
Tipping his head back, Will looked up the front of the building. At least the chances of Lex being here were slight. The only way he’d end up down here were if he stumbled through in search of more sugar – or he zipped down through the hundreds of lights that lit the interior up, reflecting off of crystal snowflakes that dangled from the ceiling and painted the crowds of people with tiny specks of dancing light.
”It’s incredible,” Will admitted, he’d murmured something similar to her as he’d arrived at her apartment door to pick her up. The sight of her dressed up had always been a mule kick to his heart. He knew how he’d lost her, but how a woman like her had ever fallen in love with him in the first place still floored him. ”We should get a drink while we can. Champagne or wine?” Or neither. There was a chance that Zoey wouldn’t want anything tonight, just in case.
He was already turning to flag down a waiter when he saw that familiar figure over by the huge Christmas tree that stood in one corner of the room, lit up with what looked like real candles (surely that was a fire hazard). Why? Surely there was nothing here that would keep Lex’s interest, let alone keep him amused for the length of his toddler-like attention span. Will had to resist the urge to darg a hand over his face and sigh. All he could hope was that Lex hadn’t spotted him moving like a barge through this crowd of WASPs and wasn’t now scurrying in their wake with that shit eating grin on his face. If there hadn’t been a clock ticking on their night before, it certainly was now.
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ZOEY WASHINGTON
Human
Posts: 54
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 14:17:26 GMT
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Post by ZOEY WASHINGTON on Jan 15, 2024 22:47:08 GMT
 ━ nothing good is born from lies ━
And because she had to pay for his worker and support him while he was still without a job━as well as using all her free time to organize the rest of his life━she couldn’t afford to visit him for the holidays. Not until the calendar year reset, at least, but he’d have to wait until after Christmas for that.
But it was okay. Rebecca (his support worker) helped Zoey with setting up a video call on his end, and every night for the eight days of Hanukkah, they lit the candles together. It was a tradition that’d dwindled since she was a child, but they’d picked it up again after Addy and Mom died, and Zoey found that it was still almost as fun as it’d been when they were kids. Almost.
Maybe it’d be better if she had a few kids of her own. Her dad had said as much one night, and when she gave him a look, he scoffed at her. He wasn’t having another episode━he just wanted grandchildren. And he thought she’d be happier with some kids, too. Unfortunately, he was right. And what was also unfortunate was that she didn’t know where things were going with Will━if they were going anywhere. He’d been really good since her dad had gotten fired━actually, he’d been good through it all, but she didn’t fully know what most of it meant, or what she wanted from it.
And after she told him that she loved him, too, things had felt… awkward. Maybe it was all on her end. She didn’t want to start casually sleeping with her ex-husband, but things had begun to teeter in that direction. Except it wasn’t just casual━she started letting go during the time they spent together, and his (not-so-secret) plan to have her forget about what was going on with her dad actually worked, and she assumed tonight would be the same. Will was perhaps the only person who could do this for her, and she was so glad it was still him━even if they were complicated in all the ways she didn’t want to get into.
Zoey slipped into her silver dress and debated it in the mirror for a while. She thought about texting Jill a picture for her opinion, but that would lead to a conversation about where Zoey was going, and she didn’t exactly have time for one of Jill’s patented freakouts. It was sweet, really, but Zoey was having a crisis about over- or under-dressing
Apparently, Will didn’t have any complaints, and he whisked away all her nerves with a single word.
Once they arrived, Zoey stepped out of his car with a hand on his arm, grinning brightly at Will, her lighthouse for tonight, and every night like it. This had always been something he was far more experienced with, and Zoey━despite the many times she’d been dragged along━never got any more used to it. But it was beautiful, and the insides took her breath away━it was just too bad all those people came with it. “Wow,” She murmured, and stuck close to his side, her arm still wrapped in his. “Um… wine,” Zoey decided with a nod, but either one would have this night ending the same way━she wasn’t foolish enough to try to convince herself otherwise now.
But Will’s attention was elsewhere, and she felt him stiffen under her arm, dark eyes slipping up to his face. Zoey’s brow furrowed as she followed his gaze, and watched a boy━well, he was quite tall, but looked like a teenager━make eye contact and begin walking over to them. “Will?” She asked lightly, trying to get his attention before the stranger made it all the way over.
LEX CAMERON |  |
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LEX CAMERON
Psychic
Posts: 62
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Oct 6, 2024 16:40:59 GMT
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Post by LEX CAMERON on Jan 16, 2024 17:58:15 GMT
 ━ one click and you are overwritten ━
Plus, part of him hoped one of his dad’s business partners or something might show up, and even though he didn't want his dad to know what he was up to, it would be super fun to fuck with them.
So yeah, he forced himself into an itchy dress shirt and pants, forwent the jacket and tie, and headed downstairs to the party. If it was totally boring, he could just head back to his room━actually, he could do that at any point without his dad fucking complaining at him this time, which was sick. Maybe these kinda parties weren’t so bad if you lived (sans parents) in the building.
Lex shifted around restlessly in the corner, reaching up to pluck a candy cane off the tree, then grinned when he realized it wasn’t just for decoration. Well, maybe it was, but it was wrapped, so it wasn’t a plastic ornament. He peeled it open like a banana and stuck the straight end in his mouth, glancing up to scan the crowd, trying to find a familiar face. If not, then he’d just hunt through their phones and drain their cash or fuck with their stocks or some shit. Somethin’ to really get the old people goin’ crazy.
Well, he did find someone familiar, just not the someone he was expecting. Someones, except Mr. Shitty-Harry-Potter-references was with Mrs. Had-Never-Seen-Harry-Potter, which was pretty fuckin’ funny, if you asked Lex. Plus, Will looked terrified to see him, which was even funnier. And, for real, he saved Zoey’s life but he’d never gotten to meet her? That shit didn’t make nooooo sense.
Lex marched his way over, hooking one finger around the candy cane’s curl to pull it out of his mouth. It looked sharp on the end, and he waved it around as he spoke, “Heeeey, Willie! How are you?” He nodded politely at Zoey, then shifted the cane to his left hand. “Sorry. I’m Alexander, nice to meet you. You must be Zoey━this guy never stops talking about you.” Lex chuckled lightly, turning on the years of good breeding his father had instilled in him.
WILLIAM CARNEGIE | no notes. |
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WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 168
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 29, 2024 20:13:54 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Feb 3, 2024 18:19:57 GMT
The universe wasn’t done with its cruelty though, he hadn’t even been able to grab Zoey that glass of wine he’d offered before sticky fingers gripped the drape he’d thrown up between those two parts of his life and threatened to gleefully tear it down. A sugared up toddler with no regard of the consequences of his actions. Already frowning, Will fumbled for two glasses from the waiter that had drifted over. ”It’s champagne … sorry, I’ll get something else,” he murmured as he held the glass out to Zoey. His brows were already furrowed, resisting his attempt to smooth out his expression. The more he let this bother him, the louder the mental alarms would be. Unfortunately they weren’t loud enough to drown Lex out.
Will’s shoulders stiffened, thick fingers gripping the stem of the glass threatening to snap that delicate crystal neck in lieu of Lex’s. For once he’d dressed up: dress slacks, a decent shirt (he hadn’t expected Lex to own anything but wrinkled t-shirts and hoodies), no tie (that probably would’ve been one step too far, especially since he might’ve used it to throttle him later). One of the decorations – obviously not as fake and plastic as they might’ve been elsewhere – was clamped in his mouth, all the better for a dramatic entrance. Lex stormed up, pulling the candy cane out to show off the grin that always left him wanting to tear it off of his face.
”I was better a few moments ago,” Will muttered low. He bit back the instant urge to ask why Lex was here. It was obvious. A party full of rich folks that he could antagonise, and probably rob at the same time if he could get into those expensive cell phones. Perfect for a little holiday entertainment.
Be polite, get rid of him.
Lips pursing into something approaching a brittle smile, Will nodded to Lex. His eyes narrowed above, fixing on Lex’s like he could use some sort of mind control to stop the deadly tidal wave spilling from Lex’s mouth. Intentional or not, one wrong word could still tear his life apart and there would be no fixing it this time. ”All good things,” he assured Zoey, his smile softening for her. ”Lex never stops talking.” An endless stream of babble designed to get under his skin, like it was doing now.
Lex knew what he was doing too. Here on his own he might’ve been able to blow him off and escape, but with Zoey here manners dictated that he had to make small talk. Terrified that this would be the end of everything he held precious, again, he’d have to stick out the conversation. Later he could wrap his hands around Lex’s throat – the electrocution he might get in return would be worth it – and pay him back for it all.
Settling his hand on the small of Zoey’s back possessively, Will took a small sip of champagne before gesturing at Lex with the glass. She was one hell of a detective, the leaps that had mind had made on the job always impressing him. It wouldn’t take more than a moment for her to start considering where he might’ve known Lex from. He couldn’t exactly call him an old friend of his father’s, it would’ve brought the pall of Dalton over all of this like a dark cloud – the last thing that Zoey needed with all that was already going on in her life. ”I hadn’t expected to see you here,” he said tightly. Hoped was more like it. ”I suppose Mr Maddox gave invitations to all of his residents. Did you come just for the candy?” AKA, are you going to leave soon so I can cover up this nightmare of a meeting.
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LEX CAMERON
Psychic
Posts: 62
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Oct 6, 2024 16:40:59 GMT
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Post by LEX CAMERON on Mar 18, 2024 17:15:01 GMT
━ one click and you are overwritten ━
Another blow came, and Lex chuckled lightly, sticking one hand in his pocket as the sharp end of the candy cane went back into his mouth. “I guess if you’re old and grouchy, then the spryness of youth gets annoying.” He said around the candy, his eyes meeting Zoey’s to bring her in on the joke. She laughed with him and settled her hand on Will’s chest, and Lex pulled the candy cane from his mouth before he explained (since Will outed him, which, like, bad move, dude), “Only my really close friends call me Lex, but my dad says it sounds immature.” Which was why he’d introduced himself as ‘Alexander,’ and now Zoey knew he wasn’t just lying or some shit. Not like her ex-husband. His eyes flicked to Will’s, Check-mate, bitch. Try again.
“Yeah,” Lex said noncommittally, motioning to the giant party room they occupied, blue eyes scraping across it before they cut back to the couple. “Got an invite a while ago. Wasn’t gonna come, but I thought some people my dad knew were gonna be here. S’been super boring.” He said, then added to Will, “Also, no, I didn’t even think there’d be any. These are the good kinda candy canes though━not the weird, cheap fruity ones.” He grinned.
‘How do you two know each other?’
Ah, there it was. Lex’s eyes jumped to Will before he explained, ‘cause, yeah, Will could trust him. Idiot. “My dad got robbed back in N.Y., and Will was on the case ‘fore he moved. Or it got moved. Anyway, I thought the stuff he did looked pretty cool, so I came down here ‘cause of Quantico. My dad really wants me to do it but then I got here, and I was like, meh,” He shrugged, telling enough of the truth to skirt by, and lying only about his own shit. Amusement glinted in his eyes, a silent, You’re welcomeeeeee.
ZOEY WASHINGTON | no notes. |
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ZOEY WASHINGTON
Human
Posts: 54
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 14:17:26 GMT
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Post by ZOEY WASHINGTON on Mar 18, 2024 17:16:05 GMT
 ━ nothing good is born from lies ━
Zoey tsk’d Will when his response came out rude, and she grinned pleasantly at Alexander despite it. “It’s nice to meet you, Alexander.” She said lightly, trying to make up for Will’s bad behaviour. The poor boy looked like he was just trying to hold it together, and Will couldn’t do anything but be mean to him.
Zoey grinned and planted a kiss on Will’s cheek at his reassurance, a little reward for it, maybe. She liked that someone else was backing up his claims that he was better now, that this would be better. She just didn’t appreciate knocking this boy down when all he seemed to want was Will’s approval.
Thankfully, he seemed to brush it off, and Zoey laughed along with him, hoping it would ease the sudden tension in Will and the hurt in the boy’s smile. She settled a hand on the centre of Will’s chest, though, just so he knew they were only teasing. He explained the nickname, too, which made her think that they were a lot closer than Will seemed to let on━or that they’d spent a lot of time with one another. How had she not heard of him?
Alexander━or Lex━lived in the building, but that didn’t give her any more clues as to where they might’ve met. Did Will stay here when he’d just moved to town? It seemed to be ritzy enough for his taste, but then was Lex using this place like an apartment building? Was he old enough to own or rent property?
“How do you two know each other?” She asked finally, trying to put the pieces in her mind together. And, honestly, part of her thought that if someone else was involved, she wouldn’t be subject to any lies Will might tell to keep her out of the loop. It was hard to fully trust him again, and they were working on it, but every once in a while, a kernel of doubt grew in her mind.
A theft in New York? Someone━likely wealthy━as the target? Her mind scrambled over the possibilities, the countless cases she’d seen. A son who was home at the time of the robbery. It’d been a painting that had shown up a week later in France. “Vincent Cameron is your dad?” She asked, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice. This kid’s grandfather had literally changed the world of video game consoles, bringing them from Pong to modern-day ones, filled with intricate stories and choose-your-own-destiny games. She was never big on them, but even she knew the impact they had. Microsoft owned Xbox, and Lex’s father was the CEO. Not Bill Gates, of course, but still, that was serious money.
His explanation was sweet, though, and it explained his interest in a man who seemed to want anything but a student. It also made Lex’s reaction to him understandable. He was a well-spoken, nice kid, though, so she couldn’t see why Will didn’t want him around. “Well, if you ever need help with your application process or have questions, let me know; I’ve been through it all before. It is a bit daunting, but you seem like a smart guy, I bet you’d fit right in━and find it interesting enough when you were there.” Because it seemed like his attention span was the only thing holding him back. “They have a tech department, too.” Zoey added with a wink, knowing it’d likely spark his interests━if he wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps in a slightly different capacity.
‘I’ll look into that. Thanks,’ Lex smiled and nodded politely at her, and he gave a little salute, his eyes moving from her to Will as he spoke. ‘I’m gonna head out now, but it was nice meeting you, Zoey. I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.’ He shifted away, moving back towards the tree━probably to get another candy cane━before she lost sight of him.
Zoey grinned sideways at Will, turning towards him a little more and planting a kiss on his jaw. “He was really sweet, seems like a nice young man. Why did you never tell me about your little grasshopper?” She teased and lifted her eyes to his, her cheeks growing warm again. “You talk about me?”
WILLIAM CARNEGIE | wrap here or w yours? |
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WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 168
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 29, 2024 20:13:54 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Apr 5, 2024 19:54:15 GMT
For the entire length of his marriage, Will had lived between a rock and a hard place. Tell his wife what he did in his spare time, destroy her heart and end up in jail for the rest of his life (not even Dalton’s money would be able to prevent that, although it might buy a nicer cell), or hide what he was doing and destroy her heart by refusing to give up his secrets. Either way he’d been damned. Not it felt as though he was balancing on the same knife edge. Admit that Lex had become his assistant of sorts, or allow him to pull this poor, hard done upon Lex act. Or rather, poor, hard done upon Alexander act. Allowing Zoey to get to know him could only be trouble.
Will pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, as Zoey kissed his cheek. He glanced down at her, the corner of his mouth lifting for just a split second for her. It was tempting to slap a hand against the end of that candy cane to teach him about eating and talking at the same time. His lips pursed again as Lex let his tongue be just as sharp as the end of the striped candy. Zoey’s hand was settling on his chest, as though she were softening the blow of her laughter. ”It’s difficult not to feel old under the circumstances,” Will muttered. When you had a child trying to get a reaction out of you. And the worst part was, he was giving it to him.
Some small part of him had still hoped that the conversation would end quickly and he would be able to brush Lex off as just some acquaintance. In their New York days, their married days, he’d dragged her to places like this without a thousand apologies and a hundred promises to make up for it when they got home. Most of the people they’d met had probably drifted from her mind within minutes of leaving the party, but Lex had made it clear that this was more than just a casual acquaintance.
Forced to continued, Will rubbed Zoey’s back lightly, soothing himself as much as he was trying to reassure her. He was the only one seemingly uncomfortable with it and would tear a strip off of Lex for that later – after he’d talked around it all with Zoey. ”I’m sure there’ll be some people closer to your own age here at some point,” Will murmured. ”It doesn’t look like they spared any expense.” Candy canes and top notch champagne, although there wasn’t enough of that to wash away the tension creeping into his own shoulders.
Ah, his chance to brush it off – it had been so close. Will felt any hope of escaping this conversation unscathed vanish like the champagne bubbles as Zoey’s question gave Lex the room to throw his own version of their relationship out there. Now if he took it back he’d just look like an even bigger asshole. ”Yes, he’s Vincent’s son,” Will confirmed lightly, as though he’d been on first name terms with the man before he’d broken in to strip his stolen artwork from the walls. Undoubtedly it was the return of the painting he’d stolen back that had Zoey putting the pieces together. ”I didn’t expect to have such an influence,” Will muttered trying to keep the dry tone out of his voice, taking a sip from his champagne to wash it away.
Well aware of Zoey’s job, Lex had jumped on the one thing he knew would endear him further to her. Vincent Cameron would probably be disgusted if his son had actually been tempted to join the Bureau. Like Dalton the man wouldn’t abide his own blood poking around in his less salubrious activities. It almost felt as though it would burn his throat to admit it, but Will made a low sound in his throat. ”He’s even better than his father when it comes to technology. Lex has lent me a hand a time or two.” And it burned even more to admit it. His luddite ways were infamous in the sheriff’s department in the NYPD too. Hopefully Zoey would see the humour in it now while he fell on his damn sword for Lex.
Teeth gritted, Will nodded in farewell to Lex. Thank the lord. He’d obviously had his fun, dropped his little bombshell and was then retreating to a safe distance to watch it explode. If he was lucky then it would be the last Zoey would ever see of Lex, the wall slammed back solidly between the two halves of his life.
The tension in his shoulders finally started to melt away as Zoey turned towards him, her lips finding his jaw. He sighed lightly, his smile returning as he drew in her towards him with the hand that was still at the small of her back. ”He was on his best behaviour. He’s not always,” Will grumbled lightly. Sweet might’ve counted when it came to the sugar levels in Lex’s blood, but not to the man himself. ”We’re not that close. He showed some interest when I was investigating and I guess I had more of an influence on him than I thought.” The truth was he’d always expected to cut Lex out of his life long before he finished repairing his marriage.
Will’s eyes twinkled as the blush started to rise in his cheeks, echoing the colour that touched Zoey’s. That low sound rumbled in his throat again as he pressed his lips to her temple. ”All the time. I told him that I knew the best agent the FBI has ever had and that if he wanted to join the Bureau then he couldn’t possibly find better steps to follow in.” He’d been forced to tell Lex more, but it had been what he’d seen and overhead during Zoey’s rescue that had obviously made it obvious just how much he still loved her.
”You are incredible,” he whispered before he put an inch between them again. ”Can I talk the most beautiful woman in the room to dance with me?” He would probably feel Lex’s gaze boring between his shoulder blades for the rest of the night, but with Zoey in his arms it was easy to close everything else out. Passing the now empty glass off to a waiter working his way through the crowd, Will took her hand and drew Zoey towards the small dance floor already filled with drifting couples. Lost in her eyes, with her arms around his neck, the rest of the world melted away, taking the burden of his other life with it.
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