hadriel | seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

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seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

[Nick has been notably absent from her usual post at Delight's bar for the past several weeks, but today, as she turns the video camera of her phone on herself, the familiar sight of shelves of multicolored bottles lined up behind her indicate her location. That's right - she's back, and she is smiling as she holds up a tambourine and gives it a good shake. If you've met Nick even once, you'll know that she is made of sharp edges and not someone who smiles easily.]

Hey ... I dunno who left this here for me, but I wanted to say thanks. This is ... this is really great.

[The fact that she is openly addressing Hadriel with her thanks is perhaps a testament to how significant this particular item is for her, since gratitude doesn't come easily for Nick, either. Then again, if you know her well enough, you may notice something different about her entire demeanor - something softer, something warmer, something much less feral and hostile.]

Oh, and one more thing ... [She sets the tambourine down on the counter in front of her and gestures to the bar around her.] Thanks for not letting this place burn down while I was out ... "sick." Everyone knows this place is a shithole, and we only got so many not-shitty things here. Delight's bar is prob'ly the best one. Gotta hang on to what we've got, right?

[She grins again as she reaches over to cut the feed and get back to work. Perhaps you're there to place an order with her for something to drink?]

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People have been getting a lot of stuff, good and bad. I'm glad you got something more on the good side.

[It's nice to see her smile, at least.]

[She hasn't really had much reason to smile, especially not here. But it feels good to smile, to be happy about something so simple. Maybe Nick could get used to this.]

Yeah? Well, it's about damn time, I'd say. What about you - you get anything cool?

Nothing that great. My watch, a scrying bowl. Still, nice to see both of them again.

[The watch especially - despite the tooth marks, or maybe because of them.]

What's a scrying bowl?

Well, you put water in it and then you can scry. Like... look inside yourself, try to get a glimpse of the future, that kind of thing. Really any bowl will work, but some people have bowls just for that.

[It's an energy thing, to help focus, which is not something Adam actually has trouble with - Cabeswater is always ready to reach out to him. He can scry in a sink full of water or a candle flame or a dirty puddle. But like his cards, the bowl reminds him of Persephone. He likes that.]

No offense, dude, but that sounds freaky as fuck.

[A beat, then:]

Also exactly like the sort of thing my ex would be into.

Yeah, it kind of is.

[Look, he's not gonna argue on that front.]

Were they a psychic?

Nah, she just wanted to be a new-age hippie or somethin'. Used to tell me about chakras and balancing your aura and energy patterns in stones, shit like that. Tried some of it on me, even, but I couldn't hold still long enough for anything to take.

[Also, it sounded like bullshit to Nick at the time, and still does.]

[It would be silly for him to be surprised to hear she, considering Ronan, but it's - sort of reassuring, really. He hasn't told anyone about his relationship yet, not really, but he does know that he can't always expect a good reaction.]

I know some people like that, but they're all actually psychic. I think that makes it worse.

[He's careful, then.]

Ex-girlfriend?

Yeah, I bet it would.

[Make it worse. She laughs quietly, imagining just how much more of a pain Kennedy would have been if she'd been an actual psychic, then she wonders, idly, what Kennedy would think of her now that she's a Nightbane, how that would fit into her ideas about souls and karma and everything else.]

Yeah, [she nods, dropping her gaze to the tambourine on the counter, tracing a finger over the edge of the wood,] first time for everything, I guess, and believe me, no one was more surprised than me. Kennedy - that's her name - she was a real shit most of the time, my best friend's cousin - well, ex-best friend now. But she lived with us, and one thing kinda led to another, you know how that goes. One day she's twisting my arm into joining her band, and before I knew it, we were snowed in together during the winter and she was getting me drunk so she could kiss me.

[And Nick herself hadn't been the most receptive to Kennedy's advances - she'd fought with the other girl, violently sometimes, over the idea that she could have romantic feelings for another girl. But Kennedy's persistence charmed Nick eventually, and together they had a fire that Nick hasn't felt in any connection with another person, before or since.]

She was right about one thing, though. You can't really help who you love.

[Maybe it would have been easier if Nick had been able to choose not to love Kennedy, then or even now. Maybe their breakup would have hurt a lot less.]

Yeah. That's not something any of us get to choose.

[He shrugs.]

That's probably for the best, though. I mean, you wouldn't have expected her, but there was good stuff, right? Even if it wasn't all good. When I first met my boyfriend, I thought he was insufferable.

[The male thing was actually less of an issue, all things considered. And Ronan is insufferable. Adam just likes all his other qualities now, too. Maybe even that one.]

But it was worth the trouble. It still will be even if it ends.

[Insufferable is a good word for what Kennedy was, too; Nick laughs to herself.]

I guess so. I mean, that's what they say, right? Better to have loved and lost ... I didn't used to think so.

[But she's seen what a life without love looks like, a long life full of pain and misery - Ushahin's life. That experience has given her some perspective on the subject.]

She always used to say that if nothing else, heartbreak was good for writing songs. Maybe I should try that.

You might as well get something out of it, right?

[Adam doesn't know that much about music, but that sounds like a pretty legitimate argument, considering the number of breakup songs he's heard.]

Love isn't easy for everybody. I'd rather have it and lose it than never have it at all. At least that way I know it's something that exists.

[There isn't self-pity when he says that, only honesty. For most of his life, love of any kind was a mystery to Adam. He might not normally admit it, but Nick - well, she's seen parts of it anyway, even if it was only in a dream.]

But I know plenty of people would disagree.

Yeah ... I think I probably used to be one of 'em, actually.

[She's wondered, often, if she wouldn't have been better off not allowing Kennedy in close, if pulling down the walls she constructed around her heart wasn't a mistake. She shrugs.]

Guess it's hard to think straight when you're hurting over a breakup.

Yeah. That's definitely true.

[Though, to be fair, Adam's only serious breakup involved a lot of other things going on. Still, it hurt, and he can only imagine how much worse it would be if your bond were deeper.]

It's a lot easier to be clearheaded once you've moved on.

I guess. Or someone knocks some sense into you.

[She knows a little something about that, after Confusion's revival.]

That might be a quicker way. Did something happen?

Ah ... yeah, you could say that. Back when our powers were all fucked up - there's this guy, and he kinda got into my head. Not on purpose, of course.

[That's important to stress. Ushahin in her friend, and Nick absolutely believes he wouldn't have hurt her intentionally like this.]

Well, I mean, you know what they say about walking a mile in someone else's shoes ... try having their whole life crammed into your head.

That sounds... confusing and kind of disturbing.

[Adam's head has been fucked with enough. Having someone else's life crammed into it is a terrifying thought. It doesn't seem to have been too pleasant for Nick, either.]

Are you okay?

Yeah ... [She gives the camera a thin, grim smile. "Confusing and disturbing" was a fairly mild description of the experience.] Yeah, I'm fine now. Better. He fixed me up again. Didn't even take all the king's horses - just took some time to put all the pieces back together again.

I bet.

[She does seem okay, though - or at least mostly herself, which is what matters.]

So he has powers that do that?

Yeah, I guess so ... I mean, he totally didn't do it to me on purpose. He's ... he's a friend. He wouldn't try to hurt me like that intentionally.

[It's really important to Nick that no one thinks badly of Ushahin over what happened. She doesn't fault him for not having control over his powers - that belongs to the gods, especially Confusion.]

And he did fix me. Just took some time. Shit, I wouldn't even know where to start with fixing something like that.

I'm glad it was unintentional.

[It's a little alarming that it's something that's possible at all, but at least unintentional is better than intentional.]

Are there side effects?

Side effects? What, like, headache, nausea ... occasionally remembering someone else's life like it happened to you and not being sure about what's real or not?

[She offers a thin smile to go along with the joke-that's-not.]

It's all right. I mean, every day gets a little better. I'll be fine.

Exactly like that.

[He's dryly amused. He is, after all, very familiar with not being sure what's real or not.]

Let me know if there's anything I can do.

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seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

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