meeting trinity. [howl npc, serafine]

Trinity
[So I figure you guys can intro your characters and then I can jump in with the NPCs when appropriate. :) ]

SerafíneAwareness!

Dice: 7 d10 TN5 (1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 1

Kiara[Oh I should roll some stuff too.]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )

SerafíneA week or more since she was last here but: a certain chilly Tuesday night, the skies studded with clouds that open up now and then to the brilliance of the ate night stars has her back.  The van, up the gravel drive.  Dan in the driver's seat, Sera somewhat moody on the passenger's side, knees drawn up, chin resting on the apex of the left.  It's Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Carnival, and she's kinda sober (kinda, and doesn't plan to remain thus for long) and headed up to the oft-empty chantry.

There's something new in the air, though.

A helluva lot of somethings, and as they drive Sera murmurs her impressions to Dan, and when the van pulls up outside the garage, she gives him this spare little kiss on the apex of his cheek and unbuckles her seatbelt and sliiiiiiides right out, following that certain feeling through the chilly night.

Well, to be far, she does stop and grab a beer and a bottle of whiskey along the way.

But then, provisions secured, Sera goes seeking.

KiaraWhen Dan and Serafine roll up in their van they spy a now-familiar car parked not too far off; fresh tracks in the dirt and the quiet ticking of the engine as it rapidly cools suggesting its owner had not long beaten them to the Chantry.

Kiara's been here on and off of course - tending to a small patch out near the Node she's attempting to invoke premature growth in for the season; cleaning surfaces; cooking food and storing it; bringing flowers in when she comes; settling and arranging them in vases to brighten rooms - but it's been a week, at least, since her last and there have been changes, to say the least.

New arrivals; new presences. The Verbena is outside in the fading light; all wrapped up in layers of earthy brown and grey; a scarf gifted to her at Christmas by Kalen tied loose around her neck; the ends hanging free over her shoulders; dancing as they're pushed to and fro by a breeze. It rustles the trees; what little are near and sets the brunette's hair shifting over her shoulders as she crouches; bag still slung over a shoulder to fuss with the edge of earth near the old, moss-covered fountain. There's shoots peeking out of the hard ground and there's a smile just edging into existence; curling up the edge of her mouth as she pushes to her feet again.

Sniffs against the chill and turns her body a little as if unerringly drawn to the sensation drawing near.

Perhaps she is.

"If we keep meeting like this, whatever will the neighbors say?"

TrinityWhoever had cast the new defensive barrier around the property hadn't bothered wasting effort on trying to hide it. Sera and Kiara both felt the residue of the caster's unfamiliar resonance when they passed through it. The barrier slid over them like a ghost, illusive and whispering as it traced over their thoughts. But whatever it was looking for (whatever condition the caster had set,) it was a test that they easily passed. Sera, with her knowledge of the spheres involved, knew what the effect was - and what it was trying to prevent.

The question was: who had cast it?

When Sera and Dan arrived at the end of the driveway, they found Kiara already there. There were no other cars within eyeline, but there was a closed garage behind her and the lights in the Chantry were on.

Someone was there.

Serafíne"We don't have any neighbors," Sera corrects Kiara, unerringly, as the latter rises.  There's an edge to her mouth that is also the leading signal of a curling sort of smile.  Sera in her heels and cocktail dress, her thigh-high black lace stockings and her battered leather jacket, which goes with nothing else that she wears and smells - divinely - like a dive bar.  Waits until Kiara is fully upright before she adds, " - and neither of us would give a fuck what they think, anyway."

Over Sera's head: Dan gives Kiara a faint little wave and a welcoming smirk.

He's wary, though.  That's evident, beneath everything.

"You just got here."  Dan noticed the ticking engine, the recent arrival.  Glances at Kiara's car and then back to Kiara.  "I take it the new arrivals aren't friends of yours?"

KiaraThere's a noise that crawls up the brunette's throat at that, Serafine's correction - her awareness that if anything, neither of them would really give a fuck - and Kiara's dark eyes shift from Sera to Dan when he comments -

"No. I don't recognize them." Them. The feeling. The unspoken as she glances rather sharply at the house; dragging her eyes over the lit windows; the flood of warmth at once inviting and ominous. "I got here and I was contemplating going in to say hello, but - " There's a real hesitation, then. A particular uncertainty that creeps over Kiara's delicate features. It doesn't twist them, per say, but the sense of unease seems to be with her as well.

Perhaps there's reasons for it, the sense of trepidation of the unknown; the potency of magic hanging in the air casting the Verbena's expression into distrust.

She'd come upon a house once before, lit up, the residue of casting in the air - still - her mouth flexes with a warmer smile. " - three seems better odds than one."

SerafíneThis moment where Sera's eyes (which are dark and sometimes - as tonight - strangely still, perfectly aware) snag on Kiara's profile.  The smallest threads of microexpression slipping across Kiara's features.   The hesitation.  The sense of trepidation.  The awareness: all these things Sera absorbs with a care of her own that inflects her own mouth with a tenderness both transient and rooted.

"Three's much better odds than one," Dan echoes, coming up behind Sera and squeezing her shoulders - affectionate, familiar - as Sera bites her inner cheek hard enough that the bright bite of pain explodes in these tiny sunburst somewhere inside her skull.

Just enough.

Dan's opening the door for them, then, and Sera gives Kiara this brazen, lovely smile.  The hint of blood at the corner of her mouth.

"C'mon.  We'll say hi and maybe welcome and maybe what the fuck do you think you're doing here, depending on how things go.  It's all good."

And she ducks beneath Dan's arm, heading inside, following the complex of resonances in the air.

SerafínePrime 1: watch ze weaving.  Dif 4 -1 (focus)

Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (4, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )

TrinityThere was a chance that whoever was inside already knew that they had visitors. Maybe the delay in greeting was intentional, or maybe they just had their hands full. The first and most obvious resonance - the one they'd all felt when driving up the road to the house - was unfamiliar to them both. But the other two?

Wild and unbreakable (Pan used to compare it in his head to a mustang.) Sera felt it brush up against her senses as she stood speaking to Kiara. Maybe she recognized it, maybe she didn't. It had been... a long time.

And there was something about the third one that was both familiar and new. This underlying note of cyclical energy, coupled with scorching heat and regeneration. Like fiery rebirth.

"Sera!"

They opened the door just in time to catch sight of the girl as she bounded down the steps into the foyer. She was tall and lanky (taller than she'd been at 16,) with dark hair spilling over her shoulders. And young. Too young, really, to feel as powerful as she did. But then, that wasn't altogether unheard of.

Leah.

Her expression was a thing of tentative warmth. Hesitant of strangers, but clearly happy to see Sera. She jogged toward them, but stopped before she invaded their space, glancing toward Dan and Kiara. There was a pause... maybe a second or two. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her shirt. Then she stepped forward to put her arms around Sera's light frame (if she allowed it.) It wasn't an exuberant hug (Leah had always been very sensitive of her physical space,) but it was a heartfelt gesture nonetheless.

"I didn't know if you'd still be here."

KiaraThere's a moment where Dan's pulling open the door and Serafine's smiling her bloody smile - c'mon - that it almost seems as if the Verbena will refuse. That she'll remain outside with cheeks tinged pink and dark eyes full of unrevealed hesitations; ghosts swimming in the expression that knits her face somewhere between fragile and furious. Kiara does linger for a moment, does catch Dan's eye and keep it and there's a hitch somewhere; a snagged breath she catches and holds for a beat before she nods.

Before she steps inside in Serafine's wake; the house draping over her with warmth; with presence. The Disciple already searching for the source of potential casting and then - oh. Kiara draws back a step; draws to one side as a young girl bounds toward the Cultist. The uncertainty melts, though. The tension in the Verbena's frame easing as it becomes clear -

"Friend of yours?"

- Kiara's voice warming to relief. She unwinds the scarf from around her neck; her mouth suggestive of mirth; at their hesitation; at her own. Dark eyes observe the girl and she tilts her head just so, curious now that the potential threat seems - less.

Now that she can breathe out.

Serafíne"Christ."  Sera mutters beneath her breath, the crawling half-smile carved across her mouth growing wider by the minute.  By the moment, by the breath.  There's Leah - taller now, changed but - oh, Sera shivers from the sensation and opens her arms to the younger girl and pulls her in, one hand cupping the back of Leah's head, mouth seeking the girl's temple, where her pulse beats, and for a thoughtful, lingering moment - Sera just inhales.

There's so much in that gesture.  So much that she pulls inside of her, so much that she lets go of altogether, all at once, each piece framed by the other one to create this moment.

When they pull apart, Sera's eyes are... damp, shining in the ambient light.

"Leah.  I didn't - "  and Sera's half-smile spreads wider then, "I didn't really think I'd see you again, you know?  It's good to see you.  You remember Dan, right?"

This glance toward the tall guitarist.  Maybe Leah does and maybe she doesn't.  Dan was mostly the designated driver back then.  Around, in the background.

"And this is Kiara.  Kiara, this is Leah. And yeah, you could say we're friends.  It's a long fucking story."

Haven't seen each other since a funeral, but isn't that how some things go?

TrinityThere were sounds coming from the kitchen. Shifting pans and the high, digital beep of a timer. Someone was cooking dinner. It smelled absolutely delicious and more than likely Mexican (corn tortillas and a spicy tomato sauce, with hints of citrus and jicama.) Leah, who had barely been able to stand being touched (let alone hugged) the last time Sera had seen her, closed her eyes and leaned into the embrace. Let out this soft breath when Sera kissed her. For a moment, her expression betrayed the weight of the memories they shared.

The last time they'd seen each other had been at a funeral.

When she pulled back, she nodded to Dan, who she did vaguely remember (though not nearly so clear as she did Sera.) When her attention shifted to Kiara, she offered a tentative smile. After a beat, she seemed to remember her manners and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

That was when Annie finally appeared from the dining room, wiping water from her hands with a fresh towel. She stopped when she got to the foyer and saw the three visitors. And here too, there was a second's pause for the recollection of memory while she watched Leah interact with their guests.

"It's good to see you again, Sera."

Annie was older than Leah, though not by enough of a margin to be her mother. (Older sister maybe? But they didn't look alike.) Annie's hair was strawberry blond, verging slightly into the reddish hue. Her skin was lightly tanned despite it being winter, with visible freckles on the bridge of her nose. She was average in height, shorter than Leah by about two inches, and muscular in the way people who do a lot of manual labor.

Once she had her hands dried, she draped the towel over her shoulder and reached out to offer her hand to Kiara. "Annie Pierce. I own the house. Leah and I are with the Verbena."

KiaraIt's a long fucking story.

Kiara's generous mouth curves into a fuller smile at that. "Isn't it always?" She offers in easy agreement and loosens the ties on her coat; shucking it and folding it over an arm along with her scarf. Beneath she's in dove grey on brown, some soft knitted cardigan that folds and tucks around the hip of her jeans. There's boots on her feet that give her height but she is still, by all true accounts, a slender figure. A little wilder perhaps for the way her hair falls in heavy waves around her face; bangs cut low over expressive eyes.

There's a familiar (to some) jumble of necklaces around her neck tonight; silver and stone and crystal; hoops in her ears; her wrists are bare, though. There's nothing but a blue stone ring on her index finger when she takes Leah's hand; closes her fingers around it; keeps it; just for the barest moment.

"Likewise. It's been so quiet here, we were - " The smells and sounds from the kitchen overtake Kiara for a beat; Annie does, too. Then: "Kiara Woolfe. It's nice to meet family. It's been a while." Another press of hands together; Kiara's eyes drop to where she's touching Annie's hand before she withdraws her own with this slight; suggestive give to her mouth.

"If the wildflowers didn't give me away - I'm with the Verbena too."

Serafíne"Hey."  This is how Sera greets Annie: less enthusiasm, perhaps even a touch of strange self-conscious that slides off her shoulders as easily as it slides over them.  "You cooking dinner?"  Lilting inquiry, the cut of Sera's dark eyes past Annie's shoulder.  Pan spent far more time with the Verbena than Sera ever did, and she is conscious of his absence, suddenly.  Conscious of Jim's absence.  Conscious - suddenly, breathtakingly conscious - of all the absences in her life.
"Uhm," and well, she was about to introduce Kiara again but Kiara introduces herself and Sera - who looks like she is about to paint the town crimson and then burn it the fuck down kinda shivers because it is COLD, segues into, "Let's get inside, it is fucking freezing - "

before she slips off, away, within.

"I gotta pee," Sera announces, sotto voce, to Dan not longer after.  He makes her excuses as she slides off toward the bathroom.

Later Sera will tell Annie and Leah who is left (no one) and who is gone (everyone) and whom she saw last and when and where, if they want to know.  Later Sera might even tell Kiara the story of it all, though probably not in Leah's hearing.


Serafíne(got to sleep, lovelies.  nini!)

Trinity"Oh, those were you? Glad to see someone was looking after the place." Annie favored all three of them with her smile, giving a light nod to Sera that seemed to imply gratitude (for the ward, more than likely.) She seemed softer than she had the last time the two of them had spoken. Less of those sharp edges and brittle anger. (She'd been mourning the death of her brother then.)

When Sera asked if she was making dinner, Annie grinned. "Yeah. Huevos rancheros and jicama salad. There's plenty of food if you guys want to join us. I've got beer, too."

"I'll take one," Leah interjected. Annie fixed her with a raised brow.

"You can have half of one."

Leah rolled her eyes.

Sera had to pee, and by the time she got the bathroom (did she pick the upstairs one or the downstairs one?) it would be vacant. If she picked the upstairs bathroom, she'd find it full of steam from a recent shower and humming with the sound of the ventilation fan. Someone was inside one of the bedrooms up there, getting dressed more than likely. It didn't take long for her to appear, treading quietly down the hall to the stairs. Annie was already leading the others toward the dining room when Sasha descended the steps, her dark hair still damp where it lay against the soft grey hoodie she had on over her t-shirt.

Her feet were bare. She moved very quietly.

"I see we have guests." She eyed Kiara and Dan curiously before stepping forward to greet them. (More nods. More hand-shaking.) "Sasha Black, bani Euthanatos."

KiaraSerafine slips off and Kiara - who was, if nothing else - accustomed to the Cultist's tendency to give her attention freely and easily to any diversion - cants her a tiny, curling smile as she goes. Folding her belongings neatly over one of the sofas as they navigate through to the dining room, the brunette's boots keeping count of their progress against the wooden floor.

When the Euthanatos appears, Kiara watches her with no little interest; shaking her hand and offering her a brief measure of a look; another smile; offers back her own affiliation with a glance at Annie and Leah. She can't help but be drawn, of course. Perhaps it was the knowledge of what they were; the reminder of a home long gone; the tug; deep down; of like minds.

She observes them at some points from beneath dark lashes; others in her peripheral vision.

Wraps long fingers around the back of a dining chair and asks, finally -- "What brought you back?" -- as if there must be some easily quantifiable reason. She's careful not to pose it as a challenge, Kiara, it's a curiosity she can't contain; avid; keen interest to know, because -- "I was beginning to think Denver was entirely void of any of us, my sister and I aside."

TrinityWith Sera's departure, Leah escaped into the kitchen to grab her half-a-beer (more than likely a full beer that she would nurse slowly until Annie remembered to take it from her.) Sasha's gaze lingered on Kiara (interested, curious.) Kiara was something of an embodiment of all three of them, if her resonance was to be believed. Cycles of life and death and rebirth. Surely this was something that the Verbena and the Euthanatos could understand in equal measure. There were dishes already set out on the long dining room table, but Annie set about adding a few more place settings for the guests, moving about the house with the kind of casual familiarity one would expect from someone who'd grown up there.

Kiara asked what brought them back. Annie was on her way out of the kitchen with an armful of dishes at that point, and she let her eyes focus on the table as she set them out. Let the weight of Kiara's question settle in the room. Sasha glanced at Annie. There was something unreadable in her gaze.

"There was a guy named Justin last time I was here," Annie finally responded. "When I called, he told me he'd moved. Sad to hear if you're the only one left." And she did sound it, for a moment. Sad. "We had a falling out with the rest of our cabal and had to leave Texas. So, here we are." Annie looked up and smiled a little, but the expression felt strained. Sasha slid in beside her for a moment and set her hand on Annie's shoulder. The gesture was simple and comforting. A familiar thing that spoke of intimacy.

None of them had Texan accents, though Annie's voice tended to dip into a slight drawl now and then (learned rather than inborn.)

"You should bring your sister by. We'd like to meet her," Sasha offered with a smile.

Kiara"I'm sorry." She seems it, the way her eyes follow Annie's progress; watch the interplay between the women from her vantage point behind that chair; gripping it as if it were some lifeline she was yet to feel confident letting go of.

There's a touch of empathy; some shared fragment; some prior awareness. "I had a coven back in New York. There were a lot of us. We had to leave, too." A pause; Kiara's throat works; she swallows and smiles and diverts her attention to Sasha at the offer to bring her room mate out. Doesn't go on to explain; tease out the reasoning. The why and when of their severing from the other Verbena.

"Sadie - my sister - she's - " Kiara pauses; her fingers curling a little more decisively around the back of the chair. There's some flicker of emotion there; it lingers in the corners of her mouth as it tips up; hides in the tiny flex of muscles around her eyes. They dip; lashes fanning out over her cheeks before she finishes with a tiny flourish where she uncurls her fingers from around the back of the chair; gives, finally; lets go of that tension.

" - not always great with people but I'll tell her. Maybe I can coax her out of hiding."

She pulls the chair out, then. Settles into it and casts her focus between the trio. "I've been coming out to stay here a little now and then. I don't want to intrude, though if you guys would rather privacy."

Trinity"Annie's not always great with people either. She'll be in good company." Annie shot Sasha an annoyed glance, but there wasn't much bite to it. Affection, if anything. She grunted lightly, which might have been reluctant agreement or maybe just a half-hearted grumble. Sasha laughed silently. The expression made her dark eyes grow warmer. (Hardly the chill, austere image one tended to expect of the death mages.) "I'll go get the food."

"No, sit down. You worked 12 hours today." Annie batted Sasha in the arm and shoved her toward a chair before heading off into the kitchen to collect Leah and their dinner. Sasha put her hands up and plopped into the chair as though in surrender. Amusement itched at the corners of her mouth. When Annie had left, she slid her gaze to Dan (whether he too decided to take a seat or leave them in search of Sera) and then Kiara.

"See? Like I said."

(She didn't seem to mind.)

But there was that lingering emotion in Kiara's eyes. In her hesitance to join them - to insinuate herself into their space. (A space that until very recently had belonged to all of them. Did it not still?) Something that may have spoken to memories. And Sasha was nothing if not observant. (It was, after all, in her job description.)

"You aren't intruding. I think Annie meant this place to be shared. It's too big for just us. And besides, you've had it all this time." After a beat she added, "Maybe knock first if you come by after ten."

Leah finally reappeared then, looking a bit more reserved than she had earlier. She sat down in one of the chairs furthest from Kiara, shooting her a quick glance across the table but otherwise remaining silent. (Like an animal that wasn't yet sure how to behave around strangers.)

They assembled like this. Piecemeal and casual, sitting down to dinner together like a family. It had been a long time since the house had felt this much like a home. Too long. And soon enough Sera came striding back in to rejoin them, and the conversation slid easily into topics of current events - who was still there and who wasn't. Whether or not Leah was done with high school (she was.) What everyone did for a living (Annie: a woodworker and Sasha: a police detective with the homicide unit.) And as they talked, Annie's mood relaxed. It was a nice evening, though perhaps steeped in bittersweet memories for some of those present.

And when it was over - whenever Sera and Dan and Kiara decided to leave (because Annie and Sasha didn't seem inclined to kick them out) Annie would reiterate what Sasha had stated earlier. That they were welcome back anytime. That the house, the node and the library were open to all who had need of it.