Hibernal 🔮💘 𝓕𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓾𝓷𝓮 𝓣𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓣𝓮𝓷𝓽 💔🔮

[Rimechapel]

Frazil Narthex

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@SDBMBH

kkkpffffffffss

"Uh huh... and he said what?" Frazil hissed affectionately through his mask to a green-headed duck preening and quacking contentedly on his lap.

"Quack! Quack-quack... qaq...." the duck... well, quacked.

"Psh, language, Apple-Fritter Fiend," Frazil tutted, in an exaggeratedly paternal way, rubbing the top of the duck's head with two fingers and his thumb. "Don't wanna have any widdle kyoodie-woodies question your upbringing-winging do we, no, aw."

kkkpffffffffss

He twitched his face upward, looking to Cain as the biker entered the tent, clearly looking for something - someone. A low chuckle rumbled behind the mask, purple smoke puffing out with each noise.

"Eyyy, que paso, papacito," he said, sounding like he had probably just exhausted his entire Spanish vocabulary by using the one phrase he had used - right or wrong - approximately four million times. His accent wasn't terrible, but it was presently probably the only thing about him that wasn't.

"Get in here, homie," Frazil continued, waving a hand and lazily gesturing downward with two fingers to the seat on the other side of the desk. His boots, propped up on the table, softly ground some loose, crunchy snacks that were liberally strewn over the metal desk. His other hand pet the duck from head to tail in broad strokes, while the duck wiggled and quacked softly. From behind the desk, a ruddy-headed duck poked its head up and nib-nib-nibbled its bill at some of the snack crumbs, tilting its head sideways as it vied for purchase.

"You look like my people. Sorta. Two wheels are better than four, hey?" Frazil picked the duck up, grease-stained fingers curling beneath the talkative but docile waterfowl as he lifted it off his lap to set it on the desk, where it proceeded to waddle around and quack softly, kicking its webbed foot every few steps to flick off crumbs that had taken to sticking to the bottom of its foot.

"You look like you're lookin' for a chick," he continued conspiratorially. The green-headed duck quacked at Frazil, quite loudly and indignantly.

"Okay, okay, sorry, jeez," Frazil said, holding his hands out to the duck in a placating way. The duck waddled the rest of the way across the desk, quacking in an affronted way and kicking snacks, crumbs, and the prevailing, sickly-sweet purple smoke about with every step. Still quacking indignantly, it hopped off the table, waddled right past Cain like he wasn't even there, and disappeared through a beaded partition in a different part of the tent, strung beads swishing and clicking faintly behind it.

"Riiiiiiiight, now that the kiddos are gone..." Frazil said, pulling his feet off the desk and leaning forward to rest his elbows on the edge. The ruddy-headed duck peeked over the top of the desk and stole another snack, but Frazil didn't seem to notice. He opened a drawer on the desk and pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle it in his hands. "Let's talk. We got a small deck here. Don't worry."

He slapped the dubiously shuffled pile of cards - which appeared to be ordinary playimg cards, and certainly fewer that 52 of them - onto the surface of the desk, cut them, and then flipped the top one over. It was a Queen of Spades, and spun slowly for a second on a crumb. "I sense... you're lookin' for a woman. In black."

Just then, the ruddy-headed duck popped up and snatched the card off of the desk, along with the crumb underneath it. "She's gone," Frazil said flatly. "Looking for a nice big duck."

He flipped over another card - Ace of Diamonds. "Got a diamond solitaire--" the duck popped up again amd snatched the card away, "... stolen. From her. Mhm. Hate that for you, homie."

He flipped over another card, but before either of them could see what it was, the duck snatched it off the table. This continued on twelve more times, with Frazil flipping a card and the duck grabbing it out of his hand or off the table like a well trained... well, duck, until Frazil turned over the last three cards. 2 of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, 2 of Spades.

"Uh huh. Yeahhh, yeah, um. Yeah," Frazil muttered, as though any of this made the slightest amount of sense. The ruddy-headed duck popped its ruddy little head over the edge of the desk once more with a quack! and flipped a quarter onto the table. The quarter rolled on its side, wibble-wobbling between crumbs and snacks until it noisily circled and came to a rest in front of Cain. Seconds later, the somewhat proud looking ruddy-headed duck waddled out from behind the desk with several playing cards clamped tightly in its bill, and left that partitioned part of the tent - presumably to feather its nest, or maybe give the cards to someone it deemed more deserving.

"Yeah, so... Two-one-two," Frazil grunted confidently, leaning back in his chair to lace his hands behind his head and prop his boots up on the desk. "There's your area code, and a quarter to call someone who cares. At a club. With a heart on it. Bring shovels or something."

 

[GremlinSage]

"I am?" Julez said with a small laugh and a sigh of relief once told that she was making perfect sense. Full, glossy pink lips spread into a reassured smile, but only for a moment, as her pretty features quickly took on a concerned expression. "Wait, are those animal bones...?" Julez pointed with one index finger, then balled both hands up under her chin, leaning in to whisper. "I'm a vegan. Does that mess with, like, your whole..." Julez waved one hand around in an unsure gesture, "...thing that you got going here?"

The blonde continued to lean forward incrementally as Cordelia spoke, then paused, then spoke again, then paused again... intolerable suspense building up inside the young dancer.

"Desirable."

She nodded. "I try..."

"Agreeable."

She nodded again. "I love to please..."

"Available."

She nodded eagerly, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Schedule's always open..."

"But approval isn't intimacy, my dear and you didn't come here for romance."

She shook her head adamantly. "No, I didn't..." Then, as if coming out of a trance, Julez blinked several times and sat up straight. "Wait, I didn't? Aww c'mon, I thought you were going to help me find a boyfriend or something!" Julez let out a heavy "Hmph!" and leaned back in the chair, arms crossing over her chest. "Well, that's disappointing." She frowned, then finally looked up after a few seconds. "Well, then what did I come here for?"

There was a brief pause before she added. "Wait, am I paying for this? Because we never discussed payme..."

Julez stopped talking immediately as one of her own hands reached up casually to scratch the side of her neck... only to find that she'd forgotten to remove one teeny-tiny, uh, article of "clothing" before she'd left the club. Oh no! The blonde almost panicked as it dawned upon her that around her neck was a thick, black, pleather (she is vegan after all) dog collar with a silver O ring dangling from the center of her throat. Oh my GOD, how did I forget to take this off? Nervous laughter spilled from her lips uncontrollably as she lowered her hand away from the collar. Maybe it won't stand out. People wear all kinds of weird stuff out in the world these days, it's just a fashion statement... or something...

"Ahem," Julez cleared her throat, eventually recomposing herself. "Sorry, um, can we..." She made a rolling motion with her hands. "Can we kind of get to why I am here and what you think I'm looking for? Thanks..." She gulped hard, feeling very self conscious that some of her club life was spilling out into the real world. Uuuhuhh, I can't believe I left this on... but what Julez didn't realize is that she had taken it off and hidden it away in the duffel bag that now lay on the ground beside her chair.

She hadn't forgotten... so why is it around her neck right now?

Cordelia

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Cordelia gave a soft, breathy laugh at the question about the bones. "They don't mind what you eat." A shadow briefly appeared behind the teller's right shoulder, green eyes peering at Julez before it disappeared behind her. "They only mind what you offer."

Fingers brushed against the bones, nudging a knuckle bone aside before looking back up at the dancer, just in time to catch the movement at her throat.

Cordelia stilled.

"Interesting." The teller murmured.

Her gaze lingered a moment too long before she leaned back in her chair, hands folding together. "We didn't discuss payment." Cordelia smiled. "You'll know when something's been taken."

A pause.

Her smile returned, slow and knowing. "You like being chosen. Told what you are." Those light green eyes settling on Julez's neck. "And because something followed you in."

"But!" Cordelia suddenly clapped her hands, her unsettling smile spreading a little further. Instead of the bones before her, she reached for the tarot.

Three cards. No flourish. No shuffle. One by one they were turned over.

"The star." Cordelia hums. "Hope. Performance. Being looked at."

The second card was turned over. "The Devil." Cordelia sighed as if it was a long lost lover. "Wanting to be chosen. Wanting to belong."

Then the final card was turned over, revealing the Hanged Man.

"You didn't come for a boyfriend," The shadow returned, slowly coiling itself around Cordelia's arm. "You came because you're tired of choosing who gets to touch you." The shadow spilled onto the table off her finger tips, radiating a cool air as it neared Julez. "You're even more tired of pretending it's your idea."

She gathered the cards and bones together. "This isn't a warning," Cordelia added softly. "Nor is it advice." Her smile returned, thin, knowing. "This is a diagnosis." Her hand gestured toward the tent's opening, "Whatever you do with that?" She shrugged, grinning. "Not my concern."

The shadow snaked its way closer to Julez, growing colder the nearer it came. "They're hungry." Cordelia whispered, that grin threatening to fall off.