Bohemian Like You [Shinigami]

[tabitha simms]

The night was a surprisingly cool one in the desert, the wind a refreshment amongst the crowd of witches and bonfires abound. Not that Tabitha didn't enjoy crowds or fire or even heat. But sometimes a change of atmosphere could be a lovely thing. She didn't mind change so much. It was just another part of life, after all.

Tonight was a festivity. A witch's gathering. All the circles of Vegas and the surrounding areas, both dark and light, had joined in for a party. Tensions were running high, much mead and food passed around. Couples were jumping over the bonfires and some had taken up drums so that others could dance to such enchanting beats. She wondered briefly if there were chanters around who would soon take over, or even some Harpsichordes, those witches with heavenly voices who took their power from varying forms of music. She loved those ones the best.

Blending in with the crowd, she traveled through them, enjoying the company but not mingling just yet. She finally came to rest at a circle of upturned rocks so that she could warm herself by the fire. But she did not stop observing her surroundings, quietly taking in the scenery and the people around her. No one had noticed her, and she didn't mind at all. Sure, she loved conversation, but just watching people enjoy themselves was satisfaction enough for her at the moment.

[shinigami]

"Hey," Aidan says, from behind Tabitha. She hadn't noticed him, but he wasn't precisely obvious at the moment. The good ol' boy was crouched beside and behind a stone. The location the witches had chosen to gather was full of stones like that; full of mini-canyons, of rivulets in the rock; if you pay close attention you can almost feel the sunlight from the day still soaked up in the stone. "Fancy meetin' you here."

And when she turns to look at him, she'll see this: Aidan without his shirt, comfortable in his own skin; comfortable, in the scars and bruises, signs of old fights, across his ribs. It looks as if he's been knifed before; it looks as if he's been attacked by a wild animal before. His pants are a little loose, and they slide down his lean hips. He's shoeless, as well, because he's a witch; he doesn't need shoes on a night like this one.

His lip is a little bloody; his knuckles are raw. He's clearly been in a fight, and recently. To Tabitha, who knows very well that Aidan is War, this won't come as a surprise; Aidan, still being completely clueless as to that fact, was just wondering why he can't ever get some peace and quiet.

[tabitha simms]

Tabitha is not necessarily startled. Surprised, yes, because she hadn't expected Aiden-Ares- to be at the bonfire. And also jarred out of her dreamy observation, her attention diverted. Her head tilted back, aaaaaallll the way back, arching with grace so that it revealed the delicate curve of her throat and let the mess of her hair fall behind her, and she frowned at him. It was a brief frown, but so obviously there for all to see, as she took in his state of appearance. The half-dressed state, ok, there was appreciation. She had a great appreciation for handsome men. A weakness, you could say. But the blood... She really didn't like the implications. It meant fighting. It meant violence. It meant war.

"Greetings and salutations," she said slowly, before moving her head back into a more comfortable position.

Her own state of appearance wasn't so special. She looked like a witch, or a gypsy. A little of both. A wanderer. She looked as Life should, perhaps. All flowing skirts and thin fabrics for comfort. A great deal of bangles and strands of turquoise hanging from her neck. There was even an anklet with tiny bells for when she decided to dance and add her own sort of music into the gathering. And her hair, a great mess. All windswept and tangled and medusa curls. It looked like she'd been running or had spent too much time outside. All in all, she looked no different than usual when she wasn't in school. She blended in well with other witches though. They all started to look the same after a while, at least in her opinion.

"Having fun?" Her voice is neutral, but friendly, but there's a certain note of observation in her tone. Of knowledge. She thinks she knows what he's been up to, and she doesn't approve. Not one bit.

[ombra]

"Sort of," Aidan says. His eyes could shine like steel when necessary; so could his voice, come to think of it. His eyes could also be opaque, be so gray, so stormbelly dark that they weren't easy to read except: belly-of-a-storm means storm's-here. Storm's-here means trouble. Aidan means trouble. He might not mean to, but so? What of it?

"Still the new kid," he elaborates, a shy smile curving his fullfull lips up. Boy shouldn't have lips like those, and not use 'em, anyway. Boy was far too pretty, sometimes. "Not invited into all the reindeer games. You know."

And she does, although Aidan's seemed to have begun to fit into place at school. He's not constantly bullied, not anymore, although there's a storm brewing there too. "But I'm here with my family. You wanna meet 'em?"

He -- actually looks fairly hopeful. A mix. Of hopeful, and trepeditious. He hasn't picked up on that disapproving-knowing-look Tabitha's got right now -- or, rather, he has, and it's making a flush coil at the back of his neck, making his stomach fill with heat lightning, a slow, dark anger he isn't in touch with, so let it be.

[tabitha simms]

"When not invited, one should always make the best of entertaining themselves," Tabitha said, before yawning and stretching out quite a bit before hopping to her feet. "Then maybe other's will be entertained enough for you to invite them."

At the invitation to meet his parents, for a long time she was silent, staring at him. She was shocked, yes. Most definitely. So shocked that a soft red had started to creep up her neck and fan across her cheeks. Had anyone ever wanted her to meet their parents before? She couldn't really remember. In the past life, everyone just knew each other, and everyone that they were connected to. But to actually go and be properly introduced? Well, Tabitha didn't really know how to react to such a meeting.

Well, she was always one for new experiences.

"Sure," she said with a shrug, trying to keep up an unphased demeanor, but really she was still surprised, and goddess help her, did he make her curious. This could never end well, in her opinion. "I've actually never really met anyone's parents before. But hey, I'm not one to just throw ideas to the can without trying them first."

[shinigami]

He laughs, shyly. "What? You've never met anybody's parents before?" He also lifts his hands and rakes his fingers through his hair. Ducks his head, and this is still so almost achingly shy, and runs his fingers over the back of his neck, finally lacing them together, so his head is cocked at an angle, and his arms are in the air. Muscled arms; sculpted. He's a strong boy, even though there are jocks who pack more brawn than he does; Aidan was brainy. Aidan was dreamy, shy, and yet -- remarkably socially adept. Considering.

Then again, he wonders: should I have said I am making the best of it; I'm talking to you? Would that've been too smooth? Would she've laughed? The rage is beginning to die, again; to spiral back into slumber. He so rarely gets really angry. That is, for everybody, a good thing.

A shadow passes across his face, and he looks away from Tabitha abruptly; off across the bonfires, the figures dancing in front of fires. "Not parents. Family; mom, maybe." Just as abruptly, he segues into a less-than-eloquent disavowal: "And uhm. Uhm. You really shouldn't. I mean, it would be a bad idea. For the furthering of your, uhm. Education. Your life education, I mean. To, ah. Judge other parents on my mom; she ain't -- isn't -- well. You just shouldn't judge others on her. Because, well. My family's a bit odd, see?"

[tabitha simms]

"What? You've never met anybody's parents before?"

Tabitha shook her head, chuckling. "I've never had the opportunity," she said honestly. "It's just not something that's been brought up in past friendships or relationships."

There was the motion of a shrug, or the beginning of it, before her shoulders paused halfway through and dropped down. She didn't really like thinking on relationships at the moment. She was still having problems with Rhys. She'd have to fix that somehow, assure him that she was now loyal to only him, that there was nothing that would happen to them now that she was sure of who she wanted, as stupid as that sounded. But what to do? She still had no clue.

She was brought out of her thoughts at Aidan's rambling, and she couldn't help but grin at him. "I'm sure I'll be fine. I don't judge people... often. There have been few exceptions, but really he was a hopeless case." She was, of course, referring to Ares, but even Ares had had his good points as well. They were just only located in the bedroom, in her opinion.

[shinigami]

Aidan chews on the inside of his lip. This makes him seem vulnerable. More vulnerable than he is. More vulnerable than he is? Is he vulnerable? He certainly seemed it. Especially compared to Ares: to Tyr. To he of the blood and the iron. To he of the shield and the sword. He of the hair as dark as blood, the compelling smile. The smile that compelled death; that compelled that rush: electric. Some people only felt alive when they were risking their life. When they were giving their life to a cause. Some people -

But Aidan seems so different from who he was, another time, another life, and should they really be held accountable for their past sins?

"Oh," he says, awkward. The truth was that he regretted his invitation, just a little. He liked Tabitha. He -- really -- liked her. LIKED her. Like LIKED her, to be a total geek about it. And, well. No, this could only end badly. "Well, meeting the family can go really, uhm, badly. A couple times I, well," he pauses, and then grins. This unabashed thing, as if he can't even help it -- something with a shocking sweetness. "It hasn't always gone well with me. Not that I've had girlfriends. Not that kind of -- not that I haven't had them before -- uh. Damn it. What I mean to say is, meeting the family isn't always cool. An opportunity isn't something to take just 'cause it's an opportunity, right? Because..."

Aidan's ramble is cut short by another drawl, Southern-style -- more Southern than Aidan sounds, actually, thicker. And a witch, black haird and stacked in a way that'd make Blaise jealous, approaching: "Aaaaaaaaaidan, we need you to try this..."

"Oh well," he says, giving up. Really, he looks defeated. "The witch approaching is my cousin, Ivery."

[tabitha simms]

"Ivery, hmm, that's a lovely name," Tabitha said, going for the more polite route. She wasn't one to be rude intentionally. She was just blunt. She wasn't too good with lying, after all. "What does she want you to try..."

She trailed off as the girl neared. She really could have given Blaise a run for her money, but eh, Tabitha wasn't one to get jealous of such attributes. She was just fine being plain and as she was. So it was with friendliness and a need to mingle that she greeted the girl with a wave and a smile.

"Hi, I'm Tabitha," she said, reaching out a hand to shake Aidan's cousin's. "Aidan here tells me you're his wonderful cousin. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[shinigami]

"His wonderful cousin?" Ivery says, with a smile; the sort've smile that smoulders. The way she looks Tabitha up and down is the same way a cat might look at a bird, or a smaller cat; the way the spoon might look at the ice cream. Ivery is: forceful.

"Didn't use the word 'wonderful'," Aidan says. "Just so y'all are clear on that point." His smile, which is hopeful + eager + abashed, is for Tabitha; he is nervous of Ivery. "Tabitha goes to my school," he adds. "She's real nice."

"She must be," Ivery says, "if you're talking to her without turning red as a cupid's ass."

Which -- sort've has the downside of making Aidan flush.

"Nice to meet you," Ivery says. "Do you have a circle yet?" Twilight or Midnight, she means. Nobody says Daylight. Not in public like this. Not yet.

"Where's Mom?" Aidan asks, and Ivery gestures toward the east. "With Wyvern and Horse."

[tabitha simms]

"Well, no, he didn't use the word wonderful per se," Tabitha said with a soft smile. She wasn't embarrassed by her choice of words... yet. "I just assumed you must be if you're related to Aidan. He's a good kid."

The interaction between Aidan and Ivery though made her almost frown. She couldn't yet tell if it was just friendly teasing or teasing meant to hurt. The former she approved of for she did that with her family all the time, but the other...

She was drawn out of her observation by Ivery speaking to her once again. "Circle? Hmm. I don't really belong to any circle. I'm more of a wanderer myself. You?"

Though, she wanted to guess Midnight, she rarely judged a person based solely on their appearances. Either way, it didn't make a difference to her. She had to commend a witch for being able to make such a decision, for Tabitha had never been able to. She was on both sides of the spectrum, and everything nuetral in between.

[imaginihs]

"I've only been outside Las Vegas twice, not counting trips to visit family. And, Twilight," Ivery says, and the smoulder-look of amusement has burnt down (to embers, only) replaced by a different sort've amusement. Clearly, from her perspective, Aidan is working up a crush on Tabitha -- and she just called him 'a nice kid.'

Aidan is quite conscious of this nuance, thanks. He's still as red as possible; his eyes so wide, so lovely a gray, so vulnerable. "Hey," he drawls, "Isn't that that Valentine Crow you've got a thing for?"

Ivery's eyes narrow, and she looks all sharp: "What? Where?"

"Seeya," Aidan says, while she's distracted. He gives Tabitha a sidelong glance, while hooking his arm through hers -- pulling her away from his cousin toward the east. He does it as if it's his right; he does it as if once done it's done forever, as if all he had to do to conquer, was to say that he had conquered: been here. Mine now. He doesn't even know, doesn't even realize, how forceful, how strong he can be, is.

[tabitha simms]

The 'nice kid' comment had probably been lacking in the tact department, but Tabitha had yet to realize that. Sometimes, she just didn't realize the words coming out of her mouth. And for her, Aiden was becoming a separate entity from Ares. Ares had been banking for Jerk of a lifetime in her opinion. Aiden... he seemed more youthful than she was. Nicer. A kid in some aspects.

Blame it on spending too much time in the company of Rhys, who could act far older than anyone else she was accustomed to. Not at all like he used to be...

That thought caused a brief frown, to which she quickly forced away and turned her attention back on present company. But by the time she had, Ivery had been distracted, and Tabitha was being pulled off toward the east.

Startled, she made a slight squeaking noise in the back of her throat and let herself be tugged along. Yeah, he was still pretty strong, that much was for sure. But thankfully she remember that fighting back only made things worse and just let herself be tugged away.

"You know," she said calmly, "I am capable of walking on my own..."