MADELYN CLINE for tommy hilfiger . ( ♡︎ )
Most of what she knew, she'd learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored, and protected her when no one else would.
Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing (pg. 363)
time: almost four o'clock. location: the trip trap, the crooked mile. status: for @thievesandwitches, @faeritells + 1 open spot(s).
huffing and puffing, tink cleans the bartop over and over and over again. there are a couple of patrons scattered on the floor of trip trap and the blonde swings a cloth over her shoulder before she calls out to them. "last call!" faye could count with their fingers the amount of minutes she wants to stay at the goddamn gala, later on. it is a waste of time, a signing of something that does not guarantee mundanes won't find them ━━ and when they do, faye is going to be the first to call it a day and disappear into someplace no one will think to look. they are a lot of things but they're not the sacrificial lamb.
the would be fairy turns her back to the door and starts organising everything behind the counter top and it's then that they hear the door open and close. "for fuck's sake," faye swears under her breath, eyes rolling as they turn to face the reason for her mood shift. "it's almost closing time." hands on her hips, faye shifts her weight onto her left leg. "you better not be here to slowly nurse a glass of shitty whiskey."
characters going “we were lovers once”: eh, it’s okay i guess. it’s nice enough
characters going “we were friends once”: absolutely devastating. one hit knockout i’m gone
fabletown is a small pond and faye thinks herself a fish too big for it ━━ so it's no surprise that every time the fibres of their being are laced with a kind of boredom too overwhelming to ignore, people around feel the shock wave of it ( and more often than not, the aftermath is less than good for a couple of unfortunate souls ━━ it's a wrong place, wrong time sort of situation and with something enticing enough for faye to do something about it ). peter, even with all the history that they share, might become a victim just like anyone else. to be fair, he approaches her. "and you are far too dramatic, peverell." a name foreign on her tongue, even with all the decades of use ━━ he is peter pan, the boy who refused to grow up and she his trusted companion. that is how the story goes, isn't it? "please. we see each other every damn day." a chuckle, a head shake and a sip of a beer that warms with each second.
every word exchanged still feels heavier than it used to be. an abandon of their home and company left behind... faye knows better than to believe all is well. as much as she hates it, actions have consequences. "i have my hobbies and i can guarantee none of them will ever be knitting. have you tried it?" eyebrows raise and mischief paints itself on faye's lips as their blue eyes meet peter's. then, the offer of a sip of her beer. "genius is right." a jest, even if there is no lie to be found. "the day has just begun. don't cheer just yet, peter. i might just take your wallet next, see what secrets you've been keeping from me and the magic mirror."
peter slows when he sees her, doesn’t stop right away — just enough for his stride to falter, for the sound of his footsteps to hush. no surprise finding her like this: sun going down, attitude rising, one foot on the edge of a bad idea and the other barely planted in whatever counted as rehabilitation. he squints down at her, cigarette tucked behind his ear, a notebook wedged under one arm. the picture of reluctant responsibility. “you wound me, darlowe.” he drawls, tone dry as the sidewalk she’s baking on. “not even a hello before you threaten to hoard your shitty beer ?” peter crouches, not to sit, never quite that relaxed, but enough to put himself just in her line of sight, forearms balanced on his knees, mirrored like mockery. his eyes skim the can in her grip before they flick up to hers.
“you know,” he says, glancing around like the scenery might surprise him, “most people at least pretend to find hobbies that don't involve sitting on the side of the road. you ever try knitting ?” followed by a little shrug, not judgmental, just peter: half amused, half weary, all blunt. “but hey, if scowling at pavement’s what’s keeping you from torching another mailbox or charming a guy out of his wallet, who am i to stop genius at work ?”
fingers tap on the bar top, the faerie's head tilting to the side as she watches one dorothy gale spin one too many times. boredom has no true cure, not for someone like faye ━━ it is only dormant, waiting to come back when her latest entertainment loses it's novelty. pudding & pie helps little but it is better than being surrounded by nothing and no one. and who knows? perhaps the opportunity to amuse herself ( and perhaps make someone else's day less than ideal ) will come on a silver platter.
and it did.
hazel eyes focus on the fable, narrowed in both wander and annoyance. faye could not give less of a damn about the dead witch ━━ they barely give a damn about people whose name they do not forget on a daily basis ━━ but there is something dense about such a celebration, not because dorothy is only a few steps away from dancing on the witch's grave, no ━━ who is to say being a witch is why... whoever her name is, is dead?
faye smirks, though it does not quite reach her eyes. "ding dong the witch is dead, yeah?" a scoff, a sip on her drink. furrowed eyebrows paint themselves on faye's expression ━━ a part to play, a reaction that is planned more than genuine. "ever think that maybe there is a possibility it wasn't because she's a witch? you could be the next victim for all we know. and i don't know about you but i like being alive."
" I DON'T KNOW WHAT EVERYONE IS SO FUSSY ABOUT , " dorothy voiced , but the words were spoken between shallow and bitter breaths , having just teetered off the stage from a particularly grim performance ( the town's happenings had left little room for pallet - soothing whimsy , but perhaps her audience could have done without her celebratory merriment about the witch's fate ) . taking the scarlet fingertip of a stain glove between her teeth , dorothy tugged the costume piece off her tawny limb before discarding it behind her on the bar top .
" ─── anyone in their right state of mind would be relieved . feel , , , safer . " it were almost as if dorothy were self soothing ( as she was one to talk about what defined a right state of mind ) , shifting her bite to show her opposing glove the same attentions she had gifted the first . then , swirling on the stool so she was facing bar side , dorothy collected her thick , loose hair and pulled it over her shoulder , beginning to anxiously thread it into a loose plait , only to run her fingers through it and start over .
over . and over . and over again .
her eyes find the occupant of the seat next to her , eyes like that of a sleepy pup's as painted lashes framed droopy lids . she was so tired , their features blurring , a yawn burning her throat that she didn't let surface .
" i think we should give whoever did it a proper thanking . "
a 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 for 𝘋𝘖𝘙𝘖𝘛𝘏𝘠 𝘎𝘈𝘓𝘌 set at 𝐩𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐩𝐢𝐞 the eve the news broke of the murder . ( @detr1tus , @gravemist , @lcgendaries , @einchants , @daydreambeliiever , @unyearning / @unforsworn )