[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FaCzAxe.png[/img] 	[img]https://i.imgur.com/FePJtcZ.png[/img][/center]
 [right][code]Downtown St. Portwell[/code][/right][hr]
Work today was a drag.

Linqian had expected it, since the only people in a bar before 6pm on a Monday were old retired men and college students skipping classes to get pissed. She was only in at all, working a half shift, because she really needed the money. 

And the distraction.

At least she had a job at all. She’d only moved back to St. Portwell half a week ago, thankful that Jinhai had the foresight to keep their parent’s old home even if it was expensive - and that he hadn’t sold it like she’d tried to convince him to when the last renters moved out a year ago. She’d needed to get away from their apartment... Even if her parent’s place didn’t exactly fill her with joy. It felt even emptier.

At least it wasn’t a crime scene. It wasn’t where her twin had been killed (as much as she still didn’t quite believe he was gone).

She glanced at her phone. 6:30pm… She should be able to get out of work soon, then get to that stupid coven meeting. The only reason she was going was because of Jinhai. If he was still here, if that… fucker hadn’t killed him, she wouldn’t even bother. It was a group from the past she didn’t particularly want to revisit. 

Hopefully her ex wouldn’t be there.

Either way, it didn’t matter. She was just going there for revenge, not to revisit old friendships. 

[hr] [right][code]Flowers and Canvases.[/code][/right][hr]
Linqian walked into Flowers and Canvases a bit late thanks to work running over, just in time for Auri to name the man who’d killed Jinhai. Her immediate interest quickly waned when Auri started doing all the positivity crap that had been so pervasive in the old coven.

Linqian scowled, glancing around everyone who was there while trying to strategically decide where to sit. Simone? Absolutely not, she’d been too friendly with Jinhai for her liking back in the day. Tayla had sat in the front row, and Linqian wasn’t going to sit in the front row. Luca had given everyone a wide berth, which was very telling. Alizée? She’d rather stand. Eksa wasn’t too bad… But again, giving everyone a wide berth. It was like everyone wanted nothing to do with each other.

They probably didn’t. Linqian disliked a fair few… But she didn’t have her brother with her anymore. Being a lone wolf really wasn’t her style. Sighing, Linqian took a seat next to Drake. He was the best, somehow, out of seriously lacking options. They didn’t have any issues with each other that she could remember. 

Linqian’s eyebrow raised at Auri’s suggestion that they all move on. Well fine by her with all the people here. Honestly, any ‘past transgressions’ were already forgotten. All that was left was a vague memory of her feelings towards each person. Mostly ambivalence. Jinhai would’ve remembered more. 

She couldn’t care less about what Britney had done, because it didn’t affect her. 

[color=CD5C5C]”I agree with… Tayla,”[/color] Linqian spoke up, hoping she’d remember her name correctly. It’d been ten years and all, she hadn’t exactly kept in touch with these people, and Tayla was one of those she didn’t have strong feelings towards. [color=CD5C5C]”I already have a family, thank you… And Father Wolf killed one of them.”[/color] 

Linqian’s voice was cold, as if she wasn’t talking about the twin brother she was so close to. Of course her grief ran deep, but right now she felt very little. Completely numb. It was easy to talk about it because it still didn’t feel real. A tiny voice in the back of her mind told her that this wasn’t real, and she’d go home to Jinhai, alive and well. She knew that voice was wrong, she’d seen his body, but she hadn’t quite accepted it yet. [color=CD5C5C]”Enough with inspirational bullshit. You said you don’t know where Father Wolf is, but you’ll get to it. Well get to it now, cause it's all I care about, and I'm sure everyone else agrees.”[/color]

She fixed Auri with a sharp glare, lips pulled into a thin line. She couldn’t give less of a fuck about not repeating the mistakes of the past. They’d stayed together long enough to defeat the Stygian Snake, right? That’s all they needed to do now. Deal with Father Wolf then get on with their lives. 

[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/QIUSezo.png[/img] 	[img]https://i.imgur.com/ycOCuCr.png[/img][/center]
 [right][code]Flowers and Canvases.[/code][/right][hr]
[quote=Alizée]"Sacre bleu, would you give Brittany a rest? I'd dare to say the experience of being adjoined is good for you...Give you some perspective."[/quote]

Luca snorted, lips curving into a lazy smile, completely unbothered by the apparition staring at them. He vaguely remembered her. Adjoined too, obvious with the apparition floating at her shoulder, but not by Britney. Luca didn’t know her circumstances, just as she didn’t know his, so he wasn’t particularly bothered by her words. 

[i]”She’s right,”[/i] the Rot whispered in his mind. [i]”I am the best thing that happened to you.”[/i]

Luca rolled his eyes, ignoring it. The sudden, burning pain in his elbow was more difficult to ignore, his smile wavering, but he was also used to that. It would pass, or move onto another body part. His whole body was rotting away, after all. That didn’t come without pain.

[color=6B8E23]”You think I should give Britney a rest? Well, that’s fine, are you offering to help me instead? You see, since being adjoined with my apparition, I’ve ended up with quite the spending problem. Maybe you can start by helping me pay for my next phone. After all,”[/color] he reached into his bag, pulling out his phone. It began to corrode where his bare fingertips touched it, outer case cracking and the electronic insides turning brown with rust. Within seconds it had turned to rust coloured dust. [color=6B8E23]”I just keep destroying them. You’re not wrong, though, it has been good for me. It’s really beneficial not getting attached to material belongings.”[/color]

Luca shrugged. Of course he had another two phones in his bag, just as cheap as this one, because he was used to this. He just wanted to make a point. He always remained positive about his own situation, but Alizée’s comment had rubbed him the wrong way. 

Accepting that he was stuck with it didn’t mean pretending it hadn’t been preventable in the first place.