of course, as most days end, cas is here at the bar underneath his apartment (really his apartment is more above the bar, but that’s neither here nor there and definitely not something that cas cares to much about. it was nice, though, he enjoyed the arrangement though. he didn’t have to waste the precious space in his mini-fridge on alcohol and didn’t matter how much he drank, he just had to stumble up a flight of fire escape stairs to get home.

cas saw who was on for the night, and he smiled. aggie was … an interesting girl, but cas would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy her company. it was always an interesting way to pass the night when he could sit and talk to her. he gave a little two fingered salute as he took a seat, “a green giant if you got it, aggie."

Hazel orbs tore from the bar top he’d been staring at a bit emptily upon her sudden outburst. She’d done the thing he hadn’t ( voicing her frustrations ) and he was entirely grateful that she’d done so — it gave him an excuse to talk about his own misgivings ( and that part of him that was always switched ON when it came to work could attempt to dig for answers ). “If you haven’t figured it out, what good are they going to do?” He offered. “Not that I’m equating my job to anything similar to yours, but I’ve only been here a year and as a new set of eyes… well, I can’t say I’ve got any answers. Maybe more questions. What difference are they gonna make?”

aah leaned his ear against a tree, just to check the voices weren’t coming from it. the voices were in his head, they belonged to the forest, they had no source, he wasn’t sure. this particular tree had nothing to say, but that didn’t stop the voices in the distance whispering his name. “aah..”

he turned around to face aggie. not a lot of people liked to hang out in the forested areas, for obvious reasons. if the fog came, it would be dangerous. but aah wasn’t perhaps as worried as he should be. he was on the god’s good side. he could feel it. when he wasn’t on the good side… well, then he could feel that, too.

“just listening,” aah said. he put his finger to his lips as if to shush her. “can you hear it? something’s stirring today. it was sleeping. but it’s almost time for it to wake up.”

( @misplaczd​ )

         “ LOKI !! down boy —- ”      beatrice’s tone is far from rescinding, though ; more LAUGHTER than bite as she wrangles her way through the front door, bacon and a piece of pie ( ellie’s FAVORITE ) from the diner on a paper plate held aloft over her head out of reach from the excited dog. she peers down the hall, standing a bit helplessly as she can’t safely remove her boots.      “ ELLIE — little HELP ??? come fetch your wolf !! ”

rubbing the sleep from her eyes , ellie sauntered down the stairs , stumbling a bit over the last step. the shock left her heart beating arduously , a bit out of pace. mornings were always rough on elizabeth as she grappled with recovery from the previous night’s . . . escapades. the front door brought in a rush of fresh air and a symphony of sound. breezing toward the hall , ellie couldn’t help at guffaw at the amusing sight. sighting the bacon and pie , elizabeth felt the hangover momentarily escape her and a surge of urgency hit her , “ loki , come ! “ she racketed , lowering her voice to ensure compliance and ignoring the pounding of her headache. elizabeth offered some positive reinforcement when the dog pranced over to her side , staring right up at her. waving beatrice over with a grin , elizabeth headed toward the kitchen. “ she’s a bit nutty when it comes to food , especially if she hasn’t been fed yet. “

the loss of aleksandr’s mother rattled him to his core. aleks did his best to push his feelings of grief away entirely while uncertainty plagued his mood. none of his memories with his mother were particularly painful by any means ; however , the memories that the two did have were very few. aleks hadn’t noticed he had been stuck in his own mind until he became painfully aware of the presence of his company. turning to beatrice , aleks offered an apologetic smile. “ sorry , i just . . . “ pausing to collect his thoughts , aleks pushed the rim of a beer bottle to his lips , allowing the cold liquid to run down his throat. “ it’s just weird that i feel so . . . bad about losing her. it’s not like i’ve really lost anything. the closest thing i ever had to a mother was a nanny. “ the bar offered a familiar setting for the pair , and aleks was reminded of the night they met: beatrice up at the microphone ( appearing as though she belonged there ) and aleks staring in awe.

aglaia watched in disappointment as her lime , sparkled bowling ball drifted slowly into the gutter. seconds later , the ball disappeared into the black abyss that would later regurgitate the sphere back into her hands ( no doubt she’d find more dismay in giving it another toss into the lane ) . aggie was a woman with much pride , and yet she sacrificed it regularly for samantha. samantha’s bowling skills often resembled jason belmonte ; contrastingly , aglaia’s were subpar and she was quite certain that the average seven year old could whoop her in bowling. aggie had considered putting bumpers on but the thought alone made her flush with embarrassment. scowling , she turned back to her opponent , “ one day , i will figure this game out and you will get smoked . “

flipping the ‘ open ‘ sign to ‘ closed ‘ , elizabeth focused her steps toward the bar. it had been a long night ( not from the amount of business they got ; rather from the emotional stress weighing heavily on their shoulders ) . both ellie and avi had lost people to the fog. it seemed almost cruel that life did not stop when their loved ones’ lives did ( presumably ) . elizabeth couldn’t help but kick herself for not getting her little family out of town when she had the chance. nowadays, all of her nights ended the same: with her reaching for the bottle. elizabeth grabbed for the bottle of patron , wrapping her fist around the cork and drawing it out of the bottle. pouring two shots for herself , ellie turned to avianna , “ you drinking tonight ? you’re welcome to whatever we have around here. “ gulping down one of her shots , a familiar burn left her chest feeling warm ( a feeling that had grown to comfort her over the years ) . “ the new order comes in tomorrow , “ elizabeth added.

aggie’s life around pine haven had become dull ( to say the least ) . the lingering feeling of excitement that came from her criminal expeditions appeared to vanish more and more with each passing day. at one point , aglaia was drunk off of the feeling and now the buzz had settled down to the nausea and misery that came with a hangover. in an effort to get another slight glimpse at that feeling , aggie crept charlie’s cigarette package out of his back pocket. pulling a stick out of the pack , aglaia swiftly flitted the cigarette upward until it sat snug in between her lips. the exposed sparkwheel felt gritty against her thumb as she lit the end of the cigarette , drawing air toward her gullet. when she could feel the smoke caress the back of her throat , aglaia shoved the pack of cigarettes in charlie’s direction , making a proud example of her pickpocketing skills. “ i’ll pay ya back for it sometime . . . maybe. “ she teased. it was rare that aglaia’s tobacco reserves were barren , yet on this fateful day, the impossible had happened. vaguely , she noticed that the small theft gave her no noticeable pleasure.

elizabeth’s coffee table had been garnished with a selection of alcohol: everything from everclear to light beer. ellie bounced around in terms of preference , tailoring her drink to her mood ( which seemed to be ever-shifting ) ; additionally , she wanted to ensure that charlie had his own selection of drinks. while her supply of booze was copious , her company had been lacking the past few months. ellie was endlessly thankful for charlie’s presence and the comfort it provided ; while some fled her side after her husband’s disappearance , charlie seemed to draw nearer. after two shots of gin , one glass of bourbon , and two glasses of grenache ( which had succeeded in staining ellie’s lips a deep purple ) , ellie’s reflections on the passages they had just read became a bit scattered. “ so . . . drogo is even worse off than he was before ? “ ellie inquired incredulously. “ did she , “ hiccup. “ do you think she knew she’d be giving up her baby ? what does that say about her ? is it wrong to choose love over your unborn child ? “ thoughts swarmed elizabeth’s head. her own feelings on the matter were unclear and brought a feeling of dread to the forefront of her mind ( mostly due to the fact that she was leaning toward daenerys’s decision , knowing it’d give her back her husband at the cost of her child ; a very morbid thought ) .