❛ yikes. makes my childhood sound like a total picnic. sure, we had wolves t’ contend with ev’ry night, and an’ the odd bear ev’ry once in a while, but at least there were no rats. ❜ matty gave an amused smirk, blue eyes twinkling in what little light her phone gave off. he could do this FOREVER with her, he thought to himself. their little back-and-forth.   

       as the conversation turned sombre, so did his expression. he listened without interruption as ruby let out a few musings. it occurred to him that this might be the very first time he had ever heard her mention her family in earnest, and not simply as the punchline to a joke. it was like they’d crossed some invisible line in their relationship, or maybe there was just something about this place that enticed the redhead to discuss things she normally wouldn’t.

       and this, he supposed, might be where he’d be expected to share a story of his own upbringing. cradled in the lap of luxury, the vos parents had spoiled all three of them ( equally, in matty’s eyes at least ), and that included regular trips to the movies, followed by a visit to the ice creamery on the opposite side of the road. their cinema had been much larger than this, akin more to the stadium ruby had just mentioned ( not without a little disdain in her voice, he’d noted ). he remembered seeing all manner of movies with his family, and then, when he’d grown into a teenager, going for the occasional midnight showings of cult movie classics - pulp fiction, the matrix, fight club. but the words with which to describe these memories proved hard to find - they caught in his throat, refused to be let out.

       in the silence of the theatre, his footfalls on the old carpeting seemed as loud as a giant’s. they took him up to the back corner, where matty took up the pretence of studying the door to the projection room, though a simple twist of the knob instantly told him that it wouldn’t open. the blonde simply stood there, awash in memories, which meant that he, too, missed the arrival of a new set of footsteps just outside. the voice that came next, however, rang clear as day.

        ❛ oi! who’s there?! you’re not supposed to be in here!”

       matty’s eyes immediately widened, and he sent a look of confusion over to where ruby stood. ❛ what do we do? ❜ while he’d attempted to keep his voice low, the footsteps only grew louder. whoever it was, he was seconds away from opening the door and catching them. in that split second, matty decided on a course of action. 

                RUN. 

      he leapt down the steps in twos and threes and over to ruby. taking her hand in his, he pulled her over to the other door in the room, which read, ❛ EMERGENCY EXIT ❜.

One could have even said that there was sort of dependence from Lydia’s side, but it was explainable—and even expected, really. The second her family and friends back in America heard the ‘news’ their turned on her, and all the others after that were temporary and the connection was shallow, Lydia getting easily pushed out if anything. So of course, of course she would be worried, some part of her ridden with paranoia and hidden insecurity, that she would eventually be replaced, just like that. But, she said nothing, only smiled joining the other’s tease, although the curl in her lips was a little too sad to be convincing. The blonde swiftly turned her attention away from the topic and pressed pink lips together in thought. 

“Romania doesn’t have coincidences like that,” she breathed, brows furrowing in a matter of seconds. “Doesn’t mean they just gonna, you know, kill you on sight, it’s just—they legit do it for money.” She took a good pause after Ruby’s question, list of people going in her head up and down as the inquiry couldn’t be random. Not with the redhead next to her. “..Yeah, no. They don’t. It’s like, they are family meet syndicate or some crap. Very stubborn, closed off, constantly fight with Famine folk. Which is probably kinda funny knowing it’s like—well, I don’t wanna say it because it sounds harsh and mean and honestly, they can’t ALL be like this—but knuckleheads versus people who make millions — maybe billions in a day. It’s like..You know what I’m saying? I’m pretty sure they would fight Pestilence too, but I literally have no fight moves and I don’t know if any of us do? Yeah.” Another pause as she basically squirmed in her seat, itching to pose a single question herself. “..Why? You know someone? I mean, you can tell me, it’s not like I will do anything. I’m just curious.”

                                                    "Yeah, but . . . you don’t think that he was only with me because of something to do with his house, right?”  A slew of insecurities came crashing down on her unexpectedly, like waves crashing into shore. It wasn’t as if she should have minded at all, but she did. She did in a manner which caused a twist in her stomach, sickness to think, dramatically so, that what if everything she’d had, everything she’d stayed behind in Romania for . . . what if it was ALL a farce. Granted, she’d been the one to walk out on him, it hit her like a freight train -- unexpected. In the wake of everything she seemed to now be involved with, she couldn’t imagine why she’d be dragged for more sinister reasons.

         both brows arched, a slow smirk spread over his face as it became clear that ruby intended on keeping the decided destination a secret, for now. ❛ alright, lead the way, babe. i trust y’. ❜ matty didn’t miss the mischievous light that entered ruby’s eye as they exited the bar, which only got him to wondering more about where they were going. he took the bottle obligingly, then, noticing her shivers, wrapped an arm around her waist so that they were walking pressed side-to-side.

        matty was surprised when ruby stopped only two alleyways away from foxes. peering through the darkness yielded few clues as to the place she taken him - the building looked utterly abandoned, old posters peeling off of the walls the only signs it had ever been used at all. ❛ what is this place… a movie theatre? ❜ not exactly the romantic hideaway he had been envisioning, but hey, if it worked for her.

        it was a welcome relief from the cold, at least, and matty hurried quickly through the door. the cinema didn’t look much better on the inside, with a thick layer of dust covering everything visible in the gloom. teasingly, he commented, ❛ i gotta say, rubes, kinda leanin’ towards agreein’ with the other guy, here. ❜ the feeling of her hand slipping into his brought a wide grin to his face, though, and he suddenly found that he didn’t have much else to complain about.

        it was clear ruby had been here many times before, with the way she navigated the place confidently. ❛ come here a lot, do ya? ❜ it seemed an odd place for the redhead to frequent, a run-down cinema that hadn’t seen a living audience in years - but then again, maybe not. ruby’s nostalgia for times long past came across in everything she did and loved, why wouldn’t she enjoy visiting a place like this? and with that thought, matty began to appreciate the charm that the place held, just a little bit more.

        by now, matty’s eyes had adjusted, and after ruby let go of his hand he slowed down to admire the main room, letting out a low whistle. the disembodied chuckle that resonated around the room might have been eerie had it come from anyone else,but from ruby it only brought a smile to his face. he wandered down the aisle, hand brushing over broken seats. ❛ okay, i’ll admit it’s growin’ on me. ‘s pretty cool. but what do y’ mean, it “reminds you of home”? ‘m pretty  sure y’ve never mentioned livin’ in a condemned building, or y’ would’ve totally won all our contests. ❜

                                                       There was a tinge of nerves Ruby was met with once they’d stepped inside. She’d never taken anyone here before, and why would she have?? She never had a reason, but whatever it was, it seemed right. Opening up, in a sense, her way of not so overtly showing him how she felt without realization hitting so harshly upon her. Although silly to anyone else, apparently even a little to Matty himself, the building rang important.

“Rubes, darling, I’ve been one of place-smashing buffoons before. No matter how much you think you know, nothing beats rough practice.” The ugly carved out scar heated up on his forearm with that thought, and he cleared his throat before moving away. “They either want me to leave or just—hell I know, get scared?” It wasn’t a question posed to Ruby, only a thought said loudly as his eyes scanned the mess. Instead, the redhead was one to be scared as he stood there, not knowing how to comfort her. “You’re gonna feed my cats tho, right? If anything happens, you get my cats, Faraday. All three; Mazikeen, Felix and Arsene. Imma haunt your ass so bad if I find out you gave them away.” He tried to lighten the mood up by nudging the girl, a little smile, but truth be told the possibility of him dying right now was just not the topic he wanted to discuss. 

                                              Ruby could feel it in her bones, that she was starting to grow emotional. It wasn’t necessarily her place, not her business, but she didn’t care. Theo had shown her kindness when she really didn’t have any place else to go. He was one of the few she’d grown to care about -- not wishing to see any harm come his way. She hated this, she hated fearing for her friends lives day in and day out. Life in Bucharest was never SUPPOSED to be this way. Keeping quiet about her concern sans for the laughter as he tried to lighten the mood, it was likely that her expression gave it all away. Wiping at misted over eyes, she nudged him back before wrapping her arms around him in a hug, holding onto the embrace for a moment before playfully shoving him away. “How could you even think I’d just let your cats die?” she scowled in a similar manner, “Now, we’ve got a bar to clean up.”

[ TEXT  >>  Rubes ❤️✨ ]: AH YOU’RE KEEPING THIS CAT THEN FOR SURE?!?! [ TEXT  >>  Rubes ❤️✨ ]: True. This is so true. He’ll be rotting in hell one day I promise [ TEXT  >>  Rubes ❤️✨ ]: I’ll get you everything for the cat basics!  [ TEXT  >>  Rubes ❤️✨ ]: …Clearly not this one. Heh

              Evie would like for the records to state that she doesn’t NORMALLY skin her victims. It just so happened that THIS one in particular was well-deserving of it. He was a renown serial killer, took advantage of more women than the Mae could COUNT, and it just so happened that he’d frequented her brothel, PAID for her services. She loathed men like him, the SCUM of the earth, those who dig their fleshy fingers into the carcass of another’s broken youth. So when she’d gotten word that he would be in Bucharest for business, The Beast decided to pay the man a little visit. She’d heard of honour amongst thieves, sure, but never of honour amongst KILLERS. 

                        She’d say it was nothing personal, but. In this case, it WAS.

              The proceeding ADRENALINE, however, was more of a    high    than she’d experienced in quite some time. Big men like him bled more than the average, it POOLED around her, stained porcelain skin in a crimson hue as she continued shaving down the man’s arm with her blade. Layer after layer. The skin flitted down to the pavement of the back alleyway, enveloping her, SOAKING in the man’s own blood. She’d kept him alive long enough for him to SUFFER, grunts of displeasure muffled by the gag she’d twisted and turned around his mouth and neck. Eventually, she figured, he’d gone into shock from the pain and trauma, his pulse, somewhere along the line, had ceased its throbbing, and she’d simply shrugged and continued working. THIS was a long time coming.

              What she hadn’t anticipated was somebody DISRUPTING her, and, if she had any fear in her body, she would’ve frozen like a deer in headlights at the overwhelming BLINDNESS of some cellphone’s flashlight, but she DIDN’T. Instead, she treated it as a spotlight, decided there was no better time than the present to put on a little SHOW, and dissolved into a fit of       H  Y   ST  E R  I  A,    maniacal laughter resonating through the entire alley. A sharp-toothed grin was interrupted only by the gesture of her hands cupping the blood and POURING it down her face, head cocked as the scarlet flowed freely down her chin, forked tongue making a point of lapping up the excess. 

                              ❛        H A H A H A H A  !     W h a t     do   we   have   H E R E  ? !      ❜

              She stood, swinging her Mongolian knife about her fingertips, watching as the light of the other’s phone refracted against its lethal edges. 

                         ❛          Now, now, don’t   R U N   away from me  !   We’re FRIENDS now, RIGHT, buddy  ?   And friends don’t TELL. Otherwise…    Weeeeell.  You SAW what happened to my little     F R I E N D    here…    ❜

       For someone towering over most people, Nicolae was gifted in the art of being as small as possible. Able to cling close to a wall, to lean against a light post and blend into the metal, he had a knack for going unnoticed. On-board a train, packed to the brim, he managed to stay out of the others’ way while reading to pass the time. It was a weekday, people going anywhere and everywhere, and Nicolae found it odd, being around people who didn’t live at their workplace.

       As a particularly chatty group of students all left the train, a vacant spot opened up for him to sit. Despite never having been the most graceful of people, Nicolae slid down in the seat, eyes still following the lines in the book. Minutes passed as his camera eyes printed every page into his memory. The book wasn’t particularly interesting, Integrated Chinese, mostly a test to see how quickly he could grasp an entirely new language. It went alright thus far.

       When the train stopped, it was entirely unexpected, breaks screeching from the other side of the metal, and the passengers flung forward as if the ground had shifted beneath them. The book slipped from his grip, crashing down on the person next to him and the librarian let out a quick gasp as he reached for it. “Oh shit, I-I… Sorry.” He mumbled, before looking up at the other. “I-”

       Then he saw her. HER.

       “Um, hey.” FUCK. “Did it hurt? I’m sorry.”

                                              As if awkward wasn’t AWKWARD enough. Her attention all too focused on the script in her hands that she’d not even noted who’d taken the seat beside her, Ruby bounced between him and the railing beside her as the fallen book tore the paper in her hand. “Shit.” she mumbled, shaking her head, a mess of red tresses in her eyes as she’d looked up, brushing them away.

        a certain someone might have upstaged him by throwing a party in ruby’s honour. but matty was, among other things, an attention-seeker, and the person whose attention he sought most often and with the greatest effort was ruby. he wasn’t going to let her think he had forgotten or otherwise failed to prepare for her birthday, no chance. so maybe he was hijacking the party a little. matty had at least asked theo, whose assistance he had needed to prepare the stage, the music, et cetera et cetera. but to all else, it would be a surprise. 

       ruby was perhaps wondering why he was taking so long to turn up to the party. well, she’d get her answer in just a few seconds. all of a sudden, the lights in the bar went out, to the confusion of everyone. a lone figure stood in the centre of the little stage, back turned to the audience, and one spotlight went on to shine its light on him. so maybe ruby’s flair for the dramatic had rubbed off on him, or otherwise had encouraged some already-existing quality of theatricality.

       the blond held up a mic to his mouth, ❛ …happy birthday rubes, ❜ before the opening notes to a classic began to play.

               ♬ ♪ ❛ what i like about you!~ ❜

       matty spun around, greeted the party attendees with a cheeky smile as a rainbow of stage lights burst into life. he was dressed to the nines in an eighties-style, pastel blue suit, complete with a pair of shades and slicked-back hair. ❛ y’ hold me tight!~ tell me i’m the only one, wanna come over tonight, YEAH! ❜

       he proceeded into a medley of the choruses of various 80′s hits, including the romantics, billy joel and even a little prince. singing had never been something matty could call a forte, certainly couldn’t ever hope to share a stage with ruby, but hey, he was passable, and furthermore had only picked songs that stayed within his range. what he lacked in vocal range, he tried to make up for with dance, though even that was hardly stage-worthy. jazz-hands at inappropriate times, clumsy turns, he hammed it up as much as possible to add to the humour of the spectacle. eventually, he even made it off the stage to dance among the party-goers, the spotlight following him as it went.

       not something matty had ever imagined he would be doing, but this would all be worth it once he saw her face. matty searched the darkness of the crowd, looking for the familiar head of RED HAIR. he finally spotted her, grinned. approached her and took her hand as he continued to sing directly at her. 

      ❛ she’ll see i’m not so tough, just because, i’m in love with an… ❜ ♩♫

@rubyrednightingale

( chvmeleonisms: )

                             ❛       Ruby I’MSOSORRYABOUTTHECOUCH I’ll pay someone to clean it because I KNOW I won’t do a good job !     ❜      Exclaimed she, ignoring the mess for now, CHEERING as the Müller popped the cork and let spew an ERUPTION of champagne bubbles. It DRENCHED the vicinity, puddling at her feet, soaking into her black attire, causing the clothing to CLING to her frame. But she had no care for any of that; as Jezebel joined them in their embrace, she just hugged the two TIGHTER. 

                             HAPPINESS these days was a RARE sentiment, but, stepping out of the group celebrations, Bex knew she’d found it in two of the most CHERISHED people in her life. So her grin was genuine, LOPSIDED, her head nodding of its own accord in cohesion with Jezebel’s words.       ❛       It’s TRUE, everything she’s saying is true, Rubes !       ❜       Announced The Chameleon, tossing her arms in a display of theatrics    —    damn, she remembered the time she was SOBER. 

                             And then came the giggles, so UNBEARABLY so she was forced to clasp a hand over her mouth to stifle them, lest she come across as RUDE at the birthday girl’s ramblings.       ❛       We’re not fucking with you, babes. The director REALLY loved you. I mean, what’s NOT to love  ?       ❜       But the Faraday’s question had her arching a brow, smile turning to SMIRK knowing how much MORE enthused she would be when she found which musical they’d gotten her the main part for.       ❛       Okay, Rubes. Don’t freak out, alright  ?  Or I mean, DO, because it’s AWESOME, but     —-     You’ve got the main part in Bonnie and Clyde !!!      ❜ 

@queenxofxthieves​

She wasn’t all that surprised that Ruby was skeptical of the news she just heard, but on the other hand why would these two ever joke like that? The contract in her hand was real, and it didn’t take all that much to get her the role, most of it was her own talent; Jezebel only knew people who wouldn’t have had a way of knowing about Miss Faraday if not for the brunette. Both Beckett and she had decided it would be the best gift from them they could get, as it was useful and something Ruby would possibly want, and also not an every day thing — not a thing one could buy just around any corner. 

With the announcement of the musical the Müller jumped and spun around with excitement still present and high up. She only wished that the redhead would join them on this, and accepted the humble offering her hand had presented. “You’re going to be Bonnie! Can we come watch? — That is, of course, if you want and going to do it. Because we would love to watch you perform in something like that.” She grabbed the opened champagne now and took a good swig from it, then a couple more, licking her lips and passing it to Beckett. 

@rubyrednightingale​