@viknaerth​

It was only a hour away, but fuck. The young wytch was annoyed and worried. Her older brother wasn’t answering his phone, which usually meant he was either at a nightclub or a bar trying to find someone to hook up with. It wouldn’t be a big deal if he was still human, but he isn’t and his ability to remain in control wasn’t too solid yet.  His phone location pinged at a bar in Maitlands. Thank god for find my app. Kaya grabs her phone from the cup holder beside her and clicks on Silas’ number. The phone rings and rings until the voicemail greeting comes on. ‘I swear on everything holy and unholy, if you are out snacking, I am going to kill you myself. Call me.’ She hangs up and throws the phone into the passenger seat. Forty-five minutes later she pulls up to Nocturnal Tavern. Going inside, looking as if she could kill someone just by looking at them, underage stamp on her right hand. The nineteen year old makes a b line for the bar, phone in hand. She gives her best smile to the cute blonde sitting at the bar, standing beside him, she turns her attention to the male bartender. “Have you seen him?” She asked, showing the guy a picture of Silas on her phone.

when: August 2020

where: Sheba’s Palace

with: @viknaerth​

Lilith could feel it. She could feel the ever growing distance between her sister and herself. It made her feel empty and alone. If she didn’t have Pandora who did she have at her table? No one. Lilith felt dejected and more lonely than she had in a long while. She took two cabs out of Deadwood. Leaving everything behind to clear her head felt almost therapeutic. But those who knew her best knew that even as she watched the steady rain fall outside the window and land on trees that it mirrored how she felt on the inside. It felt as though a dark cloud had been hovering over the green thumbed wytch and Lilith felt less like herself than she ever had. She registered that there was someone beside her table. That there was someone trying to communicate with her. But her reactions were delayed and almost sluggish. Without moving her gaze from the window, she hummed to herself (or was it the person who was trying to accompany her?) “Mmm. yeah, sure,” she said absently, “Whatever you want. My treat.” It hadn’t even occurred to the melancholy wytch that she may not have known the person. But that was an afterthought as she spoke.

●︎ when: april 17, 2020 ●︎ where: vik’s apartment, sherman lofts. ●︎ with: @viknaerth​

She never liked being touched.

She didn’t care for a lot of things, but at every turn, Vik was the exception. Back below the waves at court, Talia had kept Vik close, albeit at arm’s length. he had a dedicated spot at her side -- dedicated out of duty and by Vik's own desires. If it was to be occupied, it was to be occupied by Vik alone. At times it was to keep guard of her own space yet others offered a guiding & grounding tether. Little touches and taps were read between the lines, unspoken questions and answers volleyed between the pair. they otherwise went unnoticed in their careful choreography of empty embraces and chaste kisses. Talia never wanted to take what was offered, choosing to reserve deeper actions should Vik be gifted deeper affections elsewhere.

....and they were gifted elsewhere. 

Talia awoke with a languid stretch and let her eyes flicker open to the dimness of Vik’s bedroom. It had stopped being so jarring, unsettling waking up here, even if only felt for a split second. It was almost comforting. Endearing. Almost. Some hesitancy was still to be found, but she was doing her best to banish it from their shared warmth. She was draped around Vik’s form; her body a pale crescent shield protecting his. She let her gaze bloom into focus and watched the slow rise and fall of Vik’s chest. Talia shifted slightly. Did she dare to revel in this dream? A tentative hand crept forward and let a blond strand of hair silk through her fingers as she brushed it from the visage before her. A small smile overtook her features as she slowly propped herself up, though she let her fingers lace with Vik’s for a brief moment as she lingered. A small peck was offered as a temporary farewell to the sleeping form as she made a move to extract herself.

WHERE: pride festival WHEN: 7:30 pm WHO: @viknaerth​ SONG: strangers, halsey

to attract magpies, hang shiny things from string off of your porch and watch them arrive in hoards to admire themselves, fluttering their wings and trying to pull the pieces away for their own nests.  to attract hummingbirds, fill a container with their own kind of liquor and color it brightly.  let them land on stained glass or painted wood to dip their beaks in and drink their fill, wings fluttering and tiny stomachs bulging when full.  

to attract a creature like vik, create something magnificent and loud.  put up stages on different streets and hang colorful banners through the street lamps.  have confetti spilling from open windows.  queens in glittering dresses moving through the crowds of howling, prideful beings like ringmasters of wild tigers.  the energy of a parade still lingering heady and rich like smoke from a joint in a closed bedroom.  do all these things, paint a living picture, and vik will arrive.  parting the crowds with presence like moses with wild oceans.  

he knows by the joyful cries of those not too far, the sparking of a camera’s flash even when sunlight still pools across the celebration crowds choking out every street.  it’s a new excited cacophony -- a new body, a silhouette that gatsby recognizes even when swallowed by the writing mass of strangers surrounding her.  something joyful tugs at gatsby’s lips.  a smile perhaps, small and fleeting but present enough to him that it feels like a strand of firecrackers set off in his chest.  

inevitable, the meeting.  magpies want to see who collects shiny things, hummingbirds want to ask for more sugar water, and vik wants to smile with all of her teeth once close enough for gatsby to feel her breath against his skin, sweat damp from the heat and crowds.  his humming draws to a pause, the song continued by the dj hopping and dancing on the stage behind him.  still, those notes carry in his throat.  come out in his words.

      “here you are,” gatsby says just loud enough to be audible over masses screaming along to the music from deafening speakers.  “not making it difficult to get your attention anymore?”  

the tease is gentle, echoed by his fingers on her wrist pushing on the veins there for just a moment in a shallow thing, a kiss that’s nothing like a true connection of mouth to mouth.  

when: June 6th

where: Falls Park, Sioux Falls

closed starter for @viknaerth​

Nature was where she belonged. Called to her much the same way that a mother cooed to her child. A sensation that Lilith would never know. Those who didn’t know the twins thought that they would miss their mother. Or at least the opportunity to know her. But one cannot miss something that they never had. Their father was never present in their lives either and perhaps the twins wouldn’t have went done the dark path they have if their parents were around. Though their father was part of the reason they were involved in the Church. Lilith was in a deep daydream. Wrapped in the memories of having only Pandora for company as they grew together.

Her walk through Deadwood grew to her taking a cab into Sioux Falls  and finally to her final destination of the park. Where the rustling of the leaves sang to her and the wind wrapped around her like a cool blanket. Calming her restless soul. Lilith was in a world all her own when she had a feeling that she was being watched somewhere. There was a pair of eyes on her somewhere. The wytch couldn’t tell where they were but she felt their presence. A sly smile spread across her face as she continued to walk. “I can feel you there,” she called into the air around her, “Just come on out. I promise I don’t bite.”

●︎ when: August 23, 2019 ●︎ where: sherman lofts, sioux falls ●︎ with: @viknaerth

Her arm lifted again, though she let her palm come to rest against the door. Talia had poised herself to knock upon the surface, yet goading herself to partake in such a simple task had taken her laughably long. It fell back to her side limply as she hoped Vik had yet to notice her form silhouetted in the crack beneath the door. She shifted the contents of one arm into the other, deciding that two of her limbs should not fail her. Talia cradled her offerings in the crook of her elbow, an elbow Vik had been displayed on ⁠— - a solid tether against the tedium of courtly small talk required from a crowned individual. Talia Wells would be left in the hallway, yet the facade of Aethalia Nirem at Court would not be slipped into once she stepped into Vik’s apartment. Talia Wells was a different kind of realism, yet Vik had been privy to Aethalia’s most authentic moments. Her genuine charm and lack thereof. She wasn’t sure what she would find, what she would present when pulled out of the past consecutive nights at Bacchus. Just Talia would have to suffice. Just Talia with an armload of avocados ( a favored & new find, though she had yet to learn the art of deciphering ripeness ) spending far too much time in the hallway. Her fist connected with the wood  ⁠— three sharp knocks, far more confident than she could bring herself to be. 

the meyrs of shiver.

ft. @neva-lazarev & @viknaerth