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[gidge]

all lines are open

PIC PROMPTS / TFLN / RANDOM SCENARIO

ACTIVE: bridget 'birdie' lewis (vampire: the masquerade oc) SEMI: jessica jones (netflix mcu); han solo (star wars); steve harrington (stranger things); INACTIVE: too many to list

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Viva Las Vegas ⌠ for ~terrifies ⌡

[acaseofyou]

Settling into Vegas is surprisingly easy. Time passes quickly in the neon lights and Ouija's company, and with the knowledge that Lorelai is safely tucked away and easy to get to, the main anxiety over what was left behind in Denver begins to fade into the background. Now there is only the task of figuring things out in front of her, personal and professionally speaking.

Birdie has enjoyed the break from a regular gig after the nights at the Broadstreet, but when Ouija suggests finding a little spot she can go to perform after so long off a stage she's genuinely delighted by the possibility.

There's still a lot to learn about how things work here, both in terms of Kindred politics and just basic geography, and for now she's happy to coast along on the knowledge of someone else. She hasn't done much away from the Strip before, and now they're walking down a street somewhere north of there. Normally a thing to be concerned about, but Birdie trusts, at least, in Ouija's judgement and that they wouldn't take her somewhere terrible or dangerous.

"So," she asks as they walk, holding one of their hands in both of hers, "if we get there and they're playing honkytonk, we're leaving, right? You're not gonna make me stay as revenge?"

It's a revenge she'd suffer through, though. As welcoming as Vegas has been, almost suspiciously so, it's Ouija's company and advice she goes to like a well as many nights as she can. Listening to shitty Nevada Seventh Son knockoffs is a price she'll pay to keep their hand in hers for as long as she's allowed.

[terrifies]

They'd never had a Childe, and the only ghouls they really had experience with were very old, professionals who were trained amongst other Camarilla operatives. Ouija therefore had kept some of the earnest naivete that characterised some fewer Elders than Neonates, accustomed to obeyed commands and being aware of greater machinations. Not that Ouija didn't scheme, but as Birdie had observed, these were primarily short term and-or related to Setite advance. They did not make catspaws of their friends, or associates.

This was a way of saying nothing Ouija did with Birdie felt like business, and informing her of what they had gleaned that she had not had reason to discover did not feel like superiority. In the one sense, she was more well versed in life experiences than they, and they stood to learn as much from observation of her.

"Revenge?" Ouija repeats, casting a forlorn little smile at her, "You make it sound like it was your fault I went through any of that. Give your former Prince some of the credit for thinking anyone could possibly want to sit through that un-coerced. Clearly he was half-drunk with power."

It's not the greatest topic, even though it was a joke, but it doesn't feel supremely uncomfortable, either. "Is that the genre you hate most? Just for unrelated reasons."

[acaseofyou]

Birdie has experience, at least, with being a Childe. Years with Lorelai, years spent listening to instruction, both kind and not, about the world she moved through and the things she should and should not do. Years, too, being guided by the Elders in her bloodline in much the same way, sometimes gentle and sometimes uproariously not depending on the evening's revelations. Then, most recently, the paternalistic fervor of Edward and his insistence on knowing what's best, what's right, what's good for her.

Those sentiments don't color what goes on between herself and Ouija. If she's lead, it's because she asked to be in the moment. More often than not it's sharing information, sharing time. Being seen less as a Neonate and more as a peer, which is refreshing after... Well, everything.

(For the record, none of those 'beware of Setites and their many drugs and serpentine wiles' pamphlets had been accurate.)

"Only half-drunk? You're giving him a lot of credit." If that comes out of her mouth seeming strongly bitter, well, it's because she is. And she opts to not address the other part, the reason for enduring that shitshow -- a descriptor of the whole Denver situation that she likes because it works on multiple levels of meaning. She doesn't want to argue the finer points of 'fault' at the moment. Not in the open air.

That last question, though, has her scrunching up her nose at Ouija and letting go of their wrist with one hand so she can gesture vaguely in the floodgate that's now been opened regarding Musical Opinions.

"Honkytonk could be good, which is the worst part of it! It's not far off from folk, but no one sees fit to even try and make it sound good anymore. Or sing about anything other than getting drunk, or some self-pitying nonsense."

Is Ouija prepared for what they've just unleashed? Because if they don't interject, they're in for a full minute to five minute rant about the state of modern country music, lyricism, unions, and steel guitars, one hand continuing to gesture wildly and emphatically while the other remains with fingers laced between theirs as they walk.