put my faith in something unknown [zoe]

[CLAUDIA LUNA ELIADE]

So many people complained about a long day of work, and Claude thought that was ridiculous. There was something about working until her muscles ached that made the thoughts in her brain that were not so pleasant quiet down, finally. Working was a way to completely put her mind on specific tasks that were relevant to the shop instead of keeping her in a place that took her back to the gypsy camps in Romania. Manuka had been good to Claude in a number of ways, but she was still getting used to her independent life. The job helped, her boss helped, and being able to have a routine of positive things to meet her almost every day with limited free time helped a lot. Not that Claude had much of a social life. The witch preferred to stay far away from people when she had control over it, because social interaction and speaking to customers was part of her job. It was something that she had to continuously keep focused on, making sure that her naturally robotic, emotionless nature didn't seep out when she was trying to talk people into buying things, making helpful suggestions, and being the friendly enough salesperson that Chloe wanted her to be. Claude had gotten very good at playing pretend, or at least that was the impression she'd gotten from Chloe, who had told her that she was improving nicely, or getting better at talking to people. It wasn't that she had 'gotten better,' per se, but she had realized the logistics behind why it was pertinent that she keep a job. And, more specifically, keep her job at Heliconia by making herself irreplaceable to Chloe. Finding a job that had a boss who didn't ask her too many questions, didn't have annoying co-workers, paid a decent wage, and allowed her to have free reign in a department where she was really skilled – alchemy – would be incredibly rare, if not possible to find, even in a place like Manuka that seemed to be swarming with various supernatural creatures.

Despite her actually finding positive things surrounding her job, Claude did look forward to the time she got to unwind after a long day of work. Being alone in the quiet alleyways of the Old Town district would seem like she was asking for trouble, but since she couldn't feel emotions, Claude didn't feel fear, either. She considered everything that could happen and thought that if it was her time to go, then she'd embrace death with an open, ready mind. Any day could have been her last when she endured unthinkable torture in the gypsy camps, but every day, she survived. She lived to fight another day, and that altered her entire outlook on 'danger' and 'fear.' Why fear the unknown? Nothing could really be predicted, after all, and Claude was logical enough to understand that where other people couldn't, and instead thought that they controlled their own destiny, that they could somehow cheat what was meant to be. The Romanian people and her mother's coven of witches had believed in destiny, in fate, in the existence of souls and mated pairs of souls, and since Claude had grown up without her mother's teachings for the majority of her life, she had been forced to make her own decisions about all of that. Logically, she couldn't find a reason to accept these concepts as reality, as something that could exist, but her mother had so believed in them in a way that she had died to preserve the last of her bloodline: her only daughter. She had sacrificed herself so Claude could have a chance to escape, even if she hadn't for many, many years. And that was something that would never make sense to the young witch.

The brunette made her way to the bike sheds, sitting on a rock just behind them and pulling out her Zippo lighter and a cigarette from her pack before lighting up. There was much that she could no longer understand in the world because she wasn't playing with the emotions that others surrounding her had – she couldn't understand why that blonde woman had kissed her in the bar, or why she had kissed Chloe after she'd ended up on her porch trying to escape her own night terrors. Claude tried to logically relate attraction to love, even though sex was something she never had a taste for any longer. She had no need to be that close to another person, because everyone she had ever really cared for had been taken from her. Therefore, the witch decided that she was meant to be a rock – a single cell in the universe. A standalone being. She took a long drag of her cigarette, and then heard the thoughts of someone approaching. Her power was something that she never turned 'off,' except around her boss, who had expressed that she wasn't interested in being 'read' that way since it was intrusive, but with strangers, all bets were off. Claude didn't move, didn't flinch, didn't even care to look because likely it was just someone going along their way. Heading home from a long day at work. And, most likely, they would leave her alone. At least, that was her hope – outcomes could never really be predicted.

OUTFIT:

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[AURELIA ZOE BOND]

[style=width: 390px; height: 10px; background-color: #bc4d81; text-align: center; font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 11px; color: #FFF; letter-spacing: 3.5px; padding:5px;]SOMEONE ELSE'S PAST IS ALWAYS CLEANER,

Zoe thought that there always needed to be a balance between work and fun, and she made sure that there was that in her life. She loved her work, she loved teaching people a lesson, but then she also loved seducing and fucking. Generally, life was good as long as there was a balance. Therefore, that day was a day off. Just the night before she had kicked butt, but today she slept 'till midday and now she was out shopping. She kinda wished that she wasn't going alone, there was always more fun to be had with company, but she only needed a flattering little number for tonight because she wanted to score. She had practically begged Finn to stop being a hermit and hit up the bar with her, but the boy was impossible, though Zoe wouldn't give up on him. None the less, shopping it was. And as she hit up the stores, she relaxed, the search of clothes relaxing her as it was a rather monotonous task until you found something of interest. Her bright blue eyes raked over the stacks of clothes, the dresses on hangers, and her fingers brushed over fabrics that felt good against her skin, and she knew would look better on the floor. That little thought made her smirk, and as she looked around, her eyes met one of the assistants. She winked before picking up a little black dress, and she was off into the changing rooms.

Of course, the fabric clung to her skin perfectly, and her red hair was a great contrast. Red lipstick, and she'd be good to go. Zoe made sure to flirt with the cashier, making the young man flustered at her attentions. He was only young, most likely still virginal and for some reason Zoe found that adorable. Having been an angel and all, it might seem that she should be all for celibacy, no sex before marriage and all, but she was just about the furthest thing from it. When she gave him the money, Zoe made sure to run her fingers over his and let them linger, and she knew that she was being a tease, but she could also guess that he'll be going home to his friends and gushing about the incident. She left with the brightest of smiles, and a wink in her wake, fixing the glasses she wore upon her face. She didn't often wear glasses, but sometimes she liked them for reading and sometimes she just didn't feel like taking them off.

As she walked outside, she revelled in the wind brushing through her hair. That was her favourite thing about this earth, other than personal pleasures, the nature. The way it felt, the way it looked, because she remembered that it was her father's made. She did resent being thrown out of heaven, because if she had truly been loved as an angel, they would have overlooked her actions, or at least seen that she was in the right. However, the angel couldn't be butt hurt about it forever, and it's been centuries. Shaking her head, she swung the bag in her hand, a spring in her step. She didn't know why, maybe because she was getting somewhere with the task force in Manuka. Some seriously capable people were a part of it, they were strong, and even though they couldn't yet match those on the dark side, they were well on their way. Especially with Zoe training them, they would become a force to be reckoned with and she was just so excited for it. But for now, now she didn't have to worry about the task force, or anything of the matter because it was her day off and she was going to get laid. But coffee first. She didn't get down the street even a hundred meters before cigarette smoke caught her eye. And she followed the direction of the smoke to a woman. Zoe stopped and tilted her head to the side a little as if to get a better angle at checking the woman out. She was blatant, sure that the woman would notice, but that was kind of the plan, wasn't it?

After about a moment, Zoe moved in the direction of the woman, and once she was close enough she saw that her eyes were a bright violet. A witch, excellent. Zoe put on her most charming smile as she approached the dark haired girl. "Hey there, couldn't help but notice such a pretty little thing like you all alone over here." She said, walking closer until she stopped a few feet from the woman, taking in her features, and she was certainly striking. "I hope you wouldn't mind some company?" She shrugged cutely, and held her gaze. Really, the red head was excellent with the women. Although some might have been reluctant, they usually gave in eventually. Well, most of them, but Zoe found that there was some fun in the chase to be had, and she was always a willing participant.


TAGGED: cj/claude
WORDS: 843
OUTFIT: click for clothes
NOTES: wow, this post was terrible. it will get better! promise!

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THIS TEMPLATE WAS MADE BY WITHOUT A TRACE?! OF CAUTION 2.0.

[CLAUDIA LUNA ELIADE]

Being so inept at interacting might make some people feel like failures, but Claude did not care enough about communication, making friends, or even having normal interactions to any degree, so she didn't feel like it was a problem. There was a saying that she'd heard once about not fixing something if it wasn't broken, and part of that spoke to her logical sense, because why would you run the risk of making something worse just in the hope that you might improve it? While she was in the camps, the witch had wondered what life she would be able to have if she ever got out, assuming that she survived, and for a good number of years, the witch feared that she would be too broken to ever have any sort of happiness or regular existence. She wouldn't be interested in surrounding herself with family, because her entire family was dead. Children were an exhausting task that she she couldn't understand, and had no interest in spawning new life into the world, and friends were... they would require her to trust, and that was something that she simply did not do anymore. Ever since her family had been murdered and Aleksander hadn't survived the camps, she assumed that her place was to be alone. The witch was strong on her own, more focused, more driven, and did not have any distractions to bring her down, even if it did come at the cost of making people curious about why she was 'broken' and trying to fix her anyway, even though she felt as if she didn't need any alteration. Altering something that was settled might only agitate it and ultimately make it worse, and she had already survived 'worse.'

Claude was one of those people who not only preferred being alone, but she excelled at spending time alone, and doing things in an independent way that didn't allow her to rely on anybody else. Sure, she had a job and got a paycheck from her boss for her work, and before that, she had to resort to non-legal means to obtain the things she needed, but she didn't consider that to be a bad thing. Chloe gave her space and freedom, even allowed her to make money selling potions because it helped her and the shop, and brought in a variety of customers once they found out that she had an alchemist in her employ who could make just about anything they needed, for a price. Stealing had been a way to survive, and she wouldn't apologize for taking things that would make her life better and easier. If people didn't want their things to be stolen, they should hire someone to guard everything full-time, or perhaps donate more things to those who needed it. The poor, the homeless, women in domestic shelters, people who could use a hand-out or two, or else they might be forced to take action in the way Claude had instead of continuing to go without.

She was enjoying the silence and her alone time, winding down from her fake interactions with the customers at work, because it was exhausting to have to continue to pretend to take an interest in whatever stupid 'love potion' somebody wanted to craft for themselves, or a variety of other crazy inquiries that made her want to roll her eyes and curse at them for being so insipid or obnoxious. Chloe didn't mind her true feelings about the customers, as long as she could pretend, which she likely wouldn't do, if not for the fact that she knew her boss preferred the real Claude over the fake one, even though she pulled no punches and didn't like to sugarcoat or give anyone anything but logic and honesty at all times. The witch was unable to feel anything, so she responded with what made sense, instead of taking the feelings of others into account. Her silence, however, was interrupted. First, she heard the flicker of thoughts, although she could not read what they were. She kept her mind open to it at all times so nobody could sneak up on her. Claude took another drag of her cigarette, and heard footsteps, light, gentle things, approaching, and looked in the direction where they were coming. She wasn't being paid to work anymore, so she wouldn't have to pretend when the redheaded woman stepped into her sight line and spoke to her, but not before tracing eyes over Claude's body in a way that made her very aware of herself, and very uncomfortable.

The witch crossed her arms, still carefully balancing her cigarette so she wouldn't burn herself or catch her clothes on fire, and frowned, deep lines forming in her forehead and around her face. The scowl was something else she had perfected, and even though it didn't denote anger, it was her way of being a little less neutral, and a little more put-upon, because why would someone stop to talk to a random stranger, anyway? ”I prefer being alone.” Claude said simply, her voice devoid of anything but complete neutrality. ”There's quiet, nobody to distract me, and most of the time, things people have to say when they insert themselves into my company are unwanted, so why waste time?” Logic. That was what she clung to, but as she took another drag of her cigarette and looked away from the woman, she got the sense that she wouldn't get rid of this one that easily.

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