@soulsuckcr Location: Stargazer Villas Time: April 11, Late Afternoon.

i DARE you to call me a freak. that's my preferred prefix, loser. i am a freakish little beast, with horrid claws and spiraling teeth. i am also. cooler than you

Narrowing his eyes on the other as she excused her waking him up, Azazel clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth and then closed his eyes again, adjusting his head on his backpack as he did. Not going back to sleep, that was done with now. Though the sight of seeing someone adorned with cat ears, drawn on whiskers, and a bit of red on her lip was, in thought, amusing, he would tell himself. But as she went on, questioning about vampires, his eyes shot back open.

Sitting up then, he looked at her, then, “You've got red on you.” It was what he said at first before turning his head away, squinting out into the crowd. Lifting his left hand up, he unhooked the sunglasses hanging off his shirt and deftly moved to put them on as he put some time between his comment before answering the vampire question. Azazel pressed the middle finger of his right hand against the nose piece of the glasses, then leaned back in his seat, “I guess, maybe, for you. That it might be. I'm not so sure, for me. Maybe I'm being self-destructive.”

He grinned, then, turning his head back toward her, now ready to reply to what she said about blood suckers, generally vampires. Despite the fact that his skin crawled, he knew they weren't real. But there was something, something swarming inside him, denying this belief in him. Azazel then looked up and, as casually as he was sitting, he spoke, “Vampires aren't real. So unless a big fucking mosquito is making it's rounds in this crowd, or probably a vampire bat-” Pausing, he knocked is head to one side. Though vampire bats weren't technically known to actually suck blood, if he were remembering his studies correctly, “Most I gotta fear there is a bad case of rabies, though, not blood loss.”

WHILE THE ONGOING EVENT HAD CERTAINLY CAUGHT HER INTEREST as she couldn't recall the French countryside she grew up on ever holding one that seemed comparable to a mid-spring horror fest, Simone was partially annoyed that she was forced to wander through crowds that her uppity social standing usually had her avoiding as the places she frequented happened to be expensive just to stand in most of the time. Her clients were not the type to plan an entire trip to Vegas for an event that felt partially reminiscent of Halloween, thus, she had no real reason to peruse around except for her own curiosity as the foreign born had clearly never once celebrated the spooky holiday herself as a child. The simple cat ears on her head and whiskers drawn on to her face atop rosy blush was not melting under the Vegas sun thanks to expensive makeup it was etched on with, but the same sadly couldn't be said for the cookie of a fanged mouth, as the red icing that represented blood was threatening to melt off and onto her hands, much to the travel agent's dismay as she rushed to take a seat on a bench and pull some tissues out of her bag. "Ah, then I do not need to apologize for waking you if you were only resting. I would think it impossible to fall asleep with everything appearing so fantasmagorique. You are not fearful of those that suck blood?" A smile crossed her face, as if amused with her own question.

As he finally caught sight of who it was that was at his door, he blinked away what remained of his sleep. His neighbor, Alice, he didn't imagine to be much to fret over. Until recently, glancing to one side, a few errant thoughts sprang to mind as to why she would be knocking at his door. Momentarily, his overthinking going to the worst, his heartbeat speeding up, he tapped a finger to his door knob, trying to put all his concern in that one part of him, appearing relaxed from Alice's point of view, “Oh. Right.” Azazel answered before looking back into his house, trying to remember if he had anything like that in his house. But of course he did, sugar seemed to be a standard in households, “No. You're not. I was-” He pauses, what was he doing? Napping in the middle of the day? It sounded like he was some kind of bum if he gave that answer, “Just getting ready for work, actually.”

He paused again to yawn again and pulled back from the door, waving her in, “Come in, or just stand there, I'll see what I got.” He then answered as he made his way to the kitchen, “Mind the mess, I'm waiting for the cleaning service to get here.” Azazel warned of the dark stains at the entrance to the house, before he disappeared into the kitchen, the sound of a couple of cabinets opening for a moment. Then he came back out, holding a pack of sugar, “Not even opened.” Though he couldn't say how long it had been in his cabinets, either. Whatever got her away from his house quickest, before anyone could see her, seemed to him to be the best way to go about this. Given the circumstances about the other.

Alice felt quite silly but in the midst of baking the cupcakes that she'd promised to make for Rhea's daycare (why had she agreed to do that again?), she realized that she didn't have any sugar. And now here she was, at her neighbor's door, literally asking to borrow sugar. She thought that was just an old saying but sure enough, here she was. Alice didn't really know Azazel too well but she figured that he seemed nice enough. Perhaps it was just the journalist in her but when he opened the door, it was pretty obvious that he had just woken up--and his question only further confirmed that. Do you realize what time it is? "Uh... Yeah, it's 2PM... Sorry to bother you, Azazel, but I was wondering if you had any sugar I could borrow? Or rather, have, I guess, since I can't really give it back? But if I'm interrupting something, I'll just go ask someone else," she said, wanting to get out of his hair. He clearly wasn't in the mood for visitors, which was fair enough.

Sucking candied goo out of a tube, Azazel stared from behind his sunglasses. Even though the sun had gone down by now, he still kept them covering his eyes. His eyes were not in much pain at the moment, but they were pink from irritation. He didn't want to be asked if he was high, or something like that. He walked down the line of booths, now closed or closing, more or less. He would have to say this night was one of the strangest nights he had had in some time. He didn't like it, all those alarm bells he was ignoring were now flaringly loud in his mind. Turning his head as a woman approached him, he jerked his body away from their hands as they moved too close for comfort toward him.

Staring the woman up and down, he frowned. Then glanced at the booth she must have come rushing from. Quirking an eyebrow at what she was saying, he tilted his head a little bit, “A book?” Pulling the tube from his mouth, which he had been holding there awkwardly, he licked out the little dollop of goo that had been squeezed out before closing it up as he slipped it into his coat pocket. As the woman continued talking, he nodded his head. Of course, he did think she seemed a little off. But he had no room to talk. So he kept his mouth shut. Biting on his bottom lip, Azazel narrowed his eyes in thought, “Them?-Who are you trying to understand?” He turned his head as if 'them' might show up. But then he figured it was a bit silly to think such a thing. It was probably something completely normal, like a Spanish dictionary. He hated taking Spanish. Clearing his throat then he lifted his head a bit at the offer for payment, “Whoa whoa. I don- No, I don't want money-idontevenknowwhatyouretalkingabout-” He muttered at the end, sucking on his teeth and taking in a breath.

Azazel cleared his throat again, raising his hands and making calming motions with them, “Hey, take a breath, alright. Where's this book you need for…them?” Coins? He noted, then shrugged it off for the moment, “I'll cover it. No need to pay me back.” Whatever would make her happy, she seemed desperate, so he wasn't feeling inclined to take advantage of her. Especially with the knowledge that she was struggling to buy a book, now. Azazel offered a nervous smile, “After you?”

OPEN: weekend of horrors, outside a mystery booth that's still open for an unknown reason.

april 21st after 8pm / @boneyardstarters

the woman's eyes widened as she saw the other passing by. "oh- could you help me?" emmeline widened her eyes and held out her hands. "it's just- there's this book... over in there-" she pointed back to the mysterious booth still open for reasons not explained. although they rejected her offer, she felt like it was calling to her to find out more. she was battling with herself because this was how it had all started - vampires - vampires where there wasn't any vampires in sight.. okay... perhaps she'd actually seen one as a child or just dreamed about it but she was here, had seen that book and nothing else mattered. emmeline seemed erratic, yes, but she never meant any harm. "this book... it'll help me understand them..." don't say they're real, emmeline, the whisper in her head told her. there was no doubt that she'd been right about this but also, a broken clock is right two times a day. "i will pay you back! i don't have the coins right now but i can get them." it was bordering on dangerous territory."

Intj

Placing My Neighbor Totoro onto the counter as she greeted him like that, he lifted his head a bit, raising his eyebrows, “Uh, huh. She's forgotten me.” He feigned being upset by this idea. Closing his eyes, he continued on, a bit dramatically, “I guess, that's what I deserve.” Dropping his head down, he held his gaze focused on the surface of the counter of her workstation. Before finally lifting his head back up, eyeing the other then laughed a bit. Not too much, but just enough. Picking his head back up, he pushed the tape closer to her, returning to his usual chilly demeanor. Turning his head to look around the store, he went on, “Snacks don't sound bad, though. I guess.” Azazel went on, not sure what to say now, about the business itself. He turned his attention back to the other then, “So, how's Kenny been doing today, besides playing games?” He could still see the thing was on, but it was hard to make out what was going on on it. It really needed something to backlight it, “Not interrupting any important evolution time, am I?” He tapped a finger onto the counter surface, before pointing.

“No- wait, scratch that. We are pretending to be strangers, right?- Let me get into character--” He clears his throat then, rolling his shoulders, before placing his hands onto the counter again, giving looking Kenny in the eyes, a very serious look on his face, “Hallo, young mediocre video store babysitter! I'm here to rent this movie for my kid. Have you ever seen it before? Would you recommend it for six-year-olds?” He managed to say, in a voice like he was reading the line, like some energetic hero giving a speech to his allies. Clearly just being playful, with the other. An unusual comfortableness for doing so, from him. But as it was just Kenny and him in the store at the moment, he felt comfortable acting like this. Though if he were to be honest, the tone he had used really was killing his throat.

@boneyardstarters kenny + ??? : april 5, blockbuster video @ midday cap : ∞

the register was lonely up until 2 o'clock, when the high schoolers were relieved from their studies and flocked to the store in search of a flick to get them through the grueling nature of algebra coursework. not that kenny could relate - she was a professional at neglecting her studies, and she didn't envy anyone who had to devote any of what could be their free time to it. she much preferred sitting on her ass all day and preoccupying herself with either her gameboy pocket or assisting a wayfaring stranger in selecting their perfect joint for family movie night. she was doing the same thing as always: leaning back in the spinning chair behind the counter, propping her brand new sneakers up on the flat, recently cleaned surface, and indulging in some well-earned true silence after she discarded her processor in favor of focusing on evolving her charmander. whenever the bell dinged and signified the presence of a new customer, kenny didn't blink an eye until their shadow eclipsed her handheld console. "shit," she murmured, pushing away from the counter and completing a full spin in her chair before she caught herself and went to scramble for her processor. "sorry, my bad," dumb laughter left her lips as she slid the implant up to where it'd snag on her skull. "aloha. what, uh, what can i do ya for? let me guess... something to do with movies? or are you just here for the snacks like me?"

How big is Azazel's wardrobe? Do they wear things threadbare, or can they afford new clothes often? Are they any good at mending and repairing their own clothing?

I would say it's a fairly decent-sized wardrobe. Azazel is into several fashion styles and adjacent styles, usually the more expensive styles. He is sentimental enough to keep older clothing that he's probably worn often and taken a great liking to. But makes enough money that he can also afford to buy new and/or expensive additions to his wardrobe if he wants to. I'd imagine that Azazel is one of those students who took Home Ec, and so learned to sew from that, and had developed a fairly excellent ability for it, though rarely has to use it these days. Though, I could say he doesn't just have to resign his sewing skill to just clothing…

What did your muse want to be when they were a child? Would their child self be happy with what they are now?

Azazel has always wished to be in a career that allows him to learn and keep learning. He had always enjoyed finding out and picking up new things. New hobbies, new skills, new information. He was often a consummate reader. But also would go out and experiment on some of those things he would learn. So he technically had no name for what he wanted to be as a child, other than 'scientist', and that dream continued throughout his life into adulthood, where he has a professional career in the sciences, primarily in biotech. Moonlighted in his advisory position for the Vitelli's. His child self would probably be very amused by how everything turned out. Thinking that being in a 'mafia' and working as a scientist would be 'the best' way his life could have turned out. Seeing as most of his childself thinks of gangster related things in the more fictionalized settings, and not the serious, life-threatening, deadly nightmare it actually can be. Also, he would be so happy about any lean into the supernatural rumors surrounding his older self. So, child Azazel would be completely ecstatic to present Azazel's life, with a rose-tinted glasses idea of it.