Elysian Celebrate

Look.

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Rose finally believed. Believed in shifters, vampires, psychics, fuck probably even aliens if she ever considered them. Had seen enough in the last week to know that what went bump in the night was actually a reality. Something to be feared.

And yet.

Here she was, dressed up and at a drag bar, ready to have a little fun. Sure, she could have let the events of the Tunnel of Terror hold her back. Retreat into herself and a quiet life as a homebody but instead, it invigorated Rosemarie. Maybe she was still a little in shock after everything. Still processing the fact that her life had nearly been turned upside down in a single evening at a Halloween festival of all places.

With a new lease on life, Rose took a seat at the bar and asked for a glass of white wine to celebrate, turning around on the stool to watch as the show began. Silver bangles decorated each wrist as a precaution — just because she was out to celebrate didn't mean she was taking any risks.

Picked up her glass of wine and looked at someone seated nearby. Gave them a smile and held up her glass. "Cheers." To their health! And hers, for that matter!

sparkle night vibes!

---

AHHH what a good night! You didn't ever need a reason to party, but Ruby's friend had just gotten promoted at their fancy office job. They'd take any excuse to go dancing, so the invitation to go to Elysian was an instant yes. The night prior had been an exciting mix of screaming and getting dressed up and doing make up and driving recklessly, until finally they'd made it to Alder Heights for the main event.

Their roommate had found a hottie and was chatting them up, Ruby was on their way back from the dancefloor with heels in hand. A huge grin plastered to their face, they stumbled into a bar stool, a little tipsy and very clumsy. She ordered another drink, something strong, and when the drink was in their hand they heard a voice to the side. They turned, "Ayyy cheers!" and held up their glass. Down the hatch, they sighed, content and buzzing.

"You look amaaazing!" they called to Rosemarie over the hype of the crowd.

"Thank you, so do you!" Rose called back to the younger person near her, knowing full well she was in a good mood. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be nearly as willing to start talking to a stranger, let alone compliment them. She took a sip of her wine then decided to continue speaking to the stranger, who seemed buzzed already.

"I like how sparkly you are!" Rosemarie called out over the sound of the music and the crowd gathered around them. Their dress reminded Rose of earlier fashion styles from when she was young. Ah, those were the days!

Ruby beamed at the compliment, "Ahhh!". Sometimes the vibe was just so nice, and they were so excitable, it had to be dramatic. "Thank you!"

They didn't expect more conversation but was thrilled when they received it. Another compliment from the blonde stranger, they swallowed a sip their drink and gestured back to the older woman, "I like how sparkly you are!" A different kind of sparkly, but it caught the light so elegantly in the fluorescents of the club.

Just two strangers firing compliments back and forth. Boy, was Rosemarie feeling this energy! She smiled widely at the young person as the compliment was returned. She supposed she was a bit sparkly for the evening. It was one of her finer dresses. She extended a hand, deciding that the stranger was worth getting to know a bit. Besides, she was too damn excited about her situation to sit alone for a night.

"Rose," She introduced herself over the music. Also wanted a chance to let one of her silver bracelets graze against the person's skin. Subtly. Just to check first before continuing. Then Rose added, "I'm here to celebrate something absolutely fucking crazy!" Rosemarie knew it was probably better to keep her news to herself but fuck, couldn't help it. Had to tell someone. Why not tell a complete stranger!

Ruby took the hand extended, and when the cool silver touched their skin they hardly noticed, just smiled and shook with an excitable energy.

"Ruby," she replied with a smile, warm hands ruling out any of Rose's other worries. Dark eyes were drawn past the blonde woman's shoulder, where she noticed her roommate several seats down, seated now with their potential hook up. She might get left behind later, but she couldn't help but be happy for them.

Her eyes were drawn back to focus on Rose when the woman sparked a new interest. "Me too! Well, I'm celebrating but it's not crazy." she babbled, "What's the thing?" There was no backing out of telling now, not with Ruby already so curious.

Ruby and Rose. She enjoyed the alliteration. Was also relieved with the fact that Ruby did not react to her bangles lightly grazing her skin. Good. Not a shifter. She reminded herself not to look in their eyes though on the off-chance they were a vampire. Unfortunately, Rose did not know about the temperature of a vampire's skin.

"Well. I was scratched by a shifter but a lovely group of psychics cured me of infection. So I'm human again!" Rosemarie knew what she said probably sounded crazy but that's why she gave a warning. It was a pretty wild thing to admit to a stranger.

BUT SHE WAS JUST SO DAMN EXCITED!

The energy that Rose was giving was so happy, Ruby was expecting a 'i'm getting married' or even 'i'm getting divorced!'. They were not expecting this answer, and it took them a minute to register. They continued to smile and radiate excitement, reciprocating emotion while they processed. Psychics? Reversing a shifter? A group of psychics?

"Woah," they replied, all at once full of questions, "that's.. amazing! Congrats!" Truly it was, they leaned forwards just a bit because this now seemed a much more intimate chat, with such critical information. "How?"

They didn't seem to deny what happened to her, which was a good start.

How was a fucking good question, Ruby. Rose was still a little lost when it came to the details.

"Well... they sat around me in a circle and I guess magic just healed me? Or something? That part is still a little hard for me to wrap my head around. There was a news story about something like this happening in Alaska though. So it's legitimate." She took a sip of wine.

Ruby didn't doubt that this had happened, why would somebody lie about something like this? What would be the motive? They listened, ignoring the thud of the crowd jumping and the buzz of the bass. They understood why Rose was so excited, why it was a night to celebrate. Saved from becoming a shifter, something that had not been painted as a fun or enjoyable ordeal. Empathy kept them excited too, they now had two things to celebrate tonight.

"So like a ritual? Were they healing psychics?" she asked. Terrakinesis didn't seem like the kind of thing that would help heal a supernatural infection, but she didn't know enough about it all to be sure. She'd like to though, her power had always just been somewhat of a lucky little mystery, but considering how people like her kept coming forwards, maybe she should start seeking them out.

Rosemarie set her glass back down and nodded. "Yeah, a little like a ritual." It was the best way to describe it. At Ruby's next question, however, Rose shook her head. Though she was intrigued to know more about healing psychics, because that was apparently a thing?! "No, I don't think any of them could heal per se." Rose, again, didn't know much on the subject but her new friend seemed to know a bit.

"Do you know much about psychics?"

Ruby wished they could say they knew a lot, but they really only knew about what was public knowledge. An expert on their own ability, blind to most others. But now they knew rituals existed, and groups of psychics, which was honestly awesome news.

Rose's question had them raise their brows, as though surprised that she'd caught on. They didn't really go around telling people about their power, but Rose had already spilled some beans and they were getting more and more tipsy by the minute. They smiled, cheeks faintly flushed, "I'm a psychic actually, but I don't know that much really."

Oh shit! No way. Another psychic! That is if they were telling the truth. It was still possible they were a vampire though Rosemarie doubted it.

"You're kidding!" How many of them were there? "That's wild! What can you do?" A month ago you wouldn't have caught Rose having a casual conversation about psychic powers in a bar but here she was! Doing just that!

The reaction soothed any burgeoning worry, they gave a gap toothed smile, "No kidding!" and finished off their glass.

"I'm a terrakinetic, I can control earth with my mind," they chuckled, "I mostly use it to help on my farm, I can make the soil better for our crops." They couldn't help but be proud of this, it was what they'd grown up doing and loving.

Controlling the fucking earth with her mind! Wow! Rose was visibly impressed.

"That must be incredibly useful." It was a little mind-blowing, psychic magic and all. A small part of her was a bit jealous. "I'm just an acting teacher myself. Nothing extraordinary there." She didn't say it with sadness, merely as a fact then moved on to take another swig of her wine, her cheeks rosier for it.

Incredibly useful! Ruby's power surfacing had helped their little family of two keep their land, and though they weren't a woman to brag they were endlessly grateful that the ability was what it was. They pursed their lips into a smile and nodded, "It is, I'm definitely lucky."

At Rose's response they gasped, "No no! That is extraordinary, I know I couldn't be a teacher. Especially acting! Sounds like fun," and they meant it. They'd dabbled in the arts but they'd always preferred dancing over acting, finding it hard to put on a new persona. And teaching, that's even worse for stage fright right?

Rosemarie hadn’t said she wasn't extraordinary so someone else would say otherwise, but it was a nice sentiment hearing it from Ruby.

"Oh, it is," She smiled. At least, it could be fun, when you were doing it right. "I just meant magically extraordinary, that's all." A clarification!

Ruby smiled, tossed an order for another drink to the bartender, then back to Rose.

"You never know, one of your students might start floating or something," they teased, taking a shot glass full of deep red wine and offering their thanks.

“That would certainly be something.” Rosemarie laughed and took another sip of wine. “Wait,” She paused. “Are there people who can really float? Like in the air?”

She'd read about some that could supposedly float, but there was never any direct contact. Ruby was pretty reclusive considering how psychics were all over now.

"Maybe! I think I've heard of people who could levitate," they replied with a laugh, taking another sip of wine. Some people were on next level wizard shit!

Levitation! Holy shit! That was crazy. Rosemarie’s eyes widened as she took a moment to sip her wine and collect her thoughts.

“I wonder what else is out there. What else people can do.”

Ruby nodded, swallowing another warm sip. They gestured outwards, "I wish I knew! They should make a book with all the powers in it or something so we don't have to keep finding out about this stuff on the news." A joke from smiling lips, but it would really be nice. A psychic manual!

“Maybe I’ll start drafting one!” Rosemarie teased, though she did wonder if she should perhaps write down the information she learned about supernatural folks somewhere… Maybe a diary dedicated just to this shit? Something that wouldn’t be hacked into or seen by the wrong person.

“But yeah, I guess folks mainly want to keep things a secret, or something.”

"There you go," she replied with a chuckle, joking along. "I'd read it," she put down her glass, setting it aside on the counter. No more for now, she wanted to be a coherent conversation partner.

"I hate that though," secrets suck, though they'd always been pretty private about their power for their own safety, they loved being able to share it as well. "I guess I've been pretty bad at secrets tonight," they teased.

Rose finished off her glass of wine and also paused on ordering another for now. She smirked at her new friend at the bar and sighed.

Laughed a little at Ruby's joke about them keeping a secret.

"I get why you hate it. It's frustrating not knowing things. I mean I didn't even think all of this was real until I was bitten and now I feel like my world's been turned upside-down. It'd be nice to know a few things about everything." She paused, glanced at her bangles. "Like, for instance-" Held out her arm with the bangles so Ruby could see. "-silver hurts shifters or something? So that's one way to know if you're dealing with someone who's a shifter. And it's best not to go out on a full moon." Dropped her arm.

Ruby nodded along, nice to be talking to someone openly about these things. They'd never had that experience of being completely blind to the supernatural, they'd been able to move the earth for as long as they could remember. Only a few memories from before then, their mother's face being one of them. And that was not a memory to be discounted.

She took a closer look at the bangles when offered, useful and pretty. She smiled, looking back up to Rose's face. "I also heard recently that they can turn whenever, so don't trust wild animals anymore I guess," she added with a slight chuckle. So many rules.

Made sense that they could shift into an animal whenever, considering Rose had been attacked once, and that hadn’t been a full moon.

“Good idea. The raccoon who bit me didn’t bite on a full moon either.” Also vampires! “Apparently vampires have mind powers and stuff too, so it’s good not to look them in the eyes.” She tested this theory by looking Ruby in the eyes, though she was fairly certain they were a psychic and not a vampire.

Yikes, bitten on a random day by a raccoon? Not a good experience, Ruby would do her best to steer clear, even though she'd always loved little critters. It was a shame that even the little ones might be deadly, she'd miss following possums across streets to see what they were up to.

And vampires, she heard much less about them but couldn't discount them. They'd popped up in Ridgefield once or twice. When Rose looked her way she caught the eye contact, averted them playfully after the other woman had finished talking. "So much to worry about! But it's good to know!" she added before picking up her wine glass again. Yeah okay, she'll at least finish the glass.

Rose, too, looked away once eye contact was broken by Ruby. "I know, and that's probably just the tip of the supernatural iceberg," She sighed and shook her head. So much to worry about indeed. At least Ruby had access to magic, which might help her.

"I'm afraid that's all I really know," She added with a small shrug of her shoulders. It was a pretty good start, at least.

Ruby nodded as Rose finished, "Honestly, I don't have much more than you and I'm supposed a part of it." The last of the wine disappeared between her lips, painting already red lips brighter before she licked it away.

Eyes to the other side of the room, her friend was walking towards the entrance with the person they'd been chatting up. Ruby wasn't about to let them wander off with some rando though, especially not after this conversation.

"It has been so lovely talking to you Rose, I've gotta go babysit a drunk friend," they smiled and stood, stretching their arms behind their back.

What other secrets were out there about the supernatural community? Rosemarie hoped to get ahead of things before it caught up with her again. Next time, she may not be so lucky.

As Ruby stood, Rose threw them a smile and a nod. "Nice meeting you, take care and be safe."

The professor ordered one more glass of wine and turned back to watch the rest of the show, glad she met someone she could share her big news with.