Something Wicked

[Vienna Pimm]

A storm was brewing behind Vienna Pimm's eyes as she approached the Hermes cabin. An outside observer may have thought the woman was marching off to war - not that such a thing would be unheard of. But the one she sought out today would make no such mistake. Lilythe, if anyone, would be able to see that what ran through her now was a complicated mix of emotions. Fury, sure, but also sadness, confusion - and most of all worry. The feelings varied greatly but their source was the same. She'd just heard something... interesting.

Vi was the camp's resident party girl, generally privy to rumors the moment they popped up. But the one she'd heard today? That one couldn't be true. She refued to beleive it. Not until she'd heard it from the woman herself. There's no way... her frenzied mind attempted to reassure her. She'd a people pleaser, but she's not stupid. She wouldn't. She didn't. There was a part of her who beleived that wholeheartedly. Vienna loved and trusted Lilythe more than anything in the world. That part was certain she'd discover that all the rumors had been lies, and she'd be left with the task of threatening whoever had started them. But she couldn't fully shake the odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. And her "protect my friend" alarms were all going nuts. Lil hadn't done anything wrong, she was absolutely sure. But something was going on. Something she was going to get to the bottom of.

Her pace quickened. Storming into the cabin, she made a beeline for the cabin leaders door. A heavy fist banged into it, nearly knocking the old structure from its hinges. "Lilythe! Lilythe! It's not true, right!? Let me in!"

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe could hear the banging on the door of Cabin 11. The cabins weren't ever really locked, but it was strictly against the rules to go into a cabin that wasn't your own without being invited by someone who was. So banging on the door wasn't really an uncommon occurrence. Especially with how many campers there were, and with Lilythe being a source of comfort for many of them. This voice, however, was not one of the younger campers, it was her best friend. She would have recognized that voice anywhere. "Vee? What's wrong?" Lilythe looked at her friend, her eyes quizzical.

Gesturing to invite her in, Lilythe walked over to the chairs in the large central area. She took a seat on the couch, and gestured for Vee to take a seat with her. "What's got you so worried?" It had been a long time since she had seen Vienna worked up like this. Something was definitely bothering her best friend, but she couldn't figure out what it possibly could be. <

[Vienna Pimm]

Vienna rushed inside but didn't bother to sit down. Instead she circled the room frantically. "I take it you haven't been by the big house recently, have you? You haven't heard what they're saying!?" She took a deep breath, halting her pacing for a moment to draw her friend in close. She didn't know what this was about. That was a good sign, right? What was she thinking, of course it was! A wave of relief washed over her. "God, I swear I'm going to kick their asses. Every last one of them. How could they go talking about you behind your back like that, and saying such ridiculous things..."

Vi too a breath, studying Lilythe's puzzled face. Her voice feel into a whisper, lest she risk spreading the lies further. "They said... They said you're sleeping with Shadow again..." Her voice rose again to it's normal volume. "But it's a lie, right? We'll get to the bottom of this. You gotta help me figure out who's starting these rumors! Then Mr. Fist can give them a good talking to." She raised a bony hand that would look entirely unthreatening to anyone who didn't know of her demigod strength. "Any ideas?"

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe's eyes widened. She couldn't imagine what anyone might even remotely say about her that could have Vienna worked up this much. "Calm down, Vi." Lilythe said, turning to her and gesturing at one of the seats. She knew it was probably an exercise in futility to encourage her to sit down, but nevertheless. "It can't be that bad. Whatever it is, I'm sure they were just being kids." Everyone got frustrated with Lilythe once in a while. It was one of the curses of being the effective mom for so many of them. She couldn't always be their friend first, and sometimes had to tell them things they didn't want to hear. When they got frustrated, the inevitably said things they didn't mean out of frustration. Lilythe was fairly certain that must have been the case with whatever Vienna had heard.

However, the next words out of her mouth made Lilythe's eyes widen and then she blushed a bright shade of red. She wasn't sure how it was anyone's business who she was sleeping with around camp, but obviously the cat was out of the bag. "Vienna, I am sleeping with him again." She chewed her lip, slightly, before continuing. "We're not... together. Not really. I'm weighing my options. Shad's done a lot of work on himself. He's doing much better than before. He knows I'm seeing Azzy too, and he hasn't even tried to stop me once." The real issue with her and Shadow had always been how possessive he was. Right now, Shadow seemed to have control over his more jealous side. However, Lilythe had developed feelings for Azrael and she wasn't ready to throw that away simply because Shadow seemed to have improved. "I'm... giving them both a chance."

[Vienna Pimm]

Vienna did not, in fact, sit down. Instead she only paced faster, and expression stiffened at Lilythe's admission. Righteous indignation became abject horror. "YOU'RE WHAT!? My gods Lithe..." she trailed off, taking in a deep breath. Lilythe was an adult. She could do what she wanted. But this... this was about the dumbest decision she could possibly make. Vienna's mind raced, her outrage shifting from the rumor mill to Shadow to Lilythe herself for a moment. Gods, surely she wasn't this stupid!?!

Calm down... calm down Vi...

"I'm sorry Lil," she spoke slowly. Her fists had no unclenched. "You can sleep with whoever you want. You know I love you and I trust you. You've gotta know that but..." Vienna's eyes glinted suspiciously. "I've heard this before, you know. 'Shadow's not so bad, not really! He's getting better! I'm not getting in too deep, I promise!'" She tried not to sound mocking as she recalled their previous interactions. This wasn't the first time Shadow had been "getting better". And it certainly wasn't the first time Lilythe had fallen for it either. Vienna, on the other hand, wasn't falling for that even for a moment. "You can't seriously think...."

Giving them both a chance? The thought made her wince. Both of those boys were endlessly dedicated to the Hermes cabin leader in their own ways. Sharing her? Yeah, there was no way that was working. Poor Azzy. He'd be patient with her. Give her space to sleep with whoever, let her figure things out for herself... let it eat him up inside. She doubted he was okay with the arrangement, but there was little doubt he'd go along with it for Lilythe's sake.

Shadow though? No. There was zero chance he was okay with this, and the fact that he hadn't outright tried to stop Lil from seeing Azrael was not the improvement of character he portrayed it as. That boy was up to something.

"They're okay with this? Both of them? The same boys who quite literally came to blows over you?" She didn't want to outright say You're hurting them both. You're hurting all three of you. It wasn't fair to her, not really. But hinting at it might make something click. "Azzy's okay with this? I don't mean did he say he's okay with it to keep you happy, I mean do you think he's really okay?"

She shook her head and smiled a bit. Vi was getting too worked up. "Gods, Lithe. I didn't think this was what you meant by 'taking time for you'."

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe watched the array of emotions that crossed over her best friend's face as she took it all in. She guessed it must have been a hard pill to swallow. And she couldn't really blame Vi after everything that Shadow had put her through before. But he seemed to genuinely be repentant and that had to be worth something, right? And Lilythe couldn't honestly say that she had stopped loving him just because she realized that leaving was healthier at the time. "I know, Vi. And I'll be careful. Promise, the first sign of controlling Shadow and I'll stop things between us." She tried to offer her a reassuring smile. "But I never left him before, either. I think that really got through to him. So yes, I do think. At least for now..."

Shrugging at Vienna's question, Lilythe continued. "I've been honest with both of them that I'm not ready for a commitment just now. And that I would be seeing other men. I didn't say specifically who those men were, because it's none of their business and I thought it was only going to create unnecessary drama that would cloud things, given their history together. They both found out eventually, obviously, because nothing stays secret here. But honestly? Neither of them has said anything. Not yet anyway. So as far as I know, yeah. They must be okay with it." That was the truth as she knew it. If either of the men were upset about it, neither of them was telling her. They were both honoring her desire to come to her own conclusion in her own time. Honestly, Lilythe respected that about both of them. "Vi... I can't put Azzy's feelings before my own. He's a grown up, if he has a problem he needs to say something. I love him, I really do. But he let me believe for years that he hated me. It wouldn't be fair to him to commit to him when I'm still upset about that. It would cause problems. And his actions have consequences. The consequences are that I don't trust him the same way I did when I was 15."

Either Vienna would understand, and be supportive. Or she wouldn't. And honestly, either would be fine with Lilythe. Their friendship wasn't something delicate and fragile. They had been through literal wars together, traumas. Lilythe could handle Vi being a little judgmental of her actions if she couldn't get over it immediately.

[Vienna Pimm]

"Uh... huh..." Vienna trailed off. Under normal circumstances she'd be all for Lilythe putting her own feelings first. Gods knew the woman was terrible at that. But didn't sound like her friend. The dismissiveness and flimsy justifications... it sounded like something that might have come out of a younger Vienna Pimm's mouth. True enough, she owed nothing to either of the men. Admitting to actively hiding it from them though - calling it "none of their business"? She sounded like a schoolkid. Lilythe Rayne wasn't dumb. She knew damn well how those boys would feel when - not if - they found out about her exploits. Hells, she'd just said as much. And in that self-righteous tone that Vi herself was all too familiar with. It was the same kind of logic she used when she wanted something, but didn't want to acknowledge the consequences it would have for people around her. The same logic that had landed her in an intervention with her best friend sitting at the other side. Either she was being outrageously selfish, or intentionally dumb. And Vi could see neither of those applying to the girl she knew. Something was off...

Her eyes widened with genuine surprise at the comment about Azrael. "You're mad at him for that? Well that's hardly-" Azrael had clearly never hated Lilythe. He'd been madly in love with her for as long as Vienna could remember. She'd been oblivious to it all, even a bit paranoid thinking that he must be offended in some way. And yes, he'd distanced himself and moved away. Removed himself from a situation that was causing him pain. But he'd never so much as indicated that he hated the woman, and holding her own assumption over his head like that was super cold. Too cold. Very un-Lilythe-like.

"I mean, c'mon girl. I know the boy's a demigod, but he's not a psychic. I'm not saying you should jump into a commitment you aren't ready for. In fact, I heavily recommend against it. But isn't it a bit harsh to say he let you think that?" To be fair, Vienna didn't know if Lilythe had actually told Azrael how she was feeling. If she had, her wrath may have been a little bit more understandable. But surely such an expression would've been immediately corrected, right? She couldn't imagine Azzy wouldn't at least say "I don't hate you" if confronted about it. That didn't make the stress it had put Lilythe through any less real. But Vienna couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. She even felt a twinge of something resembling sympathy for Shadow. 

Except... she still couldn't shake the feeling that man had something to do with Lilythe's dismissive attitude. The Shadow she'd known definitely wasn't the type to respect Lilythe's wishes in anything, especially if it would mean her seeing other people. Unless he really had changed? Yeah, right. Vienna trusted Shadow about as far as she could throw him. And despite her wiry frame, that wasn't very far at all. If he really had done something to her friend, she'd never forgive him.

"Well..." she inhaled deeply. "I suppose so long as you're being careful..." For the first time in the conversation, she cracked a smile. "If nobody's spreading false rumors, I guess Mr. Fist will have to wait for another day!" Though when thata day came, she had a pretty solid ide of who would be on the recieving end.

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

As Vienna started to chastise her for being mad over Azrael letting her believe he had hated her, Lilythe fixed her with a look that said it all. She was not going to hear any dissenting opinions on that. To her it had been one of the biggest pains she had endured--which said a lot given that she had participated in several literal wars by now. "Oh I don't know, Vee. He disappeared without even so much as a goodbye. He kept in touch with you and James, but wouldn't return any of my letters or accept any of my Iris messages. What was I supposed to think? And Azrael's not an idiot. He had to know I would take it that way."

"Obviously I know now that he didn't hate me. But... I'm still working through the anger, okay? He had years to reach out, and he didn't until I was single. I'm hurt because he was supposed to be my friend, and rather than talk to me or let me know, he vanished... Poof!" It didn't seem all that unreasonable to her that she was upset about that. She had been upset about it before Shadow had even returned to camp. Though she didn't know it, the fact that she had this feeling was the entire reason Shadow's magic was starting to work at all. If she hadn't been upset with him to begin with, Lilythe likely would have noticed something was fishy right away. However, because she was already working through her anger with him, Shadow's magic could build on that and twist it, all without Lilythe even catching on.

lilythe breathed a sigh of relief as Vienna let the subject change. "I promise I'm careful. I'm already camp 'mom' without needing to be an actual 'mom'" Lilythe said with a laugh. "So... do you want to come in? Or did you have somewhere to be?"

[Vienna Pimm]

"Well, I suppose you're not wrong on that front." Vienna finally deigned to take a seat. She'd known Azrael had distanced himself from Lil, but to cut her out entirely? Of course that would hurt. "It's not that hard to pick up a pen. He was being a bit of a dumbass."

She hated to see any of her friends in pain, but Lithe wasn't entirely wrong. Sure, she'd made some wrong assumptions. But she couldn't say Lilythe was being too harsh for holding on to her anger without saying the same of Azzy for ghosting her. She hadn't known he was hurting, and he hadn't known the same about her. The whole thing was a mess long before sex had been thrown into the mix. The decision to start sleeping together while so many hard feelings still hung in the air... well, were Vi to criticize that one, it would be her most hypocritical move yet.

Still, there was something off. Azrael might not be dumb, but Lilythe wasn't either. If Vienna could see that this move could only end in disaster and heartbreak for everyone, then Lil would normally have spotted it about a week ago. Her vitriol, while perhaps not entirely unjustified, still left a strange and bitter taste in the air. And there was still the matter of Shadow. Azzy being a dumbass - that was pretty much in character. Lily being cold and dismissive - uncharacteristic but not entirely uncalled for. Shadow being mature? Nope. Never. Not in a million years would that controlling prick be okay with "his" Lilythe sleeping with other people. She simply wasn't buying it.

"I promise I'm careful. I'm already camp 'mom' without needing to be an actual 'mom. So... do you want to come in? Or did you have somewhere to be?"

Vi laughed as well. That wasn't what she'd meant by being careful, but she was glad to hear that her friend was being conscious of such issues. The last this this mess of a situation needed was a baby on top of everything. Though if there every was one, Auntie Vi would be right there to help. Someone would have to teach the kid how to get into mischief, after all. "I... I have somewhere to be." She replied. "Sorry to barge in like that. You take care of yourself though. Love ya, girl." With that she rose, gave her signature bear hug, and paced out of the cabin with the same determination she had entered with.

Oh she had somewhere to be alright... a certain friend's ex-boyfriend to track down. It was time for some reconnaissance.