clear liquor and cloudy eyes [zell]

[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

Fingers trailing along the Institute’s smooth white walls, the nephilim girl had to smile at the way the night was playing out. She and Lilly and Tori had ventured out earlier, just as the sun was dipping below the skyline, for a girl’s night out. There were so few of them, and so many boys, they deserved time to themselves. But of course they didn’t get to enjoy themselves. No, of course the new club that Lils had heard about had to turn out to be infested with a family of Raveners. Of course the three of them had had to slay all of the damn things. In heels. And miniskirts. As is the job of a nephilim,

[/i] she thought, aiming for bitterly; the voice in her head sounded airy and almost a little pleased, though.

Grasping the bottle of vodka that she'd snatched from the bar as a sort of payment for ridding them of their demonic infestation, Ashie click-clacked through the halls of the Institute, not completely sure of where she was going. The walls were leaning together, and the hall itself was making odd twists and turns that she was mildly sure were never there before. But staying upright in her tipsy heels was taking up the majority of her mind power, so she didn't bother to dwell on the Institute's sudden remodel. She thought that she was heading towards her second bedroom, her home away from home, because honestly she couldn't go home right now. Dad would yell at her if he caught sight of her, staggering and grinning like a fool; she'd be on the funeral pyre in seconds if he smelled the alcohol on her breath. So, since the idea of death was unappealing and her ability to fight him off would probably be rather hindered, the Institute seemed like a safer bet than going home. Now, if only she could figure out where she was in the Institute, exactly.

The hall came to an abrupt end, and the redhead was caught so off guard by the sudden lack of continuing space that she almost plowed into the tower of metal looming up from the floor. Huh. This wasn't where she'd intended to end up. Rolling her shoulders in a haphazard shrug to no one in particular, she put the half-empty bottle to her lips and took a swig. Her still sensible inner Ashlyn told her to stop, because drinking that much alcohol in one setting certainly couldn't be healthy. But she was drowned out by a different Ashlyn, one who felt so good, so nice and cozy and warm and safe, and who was much, much louder, and a lot easier to listen to. She was nicer, too. She encouraged the redhead to take another sip, maybe even another after that, as she pushed her toward the looming tower of metal. Oh, right! These were the stairs to the greenhouse! Ashie could smell the flowers and the mulch and the moonlight as she climbed the stairs, floating higher and higher from reality with each step.

She shouldered open the door, hit by another, stronger wave of smells. She swayed through the trees, through the vines reaching down to stroke her hair and the flowers stretching up to hold her hand. She giggled, grasping at one lucky petal before continuing through her enchanted forest. She knelt to inspect her subjects, the little grass people poking up from between the cobblestone path, before sitting down and tucking her legs under her. Why shouldn’t a princess get to see her own kingdom tonight?
[/justify][/size]

.....

tagged : zell.
words : five nine seven.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : still trying to figure out drunk ashlyn. she's complicated and i'm not sure how to handle her yet.

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[zell price nitar]

Books. They were rare for Zell to be interested in, but from time to time he did enjoy a good one. Granted, he liked to skim, and that was frowned upon by a lot of the nerds he'd ran into. Of course, he'd gotten this from the library in the institute. It was a book called To Kill A Mockingbird. Zell initially thought it was about how to kill a mockingbird, but surprisingly, it wasn't. It was about a family of country people trying to defend equality. Of course, that's what Zell got from skimming it. The parts that sounded interesting were what he was reading now, up in the greenhouse.

Zell could barely remember how he'd gotten up here. He'd been just about to call it a night and had taken his shirt off to change into his pajamas, but then he didn't feel like it anymore. So, he went to the library. Why? He didn't really know. He, himself, expected his desire to lead him to the kitchen. Because he was a bottomless pit, that's usually what he did when he didn't feel like sleeping. But he didn't want to go there, and that shocking in itself. It took him a minute or two to get over that, but then he landed in the library, got the book, and wandered up to the greenhouse. He could blame it on the smell. Although he wouldn't admit it, he liked nature and the way it smelled. Yes, he was weird. He focused on the smell of nature, but was that really so uncommon?

It was nice to be alone, away from all those crazy people that seemed to reside here. It seemed like none of them could even stand to be around Zell. Not that he was complaining, it was just that he wasn't used to that. He was used to people flirting with him and keeping him company. He decided to blame it on the nationalities. He bet if he met an asian girl around here, he could be back on his game. Leaning against the trunk of a decently sized tree, Zell looked up as he heard noises. Then, someone entered the room.

Should he leave? Or stay. That'd be weird if he left as soon as someone else came in, so he decided to keep his cool and stay where he was. Until he saw who the intruder was, anyway. Ash. The very girl he thought disliked him the most. And although he stands by his reasoning, she kind of had a right to. Wait, no she didn't. That was crazy talk. These people were having a bad effect on him and Zell didn't appreciate it. As she sat down all dreamy-like, Zell hid a cackle. Was she drunk? By the angel, this night was going to be fun, wasn't it? Looking at her, Zell raised an eyebrow. "Come here often?"

[/color][/justify][/blockquote]

tagged; ash!
words; 484
outfit; here!
notes; bwahahaha. <3

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[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

Ashlyn looked up from her admiring little grass paupers at the sound of a voice. Her eyes swept around the greenhouse, finally settling on the form leaning against the tree, really only seeing him because his bare skin was a startling contrast against the dark shrubbery and foliage everywhere else. It took a second for her gaze to focus enough to make out a face, which some part drowning under all of the vodka in her system knew was sad. The fact that she’d missed him in the first place was sad, really. She was usually very observant, the first to notice when something was amiss when she entered a room. But she wasn’t on top of her game tonight, and she shrugged her slipping skills off.

But her eyes finally registered the face of the boy looking back at her, tucked away in a castle of fronds and ivy. “Zellie!”

[/b]she exclaimed, beaming at him. Some rational part of her remembered that she’d been looking for him earlier, before Lils had propositioned she and the Lightwood girls head out for some relaxation time. She tried to remember why she’d been looking for him as she stood back up, surprisingly gracefully considering the bottle grasped loosely between the fingers on her left hand was tipping her off balance. She sauntered over to the fellow shadowhunter, unintentionally swaying her hips a little more than she usually would as she stepped off of the smooth stone path and navigated through the roots and dips in the earth. She plopped down, still gracefully, though she probably owed that to the angel blood scorching through her veins, in front of him but slightly to the side so she could stretch her legs out in front of her. It should have concerned her that her skirt was riding dangerously high up on her thigh when she was this close to someone who only hours before had been so flirtatious with her that he’d licked her finger. But she was drunk, and nothing much really concerned her when she was drunk. “Actually,”[/b] she said, the still somewhat sober part of her brain irrationally proud of her for not slurring her words. “I come here more often than you.”[/b]

The redhead grinned at him, suddenly remembering why she’d wanted to find him earlier. “Sorry.”[/b] She leaned back, throwing her hands out behind her to balance herself above the ground. Knotting her fingers through the grass, she looked down at her legs, momentarily reminded how fantastic they were and why Kael and Lillian always urged her into itty bitty skirts and shorts. “About earlier,”[/b] Ash clarified, giggling as she glanced up at him through her lashes. Or tried to. There were three of him, and two were spinning around what she assumed was the real Zell.
[/justify][/size]

.....

tagged : zell.
words : four six eight.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : andddd flirting, go!

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[zell price nitar]

Zell was surprised she hadn't seen him before she sat down. Usually, Shadowhunters were very on top of their game in all ways. Some people just couldn't hold their vodka. Zell was rather good at controlling his actions and keeping his senses somewhat intact when he was under the influence. That was probably just because of how much practice he'd had, though. But he was certain that some part of Ash's senses were still with her, seeing as she walked pretty impressively over to him. Then again, she was very provocatively swaying her hips. It was a win/win for Zell as of now, but he didn't want to think so optimistically yet. Seeing as he was probably the only person awake in the institute besides Ash, he was more than likely going to have to take care of her. Grand. But why should he? They'd gotten into it earlier and he'd had no desire whatsoever to even encounter her again for another day or so. But no, nothing could work in his favor.

"Ashie!"

[/color] Zell said, mocking her tone as he did. He raised an eyebrow as she approached. What was this going to end up being? Here she was, drunk and actually tolerable. And here Zell was, almost willing to give a conversation a chance. Ugh, he was going soft. He desperately needed to go fight some demons tomorrow or something to shake the feeling of caring off. He didn't like it all that much. Watching her, Zell noticed how gracefully she happened to plop down. He considered her lucky. Ash and her siblings got more angel blood than the rest of the nephilim because of their parents. If Zell was that drunk, he wouldn't be gracefully plopping down on the floor like that. He'd probably just stumble and happen to land somewhat well. And he especially wouldn't have been able to coordinate how to fall, which Ash seemed able to do as well. Damn her and her privileged blood.

"Well,"[/color] Zell said sarcastically, "Thought I'd ask."[/color] It wasn't like he didn't know she came here more often than he did. Zell had to remind himself not to hold that against her. She was drunk and her intelligence was slipping. By then, he'd glanced at her legs a few times. Hey, it wasn't his fault! She was flaunting them and he was half-certain that her subconscious had done that just to tease him. Damn her and her subconscious, trying to take advantage of his poor soul. He hadn't gotten what he wanted from her earlier, so what was going to make him think he'd get it now? Sure, Zell was positive he'd get her at some point whether it be through her cheating or another method, but not so soon was he going to think he had a foot in.

When she said sorry, Zell's head snapped up from the page he was reading prior. Do what? He had to keep his mouth from falling open. He hadn't expected a girl like Ashlyn to apologize first, or apologize any at all at any time as a matter of fact. He waved it away. "Don't sweat it."[/color] He wasn't one to apologize for his actions but it was hard to keep it from casually slipping out. Zell hoped he wouldn't have to, because really, he didn't feel that guilty for what he'd done. At all. Just a smidgen! He was innocent and he'd defend himself until the end. Giving her another glance-over, Zell smirked. "What led you to this drunken fate?"[/color] He was curious and it was a conversation starter. And, at the moment, it was the best one he could come up with.[/justify][/blockquote]

tagged; ash!
words; 615
outfit; here!
notes; he's so conflicted haha.

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[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

She may have been rather drunk- okay, drunk enough that everything looked fuzzy, like the a printed picture after its been dunked into water and had its ink smeared, drunk enough that her body felt almost weightless as she sat there with her fingers tangled in the grass to keep her from floating away- but she could still notices the changes in his appearance. When she’d first encountered him in the church earlier, he’d been burdened by his bags of luggage, and his lips had been twisted into the confident sneer, like he was used to getting what he wanted and didn’t doubt that he’d get it. And she was one hundred percent sure he’d been wearing a shirt then. Not that she could say that she minded his current shirtless state without lying to herself. He had a nice stomach, his rich bronzed skin stretched taught over well defined abs, but not so defined that it looked like he’d taken his shirt off just to flaunt them in her face. And it was almost unfair how his hipbones jutted forward, forming a nice v sha- Wait, what had she been thinking about before her intoxicated mind had started appraising him, deciding that it liked what it saw?

Oh, right. Even though she was drunk, Ashlyn could still make decent observations. Especially now that she was focusing through the alcohol, trying to keep her mind sharp around such an unpredictable, unknown person after she’d been careless enough to miss him in the first place. She’d registered his expression when he’d first seen her amble over. Careful. Guarded. He clearly remembered their earlier confrontation. And then she’d sat down, and she thought she caught a jealous gleam in his eye before his gaze fell to admire her legs. She couldn’t blame him; they were rather shapely and attractive. She’d guess they looked downright sexy to him, but she didn’t have a man’s mind and therefore couldn’t be sure how one worked.

He looked surprised when she apologized, his startlingly blue eyes shifting from his boring little book to her face in a flash. He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to hide the slight slackening of his jaw; his mouth had been about to fall open. “Don’t sweat it.” Zell told her. She giggled at him, her lips twitching into a smirk. “It takes a bit more than an apology to make me sweat,”

[/b] she murmured, rolling her shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. It didn’t occur to her that her words could be twisted around to mean something a lot less innocent than she intended them to be, so she didn’t rush to correct herself like she probably would have were she sober. “What led you to this drunken fate?” Her golden eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she considered his question, cocking her head to the side. What had led to her getting drunk, really? Well, when she’d snatched the bottle of vodka, she’d considered it payment for her part in the slaying of a pack of demons preying on the unsuspecting mundane club. Her thoughts had drifted to her recent shopping excursion with her cousin Kael, where he’d made fun of her for not having sex with any of her long list of ex-boyfriends and for still being a virgin, and that’s right around the time that she’d started drinking. To drown out the thoughts of being teased. To loosen up so that if she encountered Jules by chance, maybe she wouldn’t chicken out this time.

“Demon innards, my intact innocence and stolen vodka.”[/b] Yes, those three things were what had led to her current drunken state, Ash decided. She also decided that she’d liked it when he’d called her Ashie. It wasn’t one of her usual nicknames. It was foreign, but pleasant. Kind of like Zell. She grinned, bringing the bottle close to her lips. “’Specially the stolen vodka.”[/b] She swallowed a swig of the alcohol, feeling it burn all the way down her throat. Ash swore she felt it slosh into her stomach, igniting the alcohol already settled there into a pleasant blaze.
[/justify][/size]

.....

tagged : zell.
words : six eight four.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : thank you for having shirtless pictures of zell in your signature. it made it very easy for me to get ash distracted by his abs.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[zell price nitar]

Was she actually teasing him? Was this all a game for Ashlyn? Of course it was. It was even a game for Zell. A game of cat and mouse with another pesky boyfriend mouse that was just making this all the more unnecessarily difficult. Really, if Zell was the cat, he could just eat the boyfriend mouse. But then again, wouldn't that make the one he was trying to catch even less likely to go with him willingly? By the angel, this was complicated. It almost reminded Zell of a board game he used to play with Rhett and his aunt Amelia. Some kind of Rat Trap or whatever. They'd play it on rainy, boring days just to spice up the mood. It was terrifying just how homesick that petty little thought made him.

Ashlyn was just full of comebacks, wasn't she? Inappropriate ones to boot. Zell rather enjoyed it, her latest one making him smirk to no avail. And apparently she'd had no intention of correcting the way it'd sounded. Naturally. Why would she? Seeing as she'd wanted to make his night a painful one by sitting in front of him like that with her legs stretched out and oh-so sinfully revealed. He was glad he at least had his shirt off to make it a little bit even, that way if she stared at him for too long he could easily feel better about this whole situation. He closed the book with finality, laying it beside him. He wouldn't be able to read it properly with a drunken Ashlyn before him. It wasn't humanly possible.

Zell kept her gaze as she tilted her head at his question. He knew his eyes seemed to be a contributing factor to his appeal. Girls used to swoon if he just gave them a modest smolder. He could somewhat understand why. They were a really captivating blue. He nodded, bored with her answer. He thought it was going to be somewhat exciting, what with how much of a spitfire Ashlyn was. He supposed that to anyone else that explanation would have sufficed, but Zell wasn't just anyone else. "You're kidding about the innocence, right?"

[/color] He teased, cryptically bringing up the situation from earlier that day. The way she was so obviously flirting with him and sitting that certain way, and then now. She couldn't possibly be as innocent as she thought. That, or her subconscious was a really kinky subconscious indeed. It seemed like a nuisance to Ashlyn's typical behavior.

He let out an amused chuckle as she swigged more alcohol. "You're already blissfully drunk. Too much more of that Vodka and you're gonna get alcohol poisoning."[/color] Truly, this was a test. He wanted to see how gullible Ash was. Yes, she could get alcohol poisoning, but that wasn't the test. How easily would she take Zell's word for something? Leaning over, Zell took the bottle and smirked, "May I?"[/color] The way his voice molded around those words broadcasted that he was anything but innocent, himself.[/justify][/blockquote]

tagged; ash!
words; 504
outfit; here!
notes; no problem. ;]

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[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

She’d managed to make him put down his book. Golden irises and partially dilated pupils followed his movements as he closed it flat between his palms, setting it carelessly into the custody of the gnarled, tangled tree roots right beside him. She smiled, pleased with herself for this accomplishment. Zell setting his book aside told her that he didn’t want to ignore her- couldn’t ignore her, and wasn’t even going to try. The part of her that liked it when people paid attention to her, currently a bigger part since she tended to be a bit of an attention whore when drunk, liked the way his blue eyes never strayed from her.

“You’re kidding about the innocence, right?” Ashlyn arched a slim eyebrow, amused and a little bit surprised that he didn’t get that innocence was a euphemism for virginity. The latter seemed a bit too risqué a word to bring up around a near stranger, especially when she had a boyfriend who was nowhere to be seen and alcohol pumping through her veins, making her silly and stupid and even more enticing than usual. It implied too much, told too much personal information. In all honesty, Ashie’s was nowhere near as innocent as she tended to look upon first glance, with her big eyes and angelic curls. Her dad would be so pissed at her if he knew half the number of boys she’d made out with; he’d be furious if he knew how many she’d gotten to second with, and he’d murder her if he ever learned about the blowjob that she gave her last boyfriend on the night that she’d gotten so close to giving up her virginity. Innocent, she was not. So instead of trying to elaborate on the possible answers to his question, she shrugged and smiled innocently at the brunette. “Dunno. I’m drunk. I dunno half the things I’m sayin’. Whatta you think?”

[/b] She leaned forward, feeling the neckline of her dress dip to reveal a very un-innocent amount of cleavage, to rest her elbow on her knee before setting her chin in her palm. “Do you think I’m innocent?”[/b]

Alcohol poisoning? He felt the need to warn her about alcohol poisoning? Ha! Her lips twisted into a grin. “Zellie,”[/b] she purred, chuckling softly as she shook her head. “We’re nephilim! It doesn’t matter that I drink until my insides throw a revolt and leave; there’s always a handy little iratze just a few lines away. Or an herbal remedy ripe for the picking.”[/b] She gestured at all of the herbs and flowers popping out of the dirty around them. “No alcohol poisoning or hangovers for me.”[/b] He leaned closer, and for a millisecond Ash’s intoxicated mind thought that he was going to kiss her. Why would he kiss her? Yeah, he was attracted to her; he wouldn’t have been flirting with her earlier, and he wouldn’t have licked her finger if he wasn’t attracted to her. But why on earth would he want to kiss the girl who’d thrown a dagger at him earlier, who’d rudely remarked that he was crazy for thinking that he would ever have a chance to get his hands on her? She frowned at herself, blaming her irrational thinking and the anxious butterflies in her belly on the vodka.

He tugged at the bottle, politely asking if he may take it from her, presumably to start drinking himself. She hadn’t left him much, she had to admit, and she wondered vaguely why he’d want it if there wasn’t enough to get completely wasted on. It was the only reason she drank; to get so drunk that she couldn’t remember what she’d been thinking of before she’d started. Clearly, she hadn’t had enough if she could still remember what had led her to her to this drunken encounter. But the way he asked the question implied that he wasn’t asking her if he could have the bottle, but rather if he could have her. Because she knew that Zell wanted her, she could see that he wanted to see more of her legs, more of her skin and less of her mini-dress.

She relinquished her grip on the bottle. “You may.”[/b]
[/justify][/size]

.....

tagged : zell.
words : seven oh two.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : of shit, what’d ash just get herself into?

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[zell price nitar]

The smile on her face when he gave up on the book assured him that he'd made the right decision by doing so. Obviously she was going to need a decent amount of attention tonight, so no reading was going to be done. Not that Zell minded. Reading didn't matter much to him anyway. It'd been a half-ass cure for restlessness. This was much better, and it almost served as a remedy for anything that was wrong before. He couldn't explain it, but then again, why would he want to explain his feelings to himself? Counterproductive and a waste of time. No thank you!

At her eyebrow raise, it was obvious that Zell had been right. Her expression said it all. She wasn't all that innocent, but then again, she could have been hinting at something else. A symbol of innocence. Zell didn't want to think too much about it. Thinking too much got you into deep shit, and yet again, no thank you. He was smarter than to over-think things. If you did, it ruined you. It always did to everyone he knew, so he took caution. There was nothing wrong with that. But sometimes it seemed like by doing so, it's led him to do things without thinking at all. Like earlier that day. That had been a thoughtless move, as Rhett had made it plain. Zell was never one to admit a flaw, though. He wasn't going to start now. Nor would he ever. He was fine the way he was and no one was going to change his mind.

One thing he prided himself on was the ability to read people. Zell saw straight through the innocent appearance of Ashlyn. It wasn't hard for him. He'd had a lot of practice with Rhett. It came naturally to him now. As she used her state as an excuse, Zell kept himself from looking down her shirt, keeping her gaze as he dared to answer her question. "You aren't fooling anyone, Lightwood."

[/color] He smirked. Another thing he took pride in? His seductive tones that he used when he was one-on-one wiht someone. He couldn't control them. So he flaunted them very willingly, especially to Ash. They seemed to be working for the most part, and it happened to be in his favor. Success.

"I suppose you're right. I'm used to being punished for getting drunk, so I got to put up with hangovers."[/color] Zell purred right back, his voice turning raspy and growly as he did. His aunt Amelia had always had effective punishments like that. Luckily, Zell was a grand actor, because he'd just jack Rhett's stele and draw himself a handy rune. Zell never drank to get drunk. That wasn't ever his intention. It helped clear his mind and sometimes it made him think more clearly. His pure intention, though, was how daring it made him. He always felt invincible, more-so than usual. Glancing at the bottle and then back at Ash, Zell noticed there wasn't much left. He didn't mind. Enough to get a buzz and to get her off the bottle. They weren't very far apart, were they? Eh, who needed distance or personal space?

The question had a great ulterior meaning, Zell thought. The distance between them being only a couple of inches, the way their gazes were locked. He was asking entrance. Admittance. To things beyond his control and her imagination. As she granted permission, Zell couldn't help but let a single chuckle escape as he took the bottle, leaning back in his place. He tilted his head and took a giant swig, leaving maybe an inch more of alcohol in the bottle. He was quite an experienced drinker. He swallowed it with no trouble and was delighted when the familiar burning returned to his stomach. He felt more at ease already.[/justify][/blockquote]

tagged; ash!
words; 640
outfit; here!
notes; no problem. ;]

[/size][/font][/right][/blockquote]

[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

He told her that she wasn’t fooling anyone, and by the Angel, his voice. He sounded like a big jungle cat, bold and dead set on the hunt as he purred out her last name. She should’ve been used to be addressed by her last name; Mr. Midwinter frequently barked it out during a lesson, effectively making her and both of her siblings jump in their seats every single time. But when Zell said it, it wasn’t the same. Of course it wasn’t. Her uncle never bothered to call her out on her lack of innocence, which was exactly what Zell was doing. He was calling her out, calling her on her bluff and not even bothering to imagine that he could be wrong. He just knew. Ashlyn grinned, amused that someone had finally had the guts to say those words to her face without fear of her dislocating their shoulder or stabbing them in the gut. She didn’t consider herself a slut or anything- though if she were thinking straight right about now, maybe she’d reconsider- but she had to admit: she had been with quite a few boys. Despite her numerous exes, she’d had good intentions when she started dating them. And that’s what she did; she dated. She didn’t fool around, or when she did, it was because he was more likely to be her Prince Charming, the path to her happily ever after, than her boyfriend at that moment.

Zell took the vodka from her and took a rather impressive gulp, draining most of what was left in the bottle in one swallow. Huh. She shook her head, knocking the surprise out of her mind. The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy, and Ash wondered absently what was taking him so long. She’d just give him permission to touch her. To feel her and kiss her and take advantage of the fact that she was drunk and willing, boyfriend be damned. She stopped, replaying her thoughts in her head. Boyfriend be damned? Since when did she feel like damning Julian? She stood up abruptly, or tried to, anyways. Her heels sunk into the wet ground, and she tore at the straps with nimble fingers until she was free of the things. Heels were invented so that a girl’s ass looked bigger and so men didn’t have to stoop down so low to kiss her, and why did she need them at this point anyways? Her frame was curvy enough under the boxy dress that it didn’t need the help of heels, and if Zell wanted to kiss her then he could stoop, dammit. Or pick her up and use a tree instead of a wall. Or the grass was always soft and they could lay down and why the fuck was she considering all of the ways he could kiss her? She had a boyfriend! She shouldn’t be thinking about kissing other boys!

But she was. The redhead padded carefully on the topsy-turvy ground, feeling rather tipsy herself as the grass tickled the soles of her feet and the ground moved around like waves. She tangled one hand in her hair as she paced through the trees, vaguely aware that the brunette was watching her movement curiously, pulling the curls up on top of her head as she did a mental assessment of her emotions. They were dulled under the haze of the vodka, but Ash saw the reasoning for her strange feelings immediately. The spark in her heart for Julian was still burning hot and bright and strong, but it wasn’t without competition anymore. A smaller spark fizzled there in her chest, drawing her back to the boy with the vodka under the tree. Dammit. Dammit! “Dammit,” she breathed. It had been almost eight months. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with a new boy now! Not after so long with Julian!

She glanced over her shoulder, feeling helpless against the desire to feel his lips on neck, on her shoulder, on her fingertips and her lips and her forehead and her collarbone and her hips and by the Angel, why wasn’t he following her? Why wasn’t he touching her and kissing her and quenching the sudden burning pain in her stomach?

.....

tagged : zell.
words : seven oh nine.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : he’s gotta kiss her, remember?

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[zell price nitar]

Innocence wasn't something that Zell expected of Ashlyn. It bored Zell, really. What was the fun of your youth without making the most of it while you could? Not being innocent didn't mean you were a bad person. It was what you did that made you a bad person. He didn't get that vibe from Ash, either. She didn't seem like a slut. Not an intentional one, anyway. She seemed more misunderstood than anything. Zell knew he gave off the impression of being a player or a heartbreaker. And maybe that was just spot-on. But that's not what he considered himself. The one night stands were usually mutual. The flings never left anyone crying themselves to sleep. The endless flirting just seemed like something girls considered an alright past time. So what had he done, really, to earn himself any enemies when it came to things like that?

Zell didn't like to date. Relationships were messy and he hadn't seen a single one to end civilly. Then again, he didn't like letting anyone close enough to break his smooth and collected exterior. Emotions were messy. They meddled in situations where they weren't wanted. They were uncontrollable. So what did Zell do? He avoided the provocation of them. Entirely. Except when he was around Rhett, but it was obvious why that was so. They were basically brothers at this point. They knew each other way too well. They didn't even have to talk to be able to figure out what the other was feeling. And Zell wouldn't dare give himself another weakness like that.

So, why was he so adamant on getting Ash to like him?

Finishing off the alcohol, Zell sat the bottle beside his book. It was rather silent in the greenhouse now, since they'd both run out of things to say it seemed. He could hear the faint noises of insects moving around, but that was it. Not to mention their breaths. His senses had always been quite grand. At the sudden standing, Zell raised an eyebrow at her. Was she mad or something? Girls and their moods. He couldn't help but watch her basically rip her heels off. They did appear to be a bother. They were just sinking into the ground. That'd be annoying. Luckily Zell was a dude and he wouldn't have to experience it for himself. He could watch and absorb from afar. It got to the point where he couldn't take his eyes off of the girl. For numerous reasons, the one at the top of his list being her loopy behavior.

Meeting her eyes with his own curious ones as she looked over her shoulder, Zell tilted his head in an amused way and smirked. He narrowed his eyes playfully in an honest confusion that seemed to be melting away as the moments carried on. Maybe she did want him and was conflicted because of the whole boyfriend dilemma. Maybe since she was drunk, she didn't care as much as she did earlier. Just maybe. Getting up, Zell brushed his legs off where a few things from the grass had gotten on him. He ran an idle hand through his hair and shoved one hand in his pocket as he always did. "Ashieee."

[/color] He cooed, less arrogantly this time for reasons he couldn't explain without making himself vomit. Approaching her, Zell cautiously stood behind her and took a few strands of her hair, twirling them in his fingers as he moved to the front. Measuring her eyes, Zell took his chances. Leaning in, he gently and skillfully brought his lips to hers, kissing her and preparing himself for the slap of a lifetime.[/justify][/blockquote]

tagged; ash!
words; 611
outfit; here!
notes; oh it's gonna happen in about .2 seconds.

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[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

Why oh why did her body have to do this to her? Why did it have to betray her like this? Certainly it wasn’t her mind making her want- crave, yearn, need- this boy who wasn’t her boyfriend. It wasn’t her mind making her heart flutter around in her chest like a silly school girl’s, or twisting her stomach into knots, or any of the other physical tortures she was currently experiencing. The worst was the urge to turn around, to simply rotate on the balls of her feet in the slick grass and rush back to his side, because she missed the warmth she’d had from sitting close to him. Because she wanted to cuddle up against his side and have him reassure her that she wasn’t doing anything wrong by having this ludicrous feelings for him when she still loved Julian. Because she wanted him to just understand without her having to try and hash out the messy details about all these tangled- snarled, muddled, confused- feelings rolling around in a chaotic storm in her chest that was shredding her lungs to pieces with its collateral damage; she couldn’t breathe.

Ash heard the soft clionk of the bottle’s glass settling onto the tree roots, the hollow reverberating telling her that Zell had finished the remainder of the vodka. “Ashieee.” She looked up at him, partially because it was instinctual to look when someone called her name, partially because she hadn’t expect him to break the silence that only the cicadas and mosquitoes dared interrupt. Mostly, she looked up because of the way that Zell said her name- or, well, his nickname for her, which she quite liked. The way he said it… his voice was soft. Concerned. She vaguely wondered why he was being so gentle with her, so cautious when earlier he’d been brash and direct. What had changed between then and now? Yes, she was drunk now, but the redhead reasoned that he would be even more brazen and direct, taking advantage of her intoxicated senses.

She heard his footsteps in the grass, getting steadily closer. She could feel him behind her more than she could see him, considering there was only so far that she could crane her neck, and her body was starting to adapt a Zell radar, where she could just instinctively tell if he was in the room, and where he was if he was in the same room, without having to look. His body heat radiating into her shoulders certainly didn’t hinder her knowledge of exactly where he was. His fingertips grazed the back of her neck, and her breath caught in her windpipe. She felt him twirl her fiery, loose curls around his fingers as he edged around her, positioning himself in front of her. He gauged her expression, searching her eyes for some sort of sign or something. She wasn’t quite sure. Whatever it was that he was looking for, he must have found it, because he leaned forward and smoothed his lips over hers.

Ashlyn knew that she should have slapped him, or flipped out like she had earlier that day, or at least pushed him away and told him that they couldn’t do this. That she had a boyfriend, and that he shouldn’t be kissing her when she had a boyfriend, whether he was here or not. But she didn’t do any of those things. In fact, she did the complete opposite. She rolled up onto the balls of her feet, tilting her head so that their noses wouldn’t bump against each other as she pressed her lips more firmly over his, setting her hands gently on his stomach to help balance herself.

If he had come into this expecting rejection, then he was in for the surprise of his life.

.....

tagged : zell.
words : six three four.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : and ash has officially cheated on jules. bad danger. especially bad danger for already plotting a thread where zell meets the rest of her immediate family. >__<

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[zell price nitar]

Zell didn't know why he wanted Ashlyn so much. It might have been because she was off the market. Yes, perhaps it was. He always did have a soft spot for girls he shouldn't be able to have. He thought of it as a chase with an obstacle. It had to be more than that, though. He craved her. Ever since he'd gotten here, he'd automatically been drawn her way. She was the first thing he noticed, even before Rhett. That might have been because of her hair or because she was blocking the view, who knows? All Zell knew was that it was frustrating. He wanted to rip his hair out and go give himself up to a few demons or downworlders that didn't particularly like him. Then again, if he did that, what was the use in all his effort?

Zell knew he should have cared about her relationship status. Julian wasn't just a pawn on the playing board, but that's how Zell thought of him. It'd get him in a rotten place, he knew, but he couldn't help but want to make the most of every situation with Ash. Whether that meant kissing her or licking peanut butter of her finger was completely up to the two players. So what was Julian in that? He was nothing. He was a pawn that Zell had already knocked off of the board. So, in Zell's mind, what exactly was in his way? Nothing. Naturally. So really, logic was made if you thought of kissing someone as a game of chess. If everyone could do that, maybe Zell wouldn't look like such a homewrecker. Alas, he could escape as nothing but a bad guy in this.

Ashie wasn't quite the name that Zell had picked out for Ashlyn, but it worked. Plus, it seemed as if she liked it and answered to it with more enthusiasm. That might have just been the heat of the moment, though. Nonetheless, Zell was going to stick to that name. It got him a lot farther and nearer to where he wanted to be. Another good thing about calling her that was it broke the sounds of bugs surrounding them. Bugs had never been an object of taste with Zell. They were disgusting and built weird. To Zell, they were mini-demons and he'd kill any that he saw.

As he played with her hair, Zell smirked as he almost felt her breath hitch. His fingers grazed her skin just barely, but it was enough to make it count. It was fuel to the fire at this point. He braced himself for the slap that was sure to come. There was no way that he'd get out of this without a battle scar, and he knew it. So why was there no sudden pain? No abrupt mood-killer? Zell kept kissing her, with a gentle approach as opposed to just attacking her full-on with force. From experience, he knew that was a turn-off unless the girl was clearly expressing her attraction to roughness. Plus, the gentleness felt right and went with the mood. Not to mention, Zell couldn't even imagine being the least bit forceful with it. He welcomed the firmness that Ash brought and met it by putting a hand on her waist, bringing her closer to him as he leaned in further. It was against his will, now. His instincts had drove him to putting his hand on her waist and deepening the kiss with the lean. It wasn't often that working his own magic was beyond his control.

What was this chick doing to him?

tagged; ash!
words; 602
outfit; here!
notes; :D

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[ashlyn louise lightwood]

I’VE GOT MY VEINS ALL TANGLED CLOSE TO THE JUKEBOX BARS YOU FREQUENT
cuz you’re everything i'm not

[/b][/i]
THE SAFEST PLACE LONG NIGHTS SPENT WITH YOUR MOST OBVIOUS WEAKNESS.[/font][/size][/size][/size]

.....[/center][/b]

He pushed himself closer to her, and pulled her flush against him by grasping at her waist. His skin seared against hers wherever their bodies happened to touch, like he was trying to burn her alive. Like he was secretly trying to punish her for enjoying the way it felt to kiss his warm, soft, slightly stinging lips. (Though she blamed the slight sting on the alcohol lingering on both of their breaths, the vodka that had removed all of the bitter feelings that had lingered from their spat earlier in the day.) It almost felt as if Zell was unintentionally punishing her for how right it felt to be here with him, when it was clear that it should have felt wrong, wrong, wrong. She had a boyfriend; she hadn't dumped him and then moved on like she had numerous times before. And she didn't want to dump Julian; she still loved him, and that's why this entire situation was completely confusing and mind boggling for her.

She tried to push her thoughts away, to shoo the ghosts that had just started to haunt her relationship. Should she break up with Julian to persue whatever it was that had clearly blossomed between her and Zell? The thought saddened her, and she pushed the thought firmly out of her head. She wasn't ready to break up with Jules yet, not after nearly eight months. Not after all of their ups and downs, twists and turns they'd managed to endure. Especially not for someone she'd just met, who she knew virtually nothing about, regardless of the spark of potential she felt on the horizon. Sliding her hands up his chest, the redhead wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him close to her, since he seemed to be doing a rather commendable job of distracting her. He'd made the decision to press them together; she wasn't going to let him pull away before she was ready for him to. Her nails grazed against the first ridge of his spine. It was nice to not have to deal with sneaking her fingers underneath a shirt of any sort.

Lack of oxygen to her brain made her a tad bit dizzy, though the vodka certainly couldn't be helping with that. She fought through it, stubbornly refusing to pull away even though her lungs were pleading for air. Clearly, he wasn't having the same issues; she didn't want to be the first one to admit defeat. Finally, though, her lungs wouldn't let her keep her lips pressed against his, and she pulled away just enough so that she could gasp down a decent lungful of air. Craning to rest her chin in the crook of his neck, the nephilim breathed in the scent of him, trying to decipher the individual smells. She thought she could smell something soapy, though it was hard to tell over the smells of dirt and leaves and flowers filling the greenhouse. Whatever he smelled like, he smelled good, good enough that if Lillian inquired after the inevitable scolding about cheating on Julian, Ashlyn would probably slip up and call his scent yummy. Oh, right. Julian. Her boyfriend. Him. She tried to reason with herself as to why she was quite obviously letting herself cheat on him as she nestled her face against Zell’s skin, pressing a soft kiss against his collarbone.

The redhead pulled back, leveling her gaze with his, hoping to find the answer to her inner struggles somewhere in his eyes, so blue that she could drown in them just as physically as she could drown in a pond. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,”

[/b] she decided, a little surprised to hear that she’d uttered the words aloud. Shrugging it off, she gave the brunette an apologetic smile that slipped into a smirk as she balanced herself carefully on her toes, leaning against him. She crushed her lips back against him, satisfied that they’d both had an adequate amount of time to replenish their bodies’ oxygen supplies. She parted her lips carefully, slowly, a tentative invitation to take the kiss a step further. The sane part of her mind yelled at her, told her that she shouldn’t want to french this boy who wasn’t her boyfriend. Who wasn’t Julian. The intoxicated- both by vodka and the extremely male brunette pressed against her in all the right places- part had the decency to be nervous about whether or not he would be concerned about how forward she was being so soon.
[/justify][/size]

.....

tagged : zell.
words : seven five two.
lyrics : “makedamnsure” by taking back sunday.
outfit : black and white, gold and trashed.
notes. : he’s giving a hoodie to ashlyn. eventually. after she asks for it and he refuses and she just crawls into his lap and zips herself in with him.

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[zell price nitar]

A part of Zell wondered if this was actually real life and not a dream. The latter didn't seem unlikely. After all, he was only up and going because he couldn't sleep, so maybe he was asleep after all and was imagining all of this because of the harsh denial that he was delivered earlier. It seemed more likely than the fact that this was actually happening between the two of them who until recently were on each other's bad sides. First, Zell got to come to America. Second, he got food. Food was always a plus. Three, he ended up getting the girl? It all seemed too good to be true, especially this early on in his visit. Sure, he was usually more than lucky with girls, but this didn't feel the same. It didn't feel like an accomplishment at all.

Kissing her, Zell was in and out of focus between his actions and his thoughts. Not that she wasn't fun to kiss, because she was, but there was something lingering in the back of his head that wouldn't just shut up and let him enjoy this. What do they call that? A conscience? The little voice inside your head? Yeah, well Zell was going to refer to it as a cockblock. Feeling her nails against his spine, Zell's body reacted by letting his back arch and pushing himself even closer against Ashlyn. Did his body just love being a walking contradiction or what? His body and mind's morals weren't exactly matching up here. His mind wanted to stop because Ashlyn was drunk and it didn't feel right, but his body obviously didn't care what his mind had to say--er, think. It was irritating and Zell, quite frankly, was more lost than he cared to admit.

Finally, Ashlyn pulled away and retreated to his neck to take a breath of air. Zell apparently had mutant lungs; it wouldn't have been the first time he was told that. He never had air troubles until it got to a superhuman point of holding his breath. His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes narrowed in thought. Was this really how he wanted this to go at all? With this girl drunk and unknowingly picking Zell over her boyfriend? No, that was degrading for Zell. It wasn't glorifying enough. He almost felt like he was just the object of her affection when she had alcohol to dull her senses, and he didn't like that at all. He was better than that. Thought process: interrupted. Did she just kiss his collarbone? By the angel, that wasn't fair.

Meeting her gaze, Zell measured her eyes again. Did she even know what she was doing in the first place? He couldn't tell himself that she did, because this wasn't the Ashlyn he'd met earlier on in the day. When she spoke, Zell's intuition was confirmed. But before he could say anything, she pressed her lips against his again and he didn't care enough to fight back. He wanted to give his instincts a chance to reason with his sudden moral responsibility, but he didn't feel it anymore. After politely kissing her back and not returning the want for a frenching session, Zell pulled away and looked away, nervous as to what even to say. "I have an ultimatum that I'm going to set for us."

[/color] He said, in sort of a quick babble. "We won't kiss until it's sober and not just a result of vodka."[/color] He stepped away from her, and went to go pick up the book and the bottle from under the tree.
[/justify][/blockquote]

tagged; ash!
words; 599
outfit; here!
notes; aw yay hoodie plots. x]

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