Nobody helps us
We'll make our own luck
Outrun the sadness

@shi  Outfit

Family was family no matter how much one liked or disliked them, a fact that Caterina learned the hard way years prior, she had to accept the fact that Castor and Judah and Xiomara were all her siblings, even if she felt like she didn’t belong. They all acted like they were better than she was because she didn’t really fit the mold that they had been put into as purebloods. She didn’t want a marriage and babies, she didn’t want to be the head of a line. She wanted to live her life as she lived it. She wanted to find her happiness and her own heartbreak. She knew that it wasn’t this what happened to purebloods, they didn’t get to choose their way, they didn’t get a choice on their lives. So much of who they were was set out for them, and nothing made it easy. Nothing made it better.

There were those that she wanted to be close to, them that were close to her age but a gap still separated them, which she kind of like. Amy Rowle, well she was a Carrow now, but she was one o the few that Caterina tolerated being around. She wasn’t like the others and though she was a lady she was still not like XIomara. Or Castor and Judah. She liked to hang around with her Fiance too, but Michael had his own time and his own problems. Especially with Jaxon in the the mix of it all now. It made life interesting and none of them were really interested in hiding it all. She had even joked that they could all three go to the party together. Polyamorous relationships were more common than people liked to admit, but they were usually hidden. Neither of them gave a damn about it at all, but honestly that really depended on if she went through the marriage with Michael. She was more attached to Jaxon than she was Michael and If he found them another third who was interested in her too then she would more than happily jump ship.

It sat on her mind as she sat in the restaurant of the Adria at the bar, her long legs crossed as she sat on the stool drinking a Dark and Stormy waiting for her Lady cousin to come meet her.

outfit

Lady Flora owned the Adria, the Carrow twins visited her on occasion at home, taking their new kinship to some level of personal relation. It was all right, she understood them more than Anastasia, though she was closer to her than the twins. Ana was Lancelot's cousin and they were very close, closer than he was with the second cousins he had rarely laid eyes on before. It was fine, she was good at dealing with political relations and getting to know people who were supposed to be family. Her cousins had been near strangers to her before the takeover, since her mother was the only side in which she had cousins but Leda had isolated herself from them since Leander's death. Supposed death, Amy knew better now. She had plenty of Shafiq second cousins, Selwyn second cousins, Bulstrode second cousins. There were plenty of ages close to hers so it was easy to get to know them, to become in some way close. Amy was a difficult person, really, because she didn't like most people and found it easy to pretend that she did. Not that she disliked them, it was just hard for her to feel anything other than passing contentment with people's company in most cases.

The Adria was, however, a place she had to frequent often. Family reasons, image reasons. It was good to go there and it was good to meet people there if they happened to be the kind of company that was acceptable for her to keep. Her actual cousins were some of them and she was occasionally invited for drinks. This time it was Caterina. So she'd told Lancelot that she'd be home late, told Kalli that she wouldn't be showing up at her place tonight either, and readied herself to go. Amy was a busy person, she had a job and was doing a double major at Lufkin, she had a husband and a regular lover and an image to maintain. She had her father and mother to avoid, her other father to meet up with occasionally, and her little brother to write to and keep an eye on at a distance.

After entering, she spotted Caterina at the bar, so she made her way over easily. Noticing that she wasn't dressed exactly in a way that her own father would have found appropriate for a lady, Amy had to smile faintly. Her father had always been a pain in such things and her cousin was amusing in her refusal of her position. Well, not her position. Her duties. Engaged, she was, to a Parkinson. Her cousin didn't seem very taken with the idea, it made her amusing. So she walked over and slipped into the seat beside Cat. "There you are. Drinking without me already?"

The only person in her family that she didn’t mind being around was Amy and Zoe. Her younger sister was much like Caterina in a rather disturbing way. She liked to rebel and she refused to be what their father told her to be, and not just because of her age. Caterina knew rather well that it was because she knew just as well that what their father expected of them was not only bullshit but it was antiquated. Her little sister was still in school she still had time before these things would be forced on to her and Caterina could only pray that she was able to do something before they ruined Zoe’s life. She wasn’t sure that there was much that she could do, but she was going to try and do what she could.

She had a lot on her mind and a lot to consider. Jaxon and Michael were most likely not going to be permanent fixtures in her life. Jaxon was interested in politics and being the companion of a politician was not something that she wanted. A lover, yes, but she was too interested in her own life to marry someone like Jaxon. He was a star, and she didn’t want to be outshone. She wanted someone who would lift her up. Maybe that was why she was so attracted to him. She knew that no matter what was going on, the thread of permanence was not there.

Taking a sip from the glass she sat it down and couldn’t help but offer a cheeky grin. ”I started a good while ago, cousin. Nothing better to do, so why not?”

At school, Amy hadn't had all that many friends. She didn't much care to, honestly, but she had kept her cousins mostly close. Cat, being only one year older than her, had been one of the closest ones to her despite not being the closest by blood. She liked Cat, really, but they were very different people. Her older cousin didn't want to be a lady, didn't want the traditional marriage and children road. Amy understood that, and it wasn't like she wanted it. She just knew that it was expected of her and never tried to argue the matter. Amy was the only daughter of the entire Rowle line, she had even less of a choice than most pureblood women. It didn't matter, really, she was content with what she had. Plus, she had time before having a child. She had talked to Lance about it and he hadn't tried to change her mind. He never tried to contest her decisions, it was why they worked so well. Even more, he usually left most choices in their relationship to her.

"Simple courtesy for your dear cousin, Caterina." Amy raised an eyebrow but smirked and then took a seat at the bar with the other woman. Cat looked as well as ever. Beautiful, really, if a bit too sexual. Her own father would have killed her with her own hands if she'd ever considered wearing something so tight while living under his roof. Or metaphorical roof. As in, before she was married. Nowadays, the man wouldn't say anything. He rarely even spoke to her anymore. Lancelot wouldn't care either. Even so, Amy had been taught to not even consider that. Her own clothing was comfortable enough. Fitting for her position. Now, if only Lancelot's grandmother would die. Then she would be The Lady Carrow, instead of just another one. That was what she did this for, after all. "But no matter. No time like the present."

With a wave of her hand, she called the bartender over and ordered her own drink. Something simple, classic. A common martini. It was served to her and she held it between her fingers, leaning he elbow on the bar and wrist twisted. Then she smiled at Cat, now settled. "So tell me, how's your week been?"

It wasn’t like Cat didn’t know her place, because she knew it rather well, she knew how to act and she knew how to dress. She knew the road, and she had watched her three older siblings walk it. Castor was a bastard, Judah was a monster and Xiomara had been lucky but her husband was no saint. She wasn’t going to end up like them, or their spouses, she had plans and thus far they were working, but that didn’t mean that she would give up a damn thing she wanted in the meantime. Her father had three daughters and two sons, she wasn't going to be like one of them. She was going to do what she wanted, she didn’t care. She was who she was.

”You should know me well enough by now, Amy. When has that ever stopped me before. “ She said before cutting her cousin a look then winking. ”Free drinks are free drinks. Who am I to say no.” That would just be rude. After all if the men are stupid enough to think that she would sleep with them over a cocktail then the women they had been meeting were even more pathetic than she though.

”Same as usual. Classes, lunch with Michael, drinks with Xiomara, dinner with the folks. Same as every week.” It was boring is what it was. She was ready for something to spice it up a little. ”I am going to be having lunch with Michael’s disappointing brother in two days though.”

And a song we all must sing

template by punki of adoxography

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@ cat - Words: 360

    Cat was only a single year older than her and they had been in the same house. During school, therefore, they'd interacted much more than they did now. It was enough for them to get to know their differences and while Amy wouldn't say they were the best of friends, they were family and they enjoyed each other's company. While they may have grown somewhat apart since Cat had graduated from Hogwarts, going out for drinks together was still something she enjoyed, and Cat had even been one of her bridesmaids. Of course, Amy had kept it to cousins. That was better politics but those were also the people she enjoyed spending her time with much more. Her friends from school weren't all that perfect and most hadn't even been invited.
    "Of course not." Amy couldn't help but laugh, really, because it was nice to cut lose when she could. It wasn't something she could often do with her family and that made cousins like Cat even more important. A cousin was not the same as any other cousin and Cat herself was a very relaxed person, unwilling to be constantly proper and not judging Amy when she did such things either. "Oh?" She turned her head to look at the man in question. Far too old and more than a little... gross. Well, that didn't mean the alcohol was undrinkable. He was just untouchable. 
    "The musician? Tell me more." That was interesting. Amy herself preferred quidditch players to musicians, but it was still something worth appreciating. Van Parkinson was known for having disappointed his lineage by becoming a rockstar, but he wasn't the first pureblood to let down his family and he wouldn't be the last. It wasn't like he was an heir, it was forgivable. If Cat ended up doing anything with him, though... well, that would be dramatic. He was her fiancé's brother, after all. Leave it to Cat to throw that in the wind and do whatever she liked. It was amusing to say the least.
    With a small smirk, she turned and asked the bartender for a Bloody Mary. How fitting, her mother would've laughed.