I tip my cap to the raging sea. {Open; tw: mentions of vomit, emotional distress}

[chasingtwisters]

Since her confrontation with Aoife in the cafe, where she had been trying to make an effort with her brother, Moira's felt ill, and not with morning sickness. Her sister hates her; her cousin hates her. What else is there but for the whole town to hate her, too? She has to contain her magic as she runs back in the direction of her home; yet sparks keep flying from her entire body regardless, and she knows people are staring.

When she finally reaches her cottage, she runs right past it, to the beach that is her backyard. She finally collapses, out of breath, into the sand. She chucks her jacket and her shoes off into the dunes before she falls over and pukes what little she's eaten for breakfast; she cleans her mess away with a wave of her hand, just as the tears, hot and heavy like the anchor that is her heart inside of her, start to spill down her cheeks.

As she cries, the sparks flying from her channels into something deeper; a more ancient part of herself that calls out to the sea. The waters respond with resounding clarity.

The skies darken and the waters churn; to anyone casually glancing towards the ocean, it looks like the start of a hurricane. Moira stares as the water gradually raises and the winds start to blow. Rain starts falling in time with her tears, and Moira just stands there.

She can take the anger; hell, she can take the dirty looks. But her own sister's words seep into her skin like so much poison and all she can dwell on now is the curse she'll pass onto her daughter simply for being a Coombs.

OOC: Moira has reached her breaking point. It is her magic causing the storming sea and clouds; it's basically only happening around the beach on Moira's property, but, obviously, it's still really noticeable. She's really, really upset right now and could really use a friend or, at least, someone to talk her down.

Comments

[louise_abasi]

It's not like Moira and her are Best Friends Ever, but Louise still was a little surprised (and maybe disappointed?) that Moira hadn't showed up to the Abasi Lou-is-back brunch. She was a smart woman and a witch always up for a challenge. Even though it's weird to think of herself as a challenge.

When Louise poked around a little to hear about what had happened when she was gone, she felt bad about how selfish she had been. Moira had more on her mind that coddling a lost chick. And Lou wanted to support her in that.

Right now she was just unsure if she would even be able to get close to her friend, a dark little figure against the violence of a hurricane.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira doesn't hear Lou approach, but she senses her presence; at once, she's hit with guilt for having missed the brunch welcoming her back to Siren Cove. She's been so wrapped up in her own dramas, she hasn't thought to think of anyone else's. And thus, she thinks, proving her cousin and her sister right.

She quickly wipes the tears from her eyes as she turns to face Lou.

"Hey," she says, her voice quieter than it usually is. The storm around them still flurries, as unsteady as the emotions running through Moira. "It's good to see you, Lou."

[louise_abasi]

"Are you sure?"

She takes off her sun glasses to make sure it's not her making the view so gloomy. "Because I can leave, and I think I've been through enough to not have 'hurricane ride' on my to-do list. No offense to those who do."

"Are you alright?"

[chasingtwisters]

"It is, and I'm so sorry for not attending your brunch this month," she says. "It was a dick move of me not to go." She might not be best friends with Lou, but Moira likes to consider Lou a friend nonetheless, and she feels like she let her down in not attending. She hopes she can remedy that mistake, like all the rest of her mistakes.

"I've been better," Moira admits, trying to reign in her crying. "I've pushed my family away on top of being pregnant; my mother is a murderous psychopath and I don't know what to do."

[louise_abasi]

"Oh, sweetheart!"

It's really nothing more than a reflex, pulling the younger woman against her, wrapping her in a big hug to show that there's always someone left for everyone. Maybe it's what Louise needs reminding of as well.

"Ignore the brunch, the first half was me not remembering and the second was everyone crying and bringing up embarrassing memories. You're pregnant? By conscious decision? I'm sure you have help and support from Riley, but if there is anything I can do to make it easier .."

Pregnant Louise is glad Moira can't see her face. "Not familiar enough with pushing family away to say anything else but the Coombs being such a tight knit bunch that you might be careful of them bouncing back on the wrong time."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira falls into the hug, unaware until that moment how much she's been craving a gesture such as that to help anchor her to reality. "Thank you, Lou," she mumbles. "I really need this."

"Yeah," she says, pulling back to look at Lou. "It wasn't planned, so to speak. And I've been trying to keep it hidden, for the most part. Lest my mother actually finds out."

"I know," she admits, running a hand through her hair. "I need to make things right with them. All of them. I just seem to be having a hard time of it lately."

[louise_abasi]

"Your mother?" Louise knows that the two of them were never the best of friends, that they've drifted in a conscious decision from both sides.
"Oh dear, this isn't a Romeo e Guilietta situation? Because I think this town already been through such a thing plenty of times before."

"So take several steps back. You can't put your life on hold for such a thing, they will always pop back at a less than perfect time anyway. Or so I think."

[neriumoleander]

"Moira, Moira." The winds whip about Nerium's black skirts and scarves, giving her the appearance of flight. "Still so angry." She walks forward, letting the violent energy of the storm carry her. "You think me wrong. I do not wish to sever you from your family." The Coombs need no help in this. And Nerium knows the value of blood, the value of loyalty, far too strongly to ever come between that. "I wish to offer you aid. Friendship if you will." Nerium gently, carefully, places a hand on her shoulder. "These forces are my own. If you are not careful, they will consume you."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira feels so numbed by the events of the past week, she can't bring herself to retort Nerium's offer, nor even shrug her hand from her shoulder. Instead, she sobs harder, letting the tears fall freely in the other woman's presence. She's tired; worn to the bone, really, and she just wants to make things right.

"How?" She asks, her voice hollow. "How can you help?"

[neriumoleander]

"I can teach you how to channel your emotions into controlled power. I can bottle your anger if you wish, for you to uncork whenever you see fit. Or help you find the center of the storm."

Nerium reaches a finger through the woman's hair, bringing with it a stream of soothing energy.

"You don't know the powers from which you draw, not the way I do. Anger, chaos, darkness. But they are mine and I am them." Nerium stands beside her now, looking out at the swirling storm. "When other girls were having sweet sixteen and coming of age parties, my grandmother traded my innocence to demons of chaos in exchange for their magiks. As has been the Grimhilde way for centuries"

She turns to look back at the girl. "Be careful, lest you invoke that beyond your control. You have an innocent inside you. You, yourself, still have innocence inside of you. I can teach you to embrace the forces you channel without being devoured by them."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira is leaning into Nerium's touch before she realizes it, letting the soothing energy flow throughout her. It helps, but not enough to entirely soften the storm.

She stares though, when Nerium tells her of her own grandmother exchanging her innocence for power.

"That's pretty fucked up," she points out. "But I might have to take you up on your offer."

[neriumoleander]

"If you perceive it to be so. But I know no other way. Nor am I ungrateful for the powers it has afforded me and the great women before me."

Nerium positions her palms over one another, leaving a gap of air in between which she encircles and loops. When it's completed, a glowing stone appears in her hand. She offers it out to Moira.

"Should you wish to find me, this will grant you safe passage to my manor." Nerium whispers a few words at the violent clouds ahead. Those in the center meet and twist into a waterspout. Anger, agony, contained and controlled.

[jiyunnies]

It's obvious to Riley what's behind the sudden change in weather, especially since it only seems to be taking place in one central location that she immediately recognizes as Moira's property. She had spotted the stormy skies from her own home, having been outside with Val as her sister worked in her gardens. Excusing herself, she grabs her bag, an umbrella, a rain jacket, and runs. Their homes aren't close to one another, but Riley's been to Moira's place so often that she now knows a few shortcuts, and she's rounding the corner of the cottage and onto the beach within a record amount of time. She finds her friend on the beach and her heart breaks for her. Riley approaches her cautiously.

"Moira? Moira, come here." She reaches out for Moira's arm and pulls her into a tight hug.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira has never been so relieved to see Riley in her life. Her absolute best friend, she has seen Moira at her best and, as she is currently, at her worst; she always finds a way to soothe her, whether through words or simple actions such as the tight embrace she pulls Moira into now. Moira all but collapses into her, chest heaving with sobs. "I don't know how to fix anything," she manages to get out between sobs.

[jiyunnies]

Riley smooths Moira's hair, her heart breaking as her friend weeps into her shoulder. She knew this day would come, with all the stress, the baby, James, her mother, her sisters...how Moira kept herself together for so long, Riley had no idea. So she lets her friend cry it out. She's bottled up a lot over the past few months and it's time she got everything off her shoulders.

"It's okay. It's okay. One step at a time, alright? What happened?"

[ameliecoombs]

She wouldn't say that she forgives Moira, but Aoife had been harsh, and she hates watching her entire family fight like this. Amelie spots the weather storm on her way home and at first she thinks it's Aoife before she puts two and two together and hurries over.

The rain has drenched her to the skin by the time she manages to force her way to Moira's side, and she kneels down on the sand, only half concerned that she's ruining her skirt.

"Moira, you have to calm down."

[chasingtwisters]

"Did you come here to tell me I'm poisoning the family and or about to murder one of you? It's a little late for that," Moira replies, her voice hollow, no real feeling in any of her words. She's exhausted as it is, and the storm around her drains her energy the longer it continues. "Look, Amelie, I know I fucked up. I know I did. I'm trying to make it right, I am."

Even to herself, Moira sounds like a child. But then, she can hardly remember what it was to be a child.

[ameliecoombs]

She had come here to make sure her sister was okay, and it irks her that Moira immediately jumps to thinking the worst.

"I came here to make sure you didn't drown yourself." She hesitates and puts a hand on her shoulder, in what she's hoping is a a calming gesture.

[chasingtwisters]

"Sorry," she apologizes, realizing after the fact how dramatic she sounds. In a sense, she feels like she's back to being sixteen years old again, the oldest child and the one annoyed when any of her siblings barge into her room. "I just had a terrible fight with Aoife. I'm not thinking straight."

She appreciates the hand on her shoulder, letting it stay there as she tries to calm herself.