[Deleted]

w/ Adrijana Evgeniya

Long Live the Queen a god doesn't turn at the cries of a worm Things were changing. The firm that'd been hit had represented individuals related to the Spades and any business that partook alongside their background actions for over a decade. Its members were incredibly valuable allies; intelligent, sharp, loyal to the cause. The destruction of their main offices with no connection to rhyme or reason made no sense but to those who knew the true nature of the business that lied beneath the surface. In the end, all physical things could be replaced. It would take time and money - a rather annoying amount of both - but it was doable. The attacker hadn't meant to try and cripple a part of the Spades, only to grab their attention. They had it.  A new banner had waged war. She had been hung in a foggy state at first somewhere between anger and excitement. Were they capable? Were they strong? Would they prove a challenge to solidify her position as the apex of natural order or would they waste her time like so many others had? That sensation had moderately fizzled out and was replaced with an immensely uncomfortable irritation from recent findings and events. Anger, maybe.  "Your Majesty?" Her eyes left the newly purchased chess board she'd set up at the center of her large desk to the man's voice that called from her door. The red pieces on the game board had yet to be moved, but a few of the black were situated outwards. All of it, even the board itself, was hand-crafted, blown glass. "We found another." Her head turned to the man in he suit with a cellphone held to his ear, waiting for orders. "End them." It was accepted and relayed as plainly as it was spoken and the man left the entrance open - a previous instruction she'd given - for her next appointment. These few rats that they'd caught... they weren't worth her time. She'd find a worthy one yet.  To have a war, one needed to have an army. Though the Spades had plenty in resources, their new agitators' numbers were relatively hidden. Plenty of info had already been gathered, researched, melted down, and the window for approximation was still far too large for the Queen to accept. But something else had made her purchase this specific chess board; a new addition to her collection of at least two dozen that lined the floating-ledge along nearly every stretch of wall in her large and wide-set office. This board was dedicated to a very specific set of messes and how best to clean them, combat them, or erase them altogether. The large clock that hung above her head behind her ticked quietly by with every second. She'd been counting them while eyeing over the pieces yet-to-strategize in order to try and help anchor herself back to a feeling of steadiness, of normalcy and nothing. Her sister would be here in approximately one-hundred and ninety-eight seconds. Already the Queen had made arrangements to have the wing mostly empty. The discussion was meant to be purely confidential between the sisters... and out of earshot and eyesight in case this wretched emotion were to exude from her. No, she had to anchor. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. NOTES:

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[Adrijana Evgeniya]

Adri walked into her sister's office dressed in black and drinking a slushie. She was humming, smiling, and tapped the heels of her boots with a distinctive click as she walked. Adri was not one to concern herself with the ins and outs of running a criminal organization; that was Yen's affair- but she did so love being kowtowed to, being called “Heiress” and being given deference by her sister's servants. Unlike Yennifer, she didn't see herself as a goddess among worms, ability or not; that would have been an impossible attitude to sustain in prison. Rather than seeing such an attitude as her due, it was a constant fountain of delight to her: You're bowing to me again? This is the best! Which accounted for much of her attitude as she made her way to Yen.

She was dressed, as mentioned, in black, except for a pink bow that she'd put in her hair because she'd seen it in the store and thought it was cute. Her purse was Gucci and it didn't go with her outfit, but she didn't care about that. She wore a choker with a diamond dangle and boots with two inch heels so she could hit the six foot mark and feel good about it. She had always enjoyed being taller than her sister since she had passed Yen around fourteen years old.

The slushie was from Chevron. Adri's tastes in food were not nearly as expensive as her tastes in clothing.

So she walked in, eyes gleaming and happy, slurping her slushie, unaware of the storm that was about to descend on her head. “Hi Yen!” She grabbed a chair, flipping it so the back faced Yennifer and plopping her chin on the headrest. She looked at Yen, and frowned.

“What's wrong? Why are you upset? You want some chocolate?” She nodded at her purse.

Yennefer Evgeniya

[Deleted]

w/ Adrijana Evgeniya

Long Live the Queen a god doesn't turn at the cries of a worm The tell-tale click of Adrijana's heels had Yennefer  ceasing her counting of seconds. Her sister was on time. Deep down she knew that her younger sister wanted to please her, wanted to be happy with her, respected her... but the lack of attention she paid the carelessness she had - ignorance, really - had gotten too out of hand for the Queen to ignore any longer if she was to deal with a new war front. A piece of the chess board was still between her index and thumb, turning slowly about in thought of where on earth to put it against the opposing side of messy dilemmas. It seemed now was not the time, a perky and lively greeting ringing from her kin's voice and causing Yennefer the raise her eyes. "Adri," she responded back with the dip of her chin. While most would have been glad to have their sister inquire about their own well-being, the question made the Queen realize how hard this had rattled her. Was it truly visibly obvious? Adrijana had always picked up subtle clues that no one else could, not even their parents. Well, not their parent*, their mother. The man was worthless. The fact that Adri could glean that she was upset just made her more upset. "No, I track my sugar," she answered rather factually. It was the best she could think of to keep her steady; stick to facts, stick to reality. A slow, deep breath filled the Queen's lungs and she set the chess piece from her fingers back to its original spot in line with the others of its color. "The authorities are looking for a woman fitting your description from a street camera after a man disappeared around a store corner last month. The same man I had to arrange a clean-up crew to erase trails of in your car." Her eyes kept down to the board, still contemplating. Or maybe it was to keep her calm? A little of both, perhaps. "Your license plates have been changed. That's the second time this year," her jaw tensed only briefly, "and the third clean-up crew, which you are fully capable of ordering yourself if only you remembered the importance of never leaving a trail." Another breath, this time out through her nose. "Our legal representatives are being targeted with petty terrorism from idiotic extremists, making the areas of the city of value to us infested with journalists and news stations. You've never been one to 'lie low', Adrijana, but I shouldn't have to play your maid and ask that you stop being so careless." The last sentence was strict, sharp, and her eyes flicked up and over to her sister. Oh yes, this was no monotone or usual 'gray'. There was anger there; pure and unmoving. Strangely enough, these weren't the main reasons why. Sure, they'd made it that much worse and disrespectful - proof of her sister's lackadaisical attitude in every aspect of her life rather than just most aspects - but her true core of anger still remained held back on her tongue.  NOTES: ruh roh

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[Adrijana Evgeniya]

No one had ever asked Adri about her feelings for her sister. Well, almost no one, and that was a good thing, considering how mixed-up they were inside Adri. There was admiration- a bright, burning glee at her sister's power, a wide-eyed wonder at her success. There was the deep-seated desire to see Yennefer happy, to please her. Yennefer dispensed praise so rarely, showed affection so little, that Adri longed for it, panted for it, preening to the slightest sign of her sister's approval. A slightly soften expression, a tone just a little gentler- Adri would run for these things like a dog after the approval of its master. Yet it was no all good between them. With Yennefer's success came a kind of jealousy in Adri, a smoldering frustration as on some level she realized that she would never be able to accomplish what Yennefer had accomplished. Yennefer had always been the smart one. Yennefer had always been the one the teachers praised. Yennefer had always been the one with the plan. That was something Adri never had. Even as a child forcing her to focus on a homework problem for any length of time had always left her nearly in tears. She simply couldn't plan, couldn't think the way Yennefer could. In prison, the psychiatrists had described her as various shades of mentally ill. Intellectually, Adri supposed they were probably right, but it was rare for her to care about their stupid diagnoses. Only in front of Yennefer did the issue rise up in her mind- the nagging feeling that she was a burden to her sister, that she was completely dependent on Yennefer. She had never had a real job in her life, and deep down inside, though she would never have put it in so many words, that she was constitutionally incapable of holding one. A few days in and she would explode at a manager or a customer or do something silly and stupid and she would be fired. That is what would happen. She knew this, though she would never have said it aloud. Knew this, and was powerless in herself to change it. Video games, drug habit, even her occasional murders- these all happened by the grace of Yennefer and not for any other reason. She could not help but love her sister, yet she could also not help but taste an edge of bitterness in every interaction with her. So it was, and so it would be.

Yennefer's voice was flat. It was always was, these days. Adri tried not to let it bring her down. “Oh yeah? This one has-” she flipped the Snickers bar over in her hand, “twenty-eight point seven seven grams.”

She heard Yennefer's breath release, long, slow, and steady. Instantly her gaze shot to her sister, suddenly wary and perhaps a little afraid. She knew that breath, knew it meant something had gone wrong. The words came next. Controlled, perfectly calm, yet each one felt like a knife blade being ripped across her skin. Each one an air horn blaring USELESS, STUPID inside her head. Disappointing Yennefer. Hurting the kingdom. Fear mingled with anger inside Adri. Then the last sentence came and smacked her like a whip, making her look up. Yennefer was angry. Very angry. Adri stared at her, eyes wide. Her jaw hung slack. Her lower lip began to tremble.

“T-t-there wasn't supposed to be a camera there,” she said. “I checked online.” She sniffed. Something made her vision blur. “I d-didn't mean to, I just didn't have anyone and-” she sniffed again. “I wasn't careless,” she said, and now there was something like real anger in her voice. “I wasn't careless! That can happen to anyone! It can happen to you!” Her face twisted, and exploded into tears. “It's your fault! You promised you'd give me toys for my playhouse and you haven't! If you were getting toys for me I wouldn't have to go hunting!”

Tears ran down her cheeks. Her face was the spitting image of an angry, pouting child.

Yennefer Evgeniya

[Deleted]

w/ Adrijana Evgeniya

Long Live the Queen a god doesn't turn at the cries of a worm The criticisms sunk in heavily into the many, twisted emotions on Adrijana's face. While it wasn't particularly as easy as she wished it was to see her sister cry - a tinge of ache in her chest rather than constant stability - it was becoming less and less difficult the more the younger Evgeniya turned to excuses and anger; wrapping around explanations and accusations like a child in a fit. "T-t-there wasn't supposed to be a camera there, I checked online." "You should have checked them yourself."  "I wasn't careless! That can happen to anyone!" "You acted impulsively, Adrijana-," "It can happen to you!"   The queen's eyes thinned. "It would not have happened to me." The tone spoke with a warning, for Adri to be more careful with her choice of words, but that hardly seemed an effective approach now that she was already caught up in her whirlwind-of-a-tantrum. And then she crossed the line... "It's your fault!"  Yennefer's gaze sharpened like steel, jaw clenching, and fingers gripping one another as they rested intertwined atop the desk in front of her. Her sister continued to rant and shout, but the rage in the front of the Queen's skull was becoming so hot it was hard to think clearly on her words. An edge of her lip began to slightly curl the longer Adri went on and the louder she became until finally the shrill of her ignorance pushed Yennefer past a breaking point. "ENOUGH." The delicate, intricate glass board and all of its pieces shattered into an explosion of crystal dust into the air, the area of the desk beneath it splitting and cracking with a loud and sudden groan. When the glass dust settled back down onto the surface, it left a flushed and red-faced Yennefer beyond it. "I have overlooked so many of your constant, childlike acts of rebellion. The entire state is plagued with an infection of terroristic idealists seeking to drag our kingdom through the mud and you think your addictions take priority." "I've spent everything I am to create this empire for you, for mother, for us, and you insist on sabotaging it with public, petty crime and screwing my assets that will now do their very best to use whatever secrets you told them against me!" Betrayal. She felt it like a dull knife in her chest. Treason for the sake of satisfying her pleasures and 'getting back' at Yennefer; for what? For focusing on their success? For protecting them? After another deep, long breath to collect herself, all she could manage to do was rest her forehead into one of her palms with her elbow propped on the desk, battling with the discomfort of the alien feelings and sensations of anger and hurt. What a stupid thing to feel... and yet, here it was, incredibly and painfully present. NOTES: oh damn

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[Adrijana Evgeniya]

The chessboard shattered.

It was a sudden, crashing shock to Adrijana's system, even though she was more than familiar with Yennefer's tendency to break thinks in bouts of rage. The rage and pouting in Adri's expression dissolved instantly, sloughing off her like old clothes. It was often like that with Adri's emotions; she was mercurial as the length of a summer's day. Instead she sat, quiet and with the tip of her thumb in her mouth as Yennefer lectured her on all she owed. Adri knew it. She knew it well. And she resented it, partly, even as she knew she owed her sister everything. Maybe there had been a bit of sabotage in her motivations, who knew. But it had been far from the primary motive. And when you got right down to it Adri would never do anything to deliberately undermine Yennefer.

When Yennefer finished Adri sat quiet for a minute, staring at the wall and sucking on her thumb. When she spoke it was in a sullen voice. “I'm not trying to sabotage you. You know I wouldn't.” She snorted. “And I didn't know Sophia was yours,” she added. “It's not my fault you vacuumed up all the good f*cktoys while I was gone.”

A grimace passed over her face. That sounded almost like she was blaming Yennefer, which she hadn't meant to. She turned to her sister, eyes plaintive. “Yenni, I'm sorry, I'm dumb, you know I'm dumb, dumb and crazy, I couldn't survive without you, just tell me what I have to do and I'll do it, just please don't be mad. I know I do all the stuff you hate, I promise I'll do better, just please don't be mad.”

She looked at her sister, eyes pleading. She was entirely sincere- for the moment, at least.

Yennefer Evgeniya

[Adrijana Evgeniya]

Yennefer Evgeniya

[Yennefer Evgeniya]

w/ Adrijana Evgeniya

Long Live the Queen a god doesn't turn at the cries of a worm At least her sister had known to let things settle and sit in silence for a stretch after the climax of the argument that had prompted Yennefer's anger. It was during that minute or two of gifted peace and quiet that the Queen had already calmed herself - at least visibly. What anger had twisted her expression and tainted her eyes was all but vanished now, replaced comfortably with her usual and constant state of apathy. "I know you don't try to," she sighed through her nose against the inside of her wrist, palm still holding up her forehead. "She is not mine, but she is certainly no ally of ours. A snake hiding in the damp and dark. We can't trust her with anything." Yennefer sat back in her chair with a more relaxed posture, hands dropping into her lap and eyes focusing on the glass-dust that shimmered over the desk. It had begun to slowly pool towards the center so as to not be a danger when cleaning, each edge of the desk left clean besides the eventual pile of crystal and white closer to the middle a few inches away from the new, thin split in the wood. Her attentions only lifted back to Adri when the word (if it could be even called that) 'f*cktoy' was dropped rather unceremoniously between them. She almost immediately gave Adri a look that both questioned the need for the word as well as decently judged and chastised her for it. What a lowly sounding choice of language - especially describing a queen's actions.  "Yenni, I'm sorry, I'm dumb, you know I'm dumb, dumb and crazy." "You aren't crazy, Adrijana. Neither am I." She hated the thought of resembling that word; just a term used to to explain what normal, weak humans couldn't comprehend. An umbrella that stretched from its true meaning. "I couldn't survive without you," well, that one was true. Not in this century. "Just tell me what I have to do and I'll do it, just please don't be mad. I know I do all the stuff you hate, I promise I'll do better, just please don't be mad." "Calm, sestrica (little sister)." Yennefer leaned forward just enough to sit up straight rather than rely on the chair behind her, hands lacing together and resting on the edge of the desk before her. "You know what we are. Royalty, kings and queens, deities, gods. The history of the world is writ with our ruling. Before the time of mankind's overpopulation and brainwashed ideals of unnatural equality, your 'crazy' would have been akin to the wrath and might of Poseidon. But Poseidon couldn't rule in years like these. The use of mortal media and droves of mindless sheep to march down a street for a cause would have billions hunting for his head. Finesse is necessary - finesse and patience - my 'crazy'. Had we been born Greeks during the wars in Athens, I would have followed your conqueror's heart in burning entire fleets of ships to ash across the sea. But we weren't born then. We're living in the now. Our roots are taking deep, but not deep enough yet for the attention you're drawing to us." The Queen leaned forward further yet, tone low and stern, but not angered or condescending. "You must trust in my lead and follow it. Do you understand?" NOTES: BE GENTLE, I'M NERVOUS TO BE BACK!

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[Adrijana Evgeniya]

Yennefer slipping into Croatian was a constant source of comfort for Adri. It brought to mind the happy days when they were young, before Adri had gone to prison, when Yennefer wasn't always distracted by Spades and Spades and took care of her in person. Well, Yennefer still did that. But these days it looked more like buying Adri things and paying people to bring things to her. Adri didn't see her older sister as much as in the old days, and that made her a little sad. On the other hand, Yennefer had gotten her the playroom, which was super fun when she had toys there. So there was both good and bad. Good mostly, she guessed.

Adri smiled at Yennefer as she spoke, nodding at Yennefer's words about gods and wrath. She'd heard this speech dozens of times, and she'd never really understood it. But she knew it made Yen happy and made Yen want to get richer and richer and get her nicer and nicer things and make all those people bow down to her, so she accepted it. She managed to get the gist, though, and, leaning forward on the table, sighed. “I guess. But it's so easy for you, Yen. You're all that stuff- patient, finesse, everything. I get... you know how when you haven't gotten laid in forever you're so horny you might explode? I get like that but for killing.” For a moment Adri's eyes sparkled at cherished memories. Then she got up and went around the table and put her arms around Yen. “But I'll do my best, Yenni. I promise I will! Just tell me what you want and I'll do it.” An idea lit up her face. “Do you want me to kill Sophia? So she can't tell any secrets? I mean, I didn't tell her any secrets, but I can kill her just to be sure!”

[Yennefer Evgeniya]

w/ Adrijana Evgeniya

Long Live the Queen a god doesn't turn at the cries of a worm "I guess. But it's so easy for you, Yen. You're all that stuff- patient, finesse, everything." Yes, yes she was. It was minorly euphoric to hear. She knew how perfectly suited for pragmatic ruling she was, but there was still something about hearing it from another that was something akin to a 'guilty pleasure'. That is, if she was capable of having one. "I get... you know how when you haven't gotten laid in forever you're so horny you might explode?" The deadpan from the earlier 'f*cktoy' comment reappeared. "You know I don't."  "I get like that but for killing." "All things in moderation, Adrijana. I care little for what addictions you wish to keep as long as they do not control you. We are not weak-minded humans," it was an odd statement - as if both encouraging and warning at the same time. Supporting her sister was always paramount, but the thought of those worthless sheep left a bad taste in her mouth. As her sister came about to swing her around around Yennefer's shoulders, she sat still and allowed it, even so much as going to raise a hand and tap lightly at the forearm across her collarbones. Affection. Rare.  "Do you want me to kill Sophia? So she can't tell any secrets? I mean, I didn't tell her any secrets, but I can kill her just to be sure!" That was an interesting thought. There was a hum behind her closed lips while she pondered, but ultimately gave a small headshake. "No. Not yet. Perhaps today we can find you a new toy together. I'll ride along. Given a safe enough opportunity, we can pick which we like. How does that sound?" another pat or two from her fingertips to Adri's arm, resting there. NOTES: BE GENTLE, I'M NERVOUS TO BE BACK!

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