guess who’s back? back again - visitor, open

[JOSEPHINE]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: calibri; letter-spacing: .6px; color: #494949;"]the barrel of a gun blurs as she shifts her eyes to the rancher holding it up to her face. as her hands raise slowly, joey reminds herself not to smirk.

of course there’s still a price on her head. brock doesn’t exactly strike her as a forgiving man; she’s not much of a forgiving woman, either. she did happen to murder one of their own in their own home, but everyone has bad days, everyone makes mistakes. however, joey arrived at bluestem today with everything but a physical invitation. brock’s own son had told her she can come back; granted, he’s non the wiser to her being the one who pulled the trigger all those months ago. it seems the thought hasn’t ever crossed cassidy’s mind. she’ll let him believe this, wouldn’t want to ruin his day. in all honesty, she didn’t think she’d see him again, at least where they would have to interact. the badlands had a different idea. when they spoke again, joey remembered why she had liked him and his still big crush on her was obvious. she lied, completely. she claimed her and will called off the engagement and separated, they weren’t even ever engaged, because of the pain of losing rosie. cass handed her a shovel and joey continued digging.

she didn’t consider visiting again until their conversation. and even then, it was only an idea until about a week prior. everything in her screamed for her to just run. she felt trapped, cornered. will seems to have completely changed; while, yes, she did want him to help with rosie more, but he made a 180 nearly overnight.

” please don’t shoot, “ she bargains, taking a deep breath in an attempt to appear nervous, [color=#990000]” i just came to see cassidy. “ joey explains, waiting for the gun to lower — it doesn’t. [color=#990000]” cassidy invited me. “ she clarifies, how could they shoot her now? she practically has a golden ticket, an invitation from the son of their chief himself. she needs to be careful, to not get too cocky or snarky about it. they easily could still just take her out like they’ve been trying to for months. [color=#990000]” also, “ joey adds, slowly motioning to the house on the outskirts of town that she rode in on, [color=#990000]” i brought back your horse, “ she informs them. not even a trojan horse, either. for once, joey’s actually just doing something nice. well, maybe it’s self-serving. she knows she’s risking a lot coming back here, the horse felt like the best ticket she has to make a little peace with the ranchers. to look like the helpless little blonde who had been forced into all of the events from months ago. now, taking refuge from a crazed “ex-fiancé” with the last person she can trust. a woeful tale, truly.

[color=#990000]” please, “ she whimpers, flinching slight at any move the person made with the gun, [color=#990000]” i’m not looking for any trouble this time. “ josephine manages, bottom lip twitching with eyes heavy with salty tears. pathetic enough?

// ope she’s back. really to hang out w cass for awhile. she’ll be making a few visits and causing some drama so lemme know if you’d like to plot that out! the person holding the gun to her can be anyone who would like to btw! or an npc.


[spoiler=tags, updated 09/11/2021]◜BASICS ┊ [color=#990000]I HAD A DREAM◞
&. ❝ josephine elena van doren ❞ |  joey, hoey | female [ she/her ] .
&. 22 years old . | november first ; scorpio .
&. reaper of flintlock lodge .

◜PERSONALITY ┊ GOT EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED◞
&. impulsive . outgoing . femme fatale . flirtatious . seemingly emotionless . guarded . self-destructive . obsessive . hot headed . reckless . kleptomania tendencies . selfish . brat .  assertive . loyal to those close to her . intuitive . stubborn . passionate . self-preserving . quick . nosey . reliable . non-committal . determined . secretive . resentful . resourceful . distrusting .

◜ APPEARANCE ┊ NOT WHAT YOU THINK ◞
&.  five foot six & one hundred and seventeen pounds ; reference .
↳ blonde hair just past her collarbone, grows a dirtier blonde, lightening up as soon as any sun touches it .
↳ slim, muscular build. legs on the longer side .
↳ big blue/green doe eyes, light yet well-groomed eyebrows, full lips, dimples .

◜ INTERACTIONS ┊ AND IF I’M BEING HONEST ◞
&.  [ 8/10 ] physically  |  [ 9/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ medium ] | difficulty w/ melees [ hard ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ hard ]
↳ combat information .
&. attack in bold #990000 | [member=570]scully[/member] | PM for any major plots .
&. friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .

◜INVENTORY ┊ IT MIGHT’VE BEEN A NIGHTMARE◞
&. [ 2 ] weapons | [ 0 ] armor pieces | [ 0 ] consumables | [ 2 ] aid items | [ 1 ] misc .
↳ one combat knife .
↳ a three piece throwing knife set
↳ a bracelet from her late mother, each one of her sisters has a piece to the same set, their mother having the biggest piece

◜ RELATIONSHIPS ┊ TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT CARE◞
&. elizabeth van doren (npc) x malcolm van doren (npc) | second youngest of nine children .
↳ cassian van doren, eldest, flintlock .
↳ beau van doren, second eldest, unknown .
↳ range rover van doren, unknown .
↳ scarlett van doren, flintlock .
↳ tara van doren, unknown .
↳ julian van doren, flintlock .
↳ maxine van doren, just older than joey, flintlock .
↳ richard van doren, youngest, deceased .
↳ lucky van doren, cousin, flintlock .
&. pansexual, panromantic ; mongamous  . | scared of commitment, however enjoys casual fun .
&. lover to william stirling
↳ reoccurring friends with benefits.
↳ parents to rosalie willa van doren, one year old .
&. lover to theodore knope
↳ partner in the badlands
&. crushing on cassidy van den bergh[/spoiler]

[CASSIDY.]

[align=center][div style="width: 470px; text-align: justify; font-family: andale mono; font-size: 7pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 1px; line-height: 14px;"]He should’ve worshiped her sooner because maybe then he wouldn’t have lost her. Cassidy had stood no chance, however. There would always be another man in her life, and Cassidy would always be known as the dirty little secret on the side. In the end, this was not the love story that Cassidy had hoped for, merely just a story of love. And love was complicated; the heart wrenching gnawing in his chest whenever he watched Joey smile at a joke William cracked, when he watched them flee on horseback as ranchers tried their best to bring them down with a shotgun, when he had to walk past her bounty on the street, name printed with ink as it was now their duty to bring them back to his father dead or alive.

Perhaps it was for the best that Joey swiftly exited his life. The questions lingered in the back of his mind, but the loss felt more bearable when she was no longer around. Acceptance came when Cassidy could tell himself that those questions would forever remain unanswered. That had been until he saw her face once more at a function in The Badlands. The sense of betrayal had since dissipated. She was no longer caught up with William, the man whose depravity was so grave that it had begun to taint Josephine, too. Life with a man so unholy must have been suffocating, and so escaping from his jaws was the best thing Joey could have done to protect herself. And so, Cassidy offered out an olive branch. Being caught up with the wrong influences could make people do things they would not have otherwise done, and Cassidy was confident that Joey would never have double-crossed him if William was not polluting her mind with dark thoughts.

❝ Stop. ❞ His voice boomed with a sense of urgency, slowing to a walk as he began to catch his breath. When he saw the gun to Josephine’s head several moments prior, his instincts had kicked in. Perhaps she never loved him back, but he still adored her all the same. In this space right here, she could always feel safe with him. He’d never abandon her, despite the things she had done that hurt him in the past. She could unwrap all of those terrible things she had done right in front of him, and he’d not even flinch. Because love meant that much. ❝ It was her ex that double-crossed us, not her. ❞ The ranchers seemed to hesitate at the mixed messages, but Cassidy would implore them to listen to his voice of reason. ❝ I  told her she could come. Brock knows she would be coming. ❞ The briefest of lies. No, Brock never knew that Cassidy had still been talking to Joey. He didn’t know that she would return, but Cassidy knew his father well enough to know that Brock would not lay a hand on the woman Cassidy loved in the name of some personal vendetta. Brock was not a forgiving man, but he could be tolerant sometimes.

With a shaky exhalation, Cassidy’s eyes soon turned to look towards Joey, lips parted gently with surprise and hands slowly lowering from where they’d been held out to pacify the situation. ❝ Joey... It’s so good to see you again. ❞ And he truly meant it. If this was what it felt like to love someone, then perhaps the trouble she put him through was worth it all in the end. Stepping closer, he gave her a sympathetic smile before offering his hand for her to take if it would help relax her nerves. The thought that she had nearly been reduced to tears was heart-breaking enough as it was. ❝ Shall I get your things? I can take them to your room. ❞