there's something due any day

[braveandstupid]

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[saveslives]

[After Jo leaves, she heads back to the Saltzman house and is feeling a little more on edge. With all of her magic coming and going, she never really got used to high powered magical negotiations. She doesn't want it to seem like she's operating at a loss, but when it comes to covens like the Colony, she can never be sure.

Tired, she makes her way inside and reaches for her husband's bourbon. It's been a long day, and she could use one.]

[daydrinker]

( Alaric slept in. He feels slightly entitled to it with his girls both graduated. He hit the bottle pretty hard the night before, which has never changed. Alaric Saltzman will always be an alcoholic in every universe. Having Jo and the girls ensures he functions and drinks less than he'd objectively want.

Alaric is sitting with spiked coffee for his hangover and the newspaper. They need to see if anything made the local papers. He looks up. )

How did the witch summit turn out?

[saveslives]

We managed to catch them off-guard, which is a plus.

[She didn't honestly think they would, so at least there's that.]

They agreed to our terms, more or less.

[daydrinker]

More? Or less.

( He'd set his mug down if he needed a top off, but he knows just how to spike his coffee for a good time. (Or, to kill the hangover he has. )

What happened?

[saveslives]

Well, we confronted them. We laid down our ultimatum. They claimed that they were also working against the Colony and had Bonnie Bennett as backup.

[Which truly does count for a lot.]

I'm just not sure if we can trust them.

[daydrinker]

It's Bonnie.

( But, Bonnie has been influenced by darkness before. More duped by it. )

They're working against their coven? What explanation did they give for practically stalking Elena?

[saveslives]

That was their job. They're playing their roles.

[She makes a face.]

I don't know Ezra well, but I think he seemed a little hurt that we weren't trusting him.

[daydrinker]

There's doing your job and playing a role. Sounds like he did both. And, it sounds like he fell for Elena as a person. Who wouldn't. But, Elena doesn't like liars.

( and if he's honest, that hurt Ezra is feeling might scab over before Elena sees him a different light again. or, if she learns his origin story. things change for Elena. her judgments are not set in stone. )

The husband, who was he? Is he around the hospital, too?

[saveslives]

No. His name is David Gainor. I've ... heard of him actually, which is why I'm willing to give a little credence to the idea that they're biding their time and working against the Colony.

[Because David's situation was ... very messed up.]

[daydrinker]

Why would the Colony trust two witches that may not fall in line?

( If she's heard of his exploits, isn't it a matter of time before they come for him, too? But, he's misunderstanding. )

[saveslives]

Well, David is the son of two of the elders. And he's a bit of a black sheep by their standards, but he toes the line just enough. And I think Ezra is part of that keeping him in line.

[Jo knocks back the rest of her bourbon.]

But I think they also give him a little leniency because they had him forcibly possessed when he was seventeen. You thought the Parkers were bad? The Gainors would give them a run for their money.

[daydrinker]

Your coven does that to you and you stick by them. He's probably had one foot out the door since. When he was seventeen?

( A man with kids now reacts viscerally to that knowledge, to how selfish the coven must have been to sacrifice their own son to possession. )

[saveslives]

Yeah. And the rumor is that they didn't do the containment spell properly, so the demon escaped, in their son's body.

[It was very messy.]

I don't know how he's managed to prove his loyalty since, but it might be that they're too afraid to question him, given what he's been through.

[daydrinker]

Or, he worked twice as hard to prove himself, became the poster boy for their coven and then came into his own. Maybe because of the husband. You said you don't know Ezra well. Does he seem like a good or a bad influence?

( Would he clean a mess or spread it around? )

[saveslives]

He seemed like a nice guy.

[Jo shrugs.]

I don't know how much of that was trying to lure in Elena versus his actual personality, but now that he knows we know, maybe we'll be able to find out.

[daydrinker]

Do you really think he lured her.

( Watched her, he believes. Lured. He doesn't know. )

What does Elena say? What's her next move?

[saveslives]

She's going to go home and talk to Dean. Enjoy her weekend. I think she's planning on taking this one step at a time, and we have a code word for if it's go time and she needs to disappear.

[Which she will be ready and able to help with if needed.]

[daydrinker]

I don't get to know the code word, do I?

( He still has to try! )

[saveslives]

[She shakes her head.]

Not this time. In fact, I might need you to pick up the parenting slack this go round and handle the girls why I go digging into shady supernatural happenings.

[daydrinker]

I can handle them remotely. They're flying out to Europe this week. That is, we're still letting them go, right?

( Parenting is teamwork! )

[saveslives]

We are still letting them go. I ... I don't want to get their hopes up. And I don't want them on the Colony's radar.

[daydrinker]

Is there something we can do from here? You and the school. Cloaking?

( Something that will make mom feel safer? )

[saveslives]

They have no reason to worry about them until they merge or I make a fuss. Which, I'm going to try not to do. For the record.

[daydrinker]

The record acknowledges. You know the girls, they'll call or they'll text. If you're available for that, you can hunker down and do whatever research you need to do.

[saveslives]

[She nods.]

For once, I'm glad they're going to be far, far away from us. I want them to just ... have fun and enjoy their summer. They've earned it.