its a city of strangers

[notwitty]

Comments

[polydeukes]

[She nods.]

I think he just needs a friend right now more than anything. And you two seemed to ... connect.

[jockwitch]

And he is a step-up from Sebastian, MG, and Ethan.

( She does have a thing for accents. )

[polydeukes]

I will take your word for that. You know him better than I do.

[Josie shrugs.]

I say go for it.

[jockwitch]

( Yes, take her word for it! Her head is back in the clouds after all the hubbub. )

I guess we are in, 'What do I have to lose' territory. And, what's wrong with a little international summer romance?

[polydeukes]

It is your favorite summer activity.

[And she means that in the fondest way.]

Plus, it'll be great networking. We need to make more friends in the supernatural community outside of school.

[jockwitch]

When not taking care of my mental health.

( Or getting the Swedish sun. )

There is life beyond Mystic Falls after all. Should I -- do it now?

[polydeukes]

[Josie shrugs.]

You're the rom-com expert. How would the pros do it?

[jockwitch]

I'd - hem and haw at knocking, and then he'd open the door as I started. Because, he'd be coming to see me. Maybe he's at the room now. And I'm not that because I'm denying my Samantha power. Sorry, Jose, this rom com is going to end with a kiss - even temporarily.

( But, have her cosmo!

Is ... he at her door? She's good at working herself up, isn't she? )

[undermyfeet]

[Turns out he is. Well, almost.

Josie lets her sister go and as Lizzie is heading back to her room, Danny is coming from the opposite direction. Bonnie went off to talk with Isaac - he's not reading any more into it than that - and he went in search of Lizzie because, well.

Doesn't matter.

All that matters is that he's there and when he looks up and sees her, he immediately gets teenage boy awkward.]

Hi.

[jockwitch]

( Oh my god, he's there. Her quickened pace slows, except, she doesn't know what speed is best, so she settles with an awkward slow... trot... )

Hey, you're here. I mean - what's up? Danny?

[undermyfeet]

Nothing. I mean ... Bonnie went to talk to Isaac so I thought I'd come see what you guys were doing.

[Being alone in his head is not a good place for him to be right now. He's realizing this.]

[jockwitch]

Josie's downstairs. I'm - not. Do you want to come in?

( Her room key is already in her hand as she steps up to the door. It would be embarrassing if he said no, but, she shoots her shot! Kind of. )

[undermyfeet]

Sure.

[He can hang with a pretty girl. That's a totally chill thing that he can do. He moves closer and waits for her to let him in.]

Are you still doing what your parents said and going home?

[jockwitch]

Vacation is kind of over, ( she admits, holding the door open once she unlocks it, before letting it swing shut behind her. ) but not because our parents made it be. ( But, she is... leaving. ) I'm sorry we couldn't help you. But, thank you for coming to us about aunt Bonnie.

[undermyfeet]

[He waves a hand.]

It's not as though this was the whole purpose of my trip. It just ... happened.

[Or something like that.]

But yeah, of course. I know how important you both are to her.

[jockwitch]

( The entertainment options are scant in this room: the minibar, the TV, is that a radio in the clock? She turns back. )

Things were kind of nice at first, right? I kind of called you shady, but you were acting shady. ( She smiles. ) You weren't less hot, though. What did my face look like when we came face to face again?

[undermyfeet]

[He grins a bit at that. Because hey, she thinks he's hot. That has to be a bonus right?]

Probably a lot like mine.

[Because he was pretty flabbergasted himself.]

You ... weren't what I was expecting when Bonnie talked about her nieces. In a good way.

[jockwitch]

You probably pictured what me and my sister looked like a few years ago.

( Younger. When their biggest concern was hem-lines and phones. )

We're high school graduates now.

[undermyfeet]

So I heard. Moving on up in the world.

[He drums his fingers against his leg as he thinks.]

Probably heading back to go to school, yeah?

[jockwitch]

NYU.

( Because, how could she not. )

And Tulane. We're matriculating separately. Not that we don't have the rest of the summer ahead of us. What about you? Are you -- college-bound?

[undermyfeet]

[He shrugs.]

I was. But ...

[You know, his family was murdered, so.]

I think I'm gonna take a gap year.

[jockwitch]

( She was supposed to be going into the year of Lizzie. Embracing everything womanly, grown and collegiate, separate from her favorite twin. It can still happen, with a slight detour. Maybe someone on her arm. How do you ask a near shady stranger who's dealt with a lot of loss to join you and your friends on a private jet back. )

... Bonnie said you're living in Scotland?

[undermyfeet]

For now. It was mostly just ... a place to go, while I figured things out.

[He's not particularly attached to it, but there's a moment as he watches her, trying to figure out where she's going with this.]

[jockwitch]

Not that we have any real plans beyond the last minute backpacking trip cut short, but, you could come back. With me. Us. We have a crazy in depth library and the remnants of an armory I'm not supposed to know about, so, maybe we can speed up your regency. And, it wouldn't suck if I were there, too. It's clear I'm coming back too, right?

( She's been smoother. )

[undermyfeet]

You did.

[And he can't help but smirk a little at that. It doesn't sound like a bad idea. He's already ducked out on the coven once. Flying to another continent doesn't seem too bad at this point. But he also knows that Eliza had expressed the displeasure of some of the other witches that he hadn't come home yet. And now with the botched ritual?

He knows he can't say yes right away.]

Let me talk to Bonnie, yeah? Unfortunately, it's ... not just about what I want.