if she'd been covered with glitter

[maleficum]

Comments

[geminated]

[She knows that's why he's offering, and sometimes it's good that he does. It saves her the vulnerability of asking. She's also not necessarily opposed, though she hesitates.]

Maybe.

[It's not a yes, but it's not no either. And it will take him some time to get here.]

I don't want to spook him but I wouldn't say no if you wanted to drive out.

[recrudesce]

How about this, I'll book my own room. And I'll be there for you if you need me.

( Not when. She might not need him, but he is here to emotionally support her.

He also needs to bring the books. He'll at least have.... books. )

[geminated]

[She smirks.]

Text me when you get in and I'll let you know where we're at.

[She may come over and join him at the hotel anyway. It'll probably be better than sleeping on Luke's couch. But hopefully things with Shep will continue to go well.]

[recrudesce]

And, if you need more family time, I'll see you later.

( Without them. He too smiles, hanging up. He is ready for anything.

Unlike Shep, who at this moment is downing another shot.

"It's a fair question, Shep. I know what my sister and I have been doing all this time." )

[geminated]

[Look, he should know that Liv almost never needs more family time. Either she is done with them or they are done with her fairly quickly.

They avoid each other so they can keep loving each other.]

I also had that question. So if we've reached your turn to share, I'm ready to listen.

[pricetags]

You know this isn't fair, I don't have a long lost sibling to gang up on you guys with.

( He lets the low blow linger between the three of them, because it's as much his as it is theirs as he sighs and tilts his head back. His upper row of teeth run along his lower lip as he formulates what needs to be said.

What can be said?

"It can't be that bad." He exchanges a look with his sister. "Can it?" )

Look, I survived, but I - survived and, I thought nobody else did, so I got lost. I changed my name. I went South.

[geminated]

Okay. South. Then what?

[She tips her head to the side as she considers him.]

You met your little friends that were on that video call?

[pricetags]

They're not --

( Not for awhile. )

I fell in with a coven. In Los Angeles. I got - close to the leader, trusted him and I shouldn't have. He - I don't know what he wanted, but what we are ( he pauses ) is what he was after. It was kill or be killed.

[geminated]

[She pauses for a long time as she tries to process that information, trying to read between the lines. It's hard to read the obvious signs between what she vaguely remembers of him and how he felt, magically speaking, as a child, versus the man who's standing before her now.

But she has spent enough time around heretics with a heretic niece to eventually parse it out (18), and leans back with a frown.]

Oh.

[pricetags]

I think he always suspected what I was. He asked a lot of questions. I thought it was because he was mentoring me. ( Taking Shepard under his wing. ) He slipped something into a drink he offered, set me up, and then - ( he uses finger quotations. ) saved me.

[geminated]

That's some bullshit.

[She says it in a way that indicates that she's on Shep's side, because it is bullshit. You can't just run around turning people into heretics.]

But if it helps, the Gemini Coven isn't in the business of sending heretics off into prison dimensions anymore. Jo won't care. She'll just be happy that you're here.

[pricetags]

Good to know old habits actually die.

( He continues the rest of his story. )

He used me, I retaliated fatally, and went on the run. There's still a coven in LA that wants my head on a spike.

( And so he ran. )

[geminated]

[Even more of an excuse to stay out of LA.]

Do they need to be dealt with? Or is it a they'll leave you alone if you leave them alone kind of thing?

[It could give the Armory something to do.]

[pricetags]

( LA's not that bad. )

I changed my name. I went East.

( He adopted an entirely different persona courtesy of the Venice locals he met along the way. Shipp, the stoner witch. )

[geminated]

And now you take Zoom calls in a bar?

[He's got some kind of people. She's trying very gently not to pry too fast, but she would like him to be a little less vague.]

[pricetags]

Or, wherever.

( Or they meet in person. )

I'm on an assignment.

( He has to admit this eventually. Who he fell in with. Which reminds him, he hasn't checked back in, or returned to the room. )

[geminated]

Assignment for who?

[And what kind of assignment involves video calls in a bar. Please speak in longer sentences, or Liv might lose her mind.]

[pricetags]

The Underground. We're a collection of supernaturals.

( A few odd ducks out. )

[geminated]

[Recognition lights her face almost immediately (17).]

Oh. I know the Underground. I'm surprised we haven't run into each other sooner.

[And then, because explanations are probably important:]

I work for the Armory.

[pricetags]

( In this instance, no recognition passes across Shep's face, because he's stuck to a very particular corner of their supernatural world. He preferred to sit back, gadget, and smoke.

"It's like - an ancient organization." )

Do I look ancient to you? We're all still the same age here.

( "She does real work." )

You don't even know what I do!

( Siblings going off the rails in.... )

[geminated]

[Deep breath. How is she the least testy one in this conversation? Explanations are in order. For Shep:]

The Armory works with supernatural artifacts. Finding them, cataloging them and making sure they don't cause big problems.

[Then to Luke:]

The Underground works with people. Rescuing and relocating supernatural folks who are in an unstable situation and getting them somewhere where they're safe.

[drugdeals]

Okay, you both do good work.

( "That's our bread and butter, but we specialize in special ops of the supernatural variety. I stayed under the radar." He needed to, he was convinced it was too dangerous not to. )

[geminated]

And they kept you safe. Okay.

[It makes sense now, why they hadn't been aware that he was alive. But that doesn't necessarily clear up where they go from there.]

Do you want us to tell Jo?

[pricetags]

You said she has a husband and kids. She's in Portland.

( Did they say that? If they didn't, he sure knows. But, he stumbled onto that information. That counts, right? )

Me or you. Or, us. I don't know.

[geminated]

She's coming back. Most of the time they live in Mystic Falls.

[Look she doesn't want to push him as he's clearly skittish. But she also doesn't want to do something, thinking she has his consent when she doesn't.]

We can tell her, if you want. But I have a feeling she'll want to come see you so I don't want to open that door if you're not ready for it.

[Being the disaster twin means she's willing to support him in his disaster tendencies.]