perpetual anticipation is good for the soul but it's bad for the heart

[maxxx]

Comments

[madskilled]

The song. Everybody is jumpin, jumpin. Destiny's Child. Pre-Beyonce. Thought you were, uh, more seasoned. Sorry about it.

( How young is this chick. Should she be looking for Chris Hansen? )

[deathlessness]

[Her eyebrows go up when Faith mentions Beyonce and she nods. That's her bad. And she actually is far more seasoned than Faith probably realizes. She just ... missed a lot.

But fortunately she gets into these situations more often than you think.]

Sorry. I missed a lot of the nineties and the early 2000s. I'm still trying to catch up on the pop culture stuff.

[madskilled]

( Well, that's a thing to say. Smells supernatural and now she has to decide if it's worth her time. )

You live under a rock or something?

[deathlessness]

Something like that.

[And Faith isn't wrong, but Freya is used to dancing around it in public, so she gives a glib:]

You could almost say I slept through it.

[madskilled]

Almost, huh?

( Doesn't sound vampy, though. With an (11), Faith's slayer senses are picking something up, but she's not sure what. )

You missed a good time. Great movies. Better music. Grunge.

[deathlessness]

I'm catching up, slowly but surely.

[It's just a lot of pop culture milestones to get through in the years that she has. She'll add Destiny's Child to her list, like Captain America does. Though Captain America's reasons for sleeping through the emergence of pop music is a lot more common knowledge.]

I have seen some of the animated films from the era, at least.

[She likes cartoons.]

[madskilled]

Disney slaps, yo.

( But, tell nobody she's a sap for The Little Mermaid or Aladdin. Not that she can sing a lick. )

'Less you're talking about the more fucked up kids shit, like Little Nemo or The Brave Little Toaster. Even Land Before Time's depressing as fuck.

[deathlessness]

Little Nemo is Disney, I think. No, that's Finding Nemo.

[Not that she actually cares.]

I babysat for my niece a lot when she was growing up and she was a big fan of animated musicals. Not that she'd ever admit that now.

[madskilled]

( All Nemo's creep the shit out of her. The ocean is, like, vast. )

How old is she?

( And will that help Faith in determining how old you are? )

[deathlessness]

[It could help you. But it also probably won't because Freya is much ... much older than she looks.]

Eighteen. Just started her freshman year at Tulane.

[Which is baffling, really. But also she lived through most of it, so she can't really deny it.]

[madskilled]

New Orleans. You got a niece on the bayou?

( That's kind of great. )

Sounds like you got a nice family sitch.

( It's alien to Faith. )

And you got the ticket hook-up.

[deathlessness]

I'm on the bayou most of the time. I'm in the city visiting.

[And yeah, her family situation is pretty nice - for her. For other people they can be quite problematic.]

I did. And I think that while my brother-in-law had good intentions, this isn't quite my scene.

[madskilled]

There was a big explosion there a few months back, right?

( And quite the knock down-dragout, but you can't call someone out on the violence in their city. )

...Yeah? Me neither. Counts as a change of scenery, but not much else. Like the company though.

[deathlessness]

Maybe we could try something else?

[She feels like she and Faith would have a similar vibe in a bar with a little more ambiance, a little less big band. And with that suggestion the two of them will wander out, and in the process we will cut to Waverly Earp, darting across the party to hit the bar because man did she need a break from that conversation.

"Two beers, a double whiskey, a martini and a Manhattan." A beat and then she shakes her head. "Oh, no, a dark and stormy. Thanks."]

[lengthened]

( You don't have to tell a girl twice. Faith finishes her drink and lets Freya lead the way.

Aalis pulls out of the awkwardness as well, following Waverly to the bar. She sets her empty martini glass down on the bartop, pleasantly surprised. )

Are you... buying my next drink, Waverly Earp?

[stupetballs]

I did say I would buy a round.

[She hasn't missed how the rest of their group has scattered for the time being, but she turns to Aalis with a smile.]

And when it comes to booze, I'm a girl of my word.

[lengthened]

I too am, when it comes to - everything. But, you can attribute that to my years. I know, I don't look a day over twenty-five.

( Don't mind if she palms her martini. )

[stupetballs]

[Go right ahead. You're the one she bought it for.]

In this wisdom you have to offer, does it also include your skin care regimen? Because I'm assuming with a statement like that, it's top notch.

[lengthened]

It's expensive. And, all natural. Mostly. I could say the same for you. You have flawless skin, Waverly Earp. Tell me, what's your secret?

( She takes a cursory sip, eyes trained on Waverly for her answer. )

[stupetballs]

Oh, just ... good genes and a rigorous sunscreen regimen.

[Though she does flush a bit at the compliment from a pretty girl - she blushes at most compliments from pretty girls, it's not new.]

I think it's mostly from my dad's side.

[lengthened]

And do you have other things in common with your father? Are you two close?

( Her small talk is quite antiquated and she doesn't socialize much, but this is a common question, right? )

[stupetballs]

Yes and no, not really, respectively.

[They pause as Crash comes for his beer and pulls away some poor man who looks like he's in over his head, before turning back to Aalis.]

He was actually absent for most of my life and shortly after we met he promptly died.

[So. That sucked.]

[lengthened]

How... bittersweet.

( Succinct. )

My family is scattered across Europe. Sometimes I pretend they're dead. My parents have never shaken off their old world traditions and raised my ten brothers much the same way.

( She was taken when she was young and it was still the best thing that ever happened to her. You could call it Stockholm syndrome, or you could call it gaining a full perspective of the world. She liberated herself and earned her way out of the Ivory Tower (as one of three ways you ever leave them), and she never looked back. But, family is always family. Even scattered, and even in death.

Her grandmother tried taking over a small village in Lithuania. She possessed a local shaman man for her own ends. It was Aalis' own comic book series for a time as it was all coincidence and chance. Just being there gave her grandmother an ancestral foothold.

They declared war. "His" wife was indoctrinated and worshipped her "husband"/Aalis grandmother, and they gained a small following. But, they wanted too much power.

When traveling, Aalis found the underground, a safe haven and network for the supernatural. It strengthened those who didn't have any and it brought powerful witches to their knees. She would say they were judge, jury, and executioner, but, again, old world sensibilities. )

I'm sorry, I hope you got the time with him you deserved.

[stupetballs]

We tried.

[Didn't really work out, but it is what it is.]

My mom's still around though. I don't see her much, but she calls to check in every once in a while. And I have my sister, obviously.

[lengthened]

Yes, she is a treat.

( To look at, and to encounter, but that's neither here nor there, right? )

I think family is what we make of it. Be it our blood, or our ties.