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

[maxxx]

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[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.

[stupetballs]

[Waverly nods with a smile.]

I agree. Aside from Wynonna, my found family has always been more reliable than my blood family.

[lengthened]

Then we have more in common than our shared experience in magic gone wrong.

( And that's kind of nice. )

[stupetballs]

That we do.

[She takes a deep breath, before glancing back over at her sister and Dolls.]

How long do you think we should give them by themselves before we try to rescue them?

[lengthened]

If they have to be rescued, than they have no chance at all. I say, let them drown themselves.

( Or drown in each other. )

He doesn't discuss what came before. ( War stories and demon stories, but not the Purgatory of it all. ) Xavier Dolls is not a complicated man, but your sister and you join us and all I see are gears turning. You mean something to him.

[stupetballs]

I thought we did, at least.

[She doesn't think that she needs to articulate that he was family, and that his inability to come home to them, either by phone or in person, stings more than she'd like. Even if she understands the reasons why.]

But I also think that he has a hard time seeing himself beyond utility. He went from being a soldier to a supernatural science experiment and I don't think he ever really got to make his own calls on his life. Not even what he did after we thought he died. I think he's a guy who doesn't think he's allowed to have what he wants.

[lengthened]

Maybe he doesn't know.

( Deep down, underneath the water and his training, maybe his thinking is clear. But everything else has clouded what he wants. Maybe who. )

Did he and your buxom sister have something?

[stupetballs]

You know ... I'm not sure.

[It's hard to say because things were messy.]

I thought there might have been, but Wynonna got pregnant with her daughter and he was not the father so ... things were complicated.

[lengthened]

Was - did you think he might be?

( Well, this is intriguing. A soap opera doesn't usually draw her in, but these morsels of information regarding his past life are hard to pass up. )

[stupetballs]

Oh, no.

[When she realizes how adamant that sounded, she winces.]

Not that I don't think ... I just know how Wynonna was at the time, and Dolls has always been very ... professional.

[He didn't cross lines. Not unless he had to.]

[lengthened]

She worked for Xavier?

( What it must be like to work under that man. )

[stupetballs]

Weeeeeeeeeeell not exactly. She was the Earp Heir, and Dolls was investigating cases for Black Badge in the Ghost River Triangle, so it was more of a melding of shared goals.

[Wynonna was not in charge, but neither was Dolls really, because who is ever in charge of Wynonna?]

[lengthened]

( (wis 6) gets Waverly a pretty blank look for what Earp Heir means. (wis 4) equally for black badge save for a passing comment Dolls may have made toward the beginning of their affiliation. shared goals, she fully understands. )

Well, sounds like a mismatch made in the Ghost River Triangle. I am surprised all parties made it out intact.

( Between Wynonna's 'BEING A LOT' and Xavier's 'NOT.' )

[stupetballs]

Honestly? Me too.

[But she'd like to think that they rubbed off on each other. Dolls putting faith and trust in Wynonna helped her grow up a little. Wynonna's unconventional style rubbed off on Dolls.]

And I really am glad he's okay. It just hurts that he didn't think he could tell us.

[lengthened]

He won't tell you this, it isn't his place. But, part of why he didn't - come out of the woodwork - is what we do. We work best behind the scenes. And while I can't speak to his personal whims, the ones of the professional sort - and the safety of the supernatural world - I don't know if that helps any.

( But, she hopes it does like a balm on the emotional wound. )