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

[maxxx]

Comments

[pricetags]

( Stiles nat (20) really hones in how far he's come.

"Dr. Sweets," he says, speeding to the door in an instant and unlocking it. ) )

There's a sign, too. Offering --

( Stiles opens the door. )

cash.

( Stiles squints.

"Hello?" )

[likeababyduck]

Stiles! It's me.

[A beat.]

You can't see me. It's a cloaking spell. Let us in?

[phonetically]

Uh, come in.

( Sweets is under a cloaking spell? He steps aside, holding the door -- for what he thinks is a long enough time. After a delay, he pauses, and half shuts and then fully shuts the door.

He shrugs at Cora )

Hello -- all?

( Across the way, Sierra only hears cloaking spell but doesn't make the Parker-Gemini connection, only that Stiles has help.

She calls Jacqueline immediately... )

[likeababyduck]

[Liv drops the cloaking spell as soon as they're fully inside, and Sweets glances to the other two.]

Stiles, Shipp and Liv. They're friends. We got word that you might be in some trouble, fully verified by the fact that you weren't answering your phone or receiving texts and the mountain ash in front of your door.

[Jaqueline glances down as she parts ways with the ATM, and brings her phone to her ear. "Yes?"]

[phonetically]

( "Stiles has cloaked visitors," she says quickly, peering through the keyhole." )

They don't look like agents. And how do you know about cloaking spells?

( "Priorites," Shipp interrupts. )

Yes. We were stuck. Trapped. In order to pressure my friend to help them.

( Meanwhile, Sierra with a (19) starts a spell to carefully track the mountain ash telepathically, and slowly, to tighten the noose as it creeps under the door. )

[likeababyduck]

["Does he? Well, isn't that interesting." She tips her head to the side. "Should I put off Luke, or do you think he's part of the problem?"]

I know about a lot of things.

[They're going to need to have a much longer talk about the things he knows, but later.

Liv feels an itch of the magic in the back of her mind (12). She turns back towards the door and frowns. "I don't think we got in clean."]

[phonetically]

( "I think if he's a part of the problem, he and everyone else underestimated us. I can handle things here. Nail him to the wall."

Shipp feels more like a scratch, a (4), something he can't pinpoint. )

Cora, everyone - and my FBI shrink. We're not alone. Two women tried to babysit me - after trapping us.

( With a (15), Stiles looks back and spots the slow crawl of mountain ash. )

It's them, they're doing something.

[tearhiseyesout]

Have fun, babe.

[But with that, she will make her way over to where she's supposed to meet Luke. She slides into her seat at the table across from him, and flashes one of those uncomfortable smiles of hers.]

Luke.

[drugdeals]

( With his best feel-sorry-for-himself expression (16), Luke looks up from his phone. )

Jaq. I - can't even tell you how much this means to me.

[tearhiseyesout]

Of course.

[She crosses one leg over the other as she considers him. She can just smell the lie (17), but she's not sure why yet.]

Why don't we get a drink? From the sound of your day, it seems like you could use it.

[drugdeals]

Yeah, sure. I - should get back to the city soon, though. But, there's no harm in one drink.

( And of course, a transaction. )

I don't have much with me, but I'll double your supply the next time you need it, if you need it.

[tearhiseyesout]

[She shakes her head.]

Don't worry about it. It's on me.

[She raises a hand to flag down the waiter, before glancing over at him curiously.]

So what are you doing in DC?

[drugdeals]

( he sticks to why he was down in Maryland, continuing the lie (11) )

Weekend away with the new boyfriend. It didn't go well with my sister who had to go back to Baltimore, and then he stranded me. She's always lending me money and she's just going to say 'I told you so.'

[tearhiseyesout]

[Yeah, she still doesn't buy it (19). But she can play along, planning on keeping him talking until Sierra says they need him.]

Speaking as that sibling, we generally only say it out of love.

[drugdeals]

Well I don't need to hear it out of love. She never agrees with my decisions and she doesn't even know I do this.

( Didn't. That's completely true. )

What brought you down to DC?

[tearhiseyesout]

Business.

[Don't need to get more specific than that.]

Shouldn't take too long to wrap up.

[geminated]

[Liv turns, and when she spots what Stiles sees, she lifts her hands and starts to channel a wall of magical force, intending to knock the "them" in question off their game (15).]

Not this time.

[And yes, it's true that Liv can't see her but Liv Parker isn't a slouch of a witch either.]

[ostensively]

( The mountain ash dissipates in a flash of fire against Sierra's (10).

"Thank you Shipp or Liv," Stiles says, the fire traveling along the circle of mountain ash on all sides. Liv is just that powerful.

Before anything else can be done, Sierra comes surging down from the ceiling, phasing from the apartment across from them. The burst of magic as she drops to her feet sends Cora and Stiles to the ground.

She straightens up, standing tall. She sends a spell, attempting to drop EVERYONE to the floor (14)

et cincinno

[geminated]

[Cora just stays down (8). It's better that way. Sweets ducks behind the couch (18), to try and stay out of view now that the magic is flying. Liv catches the spell before it can connect with her, sending it back towards Sierra intending to knock her towards the door (20).]

That's a pretty fancy trick, dropping through the ceiling like that.

[ostensively]

( Running away from your destiny as the heir can't compare to Gemini power (6) sends Sierra back into the door, hard.

Stiles tries to pull himself up but gets slammed back down.

Shipp taps into his sister's magic and deflects (16).

"Is there another way out," Shipp asks.

"Fire escape," Stiles answers, through gritted teeth.

"Dimittis," Shipp says, releasing Cora and Stiles. )

[geminated]

[Cora scrambles up, pulling Stiles with her and gesturing for Sweets to follow as well. They head towards the back window while Liv stands where she is between Sierra and the escaping hostages.

She crouches down to meet Sierra's eyes, tipping her head to the side curiously.]

So I gotta ask, what did you expect to get out of this?

[ostensively]

( In a shady, last ditch effort to separate allies, her fingers slip from around Liv's wrist (4 vs 9) and she phases back out, sinking into the ground.

Shipp stays up on the landing, blinking.

"Really cool trick." )

[geminated]

[Liv tries to grab hold of her again, but Sierra literally slips through her fingers. But that doesn't mean this is done, and she glances back to Shep.]

Go, make sure she doesn't cut them off on the way to the car. I'm right behind you.

[ostensively]

( Stiles drops down and at the VERY last second misses an attempt (8 vs 9) as he falls against the dumpster with a thud.

"Everybody watch where you step!" he yells.

"She's trying to take someone," Shipp says, preferring to skip every fourth step. Her next attempt (12 v 18) Shipp sees Sierra's outline. He slides under the railing missing her completely. )

[impetere]

[Cora glances down from where she's coming down from above and she attempts to time her drop so that she can get her claws into the other woman when she's mostly solid (3), but timing solidity is harder than it looks, and she pulls back with a snarl.]