i'm leaving you my last curse

[bravebartender]

Comments

[bereavements]

( Imagine the vibes when one of her dad's exes was kept in a sleeping spell in the other parlor, Alice. )

Yeah, it's not my thing, either. But, sometimes it comes with the pedigree and my father being fashionably late.

( So, she deals. She's also kind of lucky. Definitely don't make a thing about it. )

Bourbon and whiskey are -- you'll like either. ( And she's pouring top of the top shelf, neat, girl before bringing her the glass. ) Now. Catch me up to everything I missed after visiting Danny's sideways world. The less we talk about me being his sister, the better.

[eredite]

[She takes a deep breath before leaning back with her glass.]

Let's see. We did Velma and Daphne for Halloween. Survived midterms.

[She hesitates because she doesn't know if this is something she should share. She feels bad enough about how things went down with Archer's reemergence into her life. She also doesn't know what Lizzie may have told her.]

And then a friend of mine from Purgatory was in town.

[Yeah. That keeps it simple enough.]

[bereavements]

( Lizzie can be a gossip but has grown to appreciate that some stories aren't hers. So while she had a story to tell, she did not divulge to Hope. Beyond, Alice has good taste, who knew. Sorry, Alice. She's still Lizzie. (Lizzie still tells Josie everything, but that's twins for you. )

Why does it sound like there's more to that story?

( It's both so vague it isn't interesting, but it also draws her in, like she should ask a follow-up question.

But also like Alice doesn't want her to. Either way. She doesn't. )

[eredite]

[Alice winces because yes, there very much is more to that story.]

Before you and Josie became the cutest couple in the world, did you ever have someone that got under your skin in a way that maybe was a little ill advised?

[She maybe exaggerating slightly on Hope and Josie, but they are a very cute couple.]

[bereavements]

Ill-advised? Do you mean did he come with a Parental Advisory label?

( So her mom's time. But, she easily thinks bath, bringing the side of the glass to her lip. It's not fond memories, alright. And almost ended in a different outcome had her father not KO'd Elijah...

We'll circle back to her and Josie's trials and how they are much more formidable and problematic than cute. But that's witch legacies for you. )

Not that I knew it at the time, but I did like this one guy Roman. I thought he was interested, and, maybe he was, but his mother was also involved in this vampire terrorist plot. Which led to my mom being taken... ( It's a lot to rehash. ) Long story short, he didn't get under my skin, but he felt like a first in a lot of ways. And, it ended in disaster.

( Landon was its' own saga and really was only ill-advised at first because she didn't know his deal and then with everything Malivore. )

Who was your blast from the past?

[eredite]

Kind of similar to that, though less maternal kidnapping and vampire terrorism.

[But the gist. A guy who makes you feel things you didn't realize were actual feelings.]

His name was Archer. There's this organization called Black Badge that my family's been involved with on and off since before I was born, and he's one of the agents there. He came to town to work a job "undercover" and things got complicated.

[That's the short version.]

Anyway, we hadn't talked since everything went down and then he showed up in New York and caught me by surprise and in true Earp fashion, I reacted poorly. But we're figuring it out. And we're actually talking now.

[bereavements]

Talking is good. Do you want talking to go somewhere?

( Complicated. It was complicated with everybody she liked. Ever. Landon? Check. Roman. Check. Josie before she knew. And then after turning her humanity off. Check and check. But, complicated can untangle over time. As long as there's communication.

And it sounds like Alice wants the communication. )

[eredite]

I don't know. He is the kind of hot that makes me a little stupid but if I've learned anything from my mom, hotness does not always a good idea make.

[She still remembers the one night the spent together and it did not suck. She can't say she wouldn't want to do that again. But she wants to actually get to know Archer the person first, not Archer the undercover agent.]

Right now, we're just talking. I'm not rushing anything.

[bereavements]

Well, whatever it is you want. I hope you get it. And he respects you and doesn't stick to surprises. I hope for both.

( And she'll lift her glass to her friend. )

[eredite]

I'll drink to that.

[She lifts her glass in return before pausing as she takes a sip.]

So what about you? How's school been?

[bereavements]

Great. We only had one supernatural event not including New York, which is a Salvatore School alumni first, so I'm actually able to focus on studying and finding time with my girlfriend. Sometimes, I feel weird about getting used to it, because the shoe always used to drop. ( She does think about it. ) We did adopt this baby witch, but Josie has not taken to his roommate. Apparently, they were in the same class and he forgot the group part of group project.

[eredite]

Well, I've learned in my time as a student, group projects will either bond you for life or forge nemeses to last the ages.

[She doesn't have many of the latter, but hey. It could happen.]

Josie seems like she's hard to rile. This guy must really be an ass.

[bereavements]

He's not not an ass, but like I said, I went to school with actual assholes. Like, hotheaded werewolves who kick the shit out of each other for dominance.

( Alice's phone rings, then, as Hope tells her completely true story of Jed the Alpha. )

The story has a happy ending tough. Jed discovered his sexuality and now he's dating Prometheus.

[eredite]

[Alice glances down with a frown before holding up a finger.]

This is my mom, so I have to take this, but we're going to come back to Prometheus.

[And with that she'll step away and answer.]

Hey, Mom, what's up?

[dollywood]

( "He prefers Ben," she says, but of course lets her take the call in the other room.

Alice's voice echoes across the abbattoir, even with staff setting up. )

Hey, Babygirl. ( How does she put this. ) Your roommate Lizzie's a witch, right? Not a rhymes with?

[eredite]

Yes?

[She draws the question out slowly, confused as to why this has become an issue.]

Why?

[dollywood]

( She probably should've gotten a more accurate picture of the situation. )

Witches are about to be hunted, on like a mass scale. Something about this coven trying to find their next heirs. It's called the Gauntlet and it's nothing like the MTV show because elimination is permanent. Babygirl, she needs to be careful and so do you. And so does Rebekah. ...And I think Hope if I'm not mistaken. We know a lot of witches now, don't we.

[eredite]

Yeah, we kinda do.

[She takes a deep breath as she looks around the entire French Quarter ... that is also full of witches.]

I'll let Lizzie know. And I'm with Hope now, so I'll start spreading the word that way. Other than the bloodbath part of it is there anything else they need to know?

[dollywood]

Just that there was a big attack in Scotland, and more could be coming. And, if anybody needs extra help, with relocation or they feel unsafe, call me. Dolls and I will be there.

( To help another arm of the Underground. )

Also stay safe, but that's a given.

[eredite]

Okay. Okay, I will. I'll go find Rebekah.

[Because she is the trusted witch adult that Alice is closest to, and she'll know who to actually talk to. And because she knew that this isn't going to be the end of Wynonna's involvement:]

Be careful, Mom.

[dollywood]

You too, kid.

( She hangs up, taking a moment before rejoining the others.

In New Orleans, Doc and Rebekah and baby Henry are now in the parlor with hope. Hope has never been a kid girl. Lizzie always had a soft spot for Pedro, but this is her cousin. And he is pretty adorable. His old school cowboy sensibility meets his wise old age from his mother -- he's tolerable! )

[eredite]

[Henry is delightfully walking Hope through all of his favorite action figures, their ranking on the team, their secret powers, and their full backstories. It only makes marginal amounts of sense because he's three going on four, but at least he's reached the point where the stories are starting to get consistent.

Rebekah and Doc are talking about the tentative holiday plans she's making with her brother - ones that imply that maybe they'll be staying in New Orleans over the next month or so, when Alice bursts through the door, immediately closes it, and glances over the contents of the room with wide eyes.

"Alice, love?" Rebekah asks curiously. "Everything alright?"]

Not really. My mom called.

[A beat as she realizes how that statement sounds.]

She wanted to warn us. She said there was a big attack in Scotland and that a lot of witches are going to be in trouble, and I don't know who to talk to here, or who can make those kinds of calls and -

[Rebekah gets up slowly to her feet, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders gently. "Alice, deep breath. No one's dying yet, so you can take your time."]

[cowman]

Wynonna?

( Doc was surveying his very, very lucky life. The only thing that could make it better would be his daughter joining them. He was told she was taking a call. He did not know it was her mother, nor does he like the abruptness of everything.

Doc leaves Henry with Hope, who's now training her attention in two places. One, keeping the danger away from her cousin, but at the same time listening very keenly on the conversation. )

What kind of attack in Scotland? Let's start there.

[eredite]

Mom didn't have a lot of details about that. She just said there was a big attack, and that it may be the start of some kind of witch blood bath? She called it the Gauntlet.

[Rebekah, being the oldest person in the room, groans. "Not that bloody mess again. You would think the Inquisition was enough for those people."]

[bereavements]

( The Gauntlet. Hope hands Henry his cowboy back and stands up. )

The Gauntlet? ( She steps up to the conversation, crossing her arms. ) That's not just an old wives tale?

( Ivan had mentioned his Tia's and Abuela mentioning the Gauntlet. In passing. Like something that happened to their ancestors in Mexico. But, they'd been drinking and Ivan wasn't taking it very seriously. He's still coming into his brujeria. But, he'd mentioned it to Hope and to Josie. )