for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[decoys]

[She smirks.]

Sounds like they're a match made in heaven, then.

[She waves a hand as she reaches for one of the fries in the middle of the table.]

Osiris is long dead, though. At least if what Sam says is true.

[woodenbullets]

Sam doesn't strike me as a liar, but, I just met him tonight. Dean, I haven't got a bead on, but, he seems solid. He and Elena are a thing. And the girl with the bow, she's with Sam. Allison. And I know Jeremy, I grew up with him. He's Elena's little brother.

( He takes a fry, himself. )

That guy Elijah posed as someone for the historical society of our town. He's actually an old vampire. The first of his kind and he has this vampire family.

[decoys]

Yeah, I'm still catching up with a lot of the names. I think I was also introduced to a girl named Buffy?

[The Winchesters certainly surround themselves with such interesting people.]

What about you? Before all this went down were you just hanging out in the after life?

[woodenbullets]

I don't know Buffy, but she's with Stefan, now.

( He missed her hand-to-hand heroics. Or, her attempt at it. Damn dice. )

Yeah, basically. The longer I'm down here, the less I remember. I was going somewhere before I was brought into Elena's spell. Meeting... someone. There were other people there, people I knew.

[decoys]

That must have been nice. Sucks that you're forgetting, but ... being a ghost means you're alone a lot of the time.

[It would have been nice to have other people around. Maybe her mom, maybe Ash.]

[woodenbullets]

Yeah, I know. A uh, spell was performed my senior year and it brought all these ghosts out in the open. I saw my sister. There was this plane called the other side which kept people's spirits that had unfinished business.

( And the original witch sure took advantage of that. )

[decoys]

They needed a special plane for that? Ghosts already do that all on their own.

[Jo doesn't understand magic and more to the point, she doesn't want to. It's not any of her business. As much as she does like to research, that's more Sam's bag.]

[woodenbullets]

They didn't, it was created by this witch, Quetsiyah because she was obsessed with a guy who looks exactly like Stefan, Silas. She wanted to ensure that when he died, he was stuck there with her.

( She was crazy. He missed a lot of that because he'd been abroad, on the run, and then possessed. )

[decoys]

[Jo let out a low whistle before shaking her head.]

Never piss off a witch. That Silas guy probably could have used learning that lesson a little earlier.

[woodenbullets]

He fell in love with someone else, and that may or may not have been based in Traveler magic. ( He shrugs, not actually knowing. ) Anyway, so, I've been there before. But, not like I was at Peace. It was different. Really lived up to its' name.

[decoys]

Sounds nice.

[She pauses, before making a face.]

I probably would have lost my mind.

[Jo is not a girl that's good with not a lot to do.]

[woodenbullets]

I don't know, it kind of came with the territory. People at Peace were at peace.

( You'd moved on, left it all behind. There was no unfinished business and you could watch over your loved ones. )

[decoys]

[She nods, because she supposes that makes sense.]

I never really thought about what would come after. And then when I died, I didn't actually go there, so it all felt moot.

[She shrugs.]

Maybe I'll get a take two - hopefully a long, long time from now.

[woodenbullets]

I'll drink to that.

( He clinks his beer to hers, one foot up on the bar, sitting back. She reminds him of an old flame of his. Her fire. Her brashness. But, she's human. And a hunter. Like Jer. She also has a (slightly overbearing) mom, but, she also grounds herself. Yeah, he thinks he likes her. Likes being here. )

So, let's make the most of it. Here and now. We promise not to waste take two.

[decoys]

Alright. Deal.

[He's cute. And he's got a sort of charm to him. And while Jo and romance hasn't always been the most consistent thing in her life, he does have a point. Best to make the most of it.

She clinks her glass against his.]

So what're you gonna do once we've got a clean bill of health?

[woodenbullets]

Don't know. I quit being sheriff not long before I died. Don't think my qualifications from twenty-some years ago will get me far now.

( That's a big question. )

You?

[decoys]

As soon as I can get my kit restocked, find a car to drive and my mother will let me out of her sight, I'll probably just go back to hunting.

[It's what she's good at, what she's always wanted to do, and as long as Ellen is okay with it, she will be to.]

Maybe help my mom get another Roadhouse going. I know the boys have some kind of bunker now, but they can't just invite all the hunters into their house.

[They need places to socialize, trade information.]

[woodenbullets]

Roadhouse? That was a place for hunters?

( He doesn't know what hunters would do on their off-time, though he doesn't think every hunter would stay in a bunker, especially a personal one. It's big enough to have Elena and all his friends a few months ago but not every hunter that passes through. )

[decoys]

It was a bar. My mom ran it. It got blown up by demons a while back but maybe the world could use a new one. Hunters gossip like little old ladies, so it was a good place to swap information.

[Hear about cases, round up backup. Demons blew it up for a reason.]

[woodenbullets]

So do small town housewives.

( Also cops. It's like a high school. Or, it was. He's so far removed from that. )

I could do what I can to help. I worked at a bar through most of high school.

[decoys]

That'd be good. It'll take time though. For now, I think I'll just be hunting.

[She takes another sip of her drink as she looks him over.]

Could probably use someone to watch my back on that too, if you're interested.

[woodenbullets]

Hunting. That's Jeremy's thing, Elena's brother. Does he do it like you?

( Not a no! )

[decoys]

Not sure. I haven't talked to him much yet.

[She doesn't know how hard he goes.]

But basically we use the news to track down cases, drive in, investigate and solve the problem. A lot of it is restless spirits.

[woodenbullets]

Don't know if that's his MO. I just know, he left town lying to Elena about art school. Lost touch after that.

( Mystic Falls chaos. )

You know, there were two times in my life I remember Mystic Falls being vampire free. One time, because there was some kind of anti-magic spell still going. And, the other, because Caroline and Stefan compelled everyone to move away. I think they called it a gas leak.

( He always stayed. )

[decoys]

Sounds like it had a rough history. There are a lot of towns like that.

[Beacon Hills, New Orleans, Sioux Falls.]

They get a history or the right people hole up there, and they become magnets for things.