daphnebishop

[daphnebishop]

“No other word makes my mouth as tender as your name.”

-Emery Allan

[daphnebishop]

Sharpenings.

[daphnebishop]

““I think I wait for people to hurt me,” she said quietly, “and when they do I feel a certain smugness at being right. And, after that, I just feel pain.”

— Sue Zhao

[daphnebishop]

[daphnebishop]

Daphne and Cece @cecevandoren

Daphne had walked a bit ahead of Cece, Chef on the lead in a hurry to get somewhere; she was working on training for her peculiar dog, afraid of spiders, barking at shadows, and refusing to climb down the stairs any direction but backward. She didn't mind the distance, not when she felt herself a stone throw from putting her foot in her mouth and saying something she didn't want to, or thinking of something she'd rather not. Stumbling over a crack in the side walk her hand pushed through a tree coming out sticking with sap, "I hate this," she lamented, "Chef, s'asseoir," she commanded in French, wanting his commands to be something few people could command. The large dane shifted until he sat, his tail twacking the ground as Daphne waited for Cece to catch up, "Every time I get startled I end up going through something," Daphne frowned, and showed sappy fingers to Cece, "Is it dramatic to say this is the worst thing to ever happen to me?"

[daphnebishop]

"Oh faith restored," Daphne joked, a breezy laugh as she dropped her eyes to the dog, "All my dog does is nap and run from spiders," she frowned but in a moment wished she had brought Chef with her for this little putting. "Oh...just partially," she laughed almost nervously, "If you say it's okay, then it's okay, but if you walk into anything, I tried to do the right thing...right?" Daphne nodded, "Oh so he could take us to, I don't know...does he know the Yellow Submarine?"

Remmy snorted. "Don't worry, he won't let that happen. That was way back when he was still a pup in trainin', anyway." They sipped their coffee before reaching down to attach Moose's guide, looking back up at Daphne. "Ah, nah, it'll be fine. I'm only, like, partially blind so I can usually see fine. I'll be okay for a day, no worries there. Plus, I'll be like, walkin' with y'all and such." They gave a grin before clicking the last fasten on the guide and standing back up, holding it out to Daphne. "For the most part, he knows pretty much everywhere in town. Like, say, 'grocery store', or 'town common' and he usually knows where to go."

[daphnebishop]

"Oh?" Daphne piqued a brow, "What is the worst place you slept?" She asked a curious glance across her face, "I once slept in a hostel that had questionable bed...I don't know if that's worse than this changing tent," she sighed and looked away from that, "I don't think that thing even counts as a damn shelter, but hey what do I know about building moral," she rolled her eyes. She shuffled the cards to and from both hands. "You didn't set this little experiment up, I mean I'm just one person but I have this weird feeling that giving some the chance for mansions on wheels, while others get nothing might damage community moral more than help, but whatever," Daphne wasn't really done complaining, she did this song and dance from time to time, said her peace, walked and and came back with and another thing. Daphne smiled, raising a brow at Bex, "It's so nice," she smiled and dropped her eyes to her cards, "The blonde is real pretty, not a bad partner for sharing a sleeping space with," Daphne complimented, "I think Aspen might snore," Daphne pulled a face and sighed.

"Bex!" Daphne sighed, "You could have taken me for a pretty penny, babe," she frowned, looking at Bex sideways, "Don't tell people you know how to count cards. Not when you could have won something cool with it too, "Daphne shook her head clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "I have eidtetic memory," she admitted with a small laugh. "It would have been fun to see who would have won that one." Spreading out her cards, "Got in sixes?" Daphne asked with a small smile.

"I wouldn't say I hate it," Bex replied as she watched Daphne sit down beside her. The evening air was cool, which was nicer than the sweltering summer sun during the day and Bex was grateful for the nice weather and the nice company, so she really couldn't complain either way. "It's better than some places I've slept." Her eyes went over to the sleeping bags that she was sharing with Billie, then to Daphne's tent with her sister, which was less of a tent and more of a changing stall. "Sorry about your tent." Bex hadn't really cared what they ended up with, as long as it wasn't nothing. Her cheeks flushed at the mention and she glanced away, picking at some blades of grass. "It's, I mean-- fine. Nice! It's nice." It was nice but Bex didn't feel like telling the whole world how much she liked cuddling up to Billie in their sleeping bags.

Eyes falling back to the Daphne and the cards she was dealing between them, Bex grinned a little. "I'd say poker, but Billie taught me how to card count, so maybe something easier? Go fish?" she teased.

[daphnebishop]

Daphne pressed her lips together and returned his expression with one of her curious confusion. She could see his aura all around him, and while she had yet to figure out what they all meant, she knew his, like a few others in town, was so distinct she wouldn't even begin to be able to mistake it for anyone else's in town. A man she couldn't quite get a solid read on, like the ebb and flow of tides. Just when she thought she could catch a glimpse of what was beneath his surface, the waves rushed out, making it impossible to make sense of what was in, the depths of him. All Daphne knew was he was a private investigator, a faerie and he did not like to touch or be touched. She turned it over in her mind, her thoughts running with a million potential avenues, momentarily paused as he raised his glass. "Should I put it boring?" Daphne questioned curiously, digging for the intent of the phrasing.

She nodded, "I tend to be," she gloated without a hint of irony and frowned at herself; shaking the thought and taking a drink, she nodded her head towards him as the roaring of the tv faded into the background of her mind. "I noticed you often wear those," she said nodding towards his singularly gloved hand. She had also noticed he didn't seem to like to be touched, "I thought it was a faerie thing," Daphne, ever curious and wanting to know, pushed her glass around on the bar top. "This place is so unknown to me, I hate that," she admitted, finding the reality that Fae allegedly couldn't lie a bit of an unfair disadvantage and leveling with herself to always be as honest with them as possible, "I was wondering if it's not a faerie thing like I'm thinking then, what is it?" Daphne asked, turning to face him from her stool. Finding beating around the bush to be exhausting, and she had done enough of that in her day-to-day that it felt like a small exhale to just brave the question now rather than picking at the threads of pretense, hoping to pluck the right one.

Eren did not normally like going to the bar. At least not during the usual times — he would sneak in during the more off hours when he could enjoy a drink in peace and without the crowd of jostling bodies. During those hours bars were usually quiet, more serene. It was a good place to go over some work while also unwinding. And given that most of his work happened in the clandestine hours between late night and dawn, when he typically found himself at Bad Moon Brewing hours later was more or less at the end of his typical “shift” and after a short sleep. That was the case that day, a craft beer in one gloved hand while a surprisingly bare hand held a rather ornate looking fountain pen as he haphazardly wrote in notes on a file. Another adulterous bastard unmasked, and a detailed report to be delivered to a disappointed housewife. The less interesting work he oftentimes picked up during grueling summer months. Why did the assholes always choose summer vacation to really get sloppy with their secretaries?

He’d been so dutifully engrossed in his work, he wasn’t giving gymnastics as serious a watch as he would have normally. Maybe because he was upset the men’s team from Türkiye didn’t advance further, or maybe it was just because he was more interested in watching Simone and the women on their journey to golden glory. Still, his dark eyes flashed up to watch the affectionately dubbed “pommel horse guy” do his thing, brows raised in the subtle expression of “rather impressed”. What wasn’t impressive was the patron beside him who was quite excited about the routine and nearly high-fived him. The audacity. Eren’s eyes slightly narrowed as he took a slow sip of his drink, watching Daphne Bishop correct herself. “Hm,” he grunted, a grizzly sounding noise under his breath, before ultimately lifting his mug towards hers. “That’s an interesting way to put it,” he commented, bringing the drink back to his lips for a more sizable gulp. He had set his pen down to flex his hand, cramping from the amount of writing he’d done. “Rather accurate,” he glanced back at the screen. And he supposed she knew better than most what pageantry was, considering what he knew of Daphne Bishop’s background. Which was a lot — Aiyla did ask him to look into her, after all. And Eren was always thorough with his detective work.

[daphnebishop]

"Yeah...maybe I'll turn you into a toad or a worm," Daphne didn't think that was possible but threatened it anyway. "Put you in a terrarium with a little headstone and feed you only dum dums, but mystery flavor only," Daphne replied smugly. "Exactly, gotta think ahead Ron, bon otherwise you're at the bottom of a lake and responsible for your older sister," She rolled her eyes but briefly softened thinking of the vampire who had turned her sister. Her only regret being that she hadn't gotten to drive a stake through their heart herself. Daphne's sour expression was replace with the shock of falling through her chair and frustration over losing her shoe, "From where I sit it is all on you. Kicking my chair like a child-" Daphne narrowed her gaze and frowned hard at her shoe, "I really loved this shoe," she pouted and tried again to hone her new ability, sticking her hand through and grabbing the shoe only to drop it far out of reach. "What size shoes do you wear?"

Ronnie just snorted. "Yeah, okay. Gonna Sabrina the Teenage Witch at me, then?" she asked. She could totally take Daphne, now. Maybe not before, but now? For sure. She was totally sure. She made a face. "When you put it like that, ew, no." As it was, she barely knew how to do the baby vampire herself. She frowned. "Yeah, I know about sire bonds, too." Granted, she hadn't been dealing with one since the week after she'd turned. It had hurt, when it was broken. That was all she had left of her sire, lingering pain from the bond going away and a few muddled memories of a vampire bender. Ronnie's eyes widened as she watched Daphne fall through the chair. "Oh, shit," she said, before she started laughing. "I didn't cause you to fall through the chair, smartass. You totally did that yourself."

[daphnebishop]

He was trying, but for what? There was no reconciliation as far as Daphne could see, even as the hope strumming in her chest begged her to believe it, even as doubt and heartbreak yawned deeper and threatened to swallow her whole. At the end of this, whatever this was, all that would be left of her would be the bitter morsels grief could not swallow. She never figured out how to untangle the shame and all that clung to it in a haze of conflicting emotion. He was trying, and maybe that was what Daphne feared the most. Trying meant moving on, did it not? Could she do such a thing? Daphne twisted her fingers in her lap and furrowed her brows, all the unsaid things she couldn't find the words to explain.

She sighed, quiet and stuttering without looking away. Every time as of late felt like it could be the last time she'd lay eyes on him, and the selfish thumping of her heart begged her to hold onto that just a little while longer. Remember the aura that clung around him, like pieces of him she understood better than herself; you're made of all my favorite colors, she thought of the sleepy memory once believed to be a dream, and blinked, her eyes drifting above his head to take note of the colors around him now. Her breath stuttered and Daphne dropped her gaze back to his face. Hadn't t she told him once she was trying? Was it enough to try?

She watched the emotion shutter across him and visibly tilted back, as if the realization he'd never gotten her letter was a slap to her face. Daphne's instinct had been to reach across to him, to pull him closer. She pressed her palms into the grass at the river bank, "I wrote you a letter, Nate. I explained," she stuttered eyes moving to the opposite shore. She could recall every word, every thing she took and all she had left. The most important pieces of herself, she furrowed her brows and willed him to understand. "Nate, I am sorry to leave this way. I know I am doing you a disservice by leaving you with a letter but it was the only way I knew I wouldn’t back out of what I know I have to do. I finally have a lead on my sister, and I have to follow it. I know this has been painful for you, difficult, and unfair. I know none of it is what you signed up for when we got married. But this is my life and my burden I have to see it through. I can’t be the reason you suffer anymore. I want you to be happy, and if that is without me, I have drawn up divorce papers. You’ll see I’ve asked for nothing, kept nothing," Daphne recited the letter from memory, stopping before she had when she wrote it, her heart-tugging into her throat as she quietly recalled the parts she couldn't bring herself to say aloud.

Nothing but my rings. I hope you’re okay with that? Maybe it is because I don’t think I’ll ever really be ready to let go of you. This is why this is so difficult. "If you’d ask me to stay, I’d never leave. I’d never find the answers to finally put my sister to rest, and I’d just continue making you miserable," Daphne paused again, the most vulnerable parts of the letter feeling too tender to recite now, not when he was here with someone else. "So this following suggestion may be selfish; maybe it means I am no good for you, but I love you too much to not ask anyway. If you find this idea of ending as terrible and foolish as it feels, the door is open. The key will be where I hide them all. It’s yours if you want it. If you still want me. Daphne swallowed the words, a strain of her voice as she found the omission of the whole letter a lie, she looked away, "The choice is yours... all my love, Daphne."

Daphne doubted any of this changed a thing; she didn't think it could. With all the space between them, she could fall forever and never find footing again. "I wrote that letter. I left it for you on top of the papers, Nate." Daphne stressed, gesturing around them, "Do you not see this place for what it is yet?" she scoffed, "I was never going to find this place if the person giving me the information couldn't trust me. I never would have found Ronnie, I had to leave, Nate. I had to find her, but I didn't want this," Daphne explained in a rush of vulnerability that took her by surprise. "Tamsin was there the day I left...looking for you. Always looking for you," she scoffed, rolling her eyes to keep tears from falling.

"You're so angry with me, but what the hell was I supposed to do? Stay and watch you lean on Tamsin more and more? Who was I supposed to lean on? I couldn't...I wasn't able to lean on you when you were so," Daphne paused, a tearless sob breaking in her words, a hiccup of a gasp, and she shook her head, "Just, whatever you're trying to do here, I'd prefer it if we didn't try to pretend... I see it all over you," Daphne gestured around him, to the colors that broke her heart to witness, "The weather is terrible," Daphne whispered as the clear blue skies and warm breezes swept through her hair.

Immediately, Nate's guards went back up. He bristled at her tone, at her words, at the way she seemed to intent to keep them on unsteady ground while he had swallowed down his own heartbreak to try and form some sort of truce. If only so they could make it through this weekend unscathed.

But of course it couldn't be that simple. "I'm trying here," he said quietly through his teeth. But it was her admission about only finding out about the witch thing and then the casual drop of werewolves that shut him right back up. A muscle feathered in his cheek as he clenched his teeth, staring out into the water and wondering how such a wide and devastating chasm could have opened up between them. They were strangers with history. He didn't know what to do with that.

His head snapped back toward her, his back up immediately when she said she'd told him she was leaving. His brows furrowed, all the betrayal at her desertion turning into a righteous sort of anger as he looked at her. "What are you talking about? You didn't tell me anything, Daphne. You just left. You were just gone. So don't tell me about how fucking loud silence is. It's all you left behind." A bitter laugh and then: "Well, that and divorce papers. I guess that said enough for you."

[daphnebishop]

Daphne frowned, "Totally," she answered without looking back up, "This is all just difficult, difficult, lemon difficult," Daphne lamented on dramatically, wishing for a moment that she could simply stay here in this spot by the river bank. She'd never have to learn anything ever again or face the inevitable disappointment of everyone she'd ever loved coming to terms with the fact that she was not worth it. Like a shooting star, bright and shiny, whipping across the sky. The sort of thing people think they wish on, Daphne knew the truth, seemed her ex-husband did too. Shooting stars are just dust and rock, nothing special. Wasted wishes. Daphne sat up, piquing a brow at the woman, "Have you ever slapped...anyone?"

Being made to share a floating tent with a stranger was an...interesting experience, and it was part of the reason she found herself slipping out in the early hours of the morning. She'd always enjoyed that time of day, the peace before everyone started waking up and the noises of nature were drowned out by the sounds of chatter and movement. The sun was already shining brightly, and Aysun was enjoying a leisurely stroll, a peeled orange in one hand, a slice from it in the other. She followed her usual path towards the water and was surprised to see that this time there was someone already there. She was just turning to leave when the woman shouted out suddenly, and Aysun nearly jumped out of her skin. "Oh. I- um," she fumbled, looking something like a deer caught in headlights as she tried to understand what was happening. "I would...prefer not to slap you," she started slowly, shifting on her feet, "are you...alright...?"

[daphnebishop]

"Why tell you when showing you is so much hotter?" Daphne teased in a sultry tone for effect. She beamed bright and wrapped an arm around Noel's waist, "Please you did amaze! I saw some girlfriends covering their boyfriends eyes! So you know it was the hottest thing on that stage." She complimented continuously, it was easier, better than thinking about Nate and his performance. If it meant anything at all or if she was just living in a state of permanent delusion. She chased the thought away, "I owe you so many flowers- whats your favorite? I'll buy you a thousand," Daphne promised and gave a nod, "I could teach you how I swallow a sword too if you want to see how the magic happens?"

Noel was feeling extremely happy and floaty after her performance. "Daphne!" She was extremely proud of her friend. Truly, so many people had surprised her on the talent show. Who knew Efe was so good at singing? She would berate him for it later. "You were so hot earlier, why didn't you tell me you could do that? Like, fucking wow." At Daphne's words, she showed a proud smile. "Oh? What can I say? I live to amaze? To utterly surprise?" She laughed, shaking her head at her own tactics. "Damn, so you're saying you owe me some flowers? I'll hold you to that. But thank you, genuinely. You also killed it. Next time we have to bring roses to throw to our own stages."

[daphnebishop]

"Okay, Elvira," Daphne warned in the way a sister would, "You're stronger, but I bet I could still take you," So long as she didn't siphon her, but Daphne wasn't about to remind her sister of her staggering advantages. Daphne flopped her head dramatically to the side, "You want to be my maker, Ron bon?" she shook her head, "You probably can't even keep a Tamagotchi alive. How could you be responsible for a baby vampire sister?" Daphne warned, "I'd just forever put myself in danger so you'd never no peace again, I read the sad little pahmpletts at town hall. I know all about sire bonds," Daphne's arms flailed while Ronnie kicked the leg and before she could stop it she went through the chair like mist through fingers and hit the ground with a thud, the chair clattering behind her. Daphne pushed her foot petulantly out at her sister, intending to kick her, only for it to go through the floor and be pulled back up, the tow of her shoe catching, remaining caught in the ground. "Great! Now look what you did," Daphne frowned and tugged relentlessly on her shoe.

If the words would have ever hurt her, they certainly didn't bother Ronnie, now, as she grinned, bright and sharp even without the fangs she added in for flare. "No, asshole, it doesn't make me lead, but it does make me stronger than you by a lot. I could literally just hold you down." Smirking, she added, "And I'd turn you before you could go all blergh," she grabbed her neck and stuck out her tongue, "so then you'd have forever to enjoy the lame ass way that you died." She leaned away, frowning, the song made worse by how sensitive her ears were. "Cute, very cute," Ronnie said, sitting down and kicking one of the legs of Daphne's chair that was still on the ground in rhythm with Daphne's singing.

[daphnebishop]

It's not about the crown, Daph. She'd wanted to tell him she knew it wasn't. Wanted more than anything to ask him if any of it was about what either of them thought? She had wanted all the answers before she knew what had happened to Ronnie, her desperate pursuit of them all had led her here, holding crumbled petals with an ache in her chest she couldn't free herself of- it wasn't about the flower crown, no. It was about him, about being here, moving on when Daphne was right where he'd last left her. She had answers, but it did not absolve her of all the grief so intimately entangled with her love and regret that she could not figure out where the ribbons had begun to even understand how she could untangle them.

She looked to him the moment he said her name the way he had, a silent snap of her gaze; then what was it? She should have asked, but the weight of her name from his lips pushed her to her feet and had Daphne wordlessly walking away. She'd cried in front of him once; pride would not allow it a second time. It seemed all Daphne could do these days was walk away.

[the camp grounds]

Hell, that was what this place was...purgatory? Whatever religious metaphor you believe in, Daphne had considered them all. It didn't matter in the end. It boiled down to the fact that this all felt like a punishment. One she would have happily slipped away from if she had not in some small and significant way believed she deserved it; years of coasting through life, unapologetic in her pursuit of answers, she'd never paused to ask herself what came next. What when you have all you've ever wanted? Will the sacrifices be worth it all, then? A selfish part of her liked to believe if she had given this up, this pursuit of her sister then maybe she would have learned to be okay. Ronnie still would have existed here, even if she didn't know. Daphne chased the thought away, it was unthinkable, her sisters were more a part of her than the heart aching in her chest at times. When she felt there was no way she could possibly go on, no way she could face another damned day she did for them, because of them.

She'd paid the price for it, lost more than she bargained for and rather than being afforded the kindness of slinking away in secret to lick her wounds she was forced to face them, again and again like a bruise he pressed each time he crossed her line of sight. It made this weekend especially cruel, while he teamed up with a friend who didn't deserve her ire, and still watching them together, knowing they went to bed in the same place, doing God knows what it settled inside of Daphne with an uncomfortable weight she could not walk off. No matter how long she walked, circling the field over and over before dawn had broke, before dew clung to grass.

Daphne couldn't sleep anyway, not in the joke of a shelter she and Aspen had won. This was all a fucking cosmic joke. Step over a line if all you've done your whole life is cross lines! She stomped against the ground as she paced. She should have left, but all paths led her back here anyway. Unwillingly to abandon Aspen or face whatever retribution she'd have to deal with if she escaped the social experiment early. After a while, when walking did nothing to alleviate her aching, Daphne sunk into the grass near a calm portion of the riverbed. Her grief anchoring her in place, she sat in silence, her gaze fixed across the river as she contemplated, not for the first time, leaving.

Daphne felt him sit, her breath hitching, her gaze unmoving as he spoke. She opened her mouth to speak, all the words collapsing behind her teeth. He was glad. A whimper of a sound, easily missed, struggled past the knot of emotion in her throat. Daphne turned silently to look at him. For what felt like ages, she said nothing, her brows furrowing together, a forlorn frown. You could have found out with me if you answered the letter, she thought with a bitter tug of frustration.

She knew, deeply, in some part she couldn't face, she'd done the cowards thing in leaving with a letter, as if it gave him a choice. A choice he made, she reminded herself, steeling her cracking resolve. Daphne couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. If this was to be her penance, then at least she could do is allow herself the stretch of silence between what she hoped and what was true. "Is this what we're doing now?" She asked, "Pretending?" Daphne exhaled with a nod, she could pretend too, if he had read her letter he'd have known she had left looking for Ronnie, the first real lead she'd had in months. She shuddered a breath, "I didn't know I was a witch...I still struggle to believe it. Believe any of it...like werewolves?" She rose a gaze over his face, her chest tightening. "I told you I was leaving to look for Ronnie. That I finally had a lead worth following," Daphne paraphrased her unanswered letter, "I didn't think you'd care if I found her or not. Silence is pretty loud, Nate."

Nate bit back a retort along the lines of I don't know what you're capable of anymore because what was the point in saying it? He didn't want to hurt her. Even if he was still reeling from the choices she'd made for them both. So he grit his teeth against the words that wanted to form and swallowed them back down.

Instead, he listened, confusion pulling his brows together as he realized she thought his problem was the flower crown and the way she'd destroyed it. Truthfully, it wasn't until this moment that he realized she'd been targeting it specifically. And for what? Because a girl had made it for him? If so, that was rich considering she'd spent the entire challenge openly flirting with another man.

And there was, of course, the fact that she'd left him.

Still, he took the crown in hand. "It's not about the crown, Daph."

But she was already walking away.

{{{ TIME SKIP }}}

He'd secured his tent (and thank god they'd snagged a good one, he'd begun to worry that by aligning herself with him, Cece would have to suffer for it) and now found himself wandering the campgrounds. He did have to admit that the exercises they'd been put through really had, at least for him, made him feel more like part of a community. Maybe he could find a place here after all.

It was that thought of home that lingered on his mind as his eyes fell on Daphne. His easy steps faltered a moment, feeling caught off guard and unprepared for another fight. Maybe this wasn't his place. Maybe he should leave it to her since she found it first. Fuck, since her sister was here.

His head was spinning.

She hadn't spotted him yet and with her back to him, she seemed much more relaxed. Peaceful even. It made something settle in his chest uncomfortably. But he found himself making his way toward her, anyway. Perhaps there was some way they could make this work.

"So," he said, drawing the word out as he settled into a spot beside her. His eyes were fixed ahead as hers had been, his energy non-confrontational. "You're a witch, huh? And Ronnie." He blew out a breath through puffed out cheeks. "I'm glad you have her back." It had been the final thing that destroyed them, after all. Her need to find her sister, his desperation to keep her beside him. He'd traced and retraced their steps and it always led right back there.

[daphnebishop]

"Don't mention it," Daphne responded in earnest as she donated the rest of the coffee out so it would not go to waste before wrapping her fingers around her own cup of coffee. She looked to the dog, a quirk of her brow as she regarded Moose, "Only one body of water," she frowned looking up to Remmy curiously. "I can swim, but if I get all wet while wearing a blindfold-" she paused, "Moose is a guide dog?" she questioned, "Are you going to be able to get around well if he is leading me? " Daphne was concerned a moment, grabbing a blindfold with a tentative grasp.

Remmy looked at the offered drinks and as unsure what to do for a moment. No one had ever just...brought them coffee before, and especially not four different kinds just to make sure Remmy could find one they liked. After a moment, though, they picked up the one that was iced and sweet, giving a smile and a nod. "Thanks," they said, "real thoughtful of ya." They took a sip before standing up, gesturing to Moose as Daphne prompted them about the activity they would be partaking in today. "Actually, he'll be leading you around. And if it makes you feel any better, he's only walked me into one body of water on accident."

[daphnebishop]

"No one has ever accused you of being pragmatic. Why start trying to spread the rumor now?" Daphne huffed, rolling her eyes. Daphne looked menacingly at her sister, "Does being a vampire suddenly make you lead? I'm sure I could swim up to safety unless you start acting epileptic and scratch my eyes out," Daphne leaned closer, "You'd have to live with the horror forever that you sunk your sister, so I might risk it out of spite," Daphne answered. "It's actually nice...peaceful. How about I sing you a song? A jailbird song?" Daphne cleared her throat while balancing on her chair and began to loudly sing Jailhouse Rock in a key of bad.

"I'm, like, a fucking pragmatist or some shit, okay? Not learning how to swim? Hella smart. I never planned on putting myself in situations where I needed it," Ronnie said, sticking out her tongue. "You want me to drag you down like a rock? That's not gonna be fun. And I don't need to be a vampire and know how to swim! It's not like I'm going to die from drowning." She watched Daphne tilt the chair back with a raised eyebrow, wondering how long her sister could balance before she'd fall. "We could make this feel like jail, if you want. I could, you know, get you a little tin cup and you could rattle it over imaginary iron bars like in cartoons."

[daphnebishop]

"You could," Daphne mused, literally trying to imagine the town choir before giving up with a wave of her hand. She pulled a face, a groan, "I did. As soon as I knew species was a thing here, I grabbed a pamphlet for every species," she tapped her temple, "Steel trap for a mind. I need a thesaurus, not a trifold glossy pamphlet," Daphne complained quietly. Daphne pressed her palms over her womb. A phantom longing turned icy fear. "Bacchanal," she exhaled, shaking her head. "And why doesn't the coven label their potions? Someone should get them a label maker...I'm going to get them a label maker," Daphne decided rather quickly. "Because I don't want to chase a ball, or watch anyone chase a ball- gives me the ick."Daphne grimaced, "You have to bounce a quarter into a shot glass. It's not totally as easy as you'd think. Unless you have a species advantage for perfectly calculating how hard to bounce a quarter to get it into the glass. I'm sure there is a weight times force equation here," Daphne lamented and followed with a laugh, "The ladiest of them all," she agreed, "much to my mother's dismay I never got the lady memo and I do chug when it suites me." She looked around with a frown, "I don't think it suits me tonight. I'd rather not be passed out under a picnic table."

"I don't know. Do I look like the town choir to you?" She blinked over at Daphne. "Who Skye? High I guess? Okay, you have a lot of questions, so I'm going to need you to go to Town Hall and pick up those free species brochures. Though, liquid emotions are the least of your problems. Try a potion party. Your coven holds them all the time and you do not want to wind up downing back a fertility and then a lust potion by mistake. As least with liquid emotions, the bottles are labeled," She noted, having heard her fair deal about the coven potion parties and having been to one back when she was still human that now felt like a lifetime ago. And huh. Why not just play beer pong?" Bri asked curiously, not seeing how hard bouncing a coin could be. "No. I don't chug. I'm a lady. I sip gracefully or find someone with a high tolerance to chug for me."