#t; kara & neylani 002

[ravensrevcnge]

Kara's smile fell a bit as Neylani took the drink from her just to set it back on the table for someone else. Well that wasn't much fun - and she didn't really know what to do with that, either. What was the point of coming to a winery if you weren't going to even taste the wine? One drink couldn't hurt, especially now before all the festivities started. It would be hours before the event concluded...

And she didn't even seem particularly interested in the movies. So she was actually working, then? Kara had been on edge when she'd first arrived, nervous about letting loose after what had happened on the night of the festival. But a glass or two of wine had loosened her up enough to enjoy her birthday. And she didn't want to think about anything relating to work.

"Well...sounds like you have some fun plans for the night, then. Don't waste it all working, will you? This is supposed to be fun and you said you're off shift. You're allowed to have some fun off shift. So stop stressing about everything." She chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment, then takes another sip of her wine. "I think I'm going to go find B and settle in for the movie," she points a finger, "enjoy yourself."

Her shoulders lifted into a shrug. "It must be -- guess it's just not my kind of humor," the sheriff remarked. She wasn't uptight about it, of course, but she would have gone a different route in move choice.. Perhaps away from supernatural things, for a bit. Besides, Ney would have stressed that her vampire residents wouldn't have seen it as much of a joke, were it to come from a werewolf. There were things to always consider and stress on, really.

Though Ney did take the glass being held out to her, she didn't drink. "I'll have to take your word for it tonight," she smiled at her friend, setting the glass back in place for someone else. "I have to drive later and with how thick the fog is... I don't want to chance it. Plus, I need to check in on Mr. Baudelaire after this and I don't think smelling wine on my breath would be much help."

[ravensrevcnge]

"Sure," Kara agreed, though she wasn't much planning on bringing up the festival again if she could avoid it. Though she did find it a little interesting that Neylani had been willing to talk about the festival when it came to Kara's experience, but not her own. There was definitely something more there, but now was not the time. Then again, Kara wasn't sure when, if ever, would be the time. But another time, at the very least.

She looked over the choice of meats and cheeses, grabbing a small piece of cheese to put in her mouth before finding herself a fresh glass of wine. She took a sip as Neylani leaned in to express her thoughts about the movie. "Oh? I don't know," she shrugged, "it's a pretty good movie, isn't it? Probably a bit of a joke." She found it amusing, anyway, that they'd play a vampire movie in a town with a bunch of actual vampires. "I think I'd be a little more concerned if the movie was like the real ones. We can't be revealing all our secrets, can we?" She looked down at her glass of wine appreciatively, gesturing at it after a moment before lifting another glass and holding it out to Neylani. "You can have a drink, right? Just one. This is delicious."

Neylani took up a small plate, no larger than her hand really, and began to pick her way through the offer of finger-foods. She seemed to prefer the meats over the cheeses, which had always been the case. Blame that animal inside.

There was a lapse in preparing the plate, though only a shade of a few seconds before the sheriff seemed to think the few bites there were enough already. "Tell you what," Ney said then, turning to face the other woman with an air of seriousness, "let's table that for another night not your birthday." They could talk about things later, if they decided to. "I'm no more worse for wear than you, in the meantime. We're a couple'a tough cookies, you and I." Her elbow came to nudge Kara's arm gently. They could stomach a lot.

Her face scrunched just a tad. "Don't you think that's in poor taste?" she leaned closer as she whispered the question, because there were far too many tuned ears in this place, they would all hear it. "A bit on the nose, really, that he would want to show a vampire movie that is nothing like an actual one.." Her eyes rolled some. "If they had suggested Werewolf in London, I'd have stood here with my mouth open." Neylani hadn't seen that one either, but she knew it was about werewolves and a horror one, at that. Though she wasn't actually offended by any of it. She just would have blinked a few times because really? Out of all the media possible to choose from, they would land on subjects close to home? "I would rather find out what a Goonie is."

[ravensrevcnge]

There was something there, right? Neylani didn't take time off, not if she could avoid it. So the fact that she'd chosen to take a whole two weeks off, so closely following the events of the festival? Kara had been so wrapped up in her own things since then, she hadn't even thought to ask Neylani how she was doing. Besides, Neylani always had her shit together, it seemed. That could hardly be true, though. No one really had their shit together, there were just people who showed it and people who didn't.

Come to think of it, Kara didn't remember seeing Ney at the festival at all. Her brother had been running about like a headless chicken in search of her - and Kara had always just assumed she was fine, taking care of business somewhere. As much as she didn't really want to reflect on that night or dampen the mood, she did care how Ney was doing. "What about you? Isaiah was running around like a headless chicken, said he couldn't find you. I told him not to worry - I hope he didn't have any reason to?" She'd clearly made it out no worse for wear physically, but Kara knew just as well as anyone that the outside didn't always match the inside. Mentally, she wondered where Ney's head was at.

"The Goonies?" Kara repeated, considering, "sounds vaguely familiar. Maybe when I was a kid. I take it that means you're not interested in everyone's favorite movie blood sucker?" It was funny, knowing that vampires were very real and not really much at all like the movie version. Kara smirked at the thought, picking up a cube of cheese and popping it into her mouth.

Her lips twitched up some. Kara pegged her correctly-- it was rare, when she did take some time off. And even if she did, it wasn't likely just for herself or because she wanted to. Like now? There were reasons behind her sudden vacation request and none of them really were for her benefit. That was okay, though. Neylani already spent enough time alone with herself. "Technically, I've cleared my next two weeks," she confirmed. "So yes, you have me all to yourself right now."

A pang of disappointment went through her, as Kara blew off the question. It was such an obvious lie, wasn't it? None of them were fine after what happened, and yet, Neylani was coming to find that so few of the people she loved and cared about... were willing to let her help carry their baggage. When had she become a person nobody trusted to lean on anymore? Maybe when the town got burned to the ground and you weren't anywhere in sight. "Oh, good," Ney managed, with an easy smile that concealed these sad thoughts, aware she could be deemed hypocrite, too. It just didn't feel that what she had going on, was worth troubling someone else about. Kara didn't have to tell her anything, though-- that was all up to her, not Ney, so she just had to live with it.

"The Goonies," she offered up without pause. "I've always meant to see it. Have you?" As they came upon one of the food tables, Ney wished she could have some more drinks and just let loose tonight, having fun with Kara on her birthday. But she really couldn't. She needed to keep her wits about her now. She needed to check in on Roman later. Now wasn't the time to let the guards down and honestly, she wasn't sure when it would be okay again.

[ravensrevcnge]

"You've got your entire night free?" Kara repeated skeptically, her head shaking a little. "Nah, that doesn't sound like you. You don't take time off, last I checked." Typically Kara didn't either, but today was her birthday and that was a special day that deserved a day off. So she had no plans but to drink a lot of wine and enjoy herself tonight. Was she worried about what could happen? She supposed in many ways she always was, but specially after the last town gathering ended so poorly. But today it wasn't hers to deal with... and nothing would go wrong. If only because it was her birthday and bad things didn't happen on her birthday.

Maybe she should slow down on the wine... Nah, what was the fun in that?

"Me? Oh, yeah. Sure, I've been fine," Kara said simply, not wanting to dwell on all that today of all days. She was figuring it out, anyway. "Were you planning to watch the movies? What were you gunna watch?"

"I know for a fact they have an entire spread of cheeses and finger foods," Neylani shared, as she looped an arm through Kara's and pulled her in close to side as she has done so many times before. She did the same with Mikael, too. "I've my entire night free so, let's check it out." Though, the comment felt a bit disingenuous to the sheriff. In the back of her mind, they were both still on call, even if they weren't actually working tonight. Something could happen. Anything could happen. And it was simply their responsibility to keep eyes and ears open, as they mingled within the crowd. It was sad, really, that neither woman could truly be allowed to fully relax. Neylani would do her best, though, to help make her friend's birthday a good one. "Have you been doing okay?" she asked then, walking in step with Kara towards the trove of finger foods. "I haven't gotten a decent chance to really check in on you, since everything.." Neylani looked over at the woman in assessment, some concern there.

[ravensrevcnge]

Kara shrugged a little. The fact that the winery was hosting a gathering of sorts just seemed like another reason not to hold back on enjoying herself. True, she was anxious about what could happen. But she couldn't continue to live her life wondering what could happen. She still had to find the joy.

Rocking on her heels after returning Neylani's hug, she glanced over towards the winery before gesturing vaguely in that direction. "I was thinking of getting a glass of wine. Maybe seeing if they had some cheese or snacks to go along with it. Would you like to join me?"

"Yes, but I was concerned you may hold back tonight because of the gathering," she observed, waving towards the mingling crowd of people that only seemed to be growing the longer they stood there. Hopefully there would be enough room to accommodate everyone. "I'm glad to see you won't let that dim your light," Ney told Kara, her smile warm.

Truth be told, it wasn't necessarily Kara's fault that Neylani stressed herself in trying to pick a perfect gift. That was the sheriff's default mode with most people-- she needed to get them something they would actually like or cherish, or even just use. Plus, she'd been distracted by a lot of other things in recent weeks, too. If she'd been honest at all, she nearly let Kara's birthday come and go without remembering it altogether, which would have been awful. Thankfully, that didn't happen. "It's supposed to mean I really care that you would like it, so I had to be very careful of what I was choosing, and that made it hard for me to pick something out," Neylani clarified. She beamed when Kara proclaimed she loved it, though, and quickly pulled the woman in for a tight squish of a hug. "What does the birthday girl want to do first?"

[ravensrevcnge]

"What do you mean? I love celebrating my birthday." She definitely wasn't one of those people who made the whole week about herself when her birthday came around, but if someone brought her a crown or a button that screamed 'it's my fucking birthday!' she would proudly wear it tonight. Well, typically she would. Her birthday was her one day as a child that she had free reign to celebrate herself where she was the most important - and she wasn't overshadowed by her siblings or falling short of expectations. Today though, this event? She couldn't help feeling like there was something lurking around the corner waiting to ruin it all over again. It put a damper on things, certainly. But she was trying to make the most of it.

"Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not, but seeing as it's my birthday I'm going to take it as a positive thing." One she disagreed with, but she supposed she wasn't the one who was tasked with buying gifts for herself. "Well, I love it. So thank you."

"Are you kidding? There's no way I'm going to pass up the chance to spoil you, especially when I know you won't do anything special for yourself," Neylani chided the detective gently. Unlike her friend, the sheriff was anxious to be there tonight-- only too eager to prove herself and the fact she could take care of the residents of Raven's Peak. And, cherry on top, witness Kara flush-faced and eagerly tearing into the present because deep down, everyone loved to feel special on their big day. Neylani would lay down her life to that belief. Even people like Kara, whom she knew wouldn't want to make any big fuss over herself. The sheriff smiled simply to see how much the lady brightened up over one simple little gift, which -- thankfully -- she seemed to immediately love. "Oh thank goodness," Ney breathed a sigh of relief, moving in no question's asked to help carefully clip the necklace into place, "I was concerned you wouldn't like it. You're hard to shop for, ma'am." A gentle tease, but it was true. "I couldn't figure out what you'd want," she admitted. "You don't have to wear it if necklaces aren't your thing."

[ravensrevcnge]

Kara was determined to make the best of this little event being thrown at the Winery. It was her birthday, damn it, and she was going to celebrate - even if the idea of getting the whole town together in one place again, what felt so soon after what had unfolded at the summer festival, was a bit nerve wracking. Those slight nerves simmering just under the surface were evident in the way she started when Neylani appeared at her shoulder, but were quickly shoved down again and replaced with a smile. "Ney, you didn't have to get me anything," she huffed dramatically even as she was opening the gift like a giddy child on Christmas. She gasped at the sight of the necklace, tracing her fingers over it. "Oh my gosh Ney I love it." She was already extracting it from the packaging, holding it out to her friend. "Will you help me put it on right now?"

@ravensrevcnge (kara)

As soon as Neylani spotted the detective, the sheriff beelined for the woman. Coming up on her from behind, she stuck her face in at her shoulder to spook her a bit as she exclaimed, "Happy birthday!" With a grin, she moved around her and presented Kara with a small box. "Here you goooo," Ney said, excitedly. "I hope you like it." Inside, there would be a simple silver chain necklace with her first name spelled out, the A's as her zodiac gemstone.