Alanna Faulman (flighty_munk) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-01-04 23:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, 2009-06-28 |
Move In Day
Who: Alanna, Anette, Jasmin, several NPCs
When: Late afternoon/early evening
Where: Outside Anette and Jasmin's house, ice cream parlor
Jasmin felt like wilting. He was in one of those shirts Annette and Darling always wanted him to throw away, a paper-thin, too-large beer commercial sort of shirt that he'd gotten for free in the late eighties. It certainly didn't help with, from the back at least, looking younger than Fay. Still, a good shirt to sweat through. He stared balefully at the couch. He'd never really looked at the couch before. He'd crashed on it a hundred times when necessary, and his own furniture had been far uglier. He had no right to bitch about this couch. But damn, it was ugly. He'd go right back to not noticing it once it was in the proper place for watching PBS all night under an Afghan. He simply objected to it in a capacity where he had to carry it up the steps. "All I can say, under the circumstances, two people here are under five feet in height, and one of them has been on a... a slurpee break for about the past day or so and does not seem likely to relent." Jasmin sent a quick glare over at Fay. That horrid blue frozen thing had to be melted by now. The heat was oppressive. His daughter beamed at him, one arm around his dozing familiar and looking completely unruffled. She was better at standing heat than he was, though not being helpful and being ten both had to contribute. He was even proud that her pigtails were staying so perfectly in place. He was good at hair that wasn't his own. She stuck her very blue tongue out at him and he returned his everpresent scowl to Annette. He'd feel like a bad father if he took out his irritation with the heat on Fay, but Annette was always open season. And she extended him the same courtesy. "I'd be completely happy to assist in toting the abomination of upholstery before us. As long as I take the back end." Wouldn't bang into his damn shins quite so much. He sniffed. "It's just so very Italian." If Nette got to tease him for both French and Russian, that was fair.
"Italian?" Annette's eyebrows shot up. She was standing at the other end of the monstrosity, hands on her hips, wearing only a tank-top and sweatpants. There was absolutely no way she was getting out of this without a sunburn. "How the heck is it Italian? It's a flipping couch! I picked it up at a tag sale! At least we don't have to buy a new one now. And you bet you're going to help carry it, because I don't see the mutant weasel volunteering." Annette made fun of Lothair almost as much as she did Jasmin himself. Neither minded over-much. Her swearing, however, had suffered terribly for keeping the company of Fay these past few years, and she had to be far more upset than she was now to actually use crude language. "Look, Jas, we've been at this all day. We get this inside, and we can take a break, but it's not sitting in the yard all night."
It had not been a long day, but Alanna had been left feeling like she needed to get something off of her chest. So upon arriving home she had taken off her Sunday wear and changed into her simpler jogging outfit, plugging her iPod in as she took off running the sidewalks of Scarlet Oak. The encounter with the demon was still too fresh in her mind for her to want to go too far from other people, so she actually stayed in the city, nodding to people she recognized and slowly wearing herself out. It was during one of her walking spells, to keep from wearing out too much, that she noticed the people moving a couch. Her eyes strayed quickly to the rather large raccoon, wondering why anyone would have one for a pet. Coming to a stop, Alanna did not even realize that she was staring, popping one of her earbuds out and walking a little closer. "Is that raccoon yours or do you just not see it?" she could not help but ask. If it was a pest then animal control needed to be called before it went and bit that kid or something.
"He is not a weasel. I looked it up at the library. Apparently he is more like a small panda." Jasmin's accent strengthened a bit as he spoke, the rolling, throaty vowels slipping into the English words he was usually a perfect master of these days. "And you are trying to distract me, wicked girl. Furthermore-" He stopped at the unfamiliar voice. Jasmin hadn't put much thought into this aspect of moving. Meeting people. His old neighbors had never wanted to meet him, after all. Before he could spit an appropriately disdainful answer, Lothair took it upon himself. Funnily enough, though he tended to communicate with Jasmin in his first language, there wasn't a hint of it when he addressed others. I should hope everyone can see me. I'm extremely large. I have to hear that all the time, the very large coon announced to all.
Fay looked over at the woman, glancing up from her book. "Oh, he's Dad's familiar. He's supposed to wear this little harness thingy so people won't think he's rabid, but we haven't unpacked it yet."
"Pah. We do not talk to strangers."
"Papa, I'm ten."
"Hush." He bopped her on the side of the head, glad she was sitting down. He dreaded the day she grew that last inch and was as tall as he was. "No, he is not simply sitting on one of our interminable boxes of books beside my daughter and no one's noticed."
Annette walked over, her arms crossed, and glared good-naturedly at the raccoon. "We're all still getting used to the beast too, let me tell you. And he sure does look like a fat weasel when he's snatching our dinner off the table." She ruffled the raccoon's fur the wrong way - exactly how she knew he hated it - and turned to the jogger. "Sorry, we must all look daft, standing out here and shouting over a couch. I'm Annette. The mouthy little frog is Jasmin, the furry butterball is Lothair" Annette gave the name a dramatic French accent (or what was supposed to be one, it sounded more Italian), "and the charming little lady is Fayina. Hope we didn't startle you too much there." The girl looked more baffled and amused than alarmed, so she wasn't too worried, and she highly doubted the hapless passer-by was any sort of threat. Her instincts were usually right about such things.
Fay simply grinned at being called 'charming,' and set aside the book for a moment to watch.
To say that Alanna was surprised at the voice in her head was an understatement, she took a step back, her heart thudding uncomfortably as her eyes went to the raccoon, apparently the source of the voice. Be calm, she informed herself, which was made easier when the others started speaking... though the man's tone and manner did not incline her very much to staying. She herself was typically friendly when she was not frightened and it had been a good day, but a voice in her head and someone unfriendly was making her wariness come out tenfold and she appraised the quickest way away, back where she had come from. But the woman - Annette - did not seem like she needed to be worried about, and the little girl was grinning... "I'm Alanna," the redhead offered at last, her smile a little wan. "And I'm not startled, but you're right, shouting over a couch isn't something I see every day. Nor are raccoon familiars that talk to me." Her dark eyes went to the raccoon. "Pleasure to meet you as well, though." If it had been an active predator that would have been a completely different story; though this Jasmin that he was familiar to seemed like he could be one.
You'd better not be a frog, boss. I eat frogs. Lothair hopped off the box and waddled over to wind around Jasmin's ankles. He was certainly on the upper end of size for a male raccoon, but it was more muscle than fat. He was a fine specimen. His faint, wandering memories of his time before awareness told him he'd been master of several dumpsters and the terror of his suburban neighborhood. He thought about mentioning the odd smell of this woman, but it probably wasn't important. Jasmin bent down to ruffle the fur behind his ears. When he'd first met his familiar he'd tried to tote Lothair around, but he weighed a third what Jasmin did, and neither of them enjoyed it. He straightened, squinting a little to make her out. As usual, he hadn't the faintest idea where his glasses were. "Well, he can be startling. He startled me at first. But then, he simply had to leap at me from a second story window upon our first acquaintance." Jasmin raked his fingers through his hair, making it stick up all the more. Annette hadn't stomped on his foot yet, but he had a sense she might pretty soon. He tried to affect a smile. The effect was a bit sickly.
"Don't mind this donkey." Annette glowered pointedly at Jasmin. "He's all bite and no bark. Jas, you're spooking the girl, will you be civil for once? She's not one of your customers who expects you to be a little witch." Literally. She smirked a bit and glanced back at Alanna. "It's been a long day for all of us. Came over from Maine and all. So you'll have to excuse this misanthrope's attitude, we're really not as crazy as we seem." She rested her elbow on Jasmin's head. They were truly an odd pair. The way they bickered, they were either an old married couple or siblings, and they looked positively nothing alike. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to get the couch up the steps? It really is too big for Jas to handle, and we have to get it inside somehow. You don't have to come in the house, just get it on the porch. We'd be real grateful, wouldn't we?" She shot the angry French midget a pointed glare. They were going to be civil to the neighbors, dammit.
Alanna watched the raccoon more than the people, unable to help herself because she had really never seen one like that. Her attention was pulled back when Jasmin mentioned how he first met the creature. Being jumped at from a window... oh that would not have gone over well for Alanna at all. But at least he was smiling? Or trying to smile. Alanna had seen worse attempts she supposed. "I'm not spooked," she assured Annette, more amused at how she was talking than anything else. But the mention of moving a couch had her hesitate for just a moment. Inside with people she did not know, moving something relatively heavy... well, heavy for most people, but she was a were and stronger than normal. "I'll help," Alanna said with a shrug, figuring that it could not hurt anything. Maybe it would make Jasmin a little less edgy. What could it hurt? She had already been crowded by dozens of people she did not know so really, it was not going to get any worse. "So long as you don't freak out and start yelling. That happens and I drop the couch and run."
"Oh, we only do that to each other." Now he resented being called too small. He was stronger than he looked, as she knew full well. But he supposed not having to lug the ugly couch of probable doom would be undeniably a victory. And he never won anything against his surrogate sister, so that was nice. "I would offer some restitution or other, but everything is in boxes or somesuch. Well, there was the lamp that fell out." He was half convinced Fay had done that on purpose, either because of an objection to his perfectly innocent ugly lamp or to convince her caretakers she needed a long break. He liked the ugly lamp. It was a comforting, familiar unattractiveness. "If you are at all interested in putting back together broken lamps? It is the hobby of a customer of mine." She'd preferred strange or pretty ones, to be fair, and he wasn't sure if they'd already tossed the graying ceramic bits or not.
"Oh, god, can we not put that horrid thing back together?" Annette had offered to buy Fay that slushie just because they were finally rid of that thing. "Even if it is patched up, it's got to be a fire hazard after that fall." She rolled her eyes and strode over to the couch, collecting herself a bit and shaking her head. "We were going to go out for ice cream once we finished, and you're more than welcome to come along. Jas is buying. Now here, I think if you just take that end we can get it up the stairs without killing anyone. Jas and I can position it once we're inside, don't worry about that." Something about this girl made her think of a rabbit, or something else small and easily frightened, so she was trying to be gentler than usual. "And like Jas said, we really only yell at each other. It's affectionate. Or something." The amused look she gave the little man and his daughter was caring, and it softened her stern features and tired eyes somewhat.
Good to hear that they only yelled at each other. Nothing would be worse than ending up in a closed space and suddenly getting yelled at by people she was trying to help. Then there would be no help because if she got scared enough... that was just not something to be thought of and Alanna made herself shake it off before smiling at the caring look that passed from Annette to the other two. Yelling and not very nice words aside, Alanna thought it seemed like they cared about each other. So I'll help them out. Though she had a feeling that she was being saved from something terrible when the lamp Jasmin offered to have put back together was denied harshly, replaced by an offer for ice cream. At that, Alanna's eyes really did light up and she almost bounced over to help lift her end of the couch. "'I think that'll be nice," she agreed, "though you don't need to pay me... shouldn't take that long and it's not like I'm doing a whole lot. Just helping some people who are new to the area out. People helped me when I moved in so I should pass the favor along, right?"
"We're keeping this sofa. I liked my lamp." He was paying? News. Not that it was really any different from Annette paying. They pooled their resources so entirely that they might as well just get a joint checking account and a legal marriage just to simplify life. He supposed he was the only one with a real job just now, but he was quite confident Annette would be back to herself soon and bossing him around. She was good at what she did and Jasmin assumed that would be as obvious to any onlooker as it was to him. "Well, you'll be doubly useful." Jasmin hurried up to open the door as wide as it would go, grabbing a small box of dishes on the way just so he'd seem helpful. "We don't really know where one might look for ice cream yet." Good ice cream, too. After he spent a day like this hauling heavy things and not even getting paid, he wanted rich, sinful gourmet ice cream with strangely elaborate flavors and something ridiculous smooshed in.
They really might as well be a married couple, without that whole legal-or-religious union thing or any sort of sexual attraction to each other. At all. But Annette was content with the way things were. Having to move to a new town irritated her to no end, but since it was her fault they were here, there wasn't much she could do to complain. "We'll get proper ice cream, Jas. There's got to be a place around here somewhere. How else could people manage this godawful heat?" Annette knew her best friend's frozen dairy treat preference, and she was picturing a properly bitter coffee ice cream sundae, herself. She could use the boost, as she always did, and today she couldn't give a damn about coffee being bad for her. "What do you say, Alanna? Know any place that'd fit the bill?"
At first Alanna was a little confused by Jasmin's statement, but once she understood she nodded her head. She was a young woman, of course she knew the location of every ice cream place in the area, including which was her own personal favorite. The redhead was careful to avoid letting her fingers get crushed as they went through the door, knowing how much that would affect her work, before replying, "Yeah, I know a pretty good place. Several, actually, but I'll take you guys to the best." She smiled brightly at the thought, hardly even noticing the weight of the couch, though she did think that maybe it had been a good idea to not let Jasmin helped. He did not look as though heavy lifting was really his thing, but Annette was a good help. "Air-conditioned inside and everything, just what you need to get away from this sort of day." If not for all the emotions, she would not have even gone for a run it was so humid.
Fay had decided to wandering inside behind the couch, see if it might be a little less blisteringly hot out of the sun. It wasn't much. "Do they have rocky road?" Rocky road was a recent discovery, once she'd been persuaded to deviate from just plain chocolate.
"I'd hope for something with at least three kinds of fruit." Jasmin's smile was real this time. Thin, unaccustomed, but real. "And possibly some exotic spice." Vanilla guava breadfruit blueberry or something of that nature. They really should buy an ice cream maker. Maybe now that they had something closer to a house. At thirty-one, he wasn't especially late in life to stop renting, but it felt like a step. A house should have an ice cream maker. Excellent plan. His smile widened a little as he got the door closed and glanced around the room, deciding where it'd be best to put the sofa. He'd have to find his glasses sometime soon. Annette was really better at spatial reasoning anyway, but he should try and contribute.
"Man, that was easier than getting this beast out of my apartment... of course, we had to use an elevator then. You're a strong girl, it's lucky you came by!" Annette chuckled, setting her end down briefly to glance about. "Living room, for sure. Let's just drop it against the wall there and worry about arranging everything later. I'm ready to call it quits so long as we get everything inside. I'm sure they've got RR, Fay. Everywhere does. You're father's the one with the freaky tastes." She wasn't about to admit that something fruity and spiced sounded pretty delicious. So long as there was coffee ice cream in there somewhere, too. "So, Alanna, how long have you lived in town?"
Alanna smiled at the little girl and nodded. "Annette's right, they have rocky road." Not one of Alanna's favorites - way too much chocolate - but her friend Jamie liked to get it when she came for visits. Three kinds of fruit though, that seemed a little odd, especially with spice thrown in. "Uhh... don't know about the fruit and spice though." Stepping back once the couch was down, Alanna made sure to stay near the open door. Not because she did not trust these new people, but because it was simply natural for her. She marked the nearest escape route and made sure to be as close to it as she could without seeming too obvious. It was only instinct. "Uhh... since January, so almost seven months now," the redhead replied to Annette, reaching up to tighten her ponytail a little. "It's a really great place, I'm sure that you'll all love it here. Especially the ice cream places." Here she smiled at Fay.
"Ice cream is pretty good. But from what I've read, middle school kind of sucks everywhere."
Jasmin opened his mouth to say something, realized he had no argument at all, and shrugged. "You're as optimistic as ever. At least it will be a few months before you must brave the bologna and chalk-scented hallways. Last two boxes and ice cream then, I think." He looked around for Lothair. the raccoon was poking the battered green recliner, probably debating how he might be able to hide small, edible things therein. "Get over here, fuzzbutt. We'll put a bandanna on you so no one calls pest control." Lothair waddled over. Just don't tie it tight. And I better get some ice cream. I've only had it dropped and melted before. Jasmin rolled his eyes a little but nodded, opening a suitcase to poke through until he found a bright red scrap. "You're very handsome. There."
"You'll do fine in middle school, Fay. You've got to put up with us every day, after all." Annette smirked and stepped away from the couch. "It's not gorgeous, but it'll do. Seven months, huh? How do you like it? To be honest, we were a bit rushed and picked the place on a whim." Well, and Alexei knew a guy who knew a guy who found them the duplex. And the schools were supposed to be good. But mostly it had been a rushed decision." She cast a sidelong glance at the raccoon and frowned. "Is ice cream even good for you, masks? I suppose a cup of vanilla couldn't hurt. Or if they've got that dog ice cream... or is that the same thing as vanilla?" She'd never had a dog, so why would she know? "And you will be well behaved, mister, or I'll know why."
This was one of the oddest family units Alanna had ever witnessed in action, but she felt no honest hostility in the air and it seemed... nice. Relaxed and like they knew each other enough to not care about what anyone else did or thought about them. Including the raccoon who looked absolutely adorable with that bandanna on his head. Even Jasmin seemed a little more relaxed now, less snappy. "I like it," she answered honestly. "It's close enough to Ann Arbor to be convenient without any of the big city troubles." Well, until now... but did demons really count as big city trouble? The news did not seem to think so. "And I'm sure they'd have something for him, though raccoons really eat anything. They dig around in the garbage all the time do I don't think there's much that'll upset them." The comments on middle school she did not touch, remembering her own days and suppressing a shudder.
I like twinkies! If a raccoon could have grinned, Lothair would have been beaming from ear to ear. He did look fancy, didn't he? Jasmin patted his head. "Just as well. I don't think any of us would know what to think of a big city. Home was pretty little. Plenty of trouble, but its own sort." Being a nasty hotbed of weird, supernaturally-influenced crime and all. But New Poitiers had been home for the best and worst of Jasmin's life, and he'd miss it, in a strange way. "And before that, well, I don't think we had ten-thousand people in my hometown, such as it was." Orphans didn't exactly have hometowns. But it was the closest thing he could accurately say. He was feeling much better out of the sun, leaning against a wall to relax a bit. "Are you a student?" She looked about the right age and seemed clever enough, and there was a bit of a collegiate feel hereabouts.
"Back home was something else..." Annette rolled her eyes. "Had some of the same problems you'd find in the city. Big problems. But it was home. For me, at least. I know you were miserable, Jas, but to be fair, you're miserable everywhere. You like to complain." They should probably get those last few boxes in. "Fay, why don't you grab one of those boxes out there, and then we can figure out where the shop is. You too, Jas." She shooed them out, pausing to check her pockets. Concealed pistol, check. Silver knife, check. Various charms and tokens, check. She didn't take anything out, of course, but it was comforting to know they were there. Normally she wouldn't be half so... well-prepared, but the demon problem made her nervous. She wasn't about to let the creatures anywhere near her family.
Alanna was a little surprised when Jasmin addressed her directly after he made remarks about where they had come from. Sounds absolutely charming, the redhead thought. Though trouble seemed a lot more common everywhere nowadays. She believed it was directly related to the Light of May now, people lashing out at neighbors, but before... well, Alanna did not think about that. "I'm a graduate student," she replied to the question with a bright smile. She loved talking about her degree. "Going for my doctorate in denistry. If you guys need to go to a dentist, I recommend Dr. Kessel... I intern there." Not that that was the only reason she suggested it, Dr. Kessel was actually a really good dentist. But she let her voice trail off as Annette directed Fay and Jasmin to get the last two boxes, tilting her head a little as the woman seemed to check her pockets. "Missing something?" she asked curiously.
"I can't say I had any other home, can I? Home it certainly was." Jasmin waved a dismissive hand as he hoisted a box of winter clothes. In this weather, that felt like an insult. He nodded to Alanna. "Good. Fay will need a checkup." Jasmin supposed he did too. He'd been to a dentist... when? Not since he'd left the orphanage. Nuns were insistent about health and such. Which made it... Thirteen years. Well then. He shot a curious look at Alanna. He hadn't known there were graduate programs in dentistry, but then, he'd never given dentists any thought at all. Of course they had to go to school somewhere. Did it constitute ignorance when lack of knowledge just followed lack of interest? Or was that the greatest ignorance at all? Better questions for some night he was staring at the ceiling in search of an entertaining train of thought.
"We're probably all overdue for an appointment." Annette had been to a few dentist and doctor check-ups here and there, but taking care of herself was not an area she excelled in. "Thanks for the suggestion! Oh... no, just making sure I have everything. I've got a concealed carry for work, but with those demons running about, I don't like going out without it." She opened her jacket a little, showing Alanna the harness. "Not sure it'd be enough for one of those nasties, from what I hear, but it makes me feel better to have it on me." She conveniently left out all her other 'supplies'. The gun could be explained. Everything else just made her look crazy or like a hunter, and she had a feeling either would spook the woman. "Is that the last box, Jas? Wonderful!"
Alanna smiled at Fay. "We do especially well with children." The curious look from Jasmin earned one of her own, what had she done to deserve that? Huh... maybe he doesn't know much about graduate school? Having no idea, the redhead shrugged it off, her attention going back to Annette and widening at the sight of her gun. Automatically she stepped back and through the door, though she managed not to bolt completely. The sight of any sort of weapon unnerved the woman and she could not help herself. It was her natural personality as much as the one that had become so strong when she had become a were. Flighty and afraid of things that might hurt her. "Oh... I... uhh... guess that makes sense," Alanna managed to get out. Maybe Annette was a police officer or something, they had guns all the time? None of my business, none of my business. Slowly, Alanna's heart stopped trying to beat it's way out of her chest and she leaned back against the doorframe. "Sorry, I don't do well with... weapons. Ready to go? If not I'll just wait outside." Where it's more open.
Jasmin had vaguely expected her to be comforted by Annette's little friend. He was himself, though he generally didn't approve of guns, and all the more so since Andre. He wouldn't have held one himself, but hers made him feel better. Especially with Fay along. Noting their new acquaintance's response, he didn't mention his own weapon. No need. The knife was deep in his pocket, but not so deep he couldn't reach it. He took it just about everywhere at the best of times, and with Fay and demons existing on the same plane, it wasn't leaving his person. "I think we're ready. Come along, he who washes." Rather than coming along, Lothair scampered ahead. As much as he could scamper with his short legs and heavy body. It was more of a rapid waddle. He looked up at Alanna on his way out the door. She smelled awfully interesting.
As soon as Alanna spooked, Annette winced and closed her jacket quickly. Too much, apparently. "Sorry, I forget people aren't used to it. I'm a private investigator, or will be once I can find someone to hire me. It kind of comes with the territory." Her tone was apologetic, but her heart-rate had jumped in time with Alanna's. Damn, did she hate spooking people. "Yeah, outside... we're ready. This place within walking distance?" She shooed the motley collection of raccoon and short people out before her, letting Alanna bring up the rear. Something told her the girl wouldn't appreciate having to turn her back on someone she knew was armed.
The nickname for the raccoon calmed Alanna slightly, as did the fact that the cute creature looked up at her on his way out. She gave a tiny wave down at it before widening her eyes at Annette. "Understandable. I'm just... jumpy is all." That was a nice way of putting it. They were all lucky she had not just gone and bolted, or worse... no! The shudder ran right down her spine. She would not have shifted just because there was a gun in the room, not when there was a little girl right there. She was not that much of a monster. "Carrying weapons right now is actually probably a good idea." She fell into the back gratefully, better there than in front even if she did not think that Annette would actually hurt her. Her chipmunk nature was very placated at not being in any sort of danger's way. "I mean, with the demons and all. Makes sense that you want to be as safe as you can." A weapon would be no good for someone like her, she was one.
Fay wasn't very scared. She had a sense she should be, but she had the fearlessness of any childhood on top of her own. Nothing had ever hurt her, despite circumstances. Papa might look like a puny protector and Auntie Nette a funny one, but they both did very well taking care of her. Stories about demons on the news were distant and unreal. She skipped along beside Annette, Lothair keeping pace with her. She was a witch as much as her father, and when she got better she'd have her own familiar. Forget any demon.
The blithe attitude, while it made him happy to see his daughter wasn't cowed, was worrisome. Jasmin kept a close eye on her as they walked. "Yes. It makes decided sense." He scowled again, not at anyone particular, but just at the world. It was only luck that none of them had been attacked yet. He didn't really watch TV or listen to the radio, and he'd gone through the whole first day not noticing a thing wrong until the ambulance sirens became really frequent. Jasmin grimaced at the memory.
"We're going to get ice cream, people, let's talk about something more cheerful! I'm sorry I brought it up." Annette laughed softly, without too much real amusement. Demons were not something she took lightly. Not after all she'd seen. She, too, was keeping a particularly close eye on Fay these days. "We're all a little jumpy right now, it's no big deal. I should learn to think before I go showing off." The sun helped. It didn't seem like anything bad could happen on such a sunny day, with clear skies and singing birds... no, Annette imagined that demons preferred dark nights and murky mornings. But that didn't mean she should put too much stock in that theory - it had yet to be tested.
Cheerful things. Alanna was usually very good when it came to cheerful things, even if she had been going through a depressing year. Other people did not have to know that, especially not new ones who had just moved into the neighborhood. For all they knew she was a completely normal woman in her twenties who was going to college. Nothing odd about that. "Well how about this - if the Fourth of July celebration goes through then you'll all love it," Alanna pipped in, "I came and saw it last year and loved it, they really know what they're doing here. Have to love fireworks and way too many little flags waving around." Not really on the last part, but that was what the were associated with the fourth.
"I do like fireworks." So he liked explosions. Everyone kept a little of their ten-year-old self tucked away somewhere inside. He wasn't really that into Independence Day. He'd looked up the details one bored afternoon after discovering he was a citizen by technicality, and determined that the whole thing was on the wrong date and commemorating a rather meaningless event. Still, it was an excuse for a party. He should get Fay out of the house or she'd sit around reading in front of a fan all summer. He'd done the same thing at her age, but was given to understand that good parenting meant encouraging her to stop enjoying herself and go find some podlings about her age to socialize. He didn't really know why, but it was somehow healthy. And Annette would see to most of that. "Little flags, well, I have not indulged. We shall see."
"You are in the States now, Jas. And you have been for a while. Suck it up and enjoy the dopey little flags for one night, hm? And maybe we'll find an excuse to get us all light-up light sabers." A ten-year-old was always a brilliant excuse for those fun little toys you never got to have when you were a kid. "We'll set up early and bring a picnic or something, make a day out of it. Then stay up late drinking smoothies and... I dunno," she chuckled, "find a stupid movie to watch." It was fun to plan family things, and their house was strictly alcohol-free. Both she and Jasmin felt obligated to give Fayina the childhood neither of them had had. If that meant doing utterly silly things and making fools out of themselves once and a while, well... they needed to loosen up anyway. And now that they were living together, she felt even more responsible. "So, Alanna, lead on!"
Oh, right... not everyone was from the States, accents usually gave that away but Alanna had a terrible habit of tuning them out. It came from all her years spent at the University of Michigan where a good portion of the people in her classes were not native to the language, much less the country. Everything was easier if she just tried to hear the words, not the way they were said. "Everyone wants those light-up sabers," she laughed as she started for the ice cream shop she had mentioned, eyes still darting around to make sure that there was nothing dangerous nearby. "They go pretty fast, and so do the little flags." Here she glanced at Jasmin and then Fay. If he did not want one then she should at least get one, every kid should have the chance to wave their country's flag around during the fireworks. Along with a glowing stick. "Can I ask how long you guys have been in the, uh, country? You've got accents and I'm just a little curious...."
Jasmin had to think for a bit. He'd been nineteen when he'd blown in? Or still eighteen? That seemed like the sort of thing he ought to remember, given the circumstances, but a lot of his first year or so was a blur, especially considering the years that had followed. Either way, he'd left Canada sometime in 1995. "Oh, pfft, let me see... It is about ten years. No, more. I cannot count, it seems. Twelve. We shall say twelve and I shall not further embarrass myself trying to figure it out."Jasmin had never had a reason to lose his accent. As a wage slave to the food industry, he'd never felt speaking slightly more fluid English would do him any good, and once he'd taken on the store, it added to his mystique. Dippy teenagers and middle-aged earth mothers preferred to buy their mostly bogus spell supplies from a tiny, dark-haired, mysterious man with a foreign voice and an array of bland black suits. All part of the experience.
"He's Canadian. I just had a lot of family who were first-generation Italian, you know what I mean?" Annette let her accent thicken on the last comment, and grinned to show she was joking. "Nah, I'm a Maine girl. So's Fay, actually. I don't know what Lothair's excuse is." She snorted and rolled her eyes at the raccoon. Really, whoever heard of a raccoon who was fluent in French? Well, at least one from New Poitiers. "Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking? I've never been much of a traveler, so pretty much anything you tell me will sound exotic." People often assumed Annette was more worldly than she was, but for all she had to deal with, she was still a small-town girl, and this was her first time living more than a half-hour's drive from the house she grew up in. Not that the change was a bad thing, in this particular instance.
Twelve years, well, that was a pretty long time to be in a new country. Alanna was not sure that she herself would have been able to do it, but then she did not have much of a reason to either. And Canadian still counted as a foreign country, especially since he had that accent that made her think he must be from Quebec. That was the country where they spoke French instead of English, right? It had been awhile since she paid any attention to that sort of thing. "Canada and Maine are pretty cool," Alanna remarked. She did snort at the idea of wherever she said she was from sounding exotic. "Nah, I'm just from Saginaw right here in this same state." She pointed down at the ground. "Nothing exotic at all. Now the people who own this ice cream place," she motioned to the building they had reached. "I think they're from California so they've got more stories than I ever will." That I'd ever share.
"California." Jasmin nodded, because he didn't know what else to do. He was terrible at making conversation. It was really Annette's job. He could talk if there were something to talk about, but smalltalk was beyond him. "Sounds nice. Everything sunny. And on fire." From what he could tell, that was about what went on in California. A big spot on the map where people lounged on beaches and forests burned wildly. While aware that was a ridiculous oversimplification, he didn't feel any need to correct himself. Sometimes he gave himself permission to be execrably lazy intellectually.
"My first language was Russian, though," Fay commented, much better at the schmoozing thing than her father. "I don't really have an accent or anything... I mean, English was a close second and stuff. And then French. And I take Spanish in school." As with most of her accomplishments, Fay wasn't shy about sharing.
"That's because you're infinitely clever at languages, Fay. I know a bit of Italian, I'm better at understanding than speaking, though, and enough French to annoy these two, but that's it." Annette chuckled. "And there's more to California than that, you ass. Like... uh... hellmouths, or whatever." There were several occasions early on when Annette was coaching Jasmin out of the depths of alcoholism that they spent the whole night eating ice cream and watching shows like Buffy. It was stupid, but distracting. Annette turned her attention to the sign above the service windows, squinting at the various flavors. "I'm in the mood for something horribly decadent. What say you all? Sundaes all around?"
Sunny and on fire... well, there was one way of putting it, Alanna supposed. Though what she had heard about California leaned more towards the northern part where skiing took place and huge trees dominated. She would have liked to go there sometime, see the redwood trees. Maybe if her team did good enough at track this year... "Russian, really?" Alanna asked the little girl, listening to her impressive list of languages that she spoke. "You've definitely got me beat, Fay, I just took Spanish in high school and college." She had to stop when Annette mentioned hellmouths in California. Someone watched Buffy. "A sundae'd be great," Alanna beamed, leaning around to wave at the girl behind the counter. "Chocolate syrup and chopped nuts, mmm... lots of peanuts." The girl grinned back at her, already knowing about Alanna's love for nuts. Came with the territory of being a chipmunk.
Jasmin didn't really care for sundaes. They were messy and he found the sticky syrup a tad cloying. He debated the merits of each selection while he ordered Fay her rocky road. There were a pleasing number of options. He had a great love for having lots of apparently equal options. He was pretty sure it was a gray witch thing, or maybe he was a gray witch because he liked the myriad ways fate could turn out, from the petty to the world-shaking. The only math he'd enjoyed was statistics. After a quick internal debate, he opted for, "Coconut mango in a sugar cone." He could be a grown-up and get a cup, but that would be boring. And whatever else could be said of him, he was not boring. "With gummy bears. And sprinkles. Rainbow ones."
Annette ticked off everything she wanted as Jasmin ordered, grinning at the girl behind the counter. "I'll have a sundae, too. Coffee ice cream with as much chocolate sauce and sprinkles as you can cram on there. And maybe some nuts, if there's any room." She usually avoided coffee, as much as she loved the stuff, but she'd be up all night either way, so she saw no reason not to enjoy herself. "And a doggy cone for the raccoon, so he doesn't sulk the whole time." And considering the little bugger would probably be snatching tastes of all of theirs, she wasn't too guilty about him getting the smallest size. Besides, he didn't need to get any heavier, or none of them would be able to lift him. "It's going to melt before I finish eating, but who cares?"
Alanna's nose wrinkled at the sound of coconut mango ice cream, something she had never tried and never actually cared to either. Coconut was something she did not like the taste of. She accepted her sundae when it came, delighted with how many nuts were on it and plopped down at a table before digging right in. It was not that she was starving or anything, she just had not stopped for ice cream in way too long. Her dark eyes went down to the raccoon before she picked off a few peanuts and offered them to him, trying to be friendly like she was with the humans. "Ice cream living up to what I said it'd be?"
"It's excellent." Jasmin knew his tastes were beyond strange. He'd never really striven to make sense. Too many other tasks to concern him. Lothair regarded Alanna thoughtfully and reached out with a surprising delicacy, his big paw as dexterous as any human hand as little claws fastened around the biggest peanut. Thank you, he said, directly into her head. Jasmin watched her carefully, knowing many people had already taken not-so-well to that piping, gruff little voice popping directly into their minds. Some people assumed a human was speaking, but the more aware realized that an invasion of sorts had occurred. Jasmin found the sensation almost pleasant, but he, as aforementioned, never did make sense.
Annette sat down with her monstrosity, taking a big spoonful. "Oh, absolutely. I can't remember the last time I actually got ice cream... but now I'll have more of an excuse, since I'm living with Fay here. We'll see if we can get you to try more than chocolate and rocky road!" She laughed and savored the bitter dessert. She preferred darker chocolate, but the coffee ice cream was the good stuff, so it helped take the edge off the sweet topping. "So I'm going over to Benton Investigations tomorrow, see if they need work. And we need to scope out a place to set up the shop, don't we? I don't suppose you know of any storefronts for rent?" She glanced over at Alanna, grinning at the rather adorable image of the big, burly raccoon taking the nut daintily. "Hang on, watch this." She hopped up, got a cup with water from the cooler nearby, and set it down next to Lothair.
"I'm sure it is," Alanna agreed, taking another spoonful and savoring the taste. For you. The redhead did give a little start when, after the peanut was removed for her hand, a voice sounded in her head. "That was you, wasn't it?" she asked the raccoon, tilting her head to one side. "You're a curious little thing." She meant it in the best possible way. "Ahhh, no, no idea, sorry," Alanna ducked her head as she glanced back at Annette for a moment, following her movements back to Lothair when the water was set next to him. What was that for?
It wasn't anyone else. The raccoon had a bit of his witch's caustic nature. Lothair vaguely objected to Annette's view of his personal ritual as a sideshow, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He'd learned not to wash sugar cubes or other easily dissolved treats, but he couldn't hold back the instinct for anything solid. He examined the water, wishing it was running, and with a bit of a mental sigh, he went to work, dipping the peanut repeatedly, examining his work, and dipping again. Might as well give the humans a show if they wanted one. His master wasn't even paying attention. Jasmin was with him so much that the raccoon's washing had lost its novelty already. He teased a gummy bear out of his ice cream cone with the tip of his tongue and crossed his eyes at Fay when she gave him her "oh dad you're embarrassing me" look. She giggled.
And there it was. Annette chuckled softly, delighted as always by his antics. "See, he's such a little gentleman sometimes. Thanks, Loth, you're a good sport." And she'd only done the sugar cube trick once. Or twice, perhaps. It was just an irresistible prank to pull on the little guy. "Ah, that's too bad, but we already figured we'd have to look around. Jas has to set up his store soon. What would he do without all the giggling teens showing up to ask for love potions?" She smirked and raised an eyebrow at her house-mate across the table. There had definitely been a small, but devoted, fanclub of customers back home, if only because Jasmin propagated that ridiculous 'mysterious foreign magician' image. She found the whole situation far more amusing than he did.
Alanna would have been embarrassed if she was not suddenly amused by what the raccoon was doing with the peanut she had given him. She did not even see Jasmin playing with his ice cream, utterly fascinated by Lothair. "That's adorable," she exclaimed, eyes shining as she looked over at Annette. It made it much easier to giggle at the statement about love potions. She had never bought into stuff like that, mostly because romance had never - not true anymore, a part of her mind sang out - interested her before. Maybe now it did, but she would not need a potion, she was sure of that. "Hopefully you'll be able to find something." Regretfully, Alanna scooped up the last bit of her ice cream and sighed. "It was nice meeting you guys and thanks a lot for the ice cream, but I'd better get going. Have some homework to finish up." Sadly.
He ignored Annette's comment completely. Dratted customers. At least they paid him to put up with their nonsense. He nodded at Alanna's statement only when enough time had passed that it was clear he was ignoring his friend. "The eternal trial." Jasmin had barely finished high school, true, but he'd sort of vaguely intended to go back to school for, well, five years or so now. He'd enjoyed it to an extent while he was there, but he hadn't enjoyed the homework aspect. "Glad you enjoyed your treat and I'm sure we shall see you." The niceties were rather mechanical, but he saw nothing to object to about Alanna, and she had gotten him out of hauling the couch. He could try to be nice.
"Yeah, don't let us keep you." Annette grinned and sat back, waving a little as she got up. "You'll have to drop by the magic shop, when Jas gets it set up. I jest, but he does do a good job running the place. Thanks for the help moving, and showing us where to get ice cream!" This place was definitely going to be seeing a lot more of her, that was for sure. "Take care now." Hopefully she wouldn't get into any trouble, but Annette couldn't help but worry. It was rather natural for her to worry about things, and all the unrest lately just made it worse.
Alanna's smile was genuine as she climbed to her feet and threw away her cup, looking at all three of them before raising her hand in a wave. "Yep, I'll be sure to stop by when I see it's up. You guys take care and welcome to town!" That done, she pulled her iPod back out, plugged it into her ears, and started stretching as she walked, ready to run again.