Cassadaga looked over to Kate when she asked about Starforge and gave her a soft smile when she said it was a good thing nothing was wrong. She heard the soft thank you and nodded to the young blonde. Then the topic seemed to quickly change to her hair and she gave a chuckle when Kate said she never thought about Rosemary. "I act'ly owe that tip to one of the witches that used to work for my coven. And, perhaps, one day when I know ya bet'r, I'll let you braid it." She was actually quite surprised to hear that thyme was what had made her hair so soft and made a mental note to try it out.

Cassandra watched a moment as Lia headed up to bed after Bianca was brought up. It had been so long, and she hadn't realized that Lia was still so private. She wondered what exactly she told... well... anyone. Cass had been there the day that Lia was born; she knew everything about the woman, to an extent, even why the South Council barred her from joining. She knew a lot more than most would probably ever hope to know about her. She shook her head, but was glad that the topic was dropped once Lia left.

She was glad when the topic switched to talking about the South. She could go on and on about it, and then Later asked about the South Council and she sighed. "Well, a few years back, it wasn't in the best condition. The leader of the council was, well, she's not a good person. When the council was under Sybil, for ages it felt like, it was always her way or no way. She lost good witch clans and then went on and had them killed for leaving the council. Just do me a favor, sug, don't ever get mixed up with that woman if you ever have the misfortune of meeting her." Cassandra said, "But Danielle is doing much better than Sybil ever did. Finally opened back up a line with other witch councils, hence why I was in Starforge."

She gave a gentle nod when Kate yawned and atood. "It's alright, aug. I should be heading back anyway. 'Fore the weather picks up again." She placed a kiss on both of Kat's cheeks and did thr same to Atticus. When Mitch offered to walk her back, she just smiles and went about putting her boots on and she noticed he'd grabbed both her umbrella and the one she had returned. "Thanks, sug, always such a gentleman."

They had headed out as the sky began unloading some more, and when he said it had been too long she nodded. "That it has. I shouldn't have been such a stranger, but all the witch stuff and wolves have kept me busy."

His next statement causes her to look up at him. "Of course, sug. You know I won't tell if you don't want." She gave a smile when he asked. "She won't even tell her birthday? That girl..." she said before she sighed. "The 12th act'ly. September 12th, but ya didn't hear it from me." She laughed.

Once they were to the castle she kissed both of Mitch's cheeks before going to head in. She stopped a second. "Y'know..." she began, "You got to tell me how she reacts when I see you next. I'm sure it'll mean a lot to her."

Cass then headed in, going towards Checkov's study, and she found him with a second drink already poured for her. "Now how'd you know I'd be back already?"

Checkov just chuckled. "The storm was picking up. I know you wouldn't have wanted to get caught in it."

--

Atticus watched as Cass said her goodbye to Kat and he got the same not long after. Mitch had then headed out with Cass, and he knew that he'd be back relatively soon. When Kat offered him another brownie, he accepted it and when she asked her question he nodded.

"I did. But, I don't remember much before the fall of the West coven. I vaguely remember bits and pieces of while I was there even. My clearest memories starring about 75 years ago. And I had traveled prior to that." He explained.

He listened to her a moment and he gave her a gentle nod and a soft smile. "Of course, I'll tell you stories of what I can." He said and when she kissed his cheek, he felt the smile stay a moment. He watched her head up the stairs before he cleaned the few dishes in the sink when he heard the door open.

Of course it was Mitch, and he nodded to him when he came in. "I can feel it. It's not even gotten to its strongest part yet." He said, motioning to the outside. "Good thing you got back when you did." He chuckled before he finished up cleaning the dishes and he sat down on the air mattress. 

He and Mitch had talked for a while before he fell asleep, but it was short lived. It was about half past two when there was a scream, and Atticus stirred awake to find Mitch's form already heading up the stairs. Lia had been the one that screamed, he told himsel, and not long after he noticed Kate coming down the stairs. He stood up and he started making them each some cocoa. 

"You alright?" He asked her, pouring her cocoa in a mug before he handed it to her. After she had hers, he poured a mug for himself and sat in a chair, yawning a bit. To top it all off, the thunder was crashing outside. The storm had hit its strongest point and he could feel it, even inside. It was nice, but he was still tired.

"If you want, I could tell you a story from just before I got here." He said to her, quietly.

--

Lia was still having trouble gathering her bearings. Everything still felt like she couldn't be here right then... it felt like it was still back then. She tried to calm her breathing when a voice came. At first she heard her name, but she didn't move. Then next words caused her head to turn in the direction they were coming. [I]"It's alright, you're safe."[/i]

Mitch was sitting there, but when she heard Kat's voice, she hugged her knees closer to herself. She had hoped that she wouldn't have an incident like this with her around, that she could have at least resolved one of the issues these nightmares haunted her. But there was no use, she hadn't been able to. Her breathing had finally calmed, and when she felt Mitch's hand on her back, she slightly tensed. 

After a moment though, she felt herself relax a bit, and she let go of her knees and looked at Mitch. She wanted to say something. A thank you, an apology, something... but even she hadn't anticipated what had come out of her mouth.

"Please stay." She whispered, "I... I don't want to be alone." 

Usually, she knew, it was quite the opposite. Normally, she knew she always came off as wanting to be alone... hell, she couldn't even remember the last time she had even thought about not being alone, much less saying it. She finally brought a hand up and wiped her face. So many thoughts were racing through her head, and she didn't want to think about any of it. 

She took a deep breath and she moved a bit, giving Mitch more room to make himself comfortable. Under any other circumstances, she'd likely tell him just to get out, she was fine... but she wasn't and she couldn't even fool herself anymore. If she'd ask to be alone, she wouldn't sleep, she'd be too afraid to go back to sleep. Mitch seemed to make her comfortable enough to where she could sleep though. She knew he did when she was sick and trying very stubbornly to still do things she shouldn't be.

At this point though, she didn't care. She was vulnerable and she needed someone there.