[hr] [center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjY2LjIzOWE5YS5WbUZ6YUhScElFNXZkWEksLjAA/tarkista-tiedot.regular.png[/img][/center] [hr] Don’t start a fight. Those four words were the only thought that repeated through Vashti’s mind as she rubbed her fingers of her left hand over the ridges of Herik’s quarter. Normally she favored her right hand, but with her arm in a sling thanks to the Jaws lunching on her joints it made that a little inconvenient. The mantra echoed through her head as the sun beat down on her, the pleasant heat doing little to warm the coldness she was feeling towards the Coven for even allowing Madison to attend this stupid meeting. Don’t start a fight. At least Madison was wise enough to keep her distance. It didn’t stop Vashti from giving her the evil eye, so the girl closed her eyes instead. Don’t start a fight. She shouldn’t have come today. She should’ve forced a transformation earlier. She should’ve stayed in the hospital instead of lying about how hospitals violated her beliefs to get discharged early. Only she couldn’t. If she had stayed, she would’ve been a threat to the hospital staff and patients if the Leviathan woke up. If she transformed, she would have no control over when it’d end, where she’d go, what she’d do, and what it would mean for her fractured elbow when she reverted. If she didn’t come today, then she wouldn’t be able to defend herself against any accusation thrown her way—and she fucking knew that Madison would try to blame everything on her if she wasn’t present. Still. Don’t start a fight. Vashti could feel Herik scoot closer to her. It was calming and nerve wracking at the same time. She tried to listen in but could hardly parse out the conversation over her mantra. She pretended to be sunbathing, as if her thick jacket could even allow a single UV to penetrate through to her skin. She pretended to be asleep, as if her knitted brow or twitching lips suggested anything but buried anger. Despite the storm brewing inside of her, Vashti knew she could keep it under control as long as she focused on the quarter, her breathing, and those four little words: Don’t. Start. A. Fight. [hr] [center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjY2LmJjYTgyZi5VR1Z1Ym5rZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjAA/fake-boss.regular.png[/img][/center] [hr] It didn’t matter how many times she had been ported by Kimberly, the arrival always caught Penny off guard. Thank god for the cheap dollar store sunglasses that hid her startled expression. One second they had been inside of a crummy motel room, the next they were standing by a pool next to a lavish house surrounded by a ragtag group of witches. She sucked in her bottom lip as she tried not to let envy instantly color her opinion of the Coven, who must’ve been loaded to afford such a swanky place. The silence let her hear the sound of the waves crashing on the nearby beach. Wait, this place was beachfront? Goddamn! The Coven must’ve been doing something right. Penny turned to Kim expectantly, ready to see how she’d handle breaking the ice when it was a crowd of rich witch strangers. "... Hi." Masterful. Penny chuckled as she removed her sunglasses to get a better look at the Coven that, somehow, needed their help. They had a Thor cosplayer taking a day off, a brand cowboy trying to avoid fainting, and a mall goth dedicated enough to commit to the dark clothes even in this freaking heat. Continuing the trend of inappropriate summer gear was a girl wearing a winter cap that was knitted and yell—oh! Penny beamed brightly as she recognized the girl in the yellow beanie. Her smile quickly died as Isla locked eyes with her, yelped, and fell backwards into the pool. With none of the others going to help the girl out of the pool, Penny sighed and began briskly walking around the edge. "Why don't you introduce your two friends,"said one of the Coven members who’d been giving them the stink eye. "So we know they're not going to try anything. We can do the same, but there's a ton of us and only three of you." Penny shot her a look, smirked, and forced herself to hold her tongue. C’mon, they ask for help and then threaten them? If they were going to try anything it would've already been over, and if the loudmouth tried anything then it would most definitely be over for all but the three of them. Penny wanted nothing more than to challenge the girl, but she had told Kimberly that she’d let her do the talking so she let it slide. Water off the back. She was so damn untouchable not even words could get through. But, Kimberly had failed to introduce… [color=goldenrod]“Penny Lawson. Don’t mind me, just here for the pool,”[/color] said Penny loudly, dismissively waving away the girl with the back of her hand. She squatted down with her hands on her knees in front of where Isla was splashing, kicked on her abstraction, repulsed the little flecks of water away from her sundress to keep it dry, and smiled a shit-eating grin. [color=goldenrod]“Hey stranger, how about you just try standing?”[/color] she asked dryly. She gave Isla a second to stop floundering, and then with a click of her mouth her finger went in for the kill, targeting a fatal boop towards Isla’s nose. [hr] [center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjY2LjIzOWE5YS5WbUZ6YUhScElFNXZkWEksLjAA/tarkista-tiedot.regular.png[/img][/center] [hr] Don’t start a—Kim? Vashti’s eyes snapped open at the sound of a voice she’d heard hundreds of times before coming out of a laptop speaker. Kimberly Walton? The Kimberly Walton? She was here? She had come? She was so excited she nearly dropped the quarter, fumbling and catching it at the last moment before it bounced into the pool. There was a fleeting moment of anxious terror as she stood up, nearly knocking over her deck chair, but it was gone within the second as she set her eyes on Kim. The girl had sealed the Leviathan once, she could seal it again. As long as she was here, things were safe. Thank god! “We were hoping that you, with your large network of supernatural simps, could help us find someone with that ability." [color=darkcyan]“Dude! Don’t be a dick just because you only have one superlame simp following you around,”[/color] said Vashti, managing to critically fail her attempt to hide her fangirling giddiness. She pointed at Kim. [color=darkcyan]“Kimberly’s cool. She really helped me out. If it wasn’t for her I…”[/color] Vashti’s head tilted as she trailed off, her finger drooping ever slightly. Since Kimberly had sent her to the Coven, her life had only progressively gotten worse. She’d almost been hunted down by the FBI, got stuck in an elevator with a drunk jerk, never really got to enjoy the fine cuisine of a Red Lobster, was nearly killed by a ghost lady, was nearly killed by a drunk jerk’s ghost dinosaurs, and lost a game of capture the flag. A look of confusion crossed her face. She let her hand drop. The excitement in her voice faded. In a way, wasn’t Kimberly kind of to blame for this shit? [color=darkcyan]“Bro things have totally sucked since you sent me here. Maya’s under exaggerating. You didn’t...you didn’t stop this thing in me at all and it made me attack them and then this girl”[/color]—Vashti gestured at Madison—[color=darkcyan]“who is...who is your friend!? What! Your shitty alcoholic friend tried to kill me and these girls are just cool with pretending like it didn’t happen and, and, and…”[/color] Vashti inhaled deeply, paused, and exhaled slowly. Her hand rose and fell with her breathing like she was conducting a band, playing out the stress and anger before something bad happened. Don’t start a fight. Where was that quarter? She fished it out of her pocket and gave Kimberly a chagrin smile. [color=darkcyan]“I’m sorry. We’re all just a little on edge because bad shit keeps happening to us. First it was outsiders, which we could handle, but now it's each other. Honestly, if I could I would’ve left but I know [i]it[/i] would just make me come back and I really don’t want to hurt anybody because of my curse,”[/color] said Vashti, shaking, her voice raw. She glanced at Madison. [color=darkcyan]“It’s the same, right? You can’t control yours either, can you? That’s gotta be why. That’s gotta be why.” “Look, I know what we need, I just don’t even know where to find it or what it even really is, but we need someone who can use blue...light?”[/color] she said to Kim, looking over at Emily and Herik for affirmation. [color=darkcyan]“Just help us find that. I know you’re busy but, please, you gotta help us find that. And then we go on worrying about the asshole ghost who stole Elise’s body and the monster bitch that [b]fucking [i]ATE[/i][/b] Izzy and you can go do your famous person thing. But, seriously, you need to help us,”[/color] begged Vashti, her eyes watering. Then she stepped forward and jabbed an accusatory finger at Kimberly’s face, her words growled, spit flying, as she added, [color=darkcyan]“Because when I kill your fucking asshole friend, it’s going to be your goddamn fault!”[/color] Vashti stepped back, shocked at her own tone. [i]Don’t start a fight, dumbass.[/i] [color=darkcyan]“I’m sorry. [i]Please don’t leave, we need you.[/i] Really. I’m so sorry. I’m scared. Please help us. Don’t go, please,”[/color] she said, her words drowning in desperation as she began to back away, continuing to apologize under her breath. Vashti prayed that this wasn’t real, that it was a dream. She prayed that she was still in the hospital. Better yet, the Jaws had killed her, this was all a dying delusion, and she hadn’t just cursed out her idol. Either way, she probably wouldn’t be able to get a signed photo after this.