[color=FFF2D8][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/WHxJd1p.png[/img][/center]
[center][h1][color=7DB9B6]Elodie Ashbourne[/color][/h1][/center]
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[center][color=D9A0B0][b]Location:[/b][/color] Sean's truck • [color=D9A0B0][b]Time:[/b][/color] Dusk[/center]
[center][color=D9A0B0][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [@FunnyGuy] Sean • [color=D9A0B0][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] [@Tpartywithzombi] Vex[/center]
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Elodie blinked as Sean pulled off his mask, and for one stupid, fluttering second, she forgot how to breathe…if vampires even did that properly. That grin of his wasn’t fair. It was carved from trouble and calm confidence, the kind that came with knowing exactly who you were and how fast you could drop someone if you needed to. And worse, it made her stomach do that ridiculous swoopy thing again.

[Color=tan]“Don’t pull too hard on that. I won't complain about a free show…”[/color]

Her hand, still fussing with the hem of her skirt, froze like she’d been caught in a spotlight. Then, in one flustered motion, she dropped it and sat on it like a guilty toddler.

[color=D9A0B0]“Oh my god,”[/color] she muttered under her breath, turning her gaze to the window. [color=D9A0B0]“You’re right, I'd probably die again. Of embarrassment this time, though.”[/color]

Worse than that, her brain–her traitorous, newly undead brain–whispered something to her.

[color=D9A0B0][I]You’d let him rip it if he wanted to.[/I][/color]

She had the gall to feel herself agree before she smacked that thought down with a mental baseball bat.

[color=D9A0B0][I]Nope. Nope. Bad brain. Bad undead hormones. Stop.[/I][/color]

So she focused on his answer to her question. [color=D9A0B0]“Okay,”[/color] she muttered with a mock huff, [color=D9A0B0]“fair. Cinnamon is objectively terrible. But it was either that, Cherry, or Muffin. So really, you should be thanking me. It could have been far worse.”[/color]

Her mouth twitched into a smirk of her own, but her gaze didn’t quite leave him, studying his profile for a moment longer than was probably necessary. However, she looked down again when he mentioned the handshake. [color=D9A0B0]“Right. No handshakes. Got it. Death, taxes, and never touching sparkly strangers,”[/color] she murmured. [color=D9A0B0]“I should start a journal. ‘Things No One Told Me About Being Undead.’”[/color] A pause. [color=D9A0B0]“Volume one: accidental fae bargains and emotional werewolves.”[/color]

Despite the levity, she was listening. Really listening. And when his voice shifted, when the lightness gave way to steel, her expression softened.

Sean didn’t say “I’m worried.” He said things like “ready to tear problems to shreds.” And she was beginning to understand that was his version of care. There was a reverence in his voice, something carved from history and hard-earned respect. And maybe something else.

The pang hit her so fast, it startled her.

His “favorite pup.”

A part of her heart squeezed–just a little–and immediately, she swatted the feeling down with practiced self-deprecation. [color=D9A0B0][I]Okay, Elodie, calm down,[/I][/color] she muttered mentally. [color=D9A0B0][I]You’re a vampire barista with a trauma baking habit, not a lone-wolf badass with a vengeance arc.[/I][/color]

Still… she found herself admiring the woman. Not just for earning Sean’s trust, but for surviving in a world that seemed dead set on chewing up anyone who didn’t fit cleanly into its broken puzzle.

She glanced at him, then quickly away again. [color=D9A0B0]“She sounds… kind of amazing,”[/color] she said softly. [color=D9A0B0]“The kind of person you want in your corner when the world’s going to hell. And lucky. To have someone who'd drop everything and come running.”[/color]

A beat. Then, more to her lap than to him, [color=D9A0B0]“For the record… I’d come running too.”[/color]

The words slipped out faster than she meant them to, and she immediately wished she could shove them back in her mouth with both hands.

[color=D9A0B0]“Not like, in a weird ‘follow you into the night’ kind of way. Just… you’ve had my back, and I–look, I know I’m not exactly a powerhouse or anything, but I’d show up. With baked goods and bad yet disarming names and hopefully a little luck.”[/color]

Her shoulders dipped as she gave the faintest laugh, tucking herself slightly smaller into her seat.

[color=D9A0B0]“Ugh. Okay. Shutting up now. Please pretend I said something mysterious and cool instead.”[/color]

She turned her face back to the window. If she could still blush, she would have turned scarlet.[/color]