317’s Abandoned Farmhouse
Sunday
After Friday night, and the epic showdown between Skelly and Tennogama, it was obvious that Luca and Jasper were going to need to get stronger to defeat the hateful skeleton that was haunting them. That meant one thing. They needed to train.
Training was a bit difficult with Luca around. He couldn’t go to any public gym or park, leaving only the apartment which was getting increasingly cramped with four people around especially when one of them had wings. Training there would also mean explaining it to the girls, which they couldn’t do. Thankfully, through Jasper’s connections, they were able to get use of 317’s abandoned farmhouse.
Jasper drove them there on Sunday, and the two of them turned up with everything they needed - canvas’, weights, loads of water bottles. Luca had pulled out sportswear he didn’t even know he had, the loose shorts showing off thin legs while the hoodie he had on was covered in holes.
”Alright,” Luca said after they got into the farmhouse, hands on his hips and looking around.
”We obviously need to get stronger if we’re going to beat that Skeleton… they’re slippery enough to get away from Tennogama. I… really need to work on my stamina. And muscle strength. Everything, really.” “Jeez,” Jasper said as he looked around,
“what happened here?” The farmhouse was in ruins, there was a crater as if a bomb went off in front of it. Various signs of fire kissed dirt dotted the area, as did broken boards and small dots of blood. As well, the air stank of a tremendously strong strain of weed. It almost felt like the 317 has a tremendous party here the night before.
“I know they like to party hard but this is a lot. Don’t worry bro, we’ll get you stronger.”. Jasper said as he placed a crate filled with exercise experiment, weights, and other tools. He went to the back of his car and grabbed an easel and painting supplies.
“How do we want to start,” Jasper asked.
”Uhhhh…” Luca wrinkled his nose at the weed smell, looking at all the exercise equipment. Since he’d started getting sicker he’d stopped exercising much at all. At first he tried to keep up his fitness with running and the like, but it was difficult to keep it up as time went on. He’d have to take it easy and not push himself.
”Maybe warming up? When I used to play football we’d run around the field a couple of times… running would be good! Like Skelly’s following us!” “Ooh that gives me an idea,,” Jasper said. He quickly began to paint a figure, if Luca snuck a peak he’d see it was a very detailed version of Skelly. His hope was to add an actual representation for their enemy. He was painting in the intent to replicate the actions, mannerisms, and fighting style.
“We’ll have an actual Skelly following us,” Jasper said with a smirk.
”Wow,” Luca watched with wide eyes as Jasper painted. It was… incredible. He was so talented. It only made Luca like him more… But, like, as a friend. Also more than that but he’d never do anything about that!
”That’s great! It’ll make things much more real… so long as it’s not too like the actual thing!”While Jasper was painted he started doing some warm up stretches to loosen his tight muscles, wincing slightly as they complained at being made to do something that wasn’t just walking.
“Exactly! I’m painting in every memory I have of Skelly, how they fight, move, talk, and so on. I don’t know if they’ve been holding back but I think it’ll help us with the devil we…we,” Jasper paused as his mouth dropped ever so at the sight of Luca stretching, he turned away as his face turned a brighter hue of red,
“we know.” ”I hope they haven't been holding back…” Luca said, stretching his arms above his head. It pulled up the hoodie he was wearing enough to show off a sliver of his slender waist.
”I want to get rid of them as quickly as we can.”“Same. I don’t know why we’re so unlucky but I’m glad at least the toad saw the fucker. Do you think the others even remember seeing them? I have a few ideas on how to end that apparition up my sleeve that I’ll show you,” Jasper said with a wink.
Luca blushed slightly, glad that he was doing light exercise so it totally just looked like he was flushed from that.
”Yeah, I guess even if we can't talk about him others can see him? I don't… think the others remember. They would've seen something, right?”He shrugged, smiling.
”I can't wait to see what your ideas are… I can't think of anything interesting! If I can get close enough I can weaken him, but getting close is difficult.”“You’re right, still we can always ask Ken to talk to the toad,” Jasper said with a smirk. He added a weapon to Skelly in the photo, unlike any that he’d made to date. It looked like a bazooka from that old war that people still made movies about. On the edge of the painting was a net like texture.
“You ready to run,” Jasper asked.
Luca’s smile wavered just a bit as he looked at the bazooka, then back at Jasper. Was Skelly going to… shoot at them? The painting Skelly, that was? He was impressed, but a little scared… Oh, it probably couldn’t do anything to him, anyway.
”I was born ready! Bring him out.”Jasper put the finishing touches on the painting, adding a few extra layers of intention for this fake Skelly to protect Luca in case his new design failed. A second later Jasper pulled the fake Skelly and its weapon from the painting. The Skelly was a nearly identical copy of the monster, with very few imperfections of note. Jasper wondered if he could use this fake Skelly to let others know of the threat that Jasper and Luca faced. Jasper whistled and the Skelly waved at Luca. They turned and tossed Jasper the bazooka looking weapon.
“So that works,” Jasper said with a big smirk,
“I’ve never tried to summon a construct and a weapon for me at the same time. You ready to chase and be netted, fake Skelly?” Skelly jumped, hands thrown in the air to celebrate the coming fun with two thumbs up.
Luca let out a sigh of relief when the bazooka went to Jasper rather than being kept by Skelly… that would’ve been too much. It made sense, Jasper could practice with a weapon and they’d get loads of training out of it.
”Wow, Jasper, you’re- that’s really cool,” Luca breathed out, grinning brightly at Jasper, before facing Skelly. There was already a light sheen of perspiration across his forehead from the warmup. But he seemed full of energy, hopping from foot to foot.
”Alright let’s go… lap around the inside first?”“On my mark, get set,” Jasper grinned,
“go.”Luca had crouched, and set off running when Jasper said go. At first it was a pretty good pace, but before he'd even made a half lap he started slowing down, chest heaving up and down and his breathing running ragged.
”I forgot… how tiring… running is…”As Luca slowed down the fake Skelly gained ground and they held all four of their arms out ready to grab Luca. Suddenly, the fake Skelly was enveloped in a net. The net hit with a heavy impact, wrapping itself all around their arms and legs, and causing the fake Skelly to lose its balance and fall to the ground. Jasper, lowered the weapon, and smirked.
“Get a breath in, but now they can’t get away from your aura,” Jasper smirked as he started to jog towards Luca.
”Oh, you’re right,” Luca panted, bending over and putting his hands on his thighs. He looked over at the fake Skelly, caught in the net and on the ground. It would be so easy to go touch them and weaken them.
”If we get them like this… I can grab their foot to weaken them and you can shoot them…” He nodded, still panting.
”I won’t do it… for this one… it’ll just destroy it…” “Yeah! But this by itself took me led than a minute to paint, and the net is reinforced with my defensive spells so it’s more durable than normal as well,” Jasper grinned,
“we’re going to kill this fucker.””Yeah!” Luca threw a weak fist into the air, finally regaining his breath and energy.
”Maybe we can use the fake ones to fight the real one, then you can catch it in the net… then I can weaken it…” “We totally got this. How are you feeling? Ready to get some more cardio in? I’ll run with you this time!,””I’m good to go again! I need to improve my stamina… lets good,” Luca nodded, raising a hand to wipe sweat away from his brow. He bent his skinny legs slightly, ready to run again.
“Promise me you’ll take it easy on me, I’m not the best runner,” Jasper joked, knowing full well his long legs made running easy. He bent himself down, placing one foot back and both hands out assuming a sprinters starting pose. He held the net thrower in his hand still, pressing it into the ground.
”Ok… wait.” Luca went over to the fake Skelly, carefully reaching out to rot away the net holding him, but not the creature itself.
”Now we can get chased again!”He made his way back over to near Jasper, once again bending his knees in a half running pose.
”Uh… go, chase us!”He wasn’t sure how the fake Skelly worked so he just said that before starting to run again, at a decent pace again… one Jasper could easily keep up with with his long legs and lack of terminal illness.
Jasper had to slow his pace to keep up with Luca but it was a nice pace. The two kept up the pace for a few minutes without much problem. Jasper enjoyed this greatly. Just two bros, running from their fake problem, while they enjoyed each others company. Jasper smiled a great big smile as he looked forward. Suddenly, his peripheral caught the sight of the fake Skelly running past them. Their head was turned back, eyes staring at something behind them. Jasper looked back and saw that the real Skelly was right behind Luca. Jasper quickly raised the net thrower, turned around, and fired the second net emptying the device. The net impacted Skelly and wrapped around them but even the more durable nature of the net was no match for the raw strength of Skelly. Jasper slowed down, as did the fake Skelly, and Jasper attempted to tackle Skelly but was instead caught and lifted off his feet.
Luca’s eyes widened at the sight of the real Skelly - they’d just started, and they were already here to ruin it.
”Jasper!”Gritting his teeth, Luca turned around and went low, jumping forward to grab Skelly’s ankle. With its attention on Jasper he managed to grasp it, stomach scraping painfully across the ground… but he ignored the familiar pain to cling to Skelly, beginning to weaken it.
”Let go of him! Jasper, hit them, or something!”The fake Skelly saw Luca in danger and scowled. It kept in action as it jumped across the area impacting the real Skelly in the chest. The four arms of the fake Skelly began to claw viciously at the real Skelly, who simply threw Jasper off to the side and tried to kick off Luca in response. Jasper impacted the ground and rolled a few times before coming to a stop.
Luca grunted as Skelly’s foot connected with his stomach, feeling the distinctive crack of a rib breaking. But he didn’t let go, clinging onto Skelly with what little strength he had.
”J-Jasper, can you… paint the gun?!”Jasper jumped up and ran over to his canvas. He quickly pulled out his paintbrush and began to make a gun. He did not have enough time to make his normal magnum opus but he did have enough time to make the next best thing, an actual magnum. A moment later Jasper pulled out a large hand cannon and cocked back the hammer. He lined up the shot with the real Skelly and pulled the trigger. While the shot was off target it was still accurate enough that the magic bullet collided with the one hand of the real Skelly, creating an instant explosion that blew it apart. Skelly roared in anger as it looked at Jasper, raised three middle fingers, before it threw the fake Skelly towards Jasper and tried to dislodge Luca once again.
Luca wasn’t able to hold on any longer, letting go of Skelly as he was thrown away, rolling across the floor with a grunt. He pushed himself up, wincing as he felt his leg twist awkwardly. Shit.
Having dislodged Luca, Skelly ran towards Jasper, trying to grab the magnum out of his hands.
Jasper fired one shot after another trying to land another hit on Skelly but the monster seemed to be able to move at the last moment before the shot, and five booms later Jasper was dry. In the distance magical explosions could be seen where the bullets did end up hitting. Not content to accept one’s fate in the midst of a fight, Jasper rotated the gun in his hand so that the guns handle was facing out. As Skelly drew close Jasper struck out with the base of the pistol aiming towards Skelly’s head. It struck, however, Skelly was durable enough to not only resist the strike but also break the spell holding the gun together on impact causing the gun to return to paint.
Skelly used to of their hands to grab Jasper while the third sent punch after punch into his gut. A moment later the fake Skelly arrived and grabbed the monster once again. It used its top two arms to pull in Skelly while the bottom two launched a relentless barrage of strikes into the rib cage.
Luca pushed himself to his feet with a pained wince, jumping at Skelly’s back, wrapping his arms around their skeletal torso. It didn’t have the hands to deal with Luca… and his rotting touch, amplified by his whole body pressed against Skelly, started to work. It started weakening the emotions that fueled them, and the apparition themselves. His punches to Jasper’s gut got weaker, and Skelly started trying to shake them all off.
Jasper took the punches well, using his forearms to take the brunt of the impact, and he could feel the strikes grow weak. Jasper waited until they were at the weakest before he started throwing punches in return, each one connecting with the jaw of the monster. Each one grew in intensity and hated. Eventually, Skelly had enough and knew it had to get out of here. They knew that they would die if they stayed and fought. In that moment it raised its three hands towards each combatant’s, one for Luca, Jasper, and the fake Skelly and shook its fists at them before raising the middle finger. A moment later it phased away from their grip and teleported away. Jasper was mid-punch at the moment and the sudden disappearance caused him to topple over face first towards Luca’s face.
For a moment, Luca didn’t want to move away - he want to just lie there and let Jasper fall onto him, for their faces to get close-
But he couldn’t. He remembered what happened to Sloane, and couldn’t bear for it to happen to Jasper too. There wasn’t a healer around, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything but watch. So Luca rolled to the side, out of the way of Jasper, leaving him to fall onto the ground face first instead.
Jasper hit the ground and groaned as he felt a pop in his nose. He rolled away from Luca to be sure that he didn’t get caught in the aura. He could already feel the steady stream of blood that poured from his nose, and a crimson trail began to form in the dirt below. Jasper sat up enough to be sitting on his knees and leaned back and looked to Luca.
“I fucking hate that thing.” ”It’s the worst…” Luca groaned, turning his head to look at Jasper. He didn’t sit up yet. His chest heaved up and down, but sharp pain came with every breath. He’d definitely broken a rib, or two. He knew the feeling too well to mistake it.
”How are we supposed to train if they turn up?”“With others,” Jasper groaned as he formed a fist with both his hands,
“do you think the others could see them?” Jasper paused as he pointed to the fake Skelly.
Luca sat up with a wince, looking at the fake Skelly, eyes widening slightly.
”Oh… probably! But we won’t be able to explain what they are…. But we can try. And Tennogama saw the real thing, right?” “Right! Maybe I could paint a sign saying ‘this monster is hunting us’ or something. Ken may be a good person to talk to though you see if Tennogama can tell him what he saw,” Jasper winced as he looked over to Luca.
“Want to train some more? I can get us a better guard for it,” Jasper chuckled.
Luca shook his head. He wanted to, but he couldn’t… though he didn’t want to let Jasper know how badly injured he’d gotten. Then again, a couple of broken bones wasn’t all that bad for him. So instead he went with another, hopefully believable, reason.
”Weakening him took a lot out of me… I don’t think I can continue! If you want to, I'll just watch until you’re done and we go home.”Jasper shook his head,
“nah I think we should get going just in case. Want to stop by the ice cream shop on the way home? I could use a treat after this.”Luca pushed himself to his face with a wide grin.
”Hell yeah! Let’s go get some ice cream.”
Luca’s Apartment
Monday Afternoon
After Sunday’s intense day of training, Luca had taken most of Monday morning slow. He had the broken ribs to worry about until he could see Sully - and he had to wrap bandages around his chest every few hours just to alleviate the pain slightly. He did this all in silence, not letting anyone of the others staying in the apartment know.
But there was a meeting to get ready for… well, they had a bit of time before it. But Luca had to make sure he could attend at all. He was in his bedroom, tightly wrapping a compression bandage around his damaged knee. Not so bad he couldn’t walk, but painful enough in combination with his normal base level pain. Painkillers had already been taken, so he just had to suffer through it.
He’d left the door slightly ajar, to indicate he didn’t mind anyone coming in. He’d dealt with the worst of it - top half covered up by a t-shirt. He just needed a bit of time before he could get up, and layer up as much as possible to avoid hurting anyone again.
A knock announced the arrival of company at the door. The knock was followed by the rasp of a clawed hand tapping, tapping away at the frame announcing who was coming in. A moment later Lila lazily strolled through the door, her wings finally retracted back into her body which allowed her to walk through a doorway normally for once.
“Good morning,” Lila said with bloodshot eyes. Once her wings went back inside she had convinced Jasper to go out with her the night prior so she could enjoy a night of fun, and interrogate the poor man. She had learned much in the night.
“I have news from…oh god my head. I have news from last night,” Lila said as she raised both her clawed thumbs up.
”Oh- want some painkillers for that?” Luca asked, gesturing for Lila to come in properly and sit down wherever she wanted. He shuffled over on his bed so that she could also sit on the opposite end if she really wanted to, pointing to the box of various medicinal necessities. It only contained the lighter painkillers, the over the counter stuff, with the rest kept in tubs he could bring around with him.
”What news? About- about jasper?”“Ohhh yes indeed,” Lila said with a smirk.
“Nothing definitive, mind you, as I wanted to be subtle. But I gotta say the vibes, man, the vibes were telling me a story all by themself,” Lila paused as she sat down near Luca,
“at least I think so? We got roped into so many drinks at so many places I don’t know where to start,” Lila exhaled as she groaned.
”What kind of story? Like, a story about how totally straight he is or… that maybe he isn’t?” Luca didn’t want to get too hopefully, but he couldn’t help but turn around and look at Lila with a smile and wide eyes.
”Maybe… start from the beginning? Where was it you went first again?”“I will tell you the story and you tell me,” Lila winked as she stretched her arms.
“You are right, how about we start where the story starts, like any good drinking story in St. Portwell,” Lila paused as she leaned in.
Sunday Night
6:30PM
Art District - The Beginning
“At The Beginning,” Lila flashed her arms out wide, as she motioned for Jasper to look at the building that would hopefully be the start of a fun night. Lila had just managed to put her wings away and wanted to celebrate. However she knew she could not do so alone. In the interest of killing two birds with one stone she had told Jasper that she wanted to go out, and she needed him to join her in order to protect her if either 8th street or father wolf showed up. And as such, she chose her destinations to be away from any 8th street influence.
“Isn’t this a gay bar,” Jasper asked with a raised eyebrow. He asked because he knew how strong the pours were at this place in particular so he wondered how many other places they’d be able to go to if they started their night here.
”You took him to a gay bar?” Luca’s eyes widened, and he laughed. That was certainly one way to check but… Jasper also seemed like the kind of straight guy who was fine with going along to a gay bar. He’d probably even brush off getting flirted with? Maybe.
”How did he take it… like, was he alright with it?”Lila leaned in close with a smirk,
“he had been there before, many times in fact. He knew the bartender by name and,” Lila paused as she looked towards the door,
“the bartender knew his.””Seriously?!” Luca gasped, holding a hand to his mouth in shock. Was that… normal for a straight guy? Luca didn’t really know, because he couldn’t go to bars in the first place. He’d never had the chance.
”But couldn’t that just be because he’s, y’know, artsy?” Lila blinked twice before she tilted her head.
“It was also the bar where a lot of the 317 would go to drink so perhaps,” Lila paused as she raised a finger,
“but there might be more to the story,” Lila paused as she leaned back.
Sunday Night
6:58 Pm
Art District - The Beginning
“I’ll be straight up with you Jasper I don’t think you’re straight,” Lila paused as she downed yet another tequila shot. The alcohol had already worked its way through her body and into her decision making center of her brain, blowing the doors off subtlety and sending her on a collision course with the truth.
Jasper eyes went wide for a second as he raised an eyebrow.
“I got to know why you think that,” Jasper chuckled as he downed another shot himself. Night like tonight were the rare occasion one might find Jasper drinking. While he never had an issue with alcohol, he did have an issue with addictive substances and tried to keep these nights to as few as possible.
“What a way to start off a conversation though, props to you for that,” Jasper laughed as he leaned back on the bar, awaiting an answer.
Lila simply tilted her head and looked at Jasper.
“Do I have to answer that? Just look at you,” Lila paused as she pointed to the bartender,
“he knows you very well, by the sounds of it you used to be in here all the time.”“I mean this is where the 317 goes to party. Look, there’s my sister in the booth over there and it looks like Alex and Jason are here as well,” Jasper countered.
“I’ve seen the way you look at Luca.”“Oh.”
“and so when I asked him if there was anything that he was holding onto that he wanted to get off his chest, anything that I might be able to relate to, he nodded his head with a nervous look. I told you I wouldn’t be so blunt so I left it like that for a moment,” Lila paused as she took in a deep breath. The long story about how she noticed the way Jasper seemed to be more at home in this environment, how he knew several people there on a friendly level, and the way his smile seemed to radiate extra strong with them had taken a while to get across.
”That does seem… hmm, well, it’s not really conclusive,” Luca rubbed his chin, having to pull back slightly - as Lila talked he’d edged towards her, almost close enough for his aura to touch her. He couldn’t have that.
”There’s so many things he could want to get off his chest like… a crush on a woman. A woman that he would be embarrassed to like. It’s not necessarily that he’s also attracted to men, y’know, unless… you got an answer later?” “Did I get an answer,” Lila smiled extra big,
“my memory is a bit foggy buuuuuut,” Lila paused as she preventively took a big breath.
Sunday Night
8:58 Pm
Downtown St. Portwell - La Tournesol
“But I like that bar Jasper, there were so many pretty women there and I didn’t get any of their numbers, why are we going to another bar already,” Lila bemoaned.
“Because,” Octavia raised a finger as she looked over to Lila. She was leading the group down the Main Street. In total, there were seven people including Lila and Jasper in the group. Octavia, Sypha, Alex, Jason, and Lori had roped Jasper and Lila into joining their night out and Jasper was very much enjoying being around his 317 friends. “It is open mic night and the drinks are cheap. Plus, I heard that the annoying fucker Jackson was already escorted out of the building so we can actually enjoy the scene now. Trust me, the vibe is good here.”
Lila moved over to Jasper as she crossed her arms.
“Your sister is intense,” she paused as she tapped him on his arm,
“why didn’t I know you dated a guy before? I don’t want to pry but I had no idea.”“Well,” Jasper paused as he looked towards his sister,
“it wasn’t the healthiest of relationships, I was in a bad spot that I needed to get out of and he was just a toxic nobody who wanted to ride my coattails to the top you know? It nearly ruined men for me entirely. After Octavia helped me get out of that relationship she helped me get sober. She’s intense because she’s still unsure of you all, and if you’ll bring me back to that dark place.” “WE’RE HERE,” Octavia shouted at the group as she flung the doors open to La Tourneso. The group followed her in as they took in the crowd before them. The music was good, the people seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the vibe felt out of this world. Everyone was ready to enjoy a memorable night. Drinks would be shared, memories would be created, and a new friendship would be likely born in the midst of an old one. Lila was ready to follow Octavia and her plan for the night. Nothing would ruin this moment.
The sound of mic feedback broke the illusion as everyone looked to the stage. “Third times the charm, hello St. Portwell I’m Jackson…” the sound of the man was drowned out by the collective groan of the entire bar. Mostly notable was Octavia who slammed her palm into her forehead.
The entire group except for Lila frowned as Octavia spun in place and marched the group back out the doors.
“And again, this came up naturally in the conversation. Jasper told me that he had dated a guy once before. Not just kissed, dated. I didn’t want to ask any more questions besides that but I figure that’s pushing us to something like a sixty percent chance he’s into men,” Lila paused as she groaned,
“I drank way too much last night to be thinking about math.””Right… so the chances of him being into men are higher than I thought,” Luca said, nodding and rubbing his chin again thoughtfully. But that only meant there was a possibility. Just because Jasper was maybe into men still didn’t mean he was into Luca.
”That’s… more than I expected. But, I still don’t think he’s into me at all. I- well, there’s someone else he might like… Liking men doesn’t mean liking me. Not- not that we’d be able to date anyway.”He blushed, waving a hand in front of his face.
”The rotting, y’know.”“I may have tried my hand at figuring that out,” Lila said with a grin.
Luca’s head snapped back towards Lila. Once again, there was hope in his eyes - a hope he shouldn’t have but! Positivity was his main strength and maybe he should have it towards this!
”What- What did you find out?”
Sunday Night
11:58 Pm
Art District - The 317
“I found this out by just watching you two you know? You’re like always with him, always training with him, always taking photos with him, you know? I read it off you by just looking at you,” Lila spoke somewhere between her sober tone and a slurred speech,
“I just want to know why you haven’t asked him out yet?”“It’s a daunting task,” Jasper paused as he flexed his muscles. He was shirtless, and the suspenders that once held his fit together were dangling off to the side of his pants. Around him Alex, Zeri, and Jason worked on their artwork using Jasper as their model for the night.
“Like how do I know if he even likes me,” Jasper paused as he looked over to Alex,
“how’s it coming?”Alex turned their easel around and showed off the stick figure version of Jasper they had spent thirty minutes perfecting.
“You got,” Jasper paused as he raised an eyebrow,
“an eye for detail.”“Thanks! I knew being around actual artists would make me better as one,” Alex said with a sigh. Their expression blank but hopeful.
“That’s the hard part,” Jason said in response, “the unknown. Do they like you back? Are they happy with just being friends?”
“But you’ll never know the answer if you don’t ask for it,” Zeri said while pointing at Jasper, “that much is known.”
Jasper looked to Jason and then Zeri and sighed.
“Stop moving so much,” Alex shouted as they took a healthy swig from the whisky bottle, “you’ll ruin the painting.”
“Lila? Anything to add,” Jasper paused as he looked over towards his friend.
“I don’t know for certain but I’ll tell you the same thing I’d tell him,” Lila paused.
“and that is take that chance, Luca! I promise you Jasper is into you even if I couldn’t get him to say it.””I… well, thank you, Lila,” Luca smiled warmly at her. It was a smile that lit up the room, which might lead Lila to believe he would. And he might. But he’d have to think about it. Decide if it was worth possibly ruining their friendship over and if… Lila’s memory was correct. Also, Jasper hadn’t outright said it. Why not? Luca had been able to.
”It’s a lot to think about! So… I’ll think about it, definitely.”“Good. I’m rooting for you,.” Lila said knowing full well that the outcome was getting more clear. All someone had to do was make that first move.
”Thanks,” Luca grinned. It was nice to have someone in his corner at least, even if things didn't work out. He turned his head towards the door to his room.
”Are the other two about? We should maybe think about heading for the meeting today… I think it's a bit of a trek to get there.”“Yes! Jasper is nursing a hangover on the couch and Lynn is at the conspiracy board,” Lila referenced the giant cork board that Lynn had bought to map out the ten possible futures she saw.
”You think Jasper will be able to drive, or do we need to take the bus?” Luca asked with a light life, though… Lynn being at her conspiracy board wasn’t so entertaining. She’d been almost obsessed.
”We should definitely go drag her away from it… a fun break to a hopefully less chaotic coven meeting!”“Yeah, Jasper should be good to drive. Let me get dressed and we can get going, what’s the worst that could happen at a Monday coven meeting?”
“Fuck all the way off Tayla,” Lila said while she leaned back on her heel. She was dressed in loose plaid pants, a tight fitting black tube top which was hopefully far enough down her back to not get ripped off if her wings reappeared, and a denim jacket with white trim.
“Do you seriously think that 8th street will stop with just me, just Britney? They are as much a threat to us all as they are to me.”Luca grimaced as Lila got angry immediately - fairly so. He stood a bit off from the three he’d arrived with, and also far enough from any person so he wouldn’t accidentally touch them if there was another sudden hallucination.
”Lila’s right. Emily and Vashti- rather than the whole coven- won’t stop at just Lila and Britney. Emily wants to control the city, and Vashti just loves… the violence, I think. They’ll keep going.” He then turned towards Luna, grimacing.
”I don’t trust her plan, but… I can confirm her information. Part of it, at least. Kari did work for Blake Schmidt to track down artifacts and 8th Street did sold her notes. I’m sure Greyson can verify it better if he has proof but… I hope you’d all trust me. I have no reason to lie.” 
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