ELEVENTH SHOT

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess has heard the warnings, but frankly, nothing ever stops her. Curfews were always a horrible part of living in the Quarantine Zone, and you could only skirt around them so much before you risked getting caught, but she still defied them. Nothing could keep her in her apartment for more than she wanted to be, just like how nothing could keep her in certain zones, just like how nothing could keep her inside the walls.

As a result, she's out and about, kissing or no kissing. She's not too concerned, given that she has a gun and her own two fists should anyone get up in her space without welcome. No castle is going to overpower her.

So there's Tess, reading in the library. She's sitting on a couch in front of the fire, idly thumbing through books with her feet tucked up under her.]

Been a long time since I've seen a proper Christmas. It was weird enough getting to taste pumpkin pie and real turkey again, so it'll be good to have gingerbread, and eggnog, and candy canes. Fresh ones, not stale ones.

Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes… I only ever had a few but it was the best taste ever. Or just Starbucks in general, such a waste of money but so good. Fuck.

[She's definitely drinking one now, though.]

Crazy to me that the castle even recognizes brand names, too.

Comments

action;

[ensorceler]

[ Anne may be slowly turning into a creepy hermit, but she still loves the library. She can take as much as she wants to her apartments, perhaps, but the grandeur of all these shelves and books is awe inspiring and humbling, not to mention exciting. She has yet to need to read a book twice.

Tess is the last person she expects to see here, and she pauses to listen for a moment. Is she talking to someone, or... Oh, whoops, the journal. Anne can't help but chuckle, wondering if that's how strange she appears when doing so in public.

Piping up as she steps quietly up beside the couch, Anne eyes whatever she's drinking quite curiously. ]

What of spiced wine?

action;

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess looks up, a little surprised, but she mercifully manages to avoid reacting on impulse. Jesus christ, people shuffling around quietly still startle her sometimes.]

Spiced wine? Maybe... I was never much of a wine drinker. [Or didn't get the chance to be. She raises her mug.] This is a latte, though.

[ensorceler]

[ Being trained to walk like a perfect lady and beyond does have it's pros, but maybe a con if it had ended with a bullet to the head. Not that she would even dare fear such a thing, clear by her smile as she moves to sit beside her. ]

That is sorry to hear, but spiced wine differs. For once, it is warm. For twice, it has a much richer, more exotic flavor.

[ Anne squints at the mug like fuck the what, even if she's still smiling. Um. Milk? ]

A latte I have not had, as this seems to be, so I cannot compare.

action;

[putuporshutup]

[Meg is hanging in the library, too, as she often is while not working at the bar. She's laying upside down in a big cozy chair with her feet dangling over the back, off a ways from Tess with one eye on the door, looking out for newcomers.

She's not sure whether she wants to run interference and save everyone some pain, or sit back, wish up some popcorn, and enjoy the show. She's leaning towards the latter.

For her personally, of all the castle residents Meg would be so totally fine with kissing, she's keeping a bit of distance between her and Tess on purpose. She's great company and Meg knows firsthand that she cleans up damn nice, but she'll be keeping her distance here. She just healed from a gunshot wound, thanks.]

Good God, that's a fabulous idea.

[She sits up a little, wishes for her own white chocolate peppermint mocha, and sighs after the first delicious sip.]

I should make some cookies and keep 'em around the bar during the holidays, huh?

[dog_eat_dog]

[A grin in Meg's direction. Meg is cool and all, but hey, Tess is alright with distance and she's not the snogging-others type.]

Ooh, yes. Gingerbread and icing, those little silver sugar balls... Sugar cookies with hard icing you could paint on. Fruitcake.

[putuporshutup]

Yes. All of those. And peanut butter cookies. Maybe some candy, too. I think I saw a recipe for some toffee.

[She laughs and wrinkles her nose.]

But fruitcake? Really?

[dgaf]

You've obviously never tried the duffin.

[dog_eat_dog]

The "duffin?"

[dgaf]

Yeah. Muffins that got knocked up the duff by doughnuts.

dictated;

[freeslider]

I've heard of Starbucks, but never a pumpkin spice latte.

[She's from the 90's. Don't blame her]

Re: dictated;

[dog_eat_dog]

Really? It was their specialty. The best thing, but only once a year.

dictated;

[freeslider]

I've had their coffee, but that's it. It sounds...really good though.

Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

You seriously need to need to stop talking about food. You're making me hungry.

[Of course, she was always hungry, so there you had it.]

Dictated

[dog_eat_dog]

So eat, Kat. It's not like the place is emptied out of food.

Re: Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

I try to keep it leaner, over the winter months. I don't want to make more wishes then I have to.

[footnote]

Oh, my dear. Oh no.

[Aziraphale sounds vaguely horrified on the other end of the journals, as well as quite pitying. How could she think Starbucks was quality? His soul wept.]

You must allow me to make you some real coffee, please, I insist.

[dog_eat_dog]

[A pause, and then confusion:]

What? "Real coffee" or not, it's not bad.

[But she's sure as hell curious.]

What's the difference?

[batteriesarehard]

[It's a new kind of novelty, having time to just sit down and read and not feel like she's slacking off, like she was being negligent and because of that, someone she cared about would probably end up dead. There just wasn't time to stop and read in a world filled with walkers.

Besides, in that world she's dead. There's not much chance of her reading anything at all there, but here? She's got all the time in the world. And she's not particularly surprised to find Tess in the library when she stops by, so she just heads on over.]

Hey Tess. Reading anything good?

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess looks up when she sees Carley, and she smiles just a touch.]

Total trash, to be honest. You?

dictated;

[eaglet]

I have heard of candy canes, but I did not know ginger-bread is associated with Christmas. Is there a reason?

dictated;

[dog_eat_dog]

Not a clue, kid. Maybe because they're shaped like little men and look festive, and gingerbread houses are all snowy. I don't know.

[focusrighthere]

[Joel, however, is determined to get up in her space during this thing and he's feeling weirdly playful about it. He doesn't want to just march over to her without subtlety or grace. Maybe it's the endless availability of food, water and beds getting to him.

He hides away and starts following her when he sees her walking in front at a distance. Normally this kind of thing isn't fun or funny for either of them, so he's obvious about it, just enough so that she'll know he's there and that it's him well ahead of time. Don't ask him how he knows how to measure that and deal it out, he just does.

If she turns around, he's not there. Not yet.]

[dog_eat_dog]

[She's on her way back from the library when she hears footsteps behind her, but she keeps her eyes forward even as she focuses on listening behind her. They're measured steps, not too fast nor too heavy, so she doesn't bother looking back –– it's not a problem to her. Instead, she turns her attention to her phone, scrolling through her recent messages. Nothing worth responding to.

And then she pauses to type. She's forty, not fourteen, and she can't type 80 WPM with her thumbs on a touchscreen with keys the size of pinheads while walking. She does glance up then, just in case whoever's walking behind her comes closer, but is surprised to see no one.

No one? Was it one of the ghosts? She's never noticed if they had footsteps before.

She pockets her phone and retraces a few steps, and then sees a sliver of a person around the edge of the alcove just up the hall. A potentially familiar person.

Tess snorts and turns to continue walking away.]

I AM NOT SUPER LATE, SHUT UP

[molotov]

[For reasons that she's never told anyone, Molotov needs books about astronomy. She can navigate the stars just fine on Earth, but things are different here, so she needs a little help.

She doesn't even notice Tess as she moves to the fire to light a cigarette off it before settling into a chair facing the flames.]

IT'S OK :>

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess almost scoffs, watching the back of Molotov's head with a touch of disdain. She hasn't interacted with Molotov since her post-Halloween spat with Joel, and seeing the woman in the flesh just drives up a bunch of old bitterness.

Tess looks down at her book again, though she still casts the occasional wary look to Molotov.]