fandomtownies | Magic Box, Thursday, 1/13

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Magic Box, Thursday, 1/13

After talking to Karla yesterday during Reserves, Tara decided to make today a study day. She pulled all the demonology texts in stock from the shelves and set up a little research station at the front counter.

Not that anything she'd read had entries on Trigon or anyone like him, but hey. Maybe she'd get lucky and find "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Demon Spawn (But Were Afraid to Ask)."

It was that semi-optimistic spirit, and a sincere wish she could read ancient Sumatran, that carried her through the workday.

[OOC: Open shop! OCD is hiding from the determined Wiccan.]

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"God! It's cold out there." Okay, Kennedy was used to cold weather, but felt it shouldn't pass without comment every now and then. Comment, and hot chocolate. And lasagna, all of which she was carrying as she headed in at about the usual time, all of which made opening the door an adventure. (But fun.)

"Wow." She directed a mildly inquisitive glance at Tara's way as soon as she got a glimpse of the research station on the counter. "Should I have brought study snacks, too?"

There was a little horror mixed in with Tara's distracted smile. "Nah. I don't want to get potato chip grease all over the compendiums. Just ... checking on a couple things about Raven. But lunch is totally a thing i should do instead."

Okay, that meant Kennedy had to come around to take a look at what Tara was reading. (She was careful to keep the food away from the books; Constance had drilled that much into her, at least.)

"A couple of possibly-time-to-be-really-worried things?"

"It's ... possibly possible," Tara answered, leaning back so Kennedy could see she had the book open to a page with some kind of horned demon on it. "Karla says she thinks Raven's dad has been around since Argio. Might be nothing, but she's just been off, have you noticed?"

Edited 2011-01-13 16:50 (UTC)

That picture looked vaguely familiar; Kennedy was pretty sure she'd seen it, or something close, in one of Constance's books once. Or maybe it was one that was completely unrelated and just bore a striking resemblance in a generally-demony way?

...anyway.

"I did see she looked way out of it yesterday, and not so hot last week either," Kennedy agreed, frowning as she leaned in over Tara's shoulder. "I was kinda chalking it up to not sleeping well or something, but..."

She'd had a few bad nights herself ever since Agio, but she didn't have a demon side to contend with.

"But it could be worse, yeah."

"She says it's just stress," Tara answered doubtfully. "Maybe it is. She's not telling her boyfriend anything, either, unless he just didn't tell Karla...."

She sighed. "This is like playing stupid telephone or something."

"As opposed to the crazy kind of telephone from last weekend?" Kennedy asked ruefully. "I mean, even if it is just stress, it's messing with her pretty hard."

And if it wasn't, the fact that she wasn't saying anything despite the obvious was not reassuring.

"I only got one message," Tara related. "Something about paying for .. you know and bunny ears."

She wrinkled her nose. "Which is probably not Raven's problem. I dunno, do you think she'd see a therapist, if people asked?"

"Damn. I was kinda hoping all those people leaving messages about how they've been thinking about me secretly and all were for real," Kennedy said lightly, but it wasn't as if she'd been convinced of that, and there were more important things to be concerned with, and she let the joke drop.

"Who, Raven? I don't know," she mused, moving to rest her chin against Tara's shoulder. "I mean, you know how she's all 'you're hurt, let me help you' to everyone all the time? Maybe she's great at noticing that for everyone else, but not so much for herself."

There was more to that thought, but Kennedy didn't know how to articulate it.

"But half the school is thinking about you," Tara teased, because things weren't so dire that she couldn't do that. "And the other half just doesn't know they like girls."

She let that hang for a moment as she went over to open the clamshell of lasagna, keeping it far from the books. "And yeah, maybe. It's scary, saying you aren't as strong as people think you are. Plus, aren't emotions kind of a new thing to her anyhow?"

"Well, the entire school's just going to have to deal. They can think about me all they want, but that's all they get," Kennedy declared.

She trailed along after Tara in the interest of food, her expression slightly frowny and thoughtful. She didn't think that was such a scary thing to admit to, but...

"Yeah, she did have that whole totally-strict upbringing that makes my one semester of Catholic school look like spring break, huh? That would make it kinda tricky."

"I guess," Tara said. "Especially if your whole thing is healing other people. And if no one can heal you...."

She shrugged, trailing off. She suddenly wasn't sure she knew Raven enough to analyze her like this. "Or maybe she just has a toothache and we're all being jumpy."

"Could be," Kennedy agreed. "We could just be extra twitchy 'cause of, you know, what she is?"

And she couldn't resist adding, "But you're so cute when you're in worry mode."

"Yeah, what she is makes the idea of a bad day for her a lot scarier than a bad day for somebody like you," Tara had to agree. But she was smiling by now. "You think I'm cute when I worry, hmmm?"

"Is that unfair of us?" Kennedy had to ask in a rare moment of self-awareness as she helped herself to a bite of lasagna, so through a mouthful of food. Which she swallowed before continuing, "Duh. I always think you're cute; this is just a special variety of it."

"I don't think it's unfair?" Tara said tenuously. She'd poked in the bag for garlic bread and was gobbling down a slice. "But I can't think of why it's fair. We trust Maladicta, right?"

"Yeah. And Dru," Kennedy added. "Which is all still really weird if I think about it, but. Far as I know, neither of them has crazy-evil relatives."

"At least nobody who wants to come to the island and mess with us," Tara offered. "But ... I wouldn't exactly rush out to their family reunions. Is that awful?"

"Not really, 'cause hi, awkward." Kennedy chuckled ruefully. Not that, if she thought about it, a family reunion thing would be happening for either of those two, huh? "Gotta love complicated friendships."

Eh, it wasn't like either Tara or Kennedy could expect huge, friendly family reunions anytime soon, so it was more of a metaphor anyhow.

"It's that or, like, lock ourselves in our rooms," Tara said, cheerfully as she could manage. "... oh, hey, I saw Wesley's back. I wonder if they taught him any of this stuff in watcher school."

"What, how to win vampire friends and influence demons?" Kennedy quipped. "I dunno if that's so much their thing. You know, what with the extensive lectures on how to make with the stabbing and all."

"I was thinking more like, cooperation with friendly demons," Tara said, "... maybe they learn it in between the stabbing and the killing."

Yeah. She didn't believe that.

That made skeptics out of both of them, then.

"I could ask," Kennedy offered, though the look on her face made it pretty clear she doubted anything would come of that inquiry at all. "I could risk getting lectured at for it. Good cause, huh?"

"Good cause," Tara agreed, looking equally dubious. "And if you don't want to bug Wesley? Constance has to have gotten some pretty weird questions from you. Maybe she'd skip the lecture bit."

"I'm not so much getting answers out of her lately, basically at all," Kennedy noted, scowling a bit. "But it's cool, nothing major anyway, just curiosity. This is totally different from work gossip; I can give it a shot."

A pause, and then: "But I might bug Wesley anyway. 'cause it's fun."

"Don't be too mean," Tara said lightly; she didn't think Kennedy had it in her to be really mean. Then some trepidation crept into her tone. "And is there a reason Constance isn't answering stuff? Are you guys fighting or something?"

"What? No! So not," Kennedy blurted out. "There's no fighting, I promise. She just goes quiet every time I ask her about what's happening on the Hellmouth. I'm working on the theory that she's worried I'm gonna decide I should just take off and head there to help."

"It's not that weird a question!" Tara protested, relieved. "And ... um. Is it bad if I say that might be right? If she'll usually talk about it and now she won't...."

Edited 2011-01-13 23:10 (UTC)

Kennedy shook her head. "No, not bad. You're probably both onto something there, but I wouldn't just take off. I've got stuff to do here, and my reserves kids to look out for, and besides." Thinking about leaving was not cool; she moved over to pull Tara into a hug. "You're here, y'know? Not there. So I kinda have good reasons to stay."

Tara snuggled easily into the hug. "I didn't think you would just take off," she said comfortably. "Besides, if you did I'd follow you or something, so there."

"I don't think I'd have a problem with that," Kennedy decided, and it really was a rather emphatic hug. "You're stuck being stuck with me. Hope you don't mind."

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Magic Box, Thursday, 1/13

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