#vitxri

[ofwulf]

"Same. But you hear things. And then there's the movies... Toga... Toga... Toga..."

He's trying to be a little light hearted at least. It's not easy though when the hairs on the back of his neck have been prickling all night. Strange smells and new people. It all just intermingled to spell 'trouble'. And while Douglas might not be a psychic or a mystic, he doesn't need to be able to gaze into the future to see that nothing particularly - good - might come of the evening. The best he can hope for is that it's all a dud and the worst that might happen are a few drunk teens puking in a nearby bush and nursing a hangover come sunrise.

At her next words, Doug glanced down at his cup. It's just - coffee. He's never been any kind of particular connoisseur. Yes - his senses are sharp enough to discern a decent cup from a mug of puddle water - and the coffee from the Haze was a decided improvement over stuff he tended to keep at the repair shop.

"Yeah?"

Looking back up, one brow arches in question - and this time there is a small smile on his face - genuine amusement at her comment.

"You don't often hear someone talking down their own product. But maybe talking it down with a view to improve is just a good marketing strategy."

The smile does falter slightly at the flush and the apology. Another stark reminder of why Doug is actually - here. Because yes - weird wasn't quite the word for it. Weird would be nice. Something a little strange. A little puzzling. A little mysterious. But this weird had teeth and claws and had caused some serious harm.

"Trust me, it's no picnic for the people who've been here all their lives either."

Chweing on the side of his mouth for a moment in thought Dougl does offer one more comment on the... situation...

"This is unsolicited advice - and it probably goes without saying, so feel free to take it or leave it, but... You should be careful. Even here, with plenty of people around. I don't know if the 'weird' is over... So, please... just... yeah... uh... Now I'm the one who should probably shut up."

There's something of a quick headshake and a huff from the elder Sharpe as she questions his reason for being here...

"Yeah - Dec... Declan. The most amazingly smart and genuine kid you could want to meet who's also somehow still capable of absolute stupidity - sometimes at the same time."

Kid. It's not as though Dec was still running around in diapers. He's a man within his own right. But to Doug he'll always be 'little brother'. No matter how old or how accomplished.

"I just hope that the 'smart' wins out over the 'stupid' tonight."

He's about to laugh again, but the light shifts and he can see that her expression has changed. It's stark and sharp and... if he was any kind of poet, Douglas might have described the look on her face as 'haunted'.

---I had a brother, too

HAD. Oh... It's like a gut punch. Because that one word screams out at him, over and above everything else she says. It's like a gong went off in his brain. A sudden swarm of bees stinging every nerve in his body... It's Dougs worst fear being lived through someone else. He can't imagine... Just... Can't...

He really should have listened to himself when he said he should shut up.

"Oh, shit... I... I'm sorry."

Maybe the capacity to be astoundingly stupid runs in the damn family - because it sure as hell felt that way right now. What does he even say. Does he ask how? Or when? Or... No... Not his business. If she wanted to volunteer more - that was her story to tell. Not his to ask for.

"I really am - sorry. Look... I never even got your name... Maybe we should start over... Hi - I'm Douglas."

"I skipped frat parties so...", she watched the teenagers pass them by and furrowed her brows. Maryam understood celebration and ravalry as much as any other fae, frolicking in the forest and all. But where she had thought to find similiarities with the mortals she was once again at a loss. They were so similar, and yet so very different.��The fae gave the man beside her a look over and smiled again. "You don't enjoy yourself very often, hu?"

"Honestly, when it comes to coffee and Lavender Haze... We could do better, if we wanted to", she shrugged at his coffee but found herself nodding at his next words. Maryam liked this beverage that most mortals were almost addicted to, a lot. She saw why so many of them could not start the day without. It made her alert, made her awake, but it was still only a shadow of what magic had been able to do for her at the court. And it was such a stark contrast to how mortals tried so hard to dull their senses again with every next step they took on a regular day. They needed constant sound and colours, yet enslaved themselves in the grey of their daily life, forgetting to look up towards the stars.

She shook her head slightly, chasing away those thoughts and returning to the conversation at hand. "Sorry, I got lost up here for a moment", Maryam pointed to her head and gave him a warm - very apologetic - smile, "It has been a confusing few weeks here. But yes, I work at the Haze. But I am still fairly new to Holloway. I arrived just in time to see all that monster in the woods stuff." She took a sip from her coffee, "Sorry, I do not mean to joke, I know that was quite serious and people were lost. It was just... also very weird, for someone coming in from the outside. You don't have that every day. And - I better stop talking now."

Her cheeks turned a shade darker and she hoped he would take it as her being flustered. In truth her tongue had ran off as she played for time. Her eyes had found Silas at the other end of the garden and she could not help but follow his steps - already looking forward to the conversation they would have that night.

"Your brother?", Maryam's head snapped back to the man and his words hit her so unexpected she could not stop the shadow from passing over her features, the grief from sneaking into her eyes. She bit her lip as she listened to him, fighting for control again. The one thing that made her weak, the one thing that destroyed the mask she had built over centuries. "I had a brother, too, you know. I hope yours is aware of how lucky he is to have you, looking out for him like this. Not everyone would do that. And it is a good thing to have, a big brother."

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[ofwulf]

"Running around a locked in house with a ton of drunk people? Sounds like a frat party to me."

As if to prove his point in a rather timely manner - a troop of older teens wander by - loud and raucous. And more than a little drunk. Probably having gotten their hands on some of the alcohol by means of a fake ID - or tailgated a keg before they even arrived.

"Not my idea of fun."

"Y'know what. Don't listen to me. If you're going in I hope you enjoy it..."

"Oh... Yeah, it's good coffee."

Douglas' glass was still mostly full. It was more of a prop than anything else. Something to do with his hands. To make it at least look as though he was participating, even if it were just in the pre-event.

As she raises her glass, he lifts his own. A soft 'ching' sound as they touch momentarily. And he does get the hint of a light, herbal scent. Something different from his own drink. But, Doug is not au-fait with what he can smell. And to be honest, other than a cappuccino or an espresso, he's not wholly up to speed on the whole - Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte. He tends to just ask for a 'large coffee'.

"You work at the Haze? Or are you just helping out for the event? Don't think I've seen you in there before."

Though he hasn't ventured in for a while... He's been rather too - preoccupied.

Ah... Ready to leave? No... Not really. After the recent attacks he's not sure anywhere in town is safe. Granted, the cause of those attacks had been found and taken care of... But Doug is not entirely convinced that the risk had been eradicated. Every passing hour seemed to loom with promise of a new threat...

...Of course, that could be pure paranoia. But given his family - his pack - were here, he can't seem to shake the lingering dread that had settled in the pit of his stomach.

Though it's not so easy to explain why he'd still be hanging around without sounding like a weirdo.

"My little brother is up for the frat party vibe. He's here, somewhere. Just thought I'd hang around for a bit to make sure things don't get too out of hand."

It's mostly the truth.

Maryam chuckled as the stopped beside the stranger, a man tall enough that she had to luck up to him. "I have yet to decide on that, honestly. I mean, it could be fun?" It could also be the most boring night of the fae's life. Ghosts were not exactly something that she was scared of. She had crossed the veil, she had seen it with her own eyes. No reason to hide from it all.

"I guess it will all depend on what my boss has planned for our booth. Lavender Haze is of course here, ready to help the brave people of this town stay awake long enough for all of it." She lifted her own cup of coffee towards him, offering to clink glasses with his. Of course she had thrown in a bit of her special sprinkles into her own beverage, Beifuß for protection - one could never know - and a bit of Baldrian to dull her own magic aura. The coffee was strong enough to hide the smell of the herbs but someone with heightened senses would easily be able to pick it up.

That thought drew her attention away from the conversation for only a heartbeat as she scanned the gardens around them, last light of the day filtering in and all, to see if she could spot Silas somewhere. She was curious what the other fae would do here.

"And you? Ready to leave any moment or will you be here for whatever is about to happen?"