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Fantasy Cosmical Glitch ( ellarose & starboob. )

Juno's been tugging at her jumpsuit zipper the way Lettie used to tug at her bracelet. Her mind lingers on it the third time she sees it happen... and identifies it as part of a larger problem the afternoon she notices that it's soaked to her skin. The faerie couldn't have changed out of her own jumpsuit faster, as it had done little more than remind her of that awful place and what sort of a life they were trying to force them into. (Trying to control her to the point that they also intended to control her wardrobe. She's had enough of that bullshit for a lifetime, thanks.) When her cube-sanctioned wardrobe returned, she dug out a set of cozy pink silk pajamas. (If this is the time they have to rest before they're thrown back into the fray, she needs to do it right.) Even with all of their clothes returned to them, Juno still doesn't change her clothes. At first she thought it might be distraction. The pirate has been very distracted... but it's gone on a few days now, with her continuously pulling at that zipper, that she knows it's something more. She used to be overly vigilant herself, twisting her bracelet around to ensure it always hid the scar on her wrist. When she didn't have to look at it, she could forget that it was there and that she'd been marked.

Doesn't change the truth, though. And Lettie knows ignoring her truth in favor of ignorant bliss will only cause it to catch up to her someday. Eventually, she's going to run out of time. She hasn't been home to work... and she has a hunch she may be doing the exact opposite of what the people paying her want her to do with the cube. For a while, she tried to tell herself the research would save her. She'd bring something valuable home and the corp would rescue her from the slippery slope towards the Reaper's waiting maw. Now that hope has been stamped out as well. The sound of chains drags through her mind, they get closer and closer every fucking day. Going back to Avangeline is a death sentence.

Juno's been carrying something heavy around with her these days. Enough that Lettie's worried it's going to shatter her half of the time. She's strong, yes, and that will never change. Never. Of course she's been going through it after their return... she has all the reasons in the worlds to be freaked the freak out. On top of that, no one-- no matter how stupidly buff-- should be expected to carry the weight of an entire world without their knees buckling or completely giving along the way. (And they've got a seemingly infinite amount of worlds piled on their backs these days.) Nerves fill her stomach enough to dissolve her appetite, thoughts throw obstacles into her research as she wonders what it is exactly and what she can do to help. But the faerie doesn't press too fiercely this time. She doesn't get the impression that Juno's hiding anything from her on purpose, especially when she asks her to stay at night. (She stays. Of course she stays.)

Lettie can't muster the strength push or demand that Juno open up to her when she can't do the same. It's unfair. (She's been terrified to let her own fears and stresses show. She's terrified of the questions, of not being able to answer them and the impressions Juno might receive from her silence.) That's not to say that she doesn't want the pirate to open up or that she won't hear her out when the time comes. She'll be there for her whenever she's ready and can only hope that her presence shows her intentions when her words may not be able to tell the full story. When the day comes that Juno opens up, she's there. 'I'm here. I'll stay as long as you want me to.' She'd stay forever if she could. Even through these moments, even when Juno's not feeling her strongest.

'There could be others watching us. There probably are.' Lettie can't help the way her cheeks (and wings) lose their color at that. It scrapes against what she knows, it scrapes against the guilt she's been fighting to push back. She wraps her arms around herself and clenches her toes. On some level, she knows logically there's nothing suspicious about her reaction. Everything Juno went through back there-- she went through it, too. And her concerns are all valid. She swallows the rock-shaped lump in her throat and nods solemnly. Maybe just a little of her story would suffice? Just to get this crushing weight off her chest! ...But the more questions she has to dodge or outright lie in response to, the deeper the grave she may dig herself later. ('Loyalty is the only currency.' Juno deserves someone loyal. More than anyone. Lettie wants to be that someone... but she can't be that someone when she's fucking...) Shit. Fuck. Damn it. Juno continues before she finds the courage to even attempt putting even a portion of her clusterfuck life into words.

Lettie can't let herself lose sight of what's most important, though, and that's the pirate sitting right in front of her. She banishes her thoughts, bringing Juno back into focus. Juno and her fidgeting hands. Juno and the tremble of her words. Juno and the tears she's fighting. She's trusting her with the softest parts of herself... and that's what matters now. She's telling her without words that she needs her. This becomes more evident with every single word that she speaks. The faerie gives her the time to unload everything that's been on her mind without interrupting. I don't think I can do this anymore. She's gutted by these words, quickly trying to ignore the implications of that-- of what it might mean going forward. (Because if this ends, then...) But, no. She's not going to be selfish about this. Of course Juno doesn't want to put up with this shit anymore. She shouldn't have to if that's not what she wants. (She doesn't like to fight.)

"Look at me. I'm real." Lettie says gently, taking Juno's hands in her own and squeezing. Then she brings her hands up to either side of her face, catching tears on the pads of her thumbs. "You're real, too."

Lettie blinks through her own tears before they can fully form. (Seeing her like this is just...) She has to try her best be strong in moments where Juno doesn't feel strong enough. Even though she is. She's the strongest person Lettie knows. Perhaps haven stronger now for coming to her with this, for opening up.

"I'm pretty sure those bastards just took some of our DNA and mixed it with the corrupted corrupted nightmare energy to make that creature." Lettie continues, her hands sliding down from Juno's face to her shoulders. She kneads her fingers against her gently, offering a massage. "That's the impression I got when I saw it with those goggles on. They were a lot like mine... sort of an x-ray for magic." Briefly, she pauses as she considers it further. "I saw you through those lenses and didn't see anything strange." That's true. She didn't have time to take them off, too busy hacking the monstrosity to shreds before she ended up crashing into Juno. The faerie purses her lips. "...That doesn't change the fact that they might've had us locked up in a lab with nightmare fumes in the air or some shit. You might've woken up while they were taking DNA and the nightmares in the lab just intensified your perception of reality. 'Course, that's just speculation on my part." They did have that giant saw over an operating table. She shudders. They could've done something... but the also could've had that setup specifically to fuck with their heads. "You're still you, no matter what... and you need to take this thing off already." She pinches very lightly at the jumpsuit fabric around her shoulder and attempts a smile. "It'd be a shame to hide those stupidly buff muscles forever." Ah, geez! She blushes and shakes her head quickly. "Seriously, though. Knowing for sure is gonna stop you from wondering and tormenting yourself. And if there is a new scar we'll figure it out together. I'm not going anywhere." Seeing as she didn't find anything weird on her own body, she has a feeling it'll be the same for Juno. But she's not going to discredit her fears... she saw what she saw. She believes her.

"Being scared doesn't mean you're not strong. And I completely understand if you don't want to go back there." Lettie nods, circling back to the duchess. Now she brings her hands down Juno's arms, back to take her hands again. She looks at them, interlocked, and bites her lip. After what she did for her. The faerie looks the pirate in the eye again."And you don't have to go back there, Juno. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." She means this earnestly. Even if she wishes they could continue pursuing this mission side by side, she wouldn't force her. Those memories she saw before... she doesn't know the context. But she saw the chains and that's enough to convince her. Hell, she doesn't want that fucking duchess within ten feet of her pirate. "It's a heist, right? That just so happens to be my specialty. With the cube teleporting..." She shrinks herself down to her small (smaller) size and twirls. "And my tiny form, I bet we could get in and out of there lickety split before the duchess even knows what hit her."

"Just take your time thinking about what you want to do, okay? But first... let's try and put your worries to bed so you can put yourself to bed." Lettie nods sagely and then, before she even thinks about what she's doing, flies up to press a tiny kiss to Juno's forehead. The entirety of her blooms pink as a rose at this. Quickly, she attempts to recover. "You'll just... you'll have more clarity once you get some sleep. Y'know?" Nerd, nerd, nerd.
 
Juno is a mess of limbs and poorly sutured skin. At least, she feels that way when she fully breaks after Olette kisses her forehead. Honestly, she barely feels it with the faerie being so tiny, but she has been on the road to ruin since she opened her mouth and blurted out the first thing that had been eating at her mind. Olette being so receptive to her fears, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities is really what puts the last crack in the dam and breaks it. It just happens to come in the form of that kiss. That tiny little kiss. (In a brief lapse of amusement, she does wonder what sort of breakdown would earn her a kiss on the lips. Unfortunately the thought darkens, imagining it as a final goodbye rather than something she wishes could be sweet.) A tiny kiss that completely wrecks the pirate and turns her into a tall shuddering mountain. It doesn’t matter how badly she wishes she could bottle all of this up and hide it from herself, from Olette, from everyone and pretend that she’s fine, it’s very clear she isn’t and it’s a wonder how she held it in for even these past few days.

The stream of tears damn near turns into a rushing river when she realizes how long it’s been since she's felt so much. It’s an ache that could put a hole in her chest. ‘I never want to feel this way again.’ But that’s really not her luxury with the life she has been given and the tragedy that follows her and blooms under her touch. She supposes, that of all the people who could have witnessed this in the worlds, she doesn’t mind so much that it’s Olette watching her as she pulls her knees up to her chest and tries to hide herself in a protective cocoon. Olette gives a shit about her. (If she concentrates hard enough, she can recall the feeling of her hands cupping her face, her thumbs stroking her cheeks, her fingers kneading her shoulders, hands traveling down her arms… She can recall it all almost perfectly if she puts in the effort and she’s almost tempted to ask for more.) Knowing this, she lets herself turn on her side and puts her head in the faerie’s lap while she takes a moment (or several) to collect herself. She knows there isn’t a rush, but she also isn’t entirely comfortable that she’s let herself come undone this much. ‘This is going to hurt. This is going to hurt you in the end.’

Even with that warning she stays in this position, sobbing, for the better part of an hour. She must’ve fallen asleep like that too, because she finds herself groggily waking up and rubbing her swollen eyes.

It’s not until she’s alone in her bathroom that she actually starts to feel embarrassed for being so emotional while the faerie held herself together. Even if she lost her color when Juno pointed out that they’re probably being watched by several different foes, she didn’t have a fucking breakdown over it. She hadn’t fucking convinced herself that she’d been changed or operated on. She handled it fucking normally.

Her sense of foolishness only increases when she stares at herself in the mirror with those copycat goggles on (at Olette’s suggestion) and sees nothing suspicious beneath her jumpsuit. “You fuckin’ idiot.” She’s tempted to punch the mirror in her state of frustration and wanting to reclaim pieces of herself back (pieces she thinks she’s lost now that Olette has seen her so fucking pathetic), and decides against it. She only sees such an action worrying her companion further and, after everything she’s done to console her, she wants her to have some peace, too. (“Look at me. I’m real.”) She settles on violently ripping the goggles from her head and throwing them to the ground. (It’s not as satisfying as punching a mirror in her opinion.) Then jerks the zipper down to shed the jumpsuit, kicking it over to the corner of her bathroom before she steps into the shower.

In spite of her humiliation, she doesn’t try to put distance between herself and Olette; she doesn’t try to prove she’s still homicidal and badass. She can’t bring herself to do any sort of damage control for her image, not wanting to push Olette away in the process. (Not after she kissed her forehead and treated her so gently; like she could be precious, too.) In fact, after she finds her again after her shower, she does quite the opposite of damage control by putting her head back in Olette’s lap to take a nap. She figures the faerie has seen enough of her damage that she can continue trusting her with these pieces of herself; she’s seen all of this shit and still hasn’t left. She goes to sleep thinking about that.

When she wakes, she allows herself a few minutes before she gets up, scratching at her side. Though still exhausted, especially after crying, she does feel better. Especially now that she’s out of that jumpsuit and knows she’s still herself. (She still feels fucking silly for making such a big deal over what turned out to be nothing and she tries to not think about that. At least she's back in black now. And she may or may not be wearing a muscle-tank for Olette's benefit alone.) She shifts and tilts her head to look up at Olette, some sparks of mischief in her eyes. “You want to burn the jumpsuits?”

It’s as they’re standing by a bonfire using those jumpsuits as fuel, double fisting space beers, that Juno really starts to think about everything she said back there and what Olette told her in turn. Guilt starts to grab her when she realizes that she more or less told the faerie she wanted to leave. That she wanted to quit. That she didn’t want to do this anymore and where there is truth in all of that… She made her vow. To say all that is like a betrayal to everything she promised, to everything she has committed herself to. Though Olette has yet to bring it up or throw it back in her face, she does eye the faerie and wonder what she must be thinking of her now. ‘She probably thinks you’re an oathbreaker now.’

Even if Olette has proven time and again that she is, above all else, understanding, the pirate can’t shake that she’s fucked up by giving voice to those particular fears. ‘Can she even trust me now?’ No, she can’t imagine that Olette has much faith in her now. She just gave her a thousand reasons why she shouldn’t— beyond admitting she doesn’t want to be a part of this anymore, she’s also admitted to not being strong enough. (“Being scared doesn't mean you're not strong. And I completely understand if you don't want to go back there.”) She just doesn’t see how the faerie will actually be able to look past her breakdown. ‘I’ve got to do something.’

Later that evening, with the last of their crew members and belongings returned— Phillip and the original nightmare goggles being the last to return— Juno knows she needs to address this quick before they’re hurled across the worlds and end up back on Desdemonia. She needs the faerie to have full confidence in her.

They’re lying on the floor of her room after dinner (there are still no extra seats) and it's after Juno's been rereading the same sentence from Olette’s notes over and over again that she realizes it has to be now. She sets down the notes and turns to face her companion, resting her head on her arm. “Hey.” Her mouth instantly dries as she tries to come up with words, but she won't let that stop her. Olette needs to know. She clears her throat. “About what I said earlier… I didn’t mean that. Well, not all of it. I guess I am scared.” She feels small admitting this, but she isn’t going to lie to Olette either. She’s too smart to fall for that. “And I don’t really want to fuckin’ go back to the duchess, but I’m not letting you go there alone. I’m not letting you do this alone.” She rolls her wrist vaguely to indicate she's referencing their clusterfuck of a situation. (It stands to reason that the cube might be able to find Olette a different necromancer to replace her, should it ever come down to it, but she doesn’t trust other necromancers to protect her faerie. Or to care about her. Not the way Juno does.)

“I won’t let you go back there alone," she repeats. "I know her better than you or the cube. I’ve got the best chance at devising a strategy if it all goes tits up. And I’d never fuckin’ send you into something dangerous without back-up, okay?” Juno’s scared as shit, still. Heist or not, there is a risk of being caught and relying on the cube to get them out? Well, look how well that turned out after that techno-heart. She doesn’t trust that little asshole to protect them; she doesn’t trust any of those assholes to keep them safe. They’re just convenient tools to those mutant squares. “I’ll choose protecting you over everything else. Every time.” Over her own fears, too. She’d make herself brave for her. Like James did for her and like she did for James. ‘You mean too much to me.’

“I made my vow, too.” More than that, she does want to do this with Olette but she isn’t sure if that might be admitting too much. (Though what is too much now that she’s crossed so many lines?) She just doesn't want this to end. She doesn't want to stop knowing her. “I don’t want you thinking that didn't mean anything or that I just say shit to say shit. I fuckin' meant every word and still do.” She sweeps her hair out of her eyes to make sure she's looking at Olette clearly. (Ugh, it’s getting so shaggy. She’s pretty sure she could put the top portion into a tiny bun.) “I said I wasn’t going to leave and I’m not. Not ever. I’d fuckin’ never forgive myself if you turned to dust ‘cause I wasn’t there.”

Even if words don't mean shit when they aren't backed by action, Juno knows the faerie can trust her to keep her word at this point. "Guess I just got in my head back there. I won't let it happen again. Probably worried you and shit." She reaches for Olette's hand and pulls it to her chest. She had the thought to kiss her fingertips or maybe her knuckles— Olette did kiss her forehead, after all— and holds back, for fear she might be suffocating her with all of her everything. She still keeps her hand, though. "Thanks for being real."
 
Lettie's not sure what part makes her want to cry the most. But it's when Juno finishes speaking her piece that a few tears finally slip past her defenses, a few messily sliding over the bridge of her nose and plopping to the floor. She blinks hard to staunch the flow before they can cascade into waterfalls. (If she lets herself break down now, Juno will ask what's going on and she'll have to dodge the questions, or lie, and...) She sniffles and swallows down the daggers in her throat, the way she has a million times before. 'It's better for everyone when you're smiling.' She nods quickly as she presses her unoccupied hand over her eyes. "I was worried." This admission is a significant part of the truth, not a lie by any means. She might as well have worn that heart-wrenching worry for as long as Juno wore that horrid jumpsuit. The kind that pressed on her chest and threatened to suffocate. Not only was the style of the jumpsuits horrendous, but they also represented everything those assholes put them through. It was a cleansing act, to burn them to ashes. "I was really worried." Then she makes an attempt at a laugh, though it comes out wheezy and breathless, continuing to lighten the air a bit. The faerie can tell by the side-glances the pirate has been giving her that she's been worried in her own way, after allowing herself to break down. "Those dorks have no taste. That sickly shade of sea-foam was neither of our colors." Then she puffs her cheeks, allowing herself to think about that instead of everything else for five seconds as she furrows her brow. "Reminded me of the fish bitches. Good riddance."

Lettie gazes at their interlocked hands, held to Juno's chest, and then uses her free hand to sweep the pirate's bangs out of her eyes when they fall her face again. Is it too much to ask for, that they stay like this? That she never goes back to Avangeline and sees this through to its conclusion with Juno?

"Wanna know a secret?" Lettie says quietly. "I'm scared, too. I'm terrified." While she can't even scrape the iceberg of what she's terrified of, she finds that this is the closest she can get to it. There are so many other reasons to be feeling that way. "But I can't see myself doing anything but this. I'm in too deep now." Her throat tingles warmly at this admission, the searing gold of her curse awakening from within. It comes so close to everything that's forbidden to her. She's in too deep. Juno already cares about her. About protecting her. And losing her. (And she fucking kissed her. On the forehead. Why did she do that? Why does she keep digging herself deeper?) "Back home, I was..." There's a burning behind her eyes as well as her throat now. She wants to open herself up the same way. This is a dangerous fucking line she's walking. "I was a fake bitch with my sass and glamours and shit. This feels real, though. I want to be real."

She does. Lettie can't help staring at Juno, her white eyed gaze silently begging her to see right through her. Pleading. To decode these pieces of her soul she's left out for her, to see her for who she is without needing any more words to explain it. However, there's obviously no way to explain the enormity of it all with just a glance. She knows this. She knows this. It's not fair to put that on Juno. It's impossible to know everything without the emotional labor of opening up, the way that the pirate herself had done.

"You made your vow before we knew the whole story. Juno, I know you're loyal. And real. The realest person I know." And good. And softer than Lettie ever thought possible. "Just know I'm never gonna force you to follow me if there's ever a point where you don't want to do this anymore. I'd never forgive myself for that." She nods, her expression serious. "'Cause I want to protect you, too. I won't hold your vow over your head. From now on, let's consider what we have unconditional. Okay?" After all, everything else in her life is governed by conditions and contracts. She doesn't want this to be. (Whatever it is they have. Are they friends? More than friends? Ah, she can't believe she kissed her. On the forehead.) And above all else, she needs to make it clear that she's not going to put Juno in shackles out of desperation to keep her tethered to her. When things go to hell, and they will, she wants Juno to have the choice to opt out without the weight of guilt or obligation weighing down on her shoulders. Caring about someone means giving them a choice. "You can do what's best for you and I'm not going to blame you for it. Fuck that."

Lettie decides that's the best she can do for now. (When Juno laid head in her lap to nap, she'd given it a lot of thought while running her fingers through her hair. How else is she supposed to cope with this crushing guilt?) Now that she's spoken her own piece, she bolsters herself with a breath and puts on a determined expression.

"If we're doing this together, I'm not gonna let the duchess get anywhere near you. I'll fight her." The faerie forms her free hand into a fist. "I'll punch her lights out!"

Lettie later searches for the cube in the workshop and demands they be given at least a full week to rest and prepare in advance. (She knows she's acting sort of like the people who'd complain to her about the prices of the drinks in the bar by doing this... which, yeah, is annoying. But in this instance it's totally warranted. Their lives are on the line and the cube has been a little asshole about it for way too long. Besides, she'd say it owes her a solid after she broke it out of that creepy lab. Her pirate is getting all the fucking rest she needs before she faces a place she doesn't want to go back to-- no exceptions.) Their mission is urgent, sure, but time has already proven to move slower on Desdemonia. This surely means that they can afford at least a week. She also insists they be given a warning three hours in advance before teleporting them. They've been through the wringer and in order to do their best, they sorely need the time to recharge-- both mentally and physically.

"We're a team." Lettie insists. "That means we all need to be on the same page for this to work." This 'team' talk kickstarts a whole conversation among the skeleton crew about procuring matching jackets. The mer-cube says they can whip something up and the discussion quickly veers towards an argument over whether varsity or leather jackets would suit them best. At one point Inez scoffs and turns towards the faerie to get her opinion... but she's already gone by that point.

Normally Lettie would've stayed to give her insight on such an important decision. Now, though, she locks herself up in her room to stand before the stolen gym mirror. She faces herself, taking a deep breath, and reaches within for the courage to practice a sentence where she tells Juno the truth. She's worth the attempt. (It's been forever since she's tested the strength of the curse. Maybe with so much distance from Avangeline... maybe it'll...) But before she can get a single word out, the ring of gold blazes through and squeezes down on her windpipe for as long as her thoughts of opening up persist. Tears bead at the corners of her eyes from lack of air and she drops on her knees. Coughing, sputtering, the gold finally dissolves as her mind goes blank and she fights to breathe again. What if someone heard? Quickly, she lunges for her bed and presses her entire face down against her pillow. Smothering the tears, smothering her scream, keeping it all contained so that no one else can hear it.

Lettie lies perfectly still through her silent breakdown and eventually falls asleep like that. When she wakes up, she stares with blank, puffy eyes at her reflection. At the bruises on her neck. She traces them gingerly with her fingertips. While she can't stand to look at herself, she knows she can't leave her room looking like this. (Otherwise Juno's going to ask about it.) The faerie's done this thousands of times before. With a combination of her make-up and glamours, she makes the ugly bruises disappear like magic. While she's at it, she turns her eyes green and her hair a soft pink. They've got time to rest. She doesn't have to worry about her glamours. Somehow, though, it's kind of strange to see herself with them after going for so long without. Still, she puts on her best smile. Fake bitch. She goes all the way and glamours herself a cute dress to complete the look. It's classic faerie antics... she just wanted to dress up today, to feel normal. It's sort of true, isn't it? She just wants to feel normal.

Once Lettie builds some semblance of herself back up, she seeks Juno out and finds her in the kitchen. The faerie perches herself down on the countertop to watch her.

"We have some more time to rest before our next mission. I made an arrangement with the cube." Lettie informs her, smiling. This is good news. They just need to focus on the good right now and she'll be good. "Why don't we do whatever you wanna do today? We could do anything." Then, thinking of it, she points a stern finger at Juno's nose. "...Anything other than training or research. No work today. Only play." She nods sagely. This will benefit them both. They need it. "Or rest, if you wanna take a lap-nap. My lap is always available." She can't help blushing at the way that sounds. "I know I disappeared there for a bit... I totally crashed. I think everything just caught up with me is all. But I'm good now."
 
Juno never wants to see Olette cry again. She never wants to be a reason for those tears. Though she knows that might be out of her control, she resolves to do whatever she can to ensure the faerie is, at the very least, never as worried about her as she has apparently been. ‘She gives a shit about you.’ While that has been a frequent and common thought in the pirate’s mind recently, ever since Olette rushed out of the observation room to kill that fucking abomination, it really lands when she outright tells Juno that she wants to protect her, too. When she lets her know that her vow doesn’t need to be her own death sentence if that’s not what she wants; if it ever becomes too much. Honestly, after she says that Juno is stunned into silence. For someone who’s always had limited options, this feels like a luxury even if she knows there’s little the faerie could do to have her walking back on her word. (It also strikes her that Olette sees her as loyal and real, because she’s probably the first person in a long while who Juno has been genuinely loyal to and real with. Once again, it makes her dread seeing the duchess again, reminding herself of the bought, owed, and bribed loyalty.)

The more secure she feels about her place in Olette’s life, the more fearful she becomes that it will be snatched away. This also is a common theme in the pirate’s thoughts. Always wondering when the good times will end. She doesn’t want to think about it, but it comes up. Often. Reminding her that nothing is permanent. She tries to resolve that she’ll enjoy whatever amount of time they’re given— she wants to go into this without holding back— but sometimes she can’t help it. Like when she’s left alone and the reality of Olette isn’t there to squash her doubts. They’re a lot easier to squash when the faerie is right there, proving with every breath and gesture that she’s got her. That she’s real, too. That things don’t have to sour or turn bad between them.

But Olette isn’t in any of her usual spots and while the pirate logically knows she might be in her room, she doesn’t go to seek her out. ‘She probably is tired of all your bullshit. Give her a break.’ The pirate shakes her head as she walks through the ship. ‘She’s not tired of you. But she might need a break.’ After everything, she just can’t put her energy into doubting the faerie. Though her thoughts aren’t always on her side, especially not when it comes to thinking about the future, it’s easy enough to reassure herself that Olette doesn’t resent her. Assured that her faerie isn’t trying to avoid her and probably just needs some space, the pirate, never one to rest, meanders through the ship in search of something to keep herself busy.

Initially, she thinks about spending some time in the engine room but one dizzying look at all the new tech in there and she quietly makes her exit, fearing she’ll ruin Olette’s system if she so much as breathes the wrong way. Since they aren’t flying, there’s no reason really for her to be at the helm. (Besides, she can hear Abigail playing captain and she does not want to be roped into that.) The gym might’ve been her next option had she not already done her routine and she’s not feeling particularly motivated for a double. Nor does she feel like practicing her necromancy on her own. (She doesn’t know when the cube is going to catapult them into the jaws of death.) And she definitely does not want to be thinking about the duchess by trying to strategize on her own— she already knows that is likely to ruin her again.

So she ends up putzing around the kitchen; at first cleaning up, and as she clears out the fridge of anything that’s gone too moldy to salvage she stumbles across her failed attempt at banana bread. Banana bread apparently is not when one bakes five banana logs into a loaf of regular bread. (Abigail said she liked it. But Abigail doesn’t have a tongue. She can’t fucking taste.) ‘Anyone could have made that fucking mistake. Why the fuck isn’t it called, like, banana cake?’ Because after she actually reads the recipe that Marjorie wrote down and stuck to the fridge, she realizes that that is essentially what it is. Determined to right her wrongs, she pulls out the blackened bananas from the back of the fridge and sets out to work. ‘Fucking banana bread. This better be fucking worth it.’

When Olette rejoins her, she’s crouched in front of the oven watching her banana bread cook. It’s about as entertaining as watching paint dry, but she really doesn’t have anything better to do. “I read the fucking recipe this time.” She makes sure to clarify this before the faerie decides to be wise and crack a joke at her expense. Not that Juno would truly mind. She enjoys their playful teasing even if she might pretend otherwise.

However, when she mentions buying them some more time before their next (mis)adventure, the pirate rolls her eyes and rises to stand. “I don’t trust that asshole.” To be fair, Juno has never really trusted that asshole. Since the beginning, she’s known the little box as an omen, a bringer of death based on its haunting aura. (She still mostly refuses to handle the cubes herself.) However, her thoughts on its trustworthiness have only hardened since the space station and techno-heart fiascos. She’s the one who’s still haunted by Olette’s wildly glitching form, her eyes bleeding all over that aluminum floor, and how she couldn’t do a damn fucking thing to protect her in the aftermath. And the cube sure as hell didn’t do it’s one fucking job. She hates that thing and everything it stands for. (But like hell if she’s going to let one of those magic cores fall into some organization’s hands so they can benefit while others like herself suffer. No one deserves to grow up like she did.)

She finally looks at the faerie, somewhat surprised to see her back in her glamours though she schools her expression before the surprise can surface. This isn’t really out of the ordinary. Juno is aware that she’s only taken to dropping her glamours to conserve her magic and if she believes the cube is going to give them a break, it makes sense she’d put them back on. She’ll never say it— because it’s not her business or place— but she likes her glamour-less appearance the best. It feels more real and she wishes that Olette could see herself as she does. She realizes, now, that the faerie might associate her natural look as being like “a creepy little fly.” That couldn’t be further from the truth, of course, but it doesn’t matter what Juno thinks. She’s got no skin in this. She hasn’t had to live with those words ringing in her ears, but she knows what it’s like to have those sorta words stick. (Runt, runt, runt.)

Juno also notes the faerie’s chipper mood and while typical, she also remembers the little room she gave herself to cry earlier and the fact that she generally always tries to keep their spirits up. Like she’s doing now when she wags her finger in Juno’s face before she can even think to suggest work. (She wasn’t going to! Well… She isn’t going to now.) She wonders if that’s because she wanted Juno to have her moment to herself or if she just doesn’t feel as comfortable around her. ‘She said she’s all good.’ And Olette doesn’t need to lie about that, of all things. Fuck, even if she didn’t want to talk about it she could always tell Juno something’s up and that she’s not wanting to dig into it. It’s not like Juno has ever wanted to herself. She kinda just had to, otherwise it was going to kill her or get them killed. But the pirate decides to trust her. It’s not personal if she isn’t ready to open up and, besides, Juno could be projecting in the hope that she’s not alone in being a pathetic fucking loser. Olette probably is fine.

“No work? Not even a little?” She leans back against the counter, arms over chest as she thinks of something other than work. (A severe challenge for the restless pirate captain.) She blows out a raspberry and scratches her head. But whatever she might have been thinking is swept away when Olette informs her that her lap is always available. ‘Shit, so is mine…’ She stares at the faerie dumbly for a full minute before she manages to scrape herself back together and pull her eyes away from her so that she can concentrate on the impossible task of thinking of something other than work to do. And, look, it’s not like Juno has never had fun before. It’s not like she’s never had down time, but she’s mostly spent that down time mentally checked out in some capacity and she doesn’t really want to rely on those means of distraction and decompression. Not with Olette.

“Shiii-et, I dunno. My banana bread still has fifteen minutes. Wanna watch it?” Okay, Juno knows that’s a terrible idea and probably not what the faerie had in mind when she asked the pirate to choose their activities for the remainder of the day. But she really should have known that asking Juno to come up with an activity was never going to result in something entertaining. (And the last time she made a suggestion, she was brutally rejected because Olette wasn’t in the mood for starting fires or terrorizing a town with its own undead.) “This is boring as shit, huh?” She glances at the faerie through her peripheries and gets up off the floor to search through the kitchen for the collection of recipes. She pulls a cookbook from the counter, stuffed with handwritten recipes mostly from Marjorie, but there are few from some random bitch of the woods, and flips through it. “Tell me when to stop.”

She lands on a basic chocolate cake recipe and, deciding it’s simple enough, she looks at the faerie with sparks in her eyes. “Cake competition?” Because the pirate is incapable of not competing when it comes to the faerie. Ultimately, however, they agree to just bake a single cake together on account that there’s already banana bread in the oven. Two chocolate cakes would be a bit wasteful.

Though, a cake never makes it into the oven. Juno’s not sure who started it or how it happened exactly, but one thing leads to another and soon they’re both covered in a mixture of flour, frosting, and cake batter. (It started because Olette thought it would be funny to flick flour at Juno and it was, but she wasn’t laughing so much when Juno took the bag and dumped the rest on her head. After that it escalated to say the least.) Not only are they covered in batter, but the kitchen itself is a mess, with splats of batter covering several surfaces. Still, Juno has a wide grin on her face as she lays on the floor, laughing to herself every few minutes when she remembers how offended the faerie got when Juno targeted her hair. She tilts her head to look over at her. “I think I won that one.” She says this with cake frosting still smeared across her face. She licks the back of her knuckles and hums. “Woulda tasted good had it made it into the oven. Least we still have the banana bread.” They took a pause so that Juno could take it out of the oven and place it in a safe cooling location since the kitchen had since turned into a warzone. “We should probably clean this up before Mar—”

“Captain! Miss Olette!” Too late. Marjorie stands at the entrance, skeletal hands held up to her face as she lets her jaw literally drop to the floor. (Ugh.) The weird space objects she had been holding under her arms also clatter to the floor. She tuts and clicks her non-existent tongue. “I see why the maestro said you two might need the water guns now. Oh, bother. You two are going to make me gray in the skull.” She massages her temples and shakes her head, collecting the water guns (and her jaw) from the ground. "Up, up. Get out of here and go clean yourselves up, you rapscallions."
 
"Nuh uh! You might've got me with the flour, but I totally got you with the frosting. I just look messier 'cause I'm shorter." Lettie makes her stubborn claim for the victory, scrunching her face teasingly, green eyes gleaming bright with mischief. Hearing Juno's laughter starts a chain reaction where she bursts with raspy trills of laughter as well. (Especially remembering the first fleck of batter she got on Juno's cheek with her innocently vicious stirring, the look-- the look on her face that told her it was time to dive under the table with the spoon and prepare to fight for her life. Pfft. They're both a mess. This place is a mess. This is good.) Still, the faerie has to be careful not to laugh as hard as she wants to... otherwise the hoarseness of her voice might start to show. It hurts her throat to talk and laugh like normal right now, every throb and ache a reminder of everything she can't say.

Seeing Juno's smile makes her smile, too, like it's the easiest thing in the world. Lettie wants to keep making her smile, give herself a soft place to land whenever things get bad again. She daringly scoops some of the batter off the bridge of Juno's nose with her finger and pops it in her mouth to take a taste, nodding thoughtfully at her assessment. It would've tasted good. "...Yeah. Banana bread smells good, though. I'm excited to try it." Her next nod is even more enthusiastic. "You're getting really good at this cooking thing, Juju." When she actually follows the recipe, that is, but she decides not to throw that dig in right now. Treading down that path may very well start another floury, cake-battery battle.

Lettie can't resist snickering behind her hand at Marjorie's jaw-dropping reaction to the state the kitchen it is. (She'd give anything to make this moment last.) In a way, it sorta brings her back to the time when she and Ravan getting caught writing whipped-cream graffiti all over that one reporter's house. They meant to write something along the lines of 'here lives a creepy little man'-- but they written three 'e's in creepy by accident. 'Here lives a creeepy little man.' But somehow that made it even better. (Lettie had wanted to use legit, lasting spray paint. The sort of stuff the asshole would need layers upon layers of magic paint to cover up. Ravan had been too much of a weenie for that... but he wasn't about to let her do it alone. So they compromised, using whipped cream and snapping a pic to immortalize it. Ah. Ravan's got to be worried. Ariel, too. Shit.) Onto the next distraction, then. She glides over to Marjorie and takes one of the water guns from her arms. Hers is purple and pink-- she leaves the blue and green one for Juno so they can have their favorite colors. "We can get a head start by cleaning ourselves up with these."

Lettie smirks, twirling and brandishing her water gun like an action movie star. Fluttering her wings and shaking out her hair (this creates a dramatic cloud of flour around her) she glamours herself out of her dress and into something more appropriate for the game's designated atmosphere. Pink sports bra and black cargo pants with similarly pink and purple accents-- which matches her gun and also pays homage to one of her favorite characters in one of the fighting arcade games back home. Briefly, she wonders if she'll ever get the chance to introduce Juno to the world of video games. Laser tag might be fun, too, if she likes this game. It aligns closely enough with sparring and all this play-fighting that she thinks she would.

"Watch carefully, Juno." The faerie dramatically holds the water gun over her head before pointing it at Juno's chest. Squeezing the trigger, of course, causes a harmless jet of water to hit her. (She's playing fair, giving her an example of how this works. Though she assumes the pirate will pick up on it pretty quickly. She's a survivor through and through.) "See? That's how it's done." Knowing she doesn't have long now before Juno reaches for her own gun to retaliate, Lettie winks and hightails it towards the door. "...First one to the mast wins!"

Marjorie shakes her head incredulously as they charge out of the kitchen. Lettie can hear her calling Phillip for backup with the cleaning and hopes that the colossal skeleton wears the pink apron that she convinced the mer-cube to get him when she learned it was his birthday a while back. (Sure, he's a skeleton. Sure, he's dead. But Lettie is not going to let his birthday pass unacknowledged!) She also put in a request for Juno to get her own apron, too... it's always unknown when the mer-cube's gifts will show up. The faerie might've become a touch more demanding with the cubes ever since the last mission, claiming they owe them and need to pay up to keep team morale high. What can she say? Material objects are a guilty pleasure when things get hard. Though she's requested some backup make up and nail polish for herself, she's finds she likes thinking of gifts to request for Juno and the crew even more. (...Although it's hard to say whether the cubes are going to be generous enough to deliver on all of them. Their reliability will always be questionable at best.) Still, she gets the since that they're trying in their own way and that communicating with them might improve their conditions.

Who knows? Maybe one day Lettie will convince them she's earned enough to pay off her debts back home. Maybe it'll even be enough to save her. (Earned, because the contract explicitly states she can't use any currency she hasn't earned herself. Apparently having it gifted to her won't disappear all of her problems away... although she always considered cozying up to demons for drinks and material items hard fucking work in its own way. Doesn't look that way so apparently it doesn't count. Learned that one the hard way.) Stealing and playing with demons became her means for rent and living expenses, though, because every cent she earns goes straight into the fucking estate's undeserving pockets. All that work, all those years, and now... and now she's going to come up short.

Lettie slows down with her head in the clouds, but getting hit in the back of the head with a blast of water breaks her out of her trance and she immediately turns around, seamlessly switching herself back into game mode with Juno in sight. (...Don't worry about the future right now. Just appreciate the present. Enjoy the life you've got left.) They never make it to the mast. Instead they duck in and out of rooms , creating makeshift forts with the furniture to hide behind as they proceed to shoot each other with the water guns and find different ways to sneak up on each other. At one point Juno tackles her and they roll across the floor before landing in a position they've been in a thousand times before, with the pirate on top of the faerie... even so, they spend a good couple of seconds just staring at each other as if it's the first time all over again. Aaaah! You're such a nerd. Stop looking at her lips! Needing to break the tension, she drops her gun in favor of playfully ruffling the pirate's hair instead. Flour drifts down and she giggles... then makes herself sneeze when it falls into her face. "Your hair has gotten pretty long." She points out. "...If you need a haircut I could help you out sometime. Buuuut let's get ourselves cleaned up, first." Yeah... the water guns helped a little, but not nearly enough.

Then Lettie glitches through Juno, flying towards the door. Naturally she needs to turn this into a competition she can win this time. (While she hates to admit it, Juno probably won the cake battle. They'll have to consider the water guns a draw. But Lettie's got this one for sure!) "I call dibs on the first shower!"

While they end up play-wrestling at the bathroom door for about fifteen minutes, Juno generously concedes and lets Lettie take the first shower to get herself cleaned up. She starts to feel a bit guilty for this as she stands under the running water and touches her bruised throat, recognizing that she's gonna need some extra time to get ready. Juno could've been in and out of here so much quicker than her. Now she's going to make her wait. Then again, Juno knows her. She knows that she pretty much always takes her time in the bathroom by now... and she offered up the first shower anyways. 'Guess she doesn't mind waiting for me.' She manages a small smile at this thought. 'She's so sweet.' Sweet, just like all the ingredients swirling down the drain.

Lettie doesn't glamour herself a complete outfit this time. She's wearing one of Juno's white button down shirts and it's comfortable enough to wear around when they're just hanging out on Lady. (She's getting used to letting her guard down around Juno. Even during their down time, even without a world to save, she doesn't have to fixate and fret over every last detail about herself the way she used to.) When she exits the bathroom, she dramatically drapes herself down across Juno's bed and tugs idly at a strand of her (now blue) hair.

"Took me a while deciding what color to pick." Lettie mentions softly, looking at the ceiling. (Another half-truth. But she has been thinking about what Juno likes best on her lately... or, okay. Fine. Wondering what Juno likes best on her started a while back if she's being honest with herself.) She curls her toes. "...Do you like it blue on me, Juno? Since it's your favorite color?"
 
Does it cross Juno’s mind to throw the faerie out of the way with her stupidly buff arms in order to secure the first shower and claim yet another victory for herself? Absolutely. Captain fucking Juno doesn’t play to fucking lose, but as she holds the faerie over her head, eyes searching for a cushy spot to hurl her into, she just… She just sets Olette gently on the ground and lets her take the first shower instead. She did, after all, call dibs. (More than that, the pirate knows it matters more to her; that she is far more particular about her appearance than Juno ever will be. Yeah, logically, it would make more sense for her to go first since she’d be in and out within twenty minutes but she doesn’t mind waiting. It’s no skin off her back.)

Still, just because the pirate doesn’t mind, doesn’t mean she doesn’t make a huge show when the faerie does finally exit the bathroom. “Fuckin’ finally,” she exhales in faux exasperation, grinning the whole way through. She gets up off the floor (she might not care as much about messes, but she’s not going to ruin her bed with cake batter) and rolls her eyes when Olette makes herself comfortable on her bed. (Her mind supplies scenarios where she boldly climbs on top of the faerie and pins her there. ‘If fucking only.’)

Juno’s about to ask her why she hadn’t stuck with her pink hair— though she somewhat knows that’s a silly question in consideration of how many outfit changes Olette can manage in the span of a single hour— but the faerie interrupts her thought with a question of her own. The pirate hesitates at the bathroom entrance, gripping the door frame. ‘Does she care what I think?’

“Uh…” She turns around and leans against the doorframe. Answering this question almost feels like a trap, but she also doesn’t think that Olette is the type to ask trick questions. She also knows that between them, honesty is the only thing they ever give to each other. “I do.” That is the truth, but she still looks guilty anyway, eyes shifting away from the faerie. “But, to tell you the truth, I didn’t have a favorite color before you asked me if it was blue.” Hurriedly, she supplies an explanation before the faerie gets it in her head that Juno’s just another dishonest and dishonorable pirate. “After you made your guess… I dunno," she shrugs, "the color just seemed different to me. I like it a lot now. It, uh, reminds me of how excited you were and that’s… that’s my favorite look on you. Is there a color for that?” She chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. The color reminds her of a lot of other things too, like when they first met and the first time she ever saw the true color of the sky. All of her memories of the color are associated with Olette in some way, actually, but she doesn’t exactly want to admit that. There might not be many more lines for them to cross and she’s not about to rush into things with everything going on around them. They should focus on the mission first. At least, that’s what she tells herself and her excuse changes often.

“To tell you the truth,” her gaze flickers back over to the faerie, a small honest smile on her lips. “I like all the colors on you. Although, maybe not that jumpsuit color.” For obvious reasons. “But all the others are nice.” Even green, if she ever remembers that she specifically told Olette it was a terrible color on her just to get under her skin. “What you’ve got on now also reminds me of the day we met, even down to the green eyes. I know that wasn’t exactly a good day for either of us,” and mostly for the faerie, to be perfectly honest, “but I am glad I know you now. You’re like… just really cool.”

Ahhh, talk about being a dweeb! Really cool!? As if the faerie isn't so much more than really cool.

Shortly thereafter, the pirate awkwardly and abruptly excuses herself to take a shower where she can pretend that she never said any of that. She rests her head against the shower wall, watching what would have been a delicious cake go down the drain. (She can’t stop thinking about Olette's adorable sneeze or how she swiped batter from her nose. Or how good she looks lounging in one of her shirts.) ‘You shoulda told her what your favorite look is.’ If the faerie cares about what she thinks like her question implies (at the very least, she is interested in the pirate’s opinion), then she should have offered a better answer. A more concrete one to get at what the faerie might have been trying to get at. ‘Coulda been presumptuous though.’ At the same time, she doesn’t necessarily want Olette catering how she looks to fit what she finds attractive. To a certain degree, it’s nice. She’d be a liar if she were to suggest she hasn’t liked it when women have dressed up specifically for her, but Olette is different from those women and where she might not mind that sort of catering every now and again, she doesn’t want the faerie changing herself for Juno. ‘That’s really fuckin’ presumptuous. She just asked if you liked the color on her. No more to it than that and you gave her a whole fuckin’ speech about color theory. Ugh.’

Her shower doesn’t buy her that much time, since it really only took her twelve minutes and changing into a new set of black clothes hadn’t taken that long either. She pushes her hair out of her face, so that it’s more windswept and surfer looking, then exits the bathroom, her apology almost immediately falling from her lips. “Shit, I’m sorry, Olette. Both for not telling you about the whole favorite color thing— even if blue really did become my favorite color because of you and still is my favorite color— and saying all that shit. It’s all true, but I really do like whatever you decide. I mean, you’re still you no matter what and it’s you I like hanging out with.” Maybe for the rest of their lives if they make it that far. Actually they might only make it that far.

Her cheeks instantly flush with this admission, but it isn’t so bad standing in her own embarrassment when it’s with Olette. Olette inspires her to be a little braver, stand a little taller in these moments. She rubs her chest uncomfortably then grabs a “hoodie” hanging on her bed post. (Recently, Juno has discovered “lounge” clothes thanks to Asshole II filling her wardrobe with an assortment of things like “joggers” and “sweatpants.” She likes how comfy they are, but it did take some coaxing on Olette’s part to get her to try the non-Desdemonia wears.) Once the garment is comfortably over her head, she peers down at the faerie lounging on her bed. ‘Would she be mad if I kissed her?’ Juno doesn’t think so, but she pushes the temptation away anyway and clears her throat. “We should banana the bread.” Fuck. “We should try the banana bread.”

Bananaing the bread turns out to be a bigger ordeal than either might have imagined as the second they appear at the kitchen entrance, Marjorie shoos them out (with a broom, no less) and claims they are banned from the kitchen until further notice. (“But the banana bread, Marj—” “Aht, aht, aht! No kitchen for you hooligans!”) This won't keep them from the banana bread and the pirate suspects the skeleton knows this as well, though she doesn’t exactly know why Marjorie would waste their time like this. In any case, this setback results in them planning a mini-heist involving Juno’s bone hands and Olette’s tiny (tinier) form. Once the bread has been secured, that then leads to another race to the mast, where they actually do make it to the mast. Juno claims that Olette cheated with her head start, so they race up to the crow’s nest even if they both know who has the advantage. Still, Juno concedes the victory because at least this victory was not won with headstarts.

She settles down in the basket of the crow’s nest, sticking her legs between the gaps in the metal slats, and pulls out the bedazzled knife that Olette returned to her. “Here, gimme.” She motions for the banana bread so that they can banana it, cutting them both thick slices. “Do you like ends? Or middles? This is a very important question, you know. Our entire… friendship,” (Why does that feel like a lie?) “depends on your answer. Can you handle the pressure, princess?” It’s an obvious joke. It’s not like Juno even knew about the difference between ends and middles until recently. It’s not like Juno knew much about food until recently. But maybe she asks this just to know a little more about the faerie’s preferences. It’s been nice being able to cook for her and figure out what she likes and dislikes through food. (Mostly, Juno’s learned that she likes it when she follows the recipe and doesn’t get too adventurous with the ingredients. Like adding mustard to cherry pie filling, as a completely random example. …She just thought the colors looked nice and Olette likes pretty color combinations. Just not in her foods, apparently.)

She munches quietly on her piece of banana cake (because that is what it is) and swings her legs like a little kid. The stars in the workshop twinkle around them, providing them with a calming atmosphere to make up for the chaos of their lives. Juno rests her arm on the guard rail and then rests her forehead against her arm, looking down at her dangling legs before looking over at Olette, searching for her favorite freckle. “The first thing I noticed about you when we met were your cheek-sparkles." She playfully pokes her cheek, like Olette might not know what she's talking about. "I thought you had diamonds stuck in your face.” She laughs quietly, recalling that moment. “Thought you were a raver, too. Skywards apparently have these legendary parties and I thought you were one of them. ‘Til I saw your wings, at least. Kinda gave you away as someone from elsewhere.”

“I know we had a rough start, but I think you actually saved me.” Her cheeks burn up and, even with the starry scape around them, she’s convinced her face might be the brightest thing here. “Like… I honestly was becoming the type of person James and I used to hate; the exact kinda person who hurt us and made our lives hell." A person who'd sell another person without remorse or care. "I tried to make up for it at times, but I was a real piece of shit and just becoming shittier the more involved I got with the duchess and keeping both our pockets lined.” To a certain degree, Juno does know everything about who she was when Olette first met her had been a means to survive, but it was not done as a means to live. Even if she tried to help tin villages on the ground where she could, it’s not like she had been some vigilante pirate. There was and is still more bad deeds to her name than good ones. Even if that piece of shit pirate is the person she had to be to survive, she's not proud of it. And she doesn't think Eliza would be either. She kind of knows she isn't. “I just was only lookin’ out for myself, but lookin’ out for you and all those worlds we’re trying to heal helps me remember who I was with James and I missed that version of me." She sighs. "I hate that fuckin' cube, but I don't hate you. I don't hate that you came into my life because of it. Just... I dunno, thanks for giving me a chance. You kinda had to, but thanks anyway."
 
"'Course I can handle the pressure, cupcake. I like..." (A pause for dramatic effect.) "The middles." Lettie delivers her answer with a wink and finger-guns, treating Juno's banana bread question with the seriousness it entails. Their whole 'friendship' depends on it. While it's hard to say if the word friendship fits what they've got going on here-- whatever it is they decide to call what they have-- it doesn't change the fact that it's invaluable. She smiles brightly when Juno offers her one of the pieces she cut, immediately tearing off a corner and noshing on it. Her eyes light up as it melts in her mouth. (It's a drastic improvement from the first attempt.) She sighs with satisfaction and subconsciously dangles her own legs next to Juno's as she takes another (larger) bite. "The middles are fluffier."

Kind of like a certain pirate, now that she thinks about it. A certain pirate who had stunned her silly before she left to take that shower. The faerie had proceeded to kick her legs and roll back and forth across her bed in attempt to shake out the incessant fluttering sensation running through her... before ultimately giving up and hiding her bright red face in one of the pillows. (Since it smelled like Juno it sent her into yet another spiral. It's easy to imagine her underneath her like that.) 'I like it a lot now. It, uh, reminds me of how excited you were and that’s… that’s my favorite look on you. Is there a color for that?' Ah, geez. Of course she's not pissed about the favorite color thing! On another day she might've given her a hard time just to be playful-- but she wouldn't dare after Juno was so fucking cute about it. How has she been able to hide the fact that she's so good and cute for this long? How could she have blindsided her like this!? (Then again, she's been noticing it. Little by little with every single world and every single day. She just didn't know it was possible for her to get softer than she had already seen. But Juno continues to surprise her.) According to Juno, access to all the colors and outfits in the world won't change the fact that she thinks happiness looks best on her. And she knows the pirate. She knows she's not bullshitting her with nice words just to be nice. Right?

...Juno did see her with mother, though. Lettie had considered this with an ache in her chest. (She's been trying to forget.) Shit. What if she feels sorry for her? After all, the Juno she knows now might not say anything at the risk of hurting her feelings. She was already so careful with her admission that the favorite color thing had been more of a spur of the moment decision. With that in mind, though, it also shows how uncomfortable she is about lying to her. Even over something as small as a favorite color. No. Juno wouldn't lie. She probably said so much because of how open she was trying to be with her. She shouldn't let her insecurities discredit that. 'I just want to know what you like.' Stars. She told her she thought she was really cool and there the faerie was, rolling around on her bed like a total nerd. When Juno came back out, she apologized again and reaffirmed what she suspected was the truth. 'It’s all true, but I really do like whatever you decide. I mean, you’re still you no matter what and it’s you I like hanging out with.'

Lettie doesn't drop her glamours, but she drops her hangups after that. She decides to trust Juno.

"You did good, Juju." Lettie praises after swallowing down another bite of banana bread. "While I wouldn't recommend using mustard as a secret ingredient again--" Never again. "You could totally try adding some chocolate chips or peanut butter to this recipe at some point. I bet you'd enjoy that since you like those peanut butter candies."

Lettie gets caught in the middle of sucking the last chunk of banana bread off her finger when the pirate pokes her cheek. She can't help blushing as she talks about her sparkly freckles being the first thing she noticed about her. (She doesn't say they're weird, beyond thinking they were diamonds once. Doesn't pinch down like mother did to kill their glow.) And then... and then Juno continues opening up to her. The part of her that's tempted to lighten the mood with teasing antics is tempted to say that Juno is being dramatic when she goes as far as to say that she saved her... but the pirate's so genuine about it that she can't bring herself to dismiss what she's trying to say in any shape or form. Especially when she notices the pink in her cheeks. Juno's putting herself out there. Sharing herself with her. A version of herself that she thought she lost... a version that she's found and is glad to have found. (Lettie's glad to have found it, too.) Even so, the faerie's not sure whether or not she really deserves all the praise. Or perhaps... it's just that she doesn't feel deserving of it right now. Juno is being so brave and open and honest with her... and here she is, struggling to say anything at all.

"...First thing I noticed were your stupidly buff muscles. They were stupidly hot and impressive and made me stupidly mad back then." Lettie approaches lightly to start, following Juno's lead. (Hot... did she really just say--) She takes the pirate's hand and squeezes meaningfully to say more than that. I'm here. I hear you. I see you. "Mostly 'cause I couldn't let myself appreciate them on a grouchy pirate who had it out for me." She purses her lips, thinking back on their early days. Then she softens with a smile and nudges her gently. "But you don't have it out for me anymore. Now, though... stars, I honestly can't think of any place I feel safer than right here beside you." That's true. Heartbreakingly true. She's never known safety quite like this. Leaning sideways, she plops herself down to melt against Juno's arm. It's been exhausting, holding onto so much. It's exhausting, feeling like she's keeping things from Juno while she's being so open with her. She resolves to give at least what little she can scrape up of her own story... or else her silence will kill her before anything else gets the chance.

"Guess I've never told you what I was doing before I was dropped on Lady for the first time..." Lettie breaches the subject as casually as she can, her heart pounding so hard she fears Juno might hear it. It makes a desperate climb towards her throat and she clings tightly to Juno's hand. She's safe beside her. "I wasn't at a rave. I was studying the cube for work, actually. At this place called the 'creation corp'. Though it wasn't like that place we just escaped from. Like... there were no bloody operating tables or creepy test tubes. No jumpsuits." And no prisoners... outside of her. As far as she knows, anyway. (Though now she has her suspicions about shady underground secrets.) She hadn't known it back then, though. And that's as much as she can give without approaching dangerous territory. Especially remembering Juno's reaction to the idea that there might be more places like that out there. She can't worry her for no reason. Can't approach the subjects she physically can't talk about. (Juno can save her from a lot, but she can't save her from herself.) "I studied a bunch of other relics there before looking at the cube for the first time. Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for what I was getting into. Neither were the higher ups, I guess... figure they would've given me more warning if they did." That is true. Wouldn't they have said something more before sending her off if that were the case? "I felt expendable back then. Like some kinda guinea pig they were just trying to get rid of. But I guess the cube must've reacted to me as the only faerie in that place. It needed a faerie and there I was... and with a single poke I crash-landed myself into disaster."

They all called her 'Olette' at work. It's always seemed more formal. Kinda distant. But it sounds different coming from Juno, since it took her so long to remember her name in the first place. (...It seems she remembered what color her hair and eyes were the first day, though. 'What you’ve got on now also reminds me of the day we met, even down to the green eyes.' She's changed a lot since that day, too.) Still. She said herself that they were friends. She wonders if the pirate remembers her telling her she could call her Lettie.

"It's true I didn't have any say in where I ended up." Lettie admits. And that's kinda obvious, knowing how they were at each other's necks and how many times she had tried to escape. Clinging onto all the bravery she has inside of herself, she dares to brush the pirate's bangs out of her face and look her in the eye. "And at first it was tough. But I'm glad I crash-landed into your life. After everything we've been through together... if I had the choice now, I would ask if I could st--"

"Strategizing meeting in five." The cube interrupts with the worst possible timing. And by 'five' apparently the little bastard means five seconds, because before they know it they're being teleported onto her couch in the study. The skeletons and cubes are all gathered around the table there. (It should also be noted that they're wearing team jackets that they did not get Lettie's approval on in advance. What the fuck is this... pink with gaudy neon green rhinestones? With 'The Maestro and the Homies' written on the back!?) "The Matrix cannot wait any longer. The Great Star must be resurrected." The cube announces, perching itself on a pedestal that towers over all of them. "We strike at dawn. Shall we discuss strategy before you are dispatched?"
 
All Juno wants is a moment of fucking peace. A single fucking moment of peace where she can enjoy the company of her faerie without a fucking interruption. She just wants to be held by her and enjoy the comfort of her arms and the gentleness of her hands. (She treats Juno with so much care that the pirate nearly forgets she is not a gentle creature and she is not built for kindness; but the faerie makes her believe otherwise or that she could be. That she could have those soft things for herself. She fills her heart with possibilities and she knows it’s going to kill her to hope like this. But Olette is worth it. She’s worth it, she’s worth it, she’s worth it.) That’s all she wants and she doesn’t think she’s asking for much— fuck, hasn’t she earned it?

Apparently fucking not. What the fuck does she have to fucking do to catch a break? Die, probably.

Juno might really rip that cube up, side panel by fucking side panel for ruining their moment. ‘Knew whatever deal Olette made wouldn’t fuckin' last.’ For that offense alone, the pirate considers sabotaging everything the cubes are trying to do. The only thing that holds her back is remembering exactly what the cubes are trying to do, that she actually gives a shit about the mission, and she’d never fucking let herself live if she contributed to making the worlds shittier than they already are. She settles for an unsatisfying glare, tension gripping her chest the longer she stews in reluctantly contained anger.

The pirate sinks into the velvet cushion, arms crossed over her chest as they’re asked about strategizing— as if they’re the ones who called the fucking meeting to order. As if they have any say in how this fucking show is run. She rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Do whatever the fuck you want, because that’s what you were going to fucking do anyway. Not like we have an actual fucking choice.” It’s not like the cubes ever fucking listen to them or take into consideration what they have to say anyway, so Juno doesn’t see the point in actually trying to work with them. They aren’t going to listen. They don’t fucking respect them and that’s been obvious since day one, but increasingly so following the space station incident. “Strategize or don’t. Like it fucking matters.”

The cube, in response, is an asshole. This is to say that it doesn’t respond. None of them do. It just stares at Juno blankly. (Mostly because it’s a cube and doesn’t have a face and therefore all of its stares are blank.) Juno glares back at it, refusing to budge. Mostly, she’s just waiting for them to end up exactly where she doesn’t want to be.

It’s the mer-cube who breaks the suffocating tension after several minutes of pointed silence. It does so by bumping the piece of shit away from the podium and then projects a holographic display of the duchess’s smoldering mansion. “This was captured this morning. On Desdemonia, only four days have passed since you two destroyed the mansion.”

“Excuse you, esteemed magistrate, but that ‘twas I.”

“Ah, I cube.” Since it can’t see, technically. “Only a week and half has passed since Inez destroyed the mansion.” It zooms in on the estate, peeling back the outside layers so that they can see the layout within. “The duchess has been away at her secondary estate and should not be present when you two return.”

‘Doubt it.’ Just knowing their abysmal track record and the number of things that have gone their way (zero), she’s not counting on the veracity of any of these statements. She honestly half expects them to be teleported directly into the duchess’s dungeon with her waiting right there for them, a bright vampire smile on her face. (She scratches at the fresh scar on her neck.) If the cube can’t even teleport them away from creepy stalkers, then who’s to say it has any accuracy at all? (Maybe she should be more concerned that an organization managed to neutralize the cube at all, but that thought honestly hasn’t occurred to her. She’s far too pissed to be concerned about that.) Anger roils in the pit of her stomach as the cube continues to talk and it takes every ounce of her will to stay focused before she all but explodes and rips this workshop apart. Olette being next to her helps some, as she doesn’t want her to see her like that, but even her presence isn’t enough to calm the storm brewing within her.

“That said, we still advise you use the tunnel entrance.” The mer-cube continues, saying this part slowly, as if hesitant to suggest this. “We would teleport you directly into the manor, but we fear whatever hidden security she might have will be able to detect us as it detected you both at your goddess’s tomb.” The mer-cube takes a long pause to let this settle. Juno becomes visibly more tense than before as every discernible emotion is wiped clean from her face. “Given your knowledge of her estate and resources, captain, I’m sure you know why we’re suggesting this entrance?”

“Yeah.” Juno pushes the word through clenched teeth, nostrils flaring. She digs her fingers into her biceps before any sort of emotion can take root and pointedly avoids the faerie’s gaze. (“Consider yourself lucky it’s the duchess who took an interest in you. Heard the warden is into freaky shit. Last few sent to him came back as necromancer fuel.”) However, when the assholes remain silent, not offering an explanation, she realizes that she's supposed to fill the faerie in. (She hates cubes.) She softens some, leaning over just a bit before she whispers an explanation. (She still doesn’t look directly at her, however.) “The tunnels are an underground network that connect the prisons, arenas, and pits to the homes of Desdemonia’s elite.” Juno doesn’t explain for what purpose, not seeing it as entirely relevant to their mission. She wouldn’t volunteer the information anyway. (Once again, she scratches at the scar on the side of her neck.) “Since they’re underground, with the only entrances and exits being part of facilities that are already highly guarded,” like the duchess’s mansion, “the tunnels themselves are not as guarded. No reason to be. With the cube, we can just pop right into the underground, making it easier to break in since we’ll technically be inside anyway.”

“Precisely, captain.”

***​

So, yeah, they have a plan. They have a strategy. And Juno already knows they’re beyond screwed the second they flash into the dimly lit corridor that leads to the duchess’s mansion. It’s not that anything in particular gives her this sense— it’s not as though the cube has blipped them right into the duchess’s claws as she half anticipated. The tunnel is empty and there isn’t even a lingering ghost in sight. It’s not even the memories that try to break through to the surface that sinks her stomach. It’s just the knowledge that everything good comes to an end and returning to the duchess’s mansion could very well be a death sentence. This could very well be the end of their good times. 'Don't think like that. You still need to find out what Olette was going to say.'

Juno remains rather quiet as they walk (well, she walks) along the path, having not felt up for conversation since their moment was ruined. (What was she even going to say to her before the cube came in?) Her eyes are trained forward, set in her determination to get them in and out. (She’ll fight like hell to make sure this isn’t the end to their good times.) Though she knows this mission could be done solo, that Olette has all the skill and ability in the worlds to accomplish this, she refuses to let the faerie go back alone. In part because she now knows that Olette feels safest with her and, in (large) part, because she’d feel better knowing exactly what is happening as it is happening. ‘Not leaving your side.’

While the skeletons run a distraction above, they’re supposed to break into the mansion and find the “keystone” that will enable the cube to track the other cubes. Or something. (Juno honestly struggled to pay attention after she explained the tunnels to Olette.) Once inside, they just have to make it to the duchess’s secret collections room— something Juno hadn’t been aware existed, though she’s not surprised by this revelation either— where Olette can glitch in, find the keystone, and glitch out. It’s simple and that doesn’t stop her pulse from rocketing to the moon.

At the end of this long tunnel, they wait at a wooden door with a gilded knob for the skeletons to give them the all clear. Juno chews on her lip with her grip tight around her axe. The radio clipped to her shoulder crackles and Abigail’s overly enthusiastic voice chatters through. (She’s kind of glad for it, finding herself more appreciative of the skeleton’s dottiness as of late.)

“Captain! Roger!”

“No— Abigail,” Marjorie can be heard struggling with the other skeleton. “Hand me the radio—” The static cuts out for a few seconds, then the channel opens again with Marjorie on the line. “The guards are thoroughly distracted, as you ordered, captain. You and Miss Olette are clear to enter.”

“You have twelve minutes before I dispatch the boys.”

“Inez will not be dispatching the boys, but do be quick!”

The radio cuts out after that— the last thing heard is Abigail whining for the radio back— and Juno gestures for them to enter. “Let’s go.” She takes a breath, then turns the knob, first revealing a small bathroom that only has a showerhead and bench. (It was something of a perk to be called up to the elites, because it usually meant a hot shower, wine, and, sometimes, a warm bed to sleep in.) Juno turns the knob to a second door and reveals an all too familiar sitting room with red carpets, floor to ceiling paintings, and taxidermied animals covering the walls. Two plush armchairs sit beside a cold fireplace. (While the outside of the manor looks entirely wrecked, this living room appears to be intact. Most likely because it is underground.) Though being back in this room doesn’t inspire any particularly bad memories to crop up, she’s still not keen on spending anymore time in here than necessary and continues to lead them through the subterranean levels of the duchess’s former home.

“C’mon, we need to keep it moving.” When they exit the sitting room, it immediately leads into the duchess’s private dungeons. Not that there are many cells here. It’s not like she has a need to hold prisoners of her own, but Juno knows well enough this is where she conducts other business. Like gathering intel from unwilling sources. (This is where she imagines that weird fucking prick broke Abigail’s skull.) Peering into the few cells that are here doesn’t reveal much about what horrors these rock walls could tell, but they are red with rust and Juno, at least, can feel the disturbed spirits who now haunt the dungeons. (“Stay on my good side and you’ll never have to know what actually goes on down there, Juno.”)

A shiver runs down her spine, probably from the dank atmosphere of the dungeon, and she finally chances more than just a glance at the faerie, feeling somewhat bad for how walled off she’s been since the cube interrupted them. (They were having such a good time. Why couldn’t it have stayed like that? Why couldn’t that asshole let Olette finish? What the fuck was she going to say!?)

“You good?” She knows that’s a stupid question coming from her, knowing that she, herself, is not good with all her worries rolling through her. Worries and anger, but the anger is momentarily dominated by the worry. “Sorry, I’m weird… Sorry I’ve been acting weird. The cubes just get under my skin.” She shrugs, then leads them up a narrow spiral staircase to the surface. “But I’m here. One hundred percent. I’ve got you and I won’t let anything else get you.”

Her hand rests on the door that leads out to the first level of the duchess’s mansion and just outside she can hear the guards shouting as they scurry to assist with a large and growing fire. She offers a small smile to show she's ready. To maybe raise their spirits, since Olette is always trying to keep morale high. “Ready for whatever shit bananas are waiting?"
 
Lettie glides like a phantom at Juno's side through the underground tunnels, the ghostly white of her hair and eyes emphasized by their contrast to the darkness. Considering she'll have to glitch them around, that they might have to fight the duchess again (although technically they ran away from the duchess and her army of the undead the last time) she immediately drained the blue from her hair and the green from her eyes to conserve every last spark of her magic in preparation. She also changed into some real clothes from the wardrobe-- stealthy, comfortable clothes reminiscent of her water gun fight attire that she can fight in. Glamours don't take much, but they do take something... and that something, as she's realized the hard way, can make all of the difference between life and death by the end of their missions. And she wants the pirate to know that she's taking this one with the seriousness it warrants. This is her way of doing so without words. Juno would rather you stay alive. She needs you alive.

The faerie won't admit that it makes her uneasy, too. (Not that she can. The reasons why she aches with an understanding built of her own experiences.) She suppresses a flinch when glimpsing the taxidermy-filled room, getting nightmarish flashes of her wings strung up along with them on display. Forces her to recall the way the bitch calculatedly set her up in a room filled with wings. Served her wings at dinner on a silver platter. This unease only deepens at the dank smell as they venture into the prison beyond. The darkness. The cells they pass. (Cathy had Juno locked up in here once. Gritting her teeth, she clenches her hands into fists and her knuckles turn as white as the rest of her features.) Knowing what she knows (what she shouldn't know) this has to be hard on Juno. She can tell just by looking at her. Even through that tough front she holds up... the silence they've been exploring these underground corridors in says it all. Silence except for her comment to keep it moving. Those storm-cloud eyes are set firmly ahead with a clear goal in mind. She wants to be in and out of here. (She didn't want to come back here in the first place.) ...But she's here anyway because she didn't want her to go it alone.

Juno chose her. She drew a solid line with the duchess that she can't cross back over. Lettie can't let her down now.

"It's gonna be okay. Last time we were here my wing was broken..." Lettie returns the smile Juno so courageously offers her, fluttering her wings to draw attention to their current state. (Thanks to the pirate they're beautiful as ever and functioning the way they're supposed to.) Then she presses a hand to her shoulder and offers a reassuring squeeze. "And we weren't officially a team yet." Hell, she'd woken up terrified that Juno was going to sell her out. Her nerves skyrocketed through the roof through that entire dinner, thinking she'd have her wings torn off her back and displayed over the mantle. The duchess had ambushed them. They'd been haphazard and messy and they still got out. This time they're prepared and they're together. "We totally got this, Juno." She steels her expression determinedly. "I'm not gonna let anyone get you, either. I'm not gonna let her hurt you."

Lettie might be a little faerie... but she's going to give it her all. Hearing the guards outside, bracing herself for whatever might be headed their way-- shit bananas and all-- she nods.

"Let's fuckin' do this thing."

The skeleton crew's distraction allows them to sneak by all the excitement undetected. (And the one straggler they nearly encounter is easily avoided when they duck behind an organized, highly stacked pile of swept up rubble. They hold their breath there and Lettie holds Juno's hand, offering her a reassuring squeeze. We're not gonna get caught. She doesn't say what she's thinking, fearing that she'll jinx them as she's done about a thousand times before.) From then, navigating the duchess's estate becomes a process of elimination from then. They follow the cube's vague instructions in regards to direction, as apparently it was kept among the items in the duchess's 'esteemed collection' while they were napping off the knockout gas-- giving it some basis of the keystone's whereabouts. (This gives them little more than a 'make sure to turn left at the stairwell' to work with.) All the while, Juno ensures they don't check into any rooms that she knows for sure will lead them to dead ends. Whenever the pirate's unsure about a room, Lettie glitches inside and then back out-- refusing to open any doors from that point forward lest they trip some kind of alarm system.

Without any guards left to hinder their progress, the first phase of their plan ends up going relatively smoothly when they finally come upon a room where two of the four walls are bookshelves filled with thick, ancient tomes. In rightmost corner of the room there's a large bookstand with a skull with crystals embedded in the eye sockets sitting atop a large book splayed open upon it. To the left is a fancy-ass mahogany desk, which appears to have been rifled through in a hurry with how messy it is... and embedded on the furthest wall is a box-shaped slot where a steely lockbox sits. And hung up above the lockbox...?

"...This is a sick fucking joke." Lettie whispers under her breath as she stares incredulously into the eyes of the taxidermy goose stationed at the lockbox. It's like she knows. The coincidence, if that's really what this is, sends a shiver down the faerie's spine. (It's stupid. She knows it's stupid. It's just... ugh. Of all the nasty creatures mounted on these walls, of course the goose would be the thing that sets her on edge.) They need to hurry. Juno needs her to be strong. With that in mind, she claps her hands over her cheeks and shakes both her arms out to get herself back into shape. "Okay, okay. I got this. Easy peasy lemon squeezy." It should be easy, anyway. She doesn't even have to pick the lock. She just has to glitch herself in, grab the keystone, then glitch herself back out. Presto!

It's dead. Lettie reminds herself. Unquestionably, it's a fact... but she can't stop staring warily at its smug beak and orange-rimmed eyes. Daring her to make her move. It can't hurt me. (She wishes she could shrink Juno down for this part, so they could go into the together lockbox hand in hand. As long as she's in and out, though, she doesn't have to be without her for long.) Then again, it's not just the goose. It's the turning herself small part. It's glitching herself inside the equivalent of a pitch dark prison cell that only the duchess has the code for. And knowing all the while that this fucking goose is acting as her warden outside.

But Juno's here. And not only is Juno going to do whatever she can to keep her safe-- it'd also be cruel of the faerie to make her wait even a second longer when she's grappling with worries that no doubt exceed geese and a childlike fear of the dark.

"I'll be right back." Lettie takes a deep breath, turning herself around and closing her eyes to ensure she doesn't have to see the goose while she does so. Then she shrinks herself down and whirls around again before she can chicken out, keeping her eyes determinedly downcast. Out of sight out of mind. She flies forward and glitches herself inside the lockbox, moving so quickly that she ends up smacking into the back metal wall with an embarrassingly loud 'clang'!

"Ouch!" Lettie yelps, rubbing the side of her head. Shit. That's gonna leave a mark. "I'm good! I'm fine." Just a freaking klutz is all. Get it together, Letts! Now let's see...

Using the faint glow from her wings to illuminate her surroundings, Lettie beings poking around to assess the different items kept inside of the box. There're two keys (one that's mostly rusted and another one with a creepy skull sculpted on the end), a red velvet pouch filled with big golden coins, a severed finger wearing a ring (ugh), a couple of tiny bones... and then finally a shiny pebble-shaped item with glyphs etched on it. She assumes this is the keystone, based on the cube's description. "Ah ha! C'mere, you."

As Lettie works at heaving the (extremely heavy) keystone towards the lockbox door, she also notices a decrepit old journal. While at first she isn't inclined to care about this, believing she's already found what they've come for, she pauses when she notices the name scrawled fancily on the binding. Cressida.

"Incoming!" Lettie glitches the keystone through the lockbox to Juno's end while staying inside the lockbox herself. She pops a squat for a moment to catch her breath. (It'd be real nice to have Juno's muscles in there with her. It's hard to lift things in this form.) Her attention flits back to the journal and stays there. Cressida. "It's really dark in here, Juju. Do you think that's the thing?"

With a pounding heart, Lettie approaches the journal with Cressida's name on it. Cressida... who was friends-- or at the very least friendly-- with Cerise. A marked faerie. And when they faced the goddess, they spoke of their ambitions. Is it possible that she recorded anything about that in these pages? If so, could she use it to show Juno a small portion of what she's going through without having to try (and fail) at telling her? Can she dare to hope for that?

"I... I think there's something else in here we should take a look at while we're here. It might be relevant to our mission." Lettie clarifies. She has to make it known that she isn't dallying for no reason here, that she wouldn't do that to Juno. "Just give me a..." Her tiny faerie arms tremble as she drags the journal forward by the brown ribbon bookmark sticking out between the pages. "Whew. Just a sec..."

Lettie heaves three more times and finally manages to glitch herself and the journal outside of the lockbox. They both tumble to the floor together, the journal nearly crushing her in the process as it flies open... and the page it happens to land on is jarring, to put it plainly. It's messily scrawled all over with 'IT'S MY FAULT, IT'S MY FAULT' in all-caps. The faerie pays no mind to the danger she just put herself in, flying over to the side of the journal. Anxiously, she reaches to turn the pages back and discovers they're stuck when she tries to lift them. (Something's wrong. She's not so weak in her tiny faerie form that she can't turn the pages of a freaking book!) "It... I saw Cressida's name on it. So I thought..." Lettie's heart is pounding. Her hands are shaking. (What if there's nothing useful there? What if she's wasting their time for nothing? What if they get caught because of this? What if it's a trap? ...Just like the goose might be.) "Thought it might be important."

"Cerise..." A voice whispers mournfully. The text on the page beneath Lettie glows a faint orange and the furniture in the room begins to rattle. Okay. So either she's hearing things and Inez decided to dispatch the boys, or... "Cerise."

The taxidermy goose proceeds to honk like an alarm, startling the faerie out of her reverie.

"Fuck." Lettie pushes herself away from the cursed journal as if it burned her, bringing herself to eye level with Juno. (She blinks hard to stop any tears before they can fall. All she can think is that she fucked up. She fucked up, she fucked up, she--) "I'm sorry, Juno. I'm sorry. Let's get out of here."
 
With the faerie comes a sense of ease and Juno's nearly convinced she could diffuse any amount of stress with a smile or a squeeze. While the pirate's fears don't go away or retreat, they are quieter voices in her mind, making it easier to sift through her thoughts and focus as they traverse familiar halls. ("You are a welcome guest at my estate, Juno. So long as you keep your wins, that is. I refuse to surround myself with those who are short of excellence.") The memories bubble up here and there, some more difficult to shake than others, but none are strong enough to consume her and pull her away from her faerie. Throughout all of this, she keeps her mind focused on Olette, protecting her, and, eventually, asking her what she meant to say before. (It's eating at the pirate, not knowing.) Olette keeps her grounded and though her anxieties spike each time she glitches behind a door, the pirate fearing the worst, relief washes over her just the same when she glitches back out. Each time she appears again, the pirate's lips never fail to quirk into a slight smile.

When they do manage to identify the special collections room, Juno keeps her curiosity in check and presses herself beside the door, listening for any sign that they have been made. Tempting as it is to look over some of these tomes and artifacts–– there's no telling what secrets to necromancy are hidden in this room–– the necromancer knows that now is not the time. She has to be alert. While the clang from the lockbox does concern Juno, her eyes also light with amusement when she imagines the faerie overshooting her flightpath. But the glimmer is gone a second later as the pirate reminds herself to stay attentive. Her grip tightens around her axe, both hands wringing the handle while she waits.

Everything has gone according to plan so far. It's almost suspicious, though she doesn't get a sense that they're walking into a trap. She doesn't think the duchess would let them get this far if that were the case as she's not one to wait to pounce. If they were going to be caught, it would have happened the second they entered that underground sitting room or perhaps in the dungeons. Point is, she doesn't think they would have made it this far without the duchess here. While she'd like to believe that the cubes might have given them accurate information, she doesn't hold out hope. Anything could happen and the pirate will only truly relax when they’re out of the manor. They have been riding an impressive wave of dumb luck for most of the overall mission and she's not particularly interested in finding out what's going to happen when that luck runs out.

Even while she waits for Olette, just her and her hammering heart, she reminds herself over and over that the faerie has been quick— she has even said herself she’s the heist queen— and Juno tries to hold onto the solace there is in that. She knows that if the lockbox proves to be a false lead, she'll glitch right back out and they'll continue searching the room together. (While Juno hasn't left her post beside the door, she does wonder about the desk and who might have last been here. It's unlike the duchess to leave anything in a state of disarray. Even if she might have fled her burning estate, she would have still sooner made sure someone clean up her mess after she left or done it herself.) And it seems their search has finally paid off when a small rock shoots out of the lockbox, landing only a few inches away from the wall. Juno crosses over to the little thing and picks it up, only giving it a cursory glance before pocketing it in one of the zippered pouches on her pants. (She doesn’t entirely remember the description they were left with so it really doesn’t make a difference whether or not she thinks its the fucking keystone or not.) “Can’t imagine why else the duchess would keep a fuckin’ rock in a saftey box. Fuck, let’s just get out of here.”

Her words are almost a plea and she does expect Olette to glitch out a second later, with a smile and maybe a quip if she’s feeling particularly saucy. However, instead, the faerie mentions finding something else that might be worth investigating. Her stomach sinks, eyes flitting back towards the door. It’s still quiet outside. She trusts Olette. Olette wouldn’t waste their time— she gets that Juno doesn’t want to be here. She gets the duchess is bad news. Unable to voice an affirmative or anything at all, she nods despite knowing that faerie won’t be able to read her response. She can hear Olette struggling with whatever it is she believes they should investigate and desperately wishes they had taken Inez along— apparently, aside from a robust career as an opera singer and astro-snot, she was also a cat burglar (which doesn’t have anything to do with cats, as Juno learned the hard way). Maybe she could have gotten that lockbox open and Olette wouldn’t have to be in there alone, struggling with—

A journal, as it turns out. “Olette!” Juno, however, doesn’t pay it any mind as the faerie tumbles out of the lockbox and is nearly crushed by the journal in the process. Her heart thumps in her throat, then settles when she recognizes Olette is okay. The pirate rubs her hand over her chest as she drops down to get a better look at the page, seeing as Olette is determined to turn the pages and investigate. (Are they stuck? Or does Olette need to work on her strength training?) “Huh…” Juno is reaching for the journal when the sound of Cressida’s eternal whisper fills the room, coming from nowhere in particular, while the words on the page begin to glow. “Fuck.”

“Fuck,” she repeats when the mounted chicken begins to shriek. The pirate doesn’t get why the faerie is apologizing and, if this were the time, she’d take the minute to understand, but seeing as they’ve triggered an alarm, it doesn’t take precedence. Instead, the pirate collects the journal from the floor, closes its glowing pages— this briefly causes the entire journal to flash while also silencing the mournful whisper— and then sets the tiny faerie on her shoulder as she bolts from the room.

All caution is thrown to the wayside as she pumps her legs to run, not caring about stealth as she puts as much distance as possible between them and the honking alarm. Despite having sounded an alarm, the guards must still be taking care of the fire her crew started as no one appears to be running in their direction to check on the collection.

Juno takes them towards the destroyed facade, recalling that the cubes agreed to pick them up once they were outside of the manor. (The other option is to go back down to the dungeon and reenter the tunnels, but Juno doesn’t exactly want to go back down that way.) The smell of smoke fills the air the closer they get to the estate’s blown-up entrance and more explosions sound off ahead. (Inez must have released the boys, Juno guesses.) She can feel her skeletons coming undone as they’re destroyed by the duchess’s guards and can hear the sound of shouts and clashing swords up ahead.

‘Almost…’ Juno knows that with the finish in sight, with the little struggle they’ve had acquiring the keystone, that their fortune is going to change. She can feel it in her stomach with the way it tenses. She can feel it in her veins as fear drips in and threatens to constrict her. Then she feels it in her lungs, when they all but stop taking in oxygen as a ship rises up from the canyon that the manor is set in.

It’s sails are red and bear the complex glyph-sigil that Juno is all too familiar with. As the ship rises up, the pirate stops in her tracks, eyes shifting from side to side for an alternate path or a place to hide. For a second she considers turning back around and taking them back to the tunnels, yet she knows there’s more risk in that than anything else. ‘Shit.’ Juno steels herself before the duchess can see her unnerved, gripping her axe with both hands and taking a wide fighting stance. (Olette might have said she won’t let the duchess hurt Juno and while she believes her, no part of Juno ever agreed to not face her herself. This is her fight and she doesn’t want the faerie to be part of it.) Through her teeth, she whispers, “Get in my pocket. Hide. I’ve got this.” ‘It has to be me.’ Olette is not going to pay the price for Juno’s choices. This is her fight.

The duchess appears as the deck of the ship comes into view and, unsurprisingly, she’s flanked by a small team of guards. While obviously surprised, her rouged lips stretch into a smirk when she spots Juno. She steps off of the ship the second the gate is open and her cold eyes survey the fresh damage, the battle between Juno’s crew and her guards behind them, then lock onto the pirate herself. She clicks her tongue. “I always considered you bold, perhaps even brazen, Captain Juno, but never stupid. So tell me, what is it that you are doing back at my manor? Turning yourself in?”

“Nah,” the pirate spits and raises her axe in challenge. “Here to get rid of the biggest thorn in my fuckin’ ass.”

Cassidy shakes her head even as she wears an amused grin. Her guards start to step forward, but she raises her hand to stop them, eyes set on the pirate as her tongue drags across her lip. “I shall delight in making an example of you, Captain Juno. It is a shame our partnership had to end like this.” In the next instant, her eyes flash turning into two bright white lights. The rocky ground beneath them begins to shake, a crack splitting between Juno’s legs, causing her to jump to one side as wispy hands reach up from the ground. However, rather than reach for the pirate, the ghostly hands and heads all pull towards the duchess as they're siphoned from the ground, circling around her like a vortex. The spirits meld together under her influence and morph to form into a multi-armed apparition with three sets of glowing blue eyes and leathery wings. It charges forward with an ear splitting shriek, not giving the pirate time to react, and knocks her off of her feet when it barrels through her.

Juno falls to the ground with a thud, gasping as she claws for air. Her axe falls somewhere next to her and, as the apparitions whirls around to charge her again, she reactively presses her palms flat to the earth. The bones beneath the mansion begin to shake as they're called upon, then shoot up to form a stake barricade around the necromancer. The apparition collides into the defense, tumbling over it and giving Juno just enough time to spring back up to her feet. She touches the stakes, softening them like clay as she morphs the bones into a hammer-fisted construct of her own. The two constructs collide with each other, hers grabbing onto Cassidy's and throwing it into the mansion, then quickly following after it. Juno grabs her axe and shifts it into its sword form while Cassidy opens her hand and one of her guards provides her with her sword.

The two necromancers charge each other, swords coming down in heavy, unrelenting blows. Juno pushes the duchess back towards the cliff's edge as they clash, driving the fight in her favor. The duchess carefully tries to change their direction but is largely unsuccessful; she can do little more than block each strike. When their swords next lock together, Juno shoves against Cassidy with enough force that she's knocked onto her back. As she’s readying to bring her sword down over the duchess’s chest, one of the guards intervenes, catching the pirate off guard as she’s tackled to the ground, landing flat on her stomach. A heel hammers between her shoulder blades, forcing the air from her lungs before she can recover. Then the armored boot lands in her ribs with an unsettling crack.

Cassidy heaves as she’s helped to her feet, smoothing over her cinnamon tresses as she eyes the pirate with an unreadable expression. Once upright, she strides over to Juno just as her guard places their boot firmly on the pirate's hand, grinding their heel into it. The pirate bites down on a yelp, though part of it comes out in a strangled gasp when Cassidy drops down and yanks on her hair, forcing her head up. "I think your friends in the pits missed you, Juno." She traces one of her stiletto nails over Juno’s scar. "They'll be so happy to finish what they started."
 
This is a bad idea. Not only the hiding part, but the hiding in Juno's pocket during a fight part. Lettie clings fistfuls of fabric to hold herself steady as she gets violently jostled around with each step and lunge. (Ugh, she seriously hopes she doesn't vom in here. But a little splotch of faerie vomit is the least of their worries now.) While she had instantly opened her mouth to argue this idea, all it took was seeing the determined look on Juno's face to convince her to close her mouth and follow her instructions... albeit with an expression of pained reluctance twisting her own face. This is what the pirate wants and she respects that. Undeniably, this is her fight. (And she'd have done the same for her.) But the faerie also promised she'd be there. That she wouldn't let the duchess hurt her. Juno's been fighting to survive all alone for so long... she has to know that she doesn't have to fight alone anymore. ('Nah. Here to get rid of the biggest thorn in my fuckin' ass.' Heh. She's so damned cool, though.) It's when they stop exchanging words that the faerie only has the crumbling earth and Juno's footsteps to gauge what's going on in the world outside of this pocket. Nausea builds as her head rocks back and forth, the disorientation eventually gets to be too much... and the first true wake up call hits her when Juno hits the ground the first time. (Gulp. Had she fallen at another angle, Lettie would've been crushed in there. She needs to get out. It's not a matter of disrespecting Juno's wishes but survival at that point.) She waits for Juno to stand again before glitching herself out of her pocket as stealthily as she can, thankfully catching no one's attention as the stake barricade is formed all around them. The duchess and her henchmen have all their attention on what they consider big, interesting threats.

The nightmares aren't real, per se... but she knows from experience that they are rooted in reality. Lettie remembers the nightmare duchess and her self-centered boredom, watching frightening things transpire in the arena down below. The duchess has seen shit. Shit that she's inclined to watch with a bloodthirsty smile because she's a freak like that. Naturally, her sights are set on what she finds interesting and amusing. Someone as desensitized to grisly fights and torture as she is surely doesn't have to be anxious that a tiny faerie and her army of butterflies are fluttering about.

Remaining in her tiny form as not to draw anyone's focus, Lettie rockets herself skyward to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of any attacks. There. Looking down on the fight from above gives her a view of the entire battlefield, where she can act as Juno's guardian angel. She'll let the pirate have her fight... but if she needs to intervene, she will. She won't fucking hesitate. I'm not losing you, too. While the duchess has her guards standing on the sidelines for now, the faerie doesn't suspect she possesses the honor to fight one on one if the odds suddenly turn against her. While Juno backs the duchess towards the edge of the cliff, Lettie's mind works ahead like a spider craftily spinning a web. (Cathy's influence as the duchess is one of her weapons. In order to defeat her, they've gotta disarm her in any way they can.) Hmph. The faerie, prepared to bring out all the stops, begins magicking will o wisp apparitions with bomberflies planted in their chests. Her eyes fill with light as she deploys them in scattered patterns that fall from the sky like flower petals. They flirtatiously wave and prance about like forest nymphs, taunting the guards standing on the sidelines. (She puts a little extra oomph into them than usual, reaching deep within her psyche to summon sinister fae magics she typically swears off of. Just enough to captivate their attention. Like this, the wisps glamour themselves based on the object of their desires and twist them around her little finger.) This quickly causes them to start scrambling all about in a frenzied state of confusion-- some run towards the flames, others to the mansion and a few outright running to their doom over the edge of the cliff.

Lettie doesn't rely on this method often-- if ever. Purely because it demands so much concentration and leaves her completely open. (And more than that, it does make her feel sorta guilty to fuck with human emotions this way. Sure, she's fine toying with demons for free drinks and gifts... because that's all her. With the exception of her cosmetic glamours she wouldn't use magic as a means of convincing someone to do something they don't actually want to do. She's all about consent and would never sink that fucking low. This magic is frightening, verging on outright demonic, and she wields it responsibly as a rule.) From her hiding place, she's in the perfect position for this sort of attack. And she's not going to let any of these bastards take Juno away from her. She's not going to risk it.

Unfortunately, one straggler among the guards remains unscathed. Juno would've had the duchess. She would've fucking had her... but that guard...

Juno's strangled gasp breaks through Lettie's concentration, slamming with all the bluntness of a battle axe into her heart. In her mind it echoes, over and over again, and each time it does the bomberflies tucked away in her apparitions explode one by one. This leaves the rest of the duchess's guards in a state of fiery shambles... but that won't mean anything at all if she loses Juno. All she can see is red. Is her. The faerie takes a steep nosedive towards them, glitching herself to increase her speed despite knowing she's been using too much magic. (But at least she's not concerned with smoothing out her hair or wasting her breath on petty threats the way that Cathy is while she traces her nails over Juno's scar. Lettie's learned to cast those things aside when it really counts. The duchess may not be used to losing, or making mistakes... but now her arrogance will be her fucking downfall.)

"Not on my watch!" Lettie bites out as she sizes herself back up, using the momentum she built up with speed to smash into the duchess and tackle her away from Juno. "Get the fuck away from her!" Together they roll perilously close to the cliff's edge. The guard, ever alert, abandons their place over Juno as they rush after the duchess. The faerie comes out on top, fighting to keep herself firmly planted over the duchess, smacking and scratching back as Cathy drags her claw-like nails down the right side of her face, getting her partially in the eye. Blood sprays down from her fresh wound, but this doesn't deter her for even a second. She retaliates with a punch to the side of the duchess's face. This is for Juno.

But then the duchess smirks wickedly as an imposing shadow looms over them both. Far too easily, the guard approaching behind them lifts Lettie up by the waist and tosses her over the edge of the cliff.

"How cute. For a second there, it seemed like someone actually gave a shit about you." Cassidy says casually, dusting herself off with one hand while accepting help from her guard to stand with the other. She tilts her head smugly, ambling her way back towards Juno as if this is all something she can just brush off. "Shame her wing's broken, isn't it? Otherwise she might have survived that fall." (Ah. She still thinks it's broken. And of course she does-- it's only been four days for her.) "...My, my. Could it be that you gave a shit about her, too? Worry not. We'll be sure to collect her remains and preserve her properly. Perhaps I'll display her in your cell, captain. Liven the place up a bit." She taps her lower lip slowly. "I could have the cooks serve her up for dinner. I've heard a few rumors that faeries make a delectable meal."

Cassidy stretches her neck from side to side as she has her guard fetch her discarded sword. While their focus is taken, Lettie sends an apparition distraction for the guard from her hiding place below, quietly beckoning them over the edge.

"...It's over, Juno. For your betrayal, I will personally see to it that your remaining days are a living hell." Cassidy continues with cold, unfeeling eyes. She's completely unaware of the faerie flying back up over the cliff's edge behind her. "The reputation you've built for yourself will crumble and all you'll amount to is a cautionary tale to those who think to follow in your footsteps."

Lettie swoops around again, using the element of surprise to land a roundhouse kick to the duchess's gut that sends her stumbling backward. Turning a backflip with a flourish, she lands gracefully in front of Juno whilst glaring daggers. While the duchess struggles to recover, she takes that time to gently help Juno back onto her feet. (The faerie can barely suppress her worry, seeing the state the pirate's stomped hand is in.) She knows that Juno told her to hide, but... "Together?" She mouthes, gripping her uninjured hand tightly. Even so, she'll follow Juno's lead on what to do next. Whatever that might be. "Juno, you don't have to do this on your own."

"You." Cassidy clutches her stomach, heaving and glaring at them both. "But how..." Gradually, the reality of her situation begins to sink in when she realizes that none of her guards are within sight. She bellows out an outraged cry-- a dent finally showing in her picture-perfect composure-- before her eyes light up once more. Her cinnamon hair flutters around her shoulders as the ground rumbles and more phantasmic hands lift from the ground, raising her into the air high above their heads. "...You fucking asked for it!" One by one, the hands begin plummeting to the ground all around them in attempt to crush them. Lettie glitches them through the first couple of hits, zig-zagging them away to put some distance between themselves and the duchess.

Having used so much magic already, though, it doesn't take long before Lettie's trembling with the exertion of it all. "Juno... I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up." She flinches. She's got one or two butterflies left at most. Whatever her next move is, it's going to have to be her last. "Any ideas? Don't... don't tell me to hide in your pocket again. I'm not leaving you."
 
This is not the end. Juno knows this with certainty. (Olette promised.)

Sharp unwavering pain pulses and ripples through the pirate while she remains pinned to the ground. Her scalp stings as she's forced to look the duchess in the eye. She jerks her free arm around, moving it in an awkward attempt to hook Cassidy's perfectly disheveled face. Cassidy smirks, catches Juno’s haphazard attempt, and tosses her fist forcefully backwards, putting strain on her shoulder. The heel crushing her hand grinds down cruelly. Juno seethes, crushing her bottom lip between her teeth, her stormy eyes unrelenting despite her positioning. This is not the end.

This is not the end and the faerie continues to prove the worth of her words as she launches down from the sky towards the duchess, driving them both across the rocky surface. ("Get the fuck away from her!") Juno groans out when the guard propels himself forward on her hand, her hand exploding stars across her vision despite being free. Still always a stubborn pirate, still always a fighter, she doesn’t give herself a second to recover and shakily sits up, using the uninjured arm to prop herself up while holding the other close to her core. Her breaths come out through clenched teeth, her ribs paralyze her with each subtle movement and the bruise on her back throbs with each breath. This might not be looking good, and it’s not over.

Surveying the rest of the damage, she realizes just how much Olette has done for her. To protect her. (Because she’s worth it, too?) Then her eyes land back on Olette and Cathy, Olette on top and tearing into her perfect facade. ‘You got this, Olette.’ She attempts to stand, to step in, especially when she catches that guard creeping behind them, but her broken ribs howl in protest with the sudden movements. “Ole—”

She knows what’s going to happen before it does and while her features reflect something close to shock, Cathy reminds Juno of Olette’s wings. Yeah, she might think they’re broken but the pirate knows better. She’s also watched Olette purposefully fall or run off the side of a ledge during fights before. She knows the faerie spent at least one day of her childhood falling off of floating platforms as a thrilling game of chicken. She knows her faerie.

The duchess’s taunts don’t phase her, but she doesn’t let her know that. The homo pirate dredges up every memory she has of Olette dying on her— at least pulling on the imagery from both the nightmares in her head and the ones she has lived— homing in on that heartache and allowing it to fill her eyes. (Even while Juno knows she’s safe, that her faerie is still out there to protect her, she knows these threats are not empty. Should the duchess ever sink her talons into Juno, her life will never know peace or safety ever again. No part of her wants to discover what this could look like. She doesn't want to know how she makes captives howl.) She doesn’t need to be scared, but she allows the duchess to think so. Especially if it holds her attention enough that she doesn’t see her guard fall for a phantom over the cliffside. Or the way Olette swoops back up over the edge like a valkyrie, landing a kick in the bitch's gut.

'That's my fucking faerie.' Juno smirks as Cathy staggers backwards. She accepts Olette’s hand and braces as she rises back to her feet, sucking in a sharp breath and blinking down on the fresh tears that well in her eyes. Pained moans escape her throat anyway. She knows she can’t do this on her own. Not with the state her hand is in— she might’ve been able to muscle through the sharp stabbing pain at her side and, even then, she’d’ve known it’s not ideal. She leans against the faerie, not responding to or acknowledging what she says as she breathes through the waves of pain crashing over her, but she hopes the gesture communicates her acceptance. Together.

Everything else happens in blurs, sharp gasps, and explosions behind the pirate’s eyelids. She’s vaguely aware the duchess has unleashed unrelenting attacks and Olette is glitching them away as each maneuver is a new clap against her. Dazedly, she looks down at Olette then her gaze pans over the arena. Sheets of sweat are washing over her and her eyes show that she’s struggling to stay present. But she’s fought in worse conditions. She can do this. (She doesn’t want to.) She has Olette. She has to. And she doesn't have to do it alone.

The pirate moves her good hand to the faerie’s shaking shoulder, squeezing it. “Fuck. Duh. You said you’d have my back.” She says this with a weak smile she wishes could be stronger, reaching to wipe the blood from the claw marks on the faerie’s face. (Her right side. Just like the pirate's scar.) Juno hesitates for a moment, a fleeting thought coming and going as another fist smashes down from the sky. With her good hand, she ducks them both to the ground and rolls them out of the way but the attacks are unceasing. (Realistically, the duchess can’t go on forever but she doesn’t need to. She only needs to outlast them and, at this rate, she will.)

The necromancer forces her way back upright, everything in her body screaming in protest as black spots scatter across her vision. ‘Don’t have to beat her.’ With Olette’s blood still on her fingertips, it’s instinct when she sticks out her hand and casts a seal against the duchess. Except, Juno has never used faerie blood to make a seal before and the necromantic seal that should be forming around them reacts to the magic imbued in the faerie’s blood. The circular seal glitches, growing in size— more than the amount of blood used would otherwise be capable of covering. Stranger yet is the way the enlarged seal breaks like glass, each piece transforming to become part of a swarm of razor-winged butterflies. "Did I do that...?"

A third of the butterflies go for the duchess’s phantoms, cutting through them and opening up miniature explosions along the edge of their wings, lighting the sky with clouds of flames. The remainder of the swarm nosedives towards Cassidy. She swings her arm up, pulling up a wall of spirits to protect herself from the onslaught but the butterflies glitch through the barrier. One of the leading butterflies slices against her cheek, leaving a cauterized cut in its path. Others glitch into phantoms presumably from Cassidy's past that proceed to taunt her, dodging her attacks as they shutter in and out of existence. The swarm drives her further and further away from her manor and form a barricade at the property’s edge.

Cassidy’s breathing is jagged, bringing her shoulders with each inhale and exhale. For once her perfect cinnamon rivulets are clinging to her sweat slick skin, pieces sticking out of place. (Juno, despite barely hanging on, finds some satisfaction in this.) Her icy eyes burn, searing into the duo as she reaches backwards for the rail to her ship. None on her staff dare to move towards her as the fire of her rage permeates through the air and is enough, even, to have the pirate clutching onto the faerie just a little tighter. For a still moment, it's unclear what will happen. The flames of her estate crackle in the background. Juno's skeleton crew can be heard continuing to hold their own against the duchess's remaining forces. Juno's hand drops from Olette's shoulder to her pocket, ready to unleash the last bit of hell still keeping her upright.

But the duchess is smart, she always has been, and gestures to be helped back onto her ship; though her eyes never leave the pair. “When hell comes for you, remember—”

“Villain monologue rating: negative three out of ten, Miss Duchess.” None other than the cube descends from a beam of light, glitter shimmering around its annoying six-square form. “The sooner you accept that you are a loser, the less embarrassing your reunion with granny is going to be.” The cube then somehow indicates that it is now addressing the barely standing disasters. “Six point five out of ten. Let’s jet.”

blip!
 
Lettie's memories are fogged after their escape from the duchess's mansion, all a choppy blur of supporting and helping Juno into bed before collapsing right beside her. The faerie uses her last remaining threads of consciousness to ensure that she's lying on her uninjured side, hugging onto her arm instead of resting directly on top of her like she normally does in the rough state she's in. ('Stay, stay, stay.' The word from all those nights ago echoes, reminding her that Juno finds comfort when she sleeps next to her. That her presence chases some of the nightmares away. And maybe... maybe it feeds the fantasy in her mind that she really wouldn't mind if she stayed.) Wouldn't it be nice to stay like this? To travel the worlds, settle down, and never have to set foot on Avangeline again?

Thankfully, Lettie's so exhausted that she fades into a deep, dreamless sleep where the nightmares stay far away. (Probably because she's just unknowingly landed in one.)

The birds are chirping outside and sunlight streams in golden lines across the bed. Lettie sighs as she rouses, rubbing her sleepy eyes before gracefully stretching her arms high over her head. (Huh? She blinks confusedly when the side of her hand brushes against a padded bandage on her cheek, over the mark the duchess left her with. Oh... someone patched her up? Don't tell her--) She puffs her cheeks. Juno, you workaholic pirate! You better be resting! But at her side, she sees Juno still sleeping cozily, wrapped up in the sheets and dressed up in bandages of her own. The faerie blows the air from her cheeks in surrender, wearing a soft smile now instead. She's safe. She's sleeping and safe. Good. Gently, she pushes some hair out of the pirate's face, taking in the sight of her there. It's a nice moment. A quiet moment. And for that reason, it makes her a touch nervous. I swear to all the stars in the sky, if those cubes try any shit right now and wake her up...

When Lettie looks around the room again, she catches Phillip in the doorway offering her a thumbs up. Aw. He's wearing his new apron! The skeleton then sticks his colossal arm into the room, offering her a tray of orange juice. She accepts it gratefully.

"Phillip! You're a vision in your apron." Lettie beams, keeping her voice hushed as not to stir Juno (even if the pirate has proven she can sleep through a rager when she's really out, she still doesn't wanna risk it) and accepts a glass. Phillip rubs the back of his head sheepishly. If he had skin, she bets he'd be blushing right now. So cute! "Did you patch us up, too?" He signs that he carried the supplies and that Marjorie handled the rest. Ah, that makes sense. "Thank you. You guys take such good care of us when shit goes bananas." Then she purses her lips, remembering the strategy meeting. "...Your taste in jackets could use some serious work, though. You really should've consulted me before making those things official."

Phillip shakes his head so quickly that Lettie fears his skull is going to fall off. He signs that the jackets were all Abigail and Fred's idea.

"Ugh, Fred. I should've known." Lettie shakes her head exasperatedly. (Meanwhile, Abigail was kinda a given. The 'Maestro and the Homies' had Abigail written all over it.) "He just wants to watch the world burn. Speaking of which... how is everyone holding up after the fight?"

Once Lettie assesses the crew's status after the battle, she sneaks out of the room to help the skeletons who lost their jaws, arms, and in some cases their entire skulls to find their missing bones across the ship. (While she can't repair the skeletons herself, she figures she can at least do this to make Juno's life easier later. It also sketches her out, seeing the skellies wander around without their heads attached. Reminds her of the days Abigail used to wear the cube like a head. Yikes, yikes, yikes!) When a few of them request that they throw a party to celebrate their successful battle with the rest of the space beer, Lettie shuts it down. Not this time. There's too much shit going on for parties... and she doesn't want to stress Juno out, either. "Sorry, guys. Maybe after we find the Matrix, 'kay?"

It occurs to the faerie as she heads to the kitchen to make toast that the skeletons have been treating her sorta like the second in command while Juno's asleep. Juno's second in command. She curls her toes at the thought as she begins collecting ingredients. Plate. Bread. Toaster. Am I flattering myself too much? She hums softly to herself, slathering a helping of cream cheese on the toast she's made (Juno really loves toast) before making a smiley face atop it with two blueberries for eyes and four raspberries for a mouth.

"Clearly..." Lettie surveys her handiwork. It's hideous. Kind of terrifying. But at least it's edible. "I'm an artist."

Okay, listen. Lettie knows it's no banana bread... but at least she tried. (As a rule, anything she doesn't burn she considers a success. Her serving gigs never brought her back into the kitchen.) Giddy at the concept of treating Juno to breakfast in bed, she wastes no time in gliding back into the room. It's just as she pokes in that she notices that Juno is awake and, in true Juju fashion, already trying to get up.

"Hold it right there, Juju! Lie back down." Lettie commands with her signature cheek-puff before perching herself down on the foot of the bed to join her there. She's trying (and failing) to hide the plate behind her back in order to keep breakfast a surprise. The toast is perilously close to slipping off. "...Phillip, can I get a drum-roll, please?" The colossal skeleton obliges, stomping his big feet with a thump-thump-thump before she proudly presents the toast she made. "Ta-da! For you."

After the faerie passes the plate off to the pirate, she studies her intently to await her reaction. And maybe...

"Looks like we made it." Lettie mentions with a smile. They totally made it. Juno was in rough shape... but what she pulled off back there? The faerie's almost inclined to believe that she dreamed that part. Those glitching, razor-sharp butterflies were badass! And while she's inclined to tell Juno just how impressive she was (and that she deserves way more than the cube's measly six point five out of ten) her chest also aches with the reminder of what rough shape she'd been in afterwards. That asshole guard with his big-ass boots... she'll never forget the way Juno gasped out in pain, the way she needed to lean on her just to stand upright afterwards. "...How are you feeling?"

"Ms. Olette! You must look outside. The trees here wear diamond necklaces." Abigail bursts into the room, holding her skull in her hands above her body. "Hurry, hurry!"

Lettie tilts her head, offering Juno a somewhat amused glance. Trees wearing diamonds? She shrugs, figuring one quick glance won't hurt (especially since Abigail won't stop fussing until she does as she's told)... and realizing that she might be fucking wrong about that a second later as she glides towards the window and looks outside for herself. No. No... the trees aren't wearing diamonds. But their bark is wrapped in roots along with silvery, faintly glowing veins. Orbs of light pulse through, making them appear beaded, and that must be why Abigail thought were diamonds. More than that, though... with all the world traveling they've done thus far, the faerie has only ever seen this breed of tree on one world specifically.

And that's Avangeline.

A strangled noise gets caught in Lettie's throat. The realization accompanies a wave of chills that leaves her body tingling with nerves. Those nerves gradually crawl into a numb heat that rushes from her head to her toes. Am I...? Her wings stop fluttering and she hits the floor hard. Honestly, she hardly feels it through how fast her heart is pounding. Oh fuck. She's gonna hurl. Are we...? Is this...? No way. There's no need to be jumping to conclusions. It's still possible they're somewhere else. This doesn't mean anything. Nothing's confirmed yet.

"Oh my! Are you simply flabbergasted?" Abigail asks, moving her skull to one hand while she uses the other to help the fallen faerie up.

"...I'm totally flabbergasted. Wow." Lettie wheezes breathlessly, attempting the excruciating task of pulling her easygoing smile back together. "Like, damn. What a view." Still rather stunned, she allows herself to plop back down on the bed. Then she flops limply onto her side, eyes staring blankly into the distance ahead. What the fuck? What the fuck!? Her reaction is weird. Obviously. She has to explain a little more, doesn't she? "...Just got lightheaded for a sec there. I'm good. I'm fine. Probably just need to rest a bit longer than I thought."
 
‘Is it a fucky circle?’ Juno tilts her head to the side, inspecting the haphazardly plated breakfast. Two blueberries. Four raspberries. One toast to scare her and make up for the nightmare’s she didn’t have last night. It's an interesting stylistic choice coming from the beauty-focused faerie who would probably murder a pack of teenagers for ruining her hair. But it is the taste that matters most, she supposes. She lifts the crisped up bread to her mouth and it disappears in two impressive bites. A satisfied hum leaves her throat as she settles back down against the pillows, having already been scolded once for trying to get up.

Considering her hand and ribs, it is for the best that she rests for however long the cubes allow. They still haven’t located the Matrix. While Juno is tempted to disregard the importance of that (probable) bastard, it only takes remembering the power of the first cube– the cube– and how it brought the worlds to ruin to chase away her apathy. She should rest.

More than that, she wants to be with Olette for as long as possible. As much as she hates being lazy and idle, part of that means keeping herself in good condition. (And Olette is more than capable of taking over while she’s out of commission. She already knows this and it shows in the way the crew automatically defaults to the faerie when the captain is otherwise occupied.)

“Thanks. Fuckin’ love crisped bread with the works.” She adjusts the ice pack on her ribs and the one at her back, offering a tired smile. “I fuckin’ hurt like hell, but… Yeah. Shit. We made it.” Juno’s memories are broken and choppy, like playbacks of a movie on a scratched disc, but manipulating the faerie’s blood is crisp in her mind. It surprised her then and surprises her now to recall, having never seen, experienced, or heard of anything like it before. Then again, many things they have accomplished together have been flukes and this is just another one. As powerful as that necromantic seal ended up being, she wouldn’t rely on the means. Her faerie is not a blood bag, is not fodder for necromancy.

As Olette glides over to the window, Juno resists the temptation to follow her. She already knows she’ll be scolded if she so much as thinks about swinging her legs over the side of the bed. To try and move even an inch probably isn’t worth the consequent cheek puff.

However when the faerie drops to the ground, worry shoots through the pirate and, unthinkingly, she tries to spring forward and is quickly immobilized by her injuries. She bruises her lip between her teeth as tears form at the corner of her eyes. She stiffens then settles back down, taking in a sharp breath.

The faerie continues to concern her when she flops over onto her side and Juno doesn't, not for a second, buy the story that she might just need more rest. Juno has seen the faerie’ exhausted and she knows it doesn’t look like this. More than that, her lips might smile but her eyes don’t. She’s somewhere else. That she’s trying to hide it does trouble Juno, but she decides against doubting Olette. They’re past that. While perplexed, she’ll let the faerie come to her. (Provided her behavior doesn’t get any more strange or actively warrant her intervention.) Olette gave her that grace when she wore that fucking jumpsuit for days after their escape, so she’ll do the same in return. Still, she does wonder exactly what the faerie had seen that startled her so.

The pirate reaches over (slowly, this time) and threads her fingers through Olette’s hair, knowing how much comfort she takes from the gesture when the faerie does it to her. “'S'all right. We're not in any danger. Take your fuckin’ time." She moves some of the hair out of her face. "Have you eaten?”

Just as she asks this question, Marjorie rolls in— yes, rolls in— on roller skates, spinning to a stop at the bedside to collect the ice packs. “The Medic has graciously provided you with painkillers, captain— not the good stuff.” She hands the pirate three white tablets and a glass of apple juice. “Apparently Inez has been trying too hard to start a narcotics crime ring and now they do not trust anyone on this ship with the goodies.”

“But it should help enough that you and Ms. Olette can explore the forest!” The skeleton claps her hands together. “Oh, you just have to see it. It is so marvelous. Inez says it reminds her of her days as an ‘electronic dance music disc jockey’ or EDM DJ. You kids sure keep me young with all your acronyms. Abigail,” the skeleton whirls around with her hands on her hips, “head back on your shoulders. You know the rules and diamond forests do not count as a special occasion.” Marjorie herds the other skeleton out of the room, their conversation fading into the background.

Juno downs her juice, having already dry swallowed the tablets, and then playfully musses Olette’s hair. (Maybe it’ll raise morale if she messes with her a bit?) “C’mon, we should explore while we have the fuckin’ chance. Fuck, this better not be one of those nightmare worlds.” Though the fact that she’s coherent enough to even have that thought tells her that they are not on a nightmare world. She just never knows with cubes as the dictators of their lives.

Whatever pills Marjorie had given her act quickly and smooth over the worst of the pain rolling throughout her body, allowing her to move more easily and get ready. And, when Olette isn’t around to watch, Juno takes care of her hand. The thought occurs to her to do her ribs as well and though she gauges she has enough magic to do so, one look at her strained, blood-drenched reflection tells her not to push it. She won’t be of any use if she’s passed the fuck out and out of commission. Olette would cheek puff her into the next century, too.

The bandages still remain on her hand to manage the consequent swelling and it's a convenient cover to hide her crime; yet she confesses almost immediately after finding Olette again. “I just did it in case. Figured, between my hand and my ribs, I can protect us better if I’ve got both of them.” She rubs the back of her neck, for a second avoiding the faerie’s gaze (and possible cheek puff) but then brings it right back to her. She doesn’t need to be scared of Olette. She only gets upset out of concern and that upset has never been punishing. She’s safe. (And worth it.) “‘Sides, fucker got my dominant hand and I feel like I can barely fuckin’ control my left hand. I tried to chop a crunchy water log,” cucumber, “with it once and it was like I gave a knife to a toddler. Or Abigail.”

“And, like, I do trust you. You’ve got me. I know that. But I won’t leave you to fight alone if I can help it.” She sighs, her eyes staring off into some far away place. Her shoulders drop just a bit, uncomfortable with her own confession (as she always is). “I shouldn’t fight with my ribs like this, so I won’t unless it really comes to it. Just wanna be ready in case.” The pirate is trying and she hopes the faerie can see that. She’s probably the only person who she’d make this compromise for. She's special.

And perhaps it’s for that reason that Juno tries to lift the faerie’s obviously hampered spirits. While she still isn’t privy as to why she’s acting like a fucking weirdo, she does think being outside will do her some good. The faerie likes forests. Juno remembers late one night, in a moment of delirium, Olette confessed she thought she could make the forest her bitch. Maybe she didn’t use those exact words, but it drove the point home that she is at home in them. Juno assumes that might be why the cubes took them to a forest in the first place. (As much as she hates them, she begrudgingly gets that they try in their misguided and hazardous ways.)

Although…

Is it a forest? While she can make out the obvious outlines of trees, bushes, and the usual greenery… This isn’t like any forest she’s ever seen and while her experience with nature in general is limited, this is something else entirely.

The pirate gasps, wonder filling her stormy eyes. “Holy fucking shit…” She spins around with her neck tilted all the way back, enough that she almost loses her balance and falls right over.

The trees shoot up from the ground with impossibly thick trunks, the product of earned millenia, the tops all hidden somewhere in the sky. The lichen that covers the bark on some twinkles like stars. Some trees, as Abigail mentioned earlier, do appear to be wearing jewelry with the orbs of light that pulse through the veins of some species. Other species have leaves that, upon close inspection, have those same pulses of light illuminating their veins.

Juno, unable to contain herself, rushes over to a tree that looks similar to what Olette calls ‘willows’— except, the ones here have droopy stringy branches that look like ropes of multi-colored lights. The one in front of her fades from purple to blue, but another to the left goes from blue to green. When the pirate accidentally brushes against one, the color changes to an ocean blue then back to its oscillating yellow and orange. Her eyes shimmer. She taps the branch again and watches it burst with her favorite blue. She goes to the tree next to it and does a similar test, gasping quietly when it also changes to her favorite shade. “Can… Can I make them all turn blue, you think? Would you help me?”
 
Lettie wraps her arms around herself, the finding only unease in the familiarity of her surroundings. Where else could they be, if not Avangeline? But why would they need to visit Avangeline? The world isn't dying. Unless... She follows after Juno and it takes an excruciating effort on her part not to fly smack into any of the trees like a disoriented bumble bee. (Or a bumbly, as Juno might adorably put it.) Where is that fucking cube? She wonders fretfully. I need to know. I need answers. It is beautiful out here. It's so much like home that her heart aches. Deep down, there was-- is-- a part of her that missed it. At first all she wanted was to go home. She'd risked her life for that cube more than once, thinking it was her only ticket back. Now it might have brought her here... and it chooses to do so when she's already decided she never wanted to come back. Monsters hide in the shadows cast by the trees. Stalkers. Reapers. Everything that's going to catch up to her if this really is Avangeline.

Seems like the only person capable to reaching her right now is a cute pirate... and luckily for her, Juno is acting very cute whilst whirling around to gaze at the forest. While the faerie is on edge, the pirate looks completely enamored with it, poking and turning all of the leaves into an enchanting blue. (Her favorite color. Even if it wasn't before the question was asked, it's proven true now. Because it reminds her of how excited she was when she guessed it correctly...) The soft glow emitting from the leaves lends Juno's stormy-colored eyes a starlike quality and Lettie's content to get lost in them if it means forgetting everything else. Might as well enjoy what could very well be her last moments. Might as fucking well! The faerie tamps down on the hysterics before she can succumb to them, tapping one of the glowing osier leaves herself.

"Hey!" A gentle voice echoes, pinched with tickled amusement. A bead of pink pulses out from where the faerie touched like a heartbeat, siphoning the color from her wings while transferring the blue it once was over to her. When she taps the leaf a second time, they trade colors once again and a line of white flowers twist to life between the leaves and bloom upwards. Hm. As she thought. The plants are reacting to her. Which might mean... "Are you here to play with us? We've been so lonely."

Miniature phantasmic figures no bigger than Lettie's pinkie stretch out, miming big yawns as they peel themselves from the petals of the flowers that just bloomed. Oh, geez. They dance on the air and a few of them swirl around Juno like snowflakes, observing her, before chiming playfully at each other as if in on a juicy secret. (One of them is bold enough to stroke her pirate's stupidly buff arm. Lettie rolls her eyes at this attempt.) A thick fog rolls in at their feet and the figures begin beckoning for them to follow their trail into a narrow, shady tunnel made up of leaning trees, hydrangea bushes, and puffy mushrooms. It's a classic trap. An observer with sharp enough eyes might catch a monstrous face full of sharp teeth glitching at the other end.

"No, no, no, no, no! You guys need to chill." Lettie insists, waving her arms around to call off their mischief before grabbing ahold of Juno's uninjured hand. While technically she admitted to healing the other, she's still gonna be careful. And no way is she letting this become a mermaids 2.0 situation. She's putting an end to whatever the hell this is before it even starts. "We're not here for any funny business."

"Boo! Never mind, everyone." One conducts the others to return to the tree. The fog gradually begins to dissipate and some of the figures flit back into their flowers. A few others still gather around them, curious to know what the commotion is about even without the promise of hijinks or bloodshed.

"...They're sprites." Lettie explains, realizing right away how strange this must look from Juno's perspective. (It should be noted that as a faerie, she is the only one who can hear the voices of the sprites. Meaning Juno's only going to see her having a conversation with glowing orbs of light... and possibly question her sanity in the process.) "Old faerie souls who thrive on playing tricks. " And sometimes murder if they're feeling particularly feisty. She puffs her cheeks at the thought. (...There's also a possibility they might've read Juno's past forest-related crimes from the moment she touched the branch.)

"Why venture into the Forbidden Forest with a human if not to off her?" The sprite sighs, as if reading her mind. The Forbidden Forest. Lettie blinks as if struck. Of course. Shit! Of course. "Unless..." The figure looks between the faerie and pirate duo before clutching her cheeks and turning a blush-pink. "Ooh la la. I see what's going on here! Running away with your sweetheart, are you love?" If they read Juno's past forest-related crimes, it's also possible they've seen their other forest-related adventures. Including a drunken night out of bringing insects back from the dead.

"What? Ah. Um. S-something like that..." Lettie manages to choke out. Technically, that's about as close to the truth as it gets. Even if referring to Juno as 'her sweetheart' is a bit... gosh, she can't even get properly embarrassed about the connotations. Because there it is. The confirmation. Lettie buckles, dropping to her knees. Unable to support the weight in her body, she sinks forward until her forehead touches the earth. "We're in the Forbidden Forest." Which also means...

"Oh my." The figures continue to hover at her side. "Are you lost?" ("Obviously she's lost!") "...Did you see her wrist?" "The bracelet?" "No..."

Lettie flops flat on her back, eyes to the sky. She'd like to become one with the earth now. Just let it reclaim her.

"...Juno, we're on Avangeline." Lettie breathes shakily. 'S'all right. We're not in any danger. Take your fuckin’ time.' If only. If only she could believe that now. (How much time has passed? What's going to happen to her now? What's going to happen to them?) She presses the heels of her palms hard against her burning eyes. "Fuck. I... I need a sec to process this."

"And I need a sec to process these coordinates." The cube announces, beaming itself down from the sky. "The keystone led us here. However, it seems the Matrix has since moved into the the city."

"The Matrix is..." Lettie repeats, clearly needing more than just one sec to process this. Of fucking course it is! Fuck! "Alright, fine! Fine. We'll search the city. It's fucking huge, though, and... if that article from before was legit..." She sits up in spite of the knots tightening in her stomach. (The entity did show her that article. And now it's here... So what connection does it have to Avangeline?) "I think I'm gonna need a disguise first." Beyond just changing her hair, that is. She glamours her hair into a darker than usual shade of purple, biting the inside of her cheek. "Juno, can I borrow one of your hoodies?"
 
This place is unlike anything the pirate has ever seen before and while that is not surprising, considering she grew up on Desdemonia (where dreams go to die and nightmares thrive), it’s even beyond anything she could have imagined. It’s beyond anything she’s ever thought to consider, having been able to explore worlds that are not her own, that do not resemble her world in shape or form. She’s walked a few forests by now and while some do have floating aquatic life or trees with pink bark (that smell like cookies) or flowers that sing… This is her first raver forest.

The lights are so alluring, so magnetizing that Juno is still stuck spinning around and around even after she’s asked Olette to help her turn the entire forest blue. She wouldn’t necessarily say that this is her favorite forest she has seen, but certainly the most fun so far.

She brushes against the droopy branches and they continue to pulse out in her favorite color. Her lips part, feet taking her in no direction in particular. It’s when the little lights peel off the branches and start dancing around her that Juno stops and finally looks down, delighting as the lights circle around her calves, torso, thread through her hair, and even swirl around her bicep. She whips her head around, searching for the faerie with a wide grin stretching from ear to ear. (This is unlike anything she has ever experienced. The childlike wonder is hard for her to contain.)

“Olette… look.” She points excited towards the little orbs, as if the faerie can’t see them. “They like me.”

As the soupy fog slithers forward and wraps around Juno’s ankles, pinpricks drag down her neck. Magical or not, enough of her experiences thus far have informed her that thick rolling fog is never a good sign. The little lights don’t seem to be able to force the pirate along the path, but she can tell that they are trying to get her to follow them into the fog. She frowns. “I don’t like this.”

That’s about when Olette pulls on her hand, putting some distance between herself and the fog, along with those enticing little lights. (Juno does remember Olette having to teach her that sometimes threats come in disguises. While the pirate could conceptualize this on the logical level, it still took at least five more tree-licking adjacent experiences before the lesson really cemented itself in her brain. Desdemonia may have been full of threats, but every threat she experienced growing up and living there had been more or less transparent and upfront. Or, at least, easier to suss out.) Olette continues on to scold her, she assumes, but it quickly becomes apparent that she’s addressing the orbs. Juno tilts her head, squinting over at one of the lights to see if she can make anything out. Is she just talking to them? (This is the faerie, after all. She talked to the cube before either of them knew it could communicate.) Or can she see something the pirate can’t?

“Ah.” The pirate nods, clutching the faerie’s hand tighter and shuffling closer to her. While Juno has always known Olette to be rather playful, she hadn’t realized it was a thing that all faeries enjoyed. (Rather darkly, she imagines that Olette might become like a sprite someday. If that even is how it works. Though she does recall the faerie threatening to haunt her by playing pranks, so she assumes there might have been some truth to that.)

Olette continues to talk to nothing and Juno passively listens to her half of the conversation, distractedly watching as a shapely phantom tries to capture her attention. Another tree, or maybe two trees that twisted themselves together over time, has a wide gap in its trunk that ripples and entices the pirate with an image of a peaceful cottage. She shakes her head and, just as she’s about to lean against the faerie to keep herself present, the faerie drops to the floor suddenly. Just like she dropped earlier.

Then she hits her knees. And now her head is pressed to the forest floor.

This is not good.

Concern ripples through the pirate, freezing her in place. She isn’t sure whether she should be more concerned for Olette or for the intel drop that they’re in the Forbidden Forest. Naïvely, she wonders if maybe that’s why the faerie is acting weird. Then again, she knows that the faerie isn’t really one to despair so quickly. Usually, she’ll try to come up with some sort of game plan. So either they’re truly fucked or—

"...Juno, we're on Avangeline."

“Oh.” The pirate drops down to her ass, sitting right beside the faerie. This is that fancy ass world that Olette comes from. (The raver forest makes sense now.) While Olette obviously doesn’t appear overwhelmed in the excited sense, Juno still doesn’t know exactly how to interpret her reaction. Or what to even say. So she says nothing and scoots a little closer, just as the cube beams down with an update.

She rolls her eyes. Of course the other little shit is on the move, because it’d be too much to ask for some fucking accuracy. Still, the pirate doesn’t get too caught up in her annoyance, still concerned for Olette as she bolts upright and barely restrains the hysteria from her tone. Her brow stitches together as the faerie rapidly rattles off an action plan and Juno shakes her head.

“I mean, yeah, you can borrow a hoodie.” Juno even sheds the coat she’s wearing so that she can pull off her hoodie, but she doesn’t hand it over to the faerie just yet. Instead she gestures for the faerie to scoot closer to her and, once she’s close enough, Juno scoops her into her lap, holding her close. She then drapes the hoodie over Olette’s thighs. “But… You’re always telling me to slow down.” More or less. “Maybe you should slow down. Take your minute.”

She gently brushes her thumb over the faerie’s sparkly cheek, before pressing her head against her chest, stroking her dark purple hair. (She does like the faerie’s darker, more striking looks, if she’s being honest. But now is not the time for her to get caught up in a gay fantasy.)

“Actually,” the cube coughs awkwardly, startling Juno as she forgot that it was there. “You do need to skedaddle. The Matrix’s position is…” Despite having the emotional intelligence of, well, a cube, it trails off when Juno shoots it a fierce glare. “I’ll, ah, just…” The cube takes the hint and shuts up, then disappears. Whether or not it makes itself invisible or actually blips off, Juno doesn’t know. She also doesn’t care.

She sighs, then presses her nose against the top of Olette’s head, cocooning her with her embrace. The lights of the forest seem less magical when the faerie’s mood is indecipherable and heavy. Though Juno doesn’t think she has anything to say that will fix whatever is going on, she hopes the faerie understands she isn’t alone. Whatever she’s experiencing, Juno’s here. She’s got her. (“We’ll be waiting for you, Olette.”) A shiver ripples up her spine. She squeezes her tighter. ‘I won’t let anything get you. I’m here.’

Even if there are things out there that might be too big for even Juno to fight, she’s not willing to give up on Olette no matter how impossible the odds. She presses her lips to the top of her head then pulls back to get a better look at the woman in her arms. “Whenever you’re ready.” She offers a smile and smooths out Olette’s purple tresses. Daringly, unthinkingly, she finally returns the forehead kiss Olette once bestowed on her. “I can even carry you, if you want. Whatever you need. I'm here.”
 
'You've already taken one too many minutes if you ask me.' The sassy voice in Lettie's head chastises. However, the feeling of Juno's hands gently cradling her head effectively smothers the sound and the kiss she presses to her forehead proceeds to knock the voice clean out with a sucker punch. (Typical of Juno, really, to punch that voice in her head in the face... even if she doesn't realize it.) Juno kissed her. Juno kissed her. Juno kissed her.

Lettie doesn't say anything-- can't say anything-- her rosy cheeks and wings baking with warmth. Instead, the faerie frantically nods her head and allows herself to receptively melt into Juno's embrace. Of course she can take a minute. One single minute isn't going to change the fate she's been sealed to. Besides, there are far worse ways to waste her minutes away. Any time spent with Juno is not a moment wasted. And now she's gone and worried her for no reason! Well... of course she has her reasons. But they're reasons she can't say. If this is their last adventure together, she doesn't want it to be permeated with this air of weirdness and uncertainty. For Juno, she wants this visit to be special. And she can make it special, lest her demons catch up with her too soon. There are people and places in Avangeline that make her the faerie that she is today. There are places where she's has some fun memories, places with magnificent views... places it might be nice to show her.

The responsible thing would also be to show Juno around so she's better equipped to navigate the enormity that is Avangeline just in case the mission to find the Matrix outlives her. Introduce her to Ravan and Ariel, who could also help her out... at least that way she's not leaving her completely alone.

"Pffft. That's okay." Lettie responds to her offer to carry her with a smile. This one is much less forced-- smiling at Juno's surprising gentleness isn't a difficult task. "It took me by surprise is all. I don't know what to expect." She stares off into the distance, squinting. She can just make out the silhouette of the city among the clouds. It looks small from a distance, but up close... she has a feeling that Juno will be in for a shock. As one tiny faerie, her world is pretty expansive in comparison. "It's been so long since I laid eyes on it, y'know? For a while I thought I'd never be able to come back again. And if time moves faster here compared to other worlds, there's a possibility that everyone I know could be dead or..." Gazing down into her lap, she's at a loss. Or she could be dead. That option is much more probable. But the possibility of Ravan or Ariel dying or growing old during her absence did rattle her from time to time. Their life-spans are long, though, and so it would take Avangeline's minutes ticking away at hyper-speed for that to be a possibility. "I-- I think I'm just nervous about what we're going to find while we're here. But I know that no matter what, I've still got you." She squeezes Juno's hand. It's just like the jumpsuit thing, isn't it? She's got to see what's underneath in order to move forward. Even if she doesn't like the answer. "...I'm ready now."

Lettie tugs the hood over her head, sinking back into the shadow it offers her as they cross the creaky wooden bridge that leads into the city from the forest. On their left is a massive turquoise waterfall which faintly sprays them. Down below to their right, mermaids can be seen lounging on shoreside rocks, brushing and arranging flowers in their annoyingly perfect locks. (Fucking mermaids.) Ahead of them, regal buildings and structures stretch high, high up into the soft blue sky above. (Each stony, castle-like surface is teeming with overgrown ivy, flowers, and in some cases crystal clusters.) A few sections of the massive floating city are divided into rocks that vary in size and stand individually from the rest. Some of them contain mansions and glitzy company buildings while others only hold parks with grand trees, flowers, and sculptures. On many of them, an abundance of glowing leaves and flowers hang over the sides. From where they're standing, there are some of these rocks where they can only see the underside of them, with crystal encrusted roots. In some cases, some of these flying islands hover so high above them that all they can see is a faint outline through the clouds. The tops of old, titanic trees can be seen growing through the open tops of some of the buildings.

The largest is a tree made from a striking silver crystal. Around its trunk are several rounded balconies, with stations that allow access to every tier of Avangeline's expansive city. (This is where they're headed. In one striking similarly to Desdemonia, it's the especially pompous and self-righteous ones who live up top in their sparkly, eye-catching spires.) Another option for getting around is the vertical train rolling soundlessly on halo-gold tracks. (It's essentially like if trains and elevators had a baby.) Lastly, there's also the high-tech airships. A few of these can be seen floating among some of the upper islands. However, she's heard that the silver-tree system is a lot quicker. With wings, she hasn't really had to rely on these systems as much. That said...

"Juju, you gotta be really careful where you step here. This city is designed with the winged residents in mind." Lettie mentions, grabbing the pirate's hand. (They'll get separated otherwise! To say it's a big fucking city would be an understatement.) "...It's not too uncommon to hear of visiting humans falling over the edge never to be seen again." They put up railings along the walkways, of course, but the lower they go the flimsier the safety precautions. Most of the elders can't be bothered to care about this issue, usually claiming that the humans that appear do so by accident-- using leaked demonic rituals and those 'damned faerie circles'-- and consider it unnatural for them to exist in the land of the divine and semidivine. Over time, though, a few humans have managed to survive and make Avangeline their home. Lettie's always admired them for their resilience. ( And Juno is nothing if not resilient.) There's the angels and the demons. The humans. And then faeries have been kind of stuck somewhere in the realm between them all. "Stay close to me, okay?"

Most of the residents they pass by on the streets are angels or demons that have strictly white or black wings-- none of them sharing Lettie's flashy, colorful qualities. It's rather quiet and serene up here. (The lower they go, the noisier it will become.) Tugging on the hoodie string, she holds her breath as she leads them to one of the longitude terminals-- which is a grainy, digital screen sitting within a fancy frame. She taps through the screen's prompts quickly, entering the coordinates to take them to the silver tree. (The only latitude terminal.) A circle appears on the display and she draws the necessary glyph inside within it. The screen flashes twice before opening up like a door. Lettie pulls them through, bringing them onto one of the silver tree's balconies. When it closes behind them, they stand before another screen. Lettie repeats the process-- only this time she's selecting the second-lowest tier from a long menu of options. "Normally I fly to get around... but these things have definitely made life on a floating city convenient." She admits, trying to talk to distract from her thoughts. "Like it can be a total pain to fly from the bottom to the top for work." It hasn't changed much, either. Meaning that a thousand years likely haven't passed since she last stepped foot on Avangeline or anything.

They step through the terminal once again. This time, they turn around and while they're still on a balcony attached to the silver tree, it's notable that this balcony is wired and rusted-- as if everything had deteriorated or severely downgraded from where they were before. The city here is much darker-- illuminated primarily by a rainbow of different colored lights shining through the tightly packed windows lining each side of the street. The space between the left and right sides of the street is so narrow that if two people leaned far enough outside of their windows, they could probably high-five or come pretty damned close to it. It's visibly apparent that they squished as many buildings and small businesses as they could under here. (The residents who fly by are also much more colorful. While maybe one other person's wings resemble Lettie's out of the residents they've seen thus far, most of them wear brighter make-up and styles compared to those higher up.) What doesn't change is the abundance of plant life-- between each of the windows are streams of ivy and wisteria. Through many of the windows they can see trees and flower bushes growing within the residences.

"As you can see, it's gonna be a freaking nightmare to find the Matrix here." Lettie says, keeping her voice low as the guides Juno down the street. Her heart pounds harder as they get closer and closer to where she's leading them. (Though that could just as easily be the vibrations from the music getting to her.) It's been so long. "I'm gonna check in with a friend real quick... just to get a sense of what's going on before we investigate. It'll be safer that way." Then she brings them to a stop in front of a building that has a distinctly red glow to it. There's a faintly flickering neon sign overhead that reads 'Bleeding Hearts' with a smaller sized 'Flowers and Records' underneath in all caps. A display of ethereal flowers hangs in the window, shaped to look like a red heart wearing black headphones, with everlasting red petals magicked to float down and resemble a bleeding heart. Underneath is a display of bouquets meant for purchase, wrapped haphazardly in clear plastic. From within, they can hear extremely loud and heavy music pumping away. The sign on the door reads that they're closed... but Lettie takes Juno's hand and glyphs them both inside. This place is familiar in the good way. The music is louder than her thoughts, the smell of flowers mingled with freshly brewed coffee (and just a hint of antique dust) close enough to home.

"Dude, didn't you read the fucking sign? Fuck off, we're closed." A voice snaps loud enough to be heard over the music. A woman with dark hair and black feathered wings stands at the other end of the shop, arranging records in a bin. She turns around just as Lettie lowers her hood and ends up dropping the record she's holding before she can repeat herself. Her dark brown eyes squint before growing wide. "Wait... Lettie? Is... is that really you?" She rubs her eyes. Then she draws a glyph to quiet down the music and snaps to draw the shutters over the store and shield them all from view. "Or am I just dreaming or some shit?"

"I mean..." Lettie laughs nervously before striking a pose, sweeping her arms out to frame her mostly hoodie-engulfed body as if it's a masterpiece. (Yep, so sexy.) What is she even doing anymore? She doesn't know. It's like she's handed her controls over to a team of monkeys. The faerie proceed to flips her hair over her shoulder sassily. "I can see why you think you're dreaming. I'm probably too good to be true."

"Fuck." Ariel breathes, at a loss. Then she wastes no time in rushing over and sweeping the tiny faerie up into a tight embrace. "Fuck... Yeah. It's you alright."

"It's me." Lettie confirms softly, sinking against her. She blinks hard to fight off tears. (She kinda feels like she's the one who's dreaming right now.)

"Lettie, you little shit. You up and vanished without a trace for two months. Where were you?" Ariel pulls her away by the shoulders, then, glancing concernedly at her patched up cheek. "Were you in some kind of trouble? For a while the headlines were scaring me, making a real fuss about it being related to..." She shakes her head exasperatedly. Lettie swallows hard. (Two months is a lot... but it isn't outright damning either.) "Made me sick. They just turned it into a spectacle... and we've had to deal with all the reporters and stalkers in the meantime. Hence the grouchy attitude earlier. Sorry for that." She taps her hood gently. "It's gonna be okay. It's quitted down a lot by now... you know how it is. The news moves so damned fast." Especially with missing faerie cases. That goes unspoken. She exhales audibly, frustrated. "Kinda went suspiciously fast this time, if you ask me. It's like nobody gives a shit anymore. Ravan and I have been worried sick."

"I would've contacted you if I could... but I've been far away. Like far, far away." Lettie sighs. (She's been trying not to think about them, how her absence might have impacted them, and now... she's got to face the music.) "It's... a really long story. The short version is that I've been traveling across the worlds?" Then she skips back a few paces, grabs Juno by the arm, and brings her forward. Arial glances her up and down curiously, the question clear in her eyes. 'Who is this?' (The expression on her face already says she approves of her look... and of course she does, with her love for dark and bold aesthetics.) "This is Juno, by the way. She's a badass pirate captain from another world... and without her, I'd totally be dead right now." Lettie grins up at Juno reassuringly. Then she gestures to Ariel. "Juno, this is Ariel. She was kinda like my big sister growing up. And without her, I'd also be totally dead right now." The faerie nods, confident in this assessment. "She owns this store and lives in the upstairs apartment with her brother, Ravan." Ravan who Juno has technically met without actually meeting? This is gonna be weird.

"Your badass big sister, right?" Ariel raises her eyebrows, jokingly jealous that Juno got a 'badass' in her intro. Then she smiles invitingly, waving them towards a few of the tables in the back. "A pirate captain from another world, eh? I think I'm gonna have to hear more about that. Ravan's out right now, so how 'bout I make us some coffee? You guys can get me caught up on the short version of your long story while we wait."
 
Juno has felt small throughout her entire life, for one reason or another. The feeling of being insignificant and replaceable is not new. Being on Avangeline just takes these feelings to new heights. The colors, the residents, the life breathed into every square inch of this place takes the pirate aback and if it weren’t for her grasp on the faerie’s hand, she either would have ended up lost already or it would be her as an indistinguishable splatter across the valley below. The pirate swallows hard as she is paraded through this behemoth city, remaining quiet as she takes it all in.

‘This is where she comes from.’ A world of ravers. Even the underbelly of the city has more glitz and glam than Juno has ever seen on Desdemonia. ‘I can’t hold a candle to any of this shit.’ While she’s mostly always been aware that Olette has a home that isn’t on Lady, while she’s been acutely aware that someday Olette will leave her to return to that actual home, seeing it with her own eyes puts it all into perspective. In a way that the nightmares or Olette’s few stories never could. ‘I couldn’t ever ask her to stay.’ And the thought had occurred to her a few times. Marjorie even floated the idea on occasion when they were alone, but Juno never wanted to seriously consider it and she’s glad she never has. How could Olette ever want to leave this place behind?

An even bolder question, one she’s scared that she’s even entertaining, is how can she even fit into a place like this? If it’s her who stays with Olette, rather than vice versa, is this even a world she can fit into? With all that it is… Wouldn’t Olette have more fun on Avangeline if she were with someone who could actually enjoy it, too? Juno would just be an anchor pulling her down if she were to ever consider relocating. She stamps out the idea before it can even take root. Hell fucking no.

Absently, she brushes her fingers through her shaggy locks, briefly pushing her bangs out of her face as she follows the faerie inside of a flower shop… and combination record store? (What kind of records do they sell here? Criminal records? Olette has admitted to being a criminal before, she supposes.) The flowers bump along to the affronting music, shaking out their petals and causing the loose ones to drift gently to the floor. Despite the harsh, music or maybe because of it, it's cozy and the necromancer feels less out of place here compared to the other places she has seen so far. In a place like this, it's easier to picture herself on Avangeline.

Juno remains at the door while Olette catches up with the dark haired woman, observing her from behind and quietly appreciating her aesthetic. Then, all too soon, the attention shifts over to her as the faerie grabs her hand and pulls her forward to introduce her. The pirate waves when her name is mentioned, but remains quiet otherwise, unsure of whether or not there even is more to say. In her mind, Olette's brief synopsis is enough.

Ariel, at least, doesn't press this as she busies herself with the coffee and allows them to get settled at the table in the back. And, to be honest, Juno is so preoccupied by the thought of coffee and the smell of the fresh grounds, that she barely registers the mention of Ravan or that she's met him already. (Sort of.) Juno doesn't even realize she's supposed to fill the silence until Ariel looks over to her and wordlessly indicates that she's listening. Oh. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat as uncertainty closes around her throat, unsure of what's expected of her and not wanting to fuck this up. Ordinarily, she might not care so much but Ariel is important to Olette, so she's important to Juno by extension.

“Yeah, uh, Olette…” She pauses, recalling how Ariel referred to her as Lettie, and looks over to the faerie. Experimentally, she tests out the exclusive nickname. “Lettie, I guess? Crashed on my ship and left a faerie sized dent on the deck.” Details are important. Olette (Lettie?) always gets upset when her stories lack details. “And we’ve been traveling across worlds ever since.”

She belatedly realizes that this is essentially what Olette (Lettie) has already said, causing her cheeks to burn. Fuck. Ariel doesn’t seem particularly annoyed or irritated about this, however. If anything, though Juno is assured she's listening, she does seem more focused on measuring out the coffee grounds. This gives Juno a chance to start over. She takes a breath and reaches for Olette’s hand under the table, rubbing her thumb with her own. “Uh, 'cause the worlds are fuckin' corrupted wastelands for nightmares. Or most of them are and that corruption is spreading to previously uninfected worlds. I guess the corruption makes a world's magic core go haywire? So we’ve kinda been fighting it off and healing the damage done to the cores... which are shaped like cubes.” Details.

“Uh.” Ariel pauses mid-glyph and turns to look back at Olette (Lettie), bewildered. Understandably, it's probably a lot to take in. Juno doesn't even think she's fully processed it and this has been her life for two Avangeline months. The other woman finishes the glyph and struggles to find her words. “That’s… surprising. A pirate captain and a faerie.” She whistles, a mixture of confusion and astonishment. “How did…?” She gestures between both of them to finish the question.

“It wasn’t our fuckin' choice.” Juno reaches for the cup of steaming coffee when it’s handed to her and Ariel sets out a small pitcher of milk (?) and a shaker full of sugar. She skips those, as per usual, and drinks the coffee straight, relishing in the pleasant burn from too hot hot coffee. “Thanks. Anyway, we were chosen. No prophecy bullshit, just mere fucking convenience. Wrong place, wrong time.” She pauses and considers what she’s just admitted, then squeezes Olette's (Lettie) hand under the table. “The only good thing about this has been Olette— Lettie.”

“Even if she brought that little asshole into my life.” Still looking at the faerie, she grins; then blushes when she realizes that Ariel is still there. There and watching them with a quietly raised brow, hiding her amusement behind her cup. “But, uh, we’ve been managing. Yeah.”

Ariel sticks out her lower lip in consideration, then slowly takes her place at the small table. (It's small enough that their elbows are all practically touching.) “Right. Okay." She takes a sip then sets it down, fingers laced around the cup as it steams. "Corruption. Healing worlds. Cubes. And you’re a pirate captain from another world… Which world?”

“Shithole called Desdemonia." She shrugs. "Was the first world that got infected, I think. Totally fuckin' overrun by nightmares and necromancy now." She looks around the shop, knowing a place like this would never exist on her world. A place like this couldn't exist on Desdemonia. And though the windows are covered now, she stares at them like she can see the dazzling city beyond. She sinks lower into her seat and blows out a puff of air. "Nothing like fuckin' Avangeline."

The conversation lapses into silent sips of coffee after that, Juno not really thinking there's more to say and Ariel clearly trying to figure out the best way to digest this information. Questions appear in her eyes, though she isn't quick to ask them all at once. She leans back in her seat, nodding idly. "Fuck. Geez, this is a lot to take in." She laughs breathily and runs her hands through her hair, her eyes staring off to some far away place. Then she looks at Juno, eyeing her before she asks what is obviously the most pressing question of them all. "So you're a pirate." Juno nods. "How long have you been a pirate?"

“Dunno." Surprisingly, the question causes Juno to smile. It's such a mundane question compared to her others, and the pirate finds herself grateful for it because of that. "Maybe five or six years? Give or take. Probably somewhere within that realm.” Ariel leans in, encouraging Juno to say more than she might ordinarily. That encouragement, in combination with the coffee, helps to keep her talking. Plus this isn't something she really minds talking about. “It wasn’t intentional. Didn’t join a crew or anything. Just, uh, got caught stealing a ship. Thought I could sell it in parts to set me up decent, but shit bananas. You know.”

Ariel's expression says she doesn't know, though there's nothing pushy about her confusion. No demand for an explanation. Maybe that's why Juno continues on. (Plus, she realizes she's never told this to Lettie (Olette) and she figures she might be curious to know. Even if she never asks.)

“Uh, well… I got caught and blew up an entire hangar full of airships to escape.” Airships that all belonged to the stewards, specifically. After she realized the stewards couldn't be changed from within, she left the academy in flames. Literally burnt out. And she never would have been caught had Terra not confessed to her mother. Though Juno’s never really blamed her for ratting her out. The commodore is a frightening woman, on par with the duchess. “Still managed to steal that first ship, too. Best one in the fleet at the time. That all got me a reputation and a top spot on the most wanted list.” She spent a lot of those early months of ‘freedom’ on the run. Isolated. No one wanted to work with her because of the heat she’d attracted so she decided to make a crew, figuring they’d also be more reliable and trustworthy than a fresh flesh crew. She was fucking right, too. She rubs her brow, recalling that time. “Hard to fuckin' do anything under those circumstance, even for a pirate. Got pretty desperate and asked for help from this powerful woman back home, Cathy?” She looks to Lettie (Olette) to confirm her name. “Yeah, she’s a duchess. She agreed to help settle things with the stewards in exchange for my services."

That’s basically the story. Many details are missing for Ariel, but Lettie (Olette) might be able to put together a more complete picture.

“So I stole shit for her.” Mostly. “Do you have any more coffee?”

"Uh, yeah." Ariel reaches backwards for the pot and then tops off Juno's cup, offering to do the same for Lettie (Olette). She then leans back against her seat, arms and wings alike both drooping at her sides. "So... you went from blowing up ships and piracy to saving the worlds. Alright." She blinks then looks over to Lettie (Olette). "Does this mean that Avangeline is trouble?"
 
Lettie, Lettie, Lettie. Obviously, Lettie is going to be blushing like a rosy sunset sky every time Juno tests out her nickname. (...And Ariel is no doubt going to take notice and tease her relentlessly for it later.) It'd probably be embarrassing to count the hours she's wondered what it might sound like coming from the pirate and it doesn't disappoint. She assumed there was a line of familiarity to 'Lettie' that Juno hadn't dared to cross when she'd prompted her with it in the past. The faerie wasn't going to push it incessantly or anything-- Olette is fine and was what Juno was used to at the time (stars know that pirate has trouble with names as it is) but soft, fuzzy waves of pure happiness hit her now, hearing Juno trying it out. They're among friends and Juno's showing an interest in treating her the way her friends do. It's sweet. Sweet like Juno saying that the only good thing to come out of this mess has been her. Sweet like the cream and four sugar cubes she's dropping into her coffee now. Plink, plink, plink, plink. (The tiny cubes dissolve and leave swirling trails of edible stars and glitter behind, floating to the top like a creamy coffee galaxy. Even the food is a production of fantasy on Avangeline.) While she knows well at this point Juno doesn't take her own with any sugar-- or anything for that matter-- (how she does this the faerie will never know) she nudges her and points at it to show her.

Mirroring Ariel, Lettie also leans in as Juno shares how she became a pirate, absorbed in her story. While Juno herself points out the fact that Desdemonia and Avangeline couldn't be any more different (and similarly, the pirate and faerie duo have their obvious differences as well) she does find it fascinating that it's all because she got caught stealing a ship. Meanwhile, Lettie had sort of tried to steal a ship of her own... but rather than taking it apart to sell, she'd been trying to fix it up. (Only she didn't get to make her escape before getting caught... if she did, maybe she'd have become some kind of Avangeline faerie pirate. Something like the world has never seen! Maybe the pirate life has been in the cards for her all along.) The explosions and whoopsy daisying into becoming a pirate is classic Juju, really. 'Got pretty desperate and asked for help from this powerful woman back home.' Lettie nods to confirm Cathy's (fake) name when Juno looks to her. The duchess was one of Juno's few connections, one of her means of getting by on Desdemonia... and she severed that tie for her. Made that sacrifice for her. The weight of that settles over her shoulders once more. I hope she doesn't regret it. Choosing a lost cause.

"...I don't think so?" Lettie offers, biting her lip uncertainly. There's no telling what could happen, of course, but she's never gotten the impression that Avangeline, the thriving giant that it is, is in any danger. However, it could easily fall if there is some hint of corruption infecting the depths of one of their many forests or groves that they don't know about. (Well... with the exception of the corruption that already lives at Avangeline's core. The corruption that is far more bitter than the way Juno takes her coffee.) "But who knows? I might jinx it if I'm too confident." Like she jinxes it every single fucking time. Ariel raises her eyebrows. "We saw pieces of the past. Desdemonia used to be a thriving metropolis and it fell fast. But I think if we keep doing what we're doing, no more worlds will have to fall like that. Avangeline should be fine. We're here right now mainly because we're trying to find someone. They stole one of the cores we healed recently and apparently decided to come here. We need to get it back."

"Stars. Sounds like you two have been through a lot in those two months..." Ariel shakes her head and collects Lettie's coffee cup from the table. Then she makes a gesture, inviting Juno to help herself to the rest of the pot if she wants. "Might not do any good, but I'll ask my regulars if they've seen anything when I open up shop later."

"Oh, yeah. Honestly, it's been more like a year for us? Maybe even more than a year. At some point I lost track. Time moves differently from world to world, so I had no idea how much time passed on Avangeline 'till you said that." Lettie snorts and then grins knowingly at Juno. "If you met us at two months, we'd still be at each other's throats. No question." She shakes her head dramatically. "But look at us now! I trust this pirate with my life, Ariel." She pumps a fist to her chest and nods sagely. "We've built an unbreakable bond."

"I can see that. You guys are real cute." Ariel teases, causing Lettie to blush bright red. C-c-cute? The musician turns, black wings fluttering behind her, as she goes to the kitchenette to wash up. "Makes me happy to see you so passionate, Lettie." Passionate!? Is it really that obvious?

Speaking of cute... a quiet 'mew' at Lettie's feet takes her out of her flustered stupor. The faerie gasps as she feels a cotton ball of fluff brushes against her leg and she immediately pokes down to scoop up her precious uni-kitty. (She's a squishy-faced, exotic shorthair cat with a light blue unicorn horn sticking out of her forehead and wings on her back.) "Baby!" She squeals, cuddling her 'magical accident' close to her chest. While the cat doesn't necessarily lean into the cuddles, having a killer resting bitch face despite it's outward cuteness, she permits the hugs and kisses to continue without hissing or grumbling. "I was so worried about you!" The cat blinks up at her indifferently, as if to tell her she's fully capable of surviving on her own. This does nothing to squash the faerie's excitement as she holds her up proudly for Juno to see. "Juno, this is Prissy." (Short for Priscilla. Okay, okay. Princess Priscilla. Yes, she realizes it's a mouthful... which is why she gives the pirate the short version, hoping to make it easier to remember.) "My uni-kitty."

"Oh, yeah. Ravan swears she's been watching him sleep." Ariel laughs, wringing out a washcloth. "It's been freaking him out hardcore."

"Ravan's a wimp. I mean, who could possibly fear this adorable face?" Lettie says, with love and the roll of her eyes. Aw, too bad Abby isn't here with them! She knows the skeleton would be delighted to meet Prissy at long last. More than anything, though, she's relieved that they made sure to look after her when she up and disappeared. (She had no doubt in her mind that they would... Ariel and Ravan's whole family have been good to her since she was small.)

"...I shall not tol'rate this blasphemy!" At that moment, none other than Ravan appears in the shop with the grand sweep of his black cape. He immediately drops the vampirish antics, though, seeing Lettie there. (Lettie can only stare, numbly setting Prissy back down on the floor. The cat toddles off towards a pile of petals and lounges boredly in it.) "Lettie. Fuck. You're really here. I almost thought..." He looks at Ariel and then back at Lettie as if he's seen a ghost.

"No way I would joke about this, Ravan." Ariel insists sincerely, leaning back against the counter. (...Oh. She must've texted him.)

"Your hair." To say Lettie's jaw is on the floor while staring at her vampire wannabe friend (lover of all things spooky) would be an understatement. Because... "It's pink."

Ariel snorts from her spot across the room, failing to hold in peels of laughter. Ravan covers his face (which is now as pink as his hair) in his hands and groans.

"He met this demon in Dahlia Alley... gave him this ritual he thought was gonna bring you home. I mean, it's not funny." Ariel explains, though she's still struggling to hold back her laughter. "But at the same time... it totally is. I questioned it the second he brought that suspicious hair dye home. It looked fucking radioactive."

"Oh, Ravan. Ravan, no honey. We don't trust the demons in Dahlia Alley!" Lettie shakes her head, pressing a hand dramatically over her heart. "Goodness. How did you survive these two months without me?"

Lettie can tell just by the look on his face that he's struggling not to cry (effectively shattering her fucking heart in the process) and she quickly closes the distance between them to wrap him up in a tight hug. "Aw, hey. C'mere." She presses her face against his shoulder, rubbing little circles against his back. At this rate she's probably gonna cry, too... and then Juno will see her like a weepy mess. (Ravan's yet another person she's going to hurt by leaving behind if... ugh. Her guilt is dagger-shaped and it's stabbing repeatedly through her gut.) "It's okay. I'm okay." For now, anyway.

Once they catch Ravan up to speed on introductions as well as their story thus far, they end up leaving Ariel to let her open up shop and journey a tier lower to visit Lettie's apartment. (Apparently the corp stepped in when she went missing and pulled some strings with the landlord which is a pleasant surprise. She was sure that her stuff might've been dumped out on the streets and pilfered by stalkers.) When they walk in, she flips the switch to activate her pink neon lights. It's small-- a cramped fit for three people and a cat-- but thankfully she left it tidy. By one of the two windows (technically a windowed door leading to a dingy balcony littered with overgrown plants) there's a plush pink sitting chair with a quilt and fluffy heart-shaped pillow strewn over it. The center of the room is occupied by the cheap dining table and two chairs. (...She found these in an alleyway. She tried to make it look quaint with the sparkly table cloth and champagne candle centerpiece.) On one side of the room is a kitchenette and on the other is work desk with a mix of gadgets, photos, magazines, candles, and beauty supplies piled on top. (Among them is a photo of a smiling little Lettie from the day at the festival she'd told Juno about.) Looking up from the desk, it can be seen there's a platform lined with flowers where her mattress (bed) and open rack of clothes are set up. (There's no ladder or stairs leading up to this nook, since she's got the wings to fly up there.) There's hall that barely qualifies as a hall with a small space for her washer and dryer, leading to the only other room in her apartment. The bathroom. (...Truth be told, she got this place discounted because of the ghost in the sink. Upon stepping inside, she can already hear the drain rumbling.)

"Please don't break anything, Ghostie!" Lettie asks the ghost politely. (In her experience, politeness is the best approach.) "It's just me! Your favorite roommate. Sorry I've been gone for so long." Ravan, meanwhile, massages his temples at the mention of the ghost.

"...Alright, I'm gonna get changed and grab some stuff. Make yourselves at home! Help yourselves to anything that hasn't gone freaky deaky in the fridge." She aims finger-guns at Juno and Ravan before flying up to her little platform area. On the bed, she pauses upon taking notice of a note left for her with the corp's seal-- along with a number they insist she call the moment she gets home. She stills, debating the pros and cons of making such a call. The corp could be equipped with the means to find the relic fast... if they haven't found it already. That's their whole thing, isn't it? But she still has her suspicions about them, too. Now that they're on Avangeline there may be no way to avoid it. With that in mind, she props her long-dead phone down on the flower-shaped charging station. (She's got to do it... right?) The faerie hums a little tune to distract herself after that, flitting over to sort through her clothes and jewelry-- picking out various pieces that she wants to take along with her. (Accessories she wants to take with her if they ever make it off Avangeline, that is...) "...Cubey, I'm warning you right now. You better not burn my shit."

"Talking to inanimate objects again, art thee?" Ravan mocks, sinking himself down into one of the dining room chairs. ("Don't fucking test me, Ravan." Lettie has graciously glamoured his hair back to his preferred black and red for him. She can always change it back. "Cubey's not inanimate. The little bastard's pretending it doesn't know how to talk to make me look bad! Tell him, Juno.") Then he glances at Juno. "...Ah, yes. I ought to warn thee that a foul apparition liveth in the bathroom."

Meanwhile, Prissy the uni-kitty sticks to Juno like glue, mewling and rubbing against her calves... even occasionally lounging across her feet.

"Ghostie is not foul." Lettie insists. A second later, the gurgling sound from before grows louder. Then there's something that sounds like disembodied maniacal laughter and a craaaaack, making it seem as though she's spoken too soon. Jinxed again. No, no, no. But Ghostie's not evil. Just a touch... unhinged and destructive sometimes? "...They're just lonely. I'm still lacing my boots. Can one of you go check on them before they break the mirror again?"
 
The differences between Avangeline and Desdemonia start off stark, with the former world coming off as near utopian in comparison to the certified dystopia that Juno hails from. Yet, the longer she spends on this world, the more similarities she can spot. Not aesthetically or technologically or magically— Avangeline has the clear advantage in all of those categories— but the physical separation of class is apparent. Especially when they end up traveling down to one of the lowest, if not the lowest, tier. It’s nothing like the ground back home, sure, but it isn’t the ritz that is clearly accessible to those with means. It’s dingy, dank, and decrepit; no amount of neon lighting or overgrown plant life can hide that.

… And it’s still better than Desdemonia. Maybe Juno is just reaching to make herself feel better about the fact that she’ll never really fit into a world like this. There’s too much Desdemonia in her and this world wasn’t even built for someone like her. Every winged citizen is a reminder of that.

Though even with these thoughts tangling around Juno and tying her mind in knots, she tries to push them to the side. This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Olette’s been reunited with her friends, friends who are clearly family to her; she has the assurance that her world hasn’t left her behind. Juno also tries to hold onto the fact that Olette hasn’t once left her out since reuniting with Ariel and Ravan; she doesn’t try to pretend they’re just partners in this hellish mission. She talks about Juno like she’s proud of her, like she’s grateful for her and Juno knows her well enough to know she isn’t faking anything. She’s real. Juno holds onto this and pushes past her concerns.

The last of the coffee does not make it to Olette’s apartment. Somewhere in between exiting the shop and entering the terminal, Juno had downed it. Mostly just to do something while silently observing Ravan and Olette’s interaction, trying to give them the semblance of privacy to catch up. It causes her to wonder about James, whether they’d still be as tight had he not…

Juno shakes her head of the thought, disguising it as she looks around the box of an apartment. Not that she has any room to judge it and she’s not. It just is almost literally a box. It reminds Juno of the one she briefly lived in with the siblings she knows she has, but cannot remember. (She reckons they’re all dead. Life expectancies aren’t exactly long on Desdemonia. Even Juno considers herself old.)

While Ravan takes a seat at the table, Juno remains by the door, seeming to have not realized that everyone else has found their place. (How apt.) Out of curiosity, the pirate does explore the contents of the fridge and discovers there’s an entire mycelium empire within. She quickly shuts the fridge after that, wrinkling her nose at the stench. Ravan does the same from his chair, having been hit by the powerful odor as it disperses through the apartment. They lock eyes with their mirrored expressions and shake their heads. It's a brief moment of solidarity and it puts the pirate at ease. Even if Count Dorkula is the least intimidating person out there, he's Olette's best friend and, like with Ariel, Juno wants to make a good first impression.

Prissy also coughs a little, though she remains sprawled out over Juno’s boots. (Juno isn’t sure what to make of the cat. She thinks it’s weird for such a small animal to have a face horn. More accurately, it concerns her. She can only imagine the type of shit a creature like this would go through on a planet full of necromancers. The pirate might not admit it, but Prissy does trigger her protective instincts.)

When a clatter sounds from the bathroom and Juno is reminded of this apparent ‘sink ghost,’ she’s immediately curious. It’s also when the ghost is brought to her attention that she attunes herself to its energy and is startled to learn that Olette hadn’t been exaggerating about her haunted sink. ‘Why the fuck a sink?’

Juno signals to Ravan that she’s got this and scoops the weird cat from her boots, letting the animal lounge across her arm as she carries her with her. Prissy, while initially fussy over being disturbed, melts against the pirate’s arm soon after she’s found a new comfortable position. It takes the pirate all of three long steps to make her way to the bathroom, immediately spotting an apparition with a faint purple glow, crouched over the sink.

The apparition doesn’t react to Juno, but snickers as they look at their reflection in an already cracked mirror. It’s not apparent what they’re trying to accomplish, but then they toss their head back and crackles of laughter peel out from their throat, mimicking the diabolical laughter from only seconds ago.

“Muahahahaha!” The lights flicker and the shower head rattles in response. They survey the destruction and shake their head and begin muttering into a small box. “Destruction level: paltry. Unsatisfactory. Evil Laugh No. 13420 needs improvement. Evil Laugh No. 69 still remains superior.”

“What the fuck?”

The apparition doesn’t respond to the necromancer. Instead, they grab onto the faucet handles and squeeze their eyes shut. Nothing happens at first, but after a few moments the ghost's glow brightens at the same time that the toilet starts to burp at which point, Juno intervenes and grabs the apparition by the collar of their uniform work shirt, putting an end to their nonsense. The name Winifred is embroidered on an oval patch on the chest and a patch on the apparition’s sleeve reads Cloggers & Co. Screen printed on the back is what Juno can only assume is the company’s tagline. “Say deuces to deuces.”

Winifred squeaks when they’re pulled back, waving their hands and legs as Juno easily holds them above the ground. “Unhand me! Unhand me!” They attempt to scratch at Juno, but the necromancer shakes them a few times to get them to knock it off. “Wait a minute! You’re not supposed to be able to see me. Or interact with me. What gives!?”

“The fuck are you doing in a fucking sink, freak?” Juno ignores the questions in favor for her signature diplomacy.

“Freak is a title I wear like a badge of honor, fiend.” They cross their arms and stick their chin in the air with a small hrmph! “And is it not obvious what I’m doing? I’m haunting this bitch.” They specifically point to the sink, not Olette. Which is a good move on their part, because that would have ended with Olette needing to fix more than just a mirror. “Squatters rights. Now let me go.”

Ravan, meanwhile, bolts from his seat and joins Juno at the entrance to the bathroom. It’s obvious he doesn’t see or hear what she’s experiencing based on his disappointed expression. “Dost thou spot the apparition?”

“Yeah. Holding the little shit.”

“How dare! I am no shit! I defend against shits and would nary take their side.”

“Little fuck is a weirdo.” Juno lifts her arm, hoisting up Winifred despite the fact that neither Ravan or Olette can see or hear them. Prissy, on the other hand, hisses at Winifred. Winifred hisses back and Juno spreads her arms, keeping the two apart. “I’m gonna banish it. You know where she keeps candles?”

“What!? No! You cannot evict me— rent is so expensive in the afterlife. Please, I’ll do whatever you say. Whatever the lady demands!” Winifred points frantically over at Olette. “No more broken mirrors or frightening laughter when she gets up to grab water in the middle of the night.” Winifred clasps their hands together, shaking them as they beg. “Free plumbing services for as long as she stays. Anything, please, just do not banish me.”

Ravan goes to grab the candle from the dining room table and pauses when he notices Juno rolling her eyes at the air in front of her. “What dost the spirit say?”

“It doesn’t want to be banished.” Juno shrugs, indifferent. “Light the fuckin’ candle.”

Ravan doesn’t make it far before Winifred shrieks, loud enough to penetrate the barrier that ordinarily keeps apparitions from being heard by non-necromancers. The vampire wannabe claps his hands over his ears while Prissy jumps out of Juno's arms and flies up to Olette's nook. Winifred takes this moment of chaos to kick, bite, and claw at Juno, forcing her to wrestle the ghost before it escapes.( Juno should not be fighting and her ribs remind her of this each time she moves.) Eventually the shriek dies out, but Winifred's spirit does not. They pull at Juno's hair and push at her face, trying to get the pirate to let up. “Light the candle! Light the candle!” Juno shouts, mostly to Ravan, who stands dumbfounded watching the pirate wrestle with air. “Now!”

“R-Right, my bad.” The vampire antics are dropped as he rushes to the table and picks up the matchbook. Juno crashes against the balcony door, then into the desk where she slams the ghost into the clutter piled on it, pinning them in place.

“Please! I beg! The little faerie appreciates my company– I swears it, I swear.” The ghost continues to insist, growing more desperate as it becomes clear the necromancer has the upper-hand. Juno continues to ignore their pleas, not believing them for a second. Though this ghost doesn’t seem murderous like most of the others that Juno has come across, she’s no reason to trust this little shit or let them continue to bother Olette. "She's named me! I am Ghostie to her and that has to mean something!"

When Ravan indicates that the candle is ready, Juno bites her thumb and lets a few droplets of blood fall directly into the flame, causing it to flare up to the ceiling before it settles back down again. (Juno hopes that Olette is distracted enough that she missed that. She can only imagine the cheek puff she will receive if the faerie is convinced the pirate is trying to light her apartment on fire.) “That’s supposed to happen.”

However, what is not supposed to happen? Winifred escaping from Juno’s grip (look at who's the fucking butterfingers now) and disappearing down the sink drain a moment later. “Fuck.”

They have one final moment of peace before the walls begin to crack. A rusted water pipe then bursts through one of the walls, splashing water all over the floor and threatening to flood the box. Juno begins to back away from the fast spreading puddle. However, just as she does so, the puddle retreats on its own and collects together to form the shape of the apparition. At this moment, the water also stops shooting out from the pipe. 'Oh. Fuck.' The literal body of water glows purple and has two matching orbs where the eyes should be, similar to the three skeletons on her ship who can talk. "You will rue the day you ever tried to banish me, faerie!" They point accusingly towards Olette, then drape their hand over their chest. "And to think that I, Winifred Antirrhinum, would have offered you an exclusive private tour of Avangeline's entire sewage system. Now..." They pause for dramatic effect. "Prepare to become mer-food, wenches!" The pipe behind Winifred Antihistamine begins to rattle, shaking like it's about to burst, but then the ghost pauses, causing the pipe to pause as well, as they cross their watery arms over their chest in consideration. "Unless... you apologize and swear fealty to me and the inter-world plumbers union."
 
Lettie studies her selection of necklaces with the focus of a scientist studying samples, setting aside chokers and other pieces that will compliment her heart-shaped locket. She smiles fondly at her favorite earrings-- dangly stars, hoops made to look like flowery tree branches, and translucent butterfly wings. There are also the color-changing orbs with dried lilies inside. Their colors synch to music and they're extra special because Ariel customized them especially for her. (While earrings aren't exactly practical for the mission, they're important gifts she's received over the years. If she makes it out and this is really her last visit to Avangeline, she wants to make sure to have them with her. Sentimental keepsakes to remind her of the good memories here.) Once she has those secure in a velvet drawstring bag, she tosses it into her magic circle and sweeps her hands together with an air of satisfaction. She'd given this exact scenario a lot of thought in the early days, having spent sleepless nights listing all of the things she'd have packed with her had she understood that her day at work was actually an extended work trip. With that in mind, she selects a perfume bottle (she sacrificed her only bottle in Mammy's cottage of horrors, rest in peace) and a few different colors of nail polish (spilt after being used to paint Albert's claws, rest in peace) and considers that she'd also gone her emergency skincare set fairly quickly. (The skeletons obviously do not have skin that needs moisturizing... but Lettie let them use some of her kits anyway for a much needed spa day.) Of course, she's got to get to her bathroom in order to sort through her things there.

A scream pierces the air, drawing the faerie out of her thoughts. Lettie winces and presses her hands over her ears just as a fleeing Prissy bumps against her back. Turning to cuddle and console her frightened kitty, she peeks over the edge of her nook just in time to see Juno wrestling with... nothing (or rather something she can't see) knocking over a number of items on her desk in the process. (Ah, she hadn't gotten the chance to sort through that shit yet!) She purses her lips, having been too distracted to keep up with Juno and Ravan's conversation thus far. Why are they trying to light a candle again? It'd probably be naive to assume they're just trying to combat the rank stench emanating from the fridge with her pink champagne candle.

"What's--" Lettie starts, but stops when Prissy interrupts her with a hiss. Her unicorn horn and wings are glowing defensively, meaning she's feeling threatened by something. The faerie carries her deeper into the nook and plops her down on her fluffy cat bed, hushing and petting her in attempt to calm her down. (There is a reason those elders wanted to get rid of her beyond Prissy just looking a little strange... her magic can be an eensie bit wonky and catastrophic (no pun intended) when she's in a mood.) There have been a number of occasions where she's returned to find that Ghostie and Prissy had gotten into an eventful magic fight during the day, leaving her with a mess to either clean up or completely ignore by lying flat on the floor among it. In fact, she's surprised that her place is this tidy with that in mind. (Did Ravan do some cleaning while he was here to check in on Prissy...? Aw. Wait--? Is Ghostie talking?)

"Ghostie...?" Lettie blinks. She looks from Juno, to Ravan, and then to the collection of purple water that she can only assume is Ghostie. Winifred Antirrhinum? (That shaking pipe would have been more threatening if her life on Avangeline weren't already in the toilet.) "Banish you? What are..."

"Don't 'Ghostie' me you little--" Ghostie-- er, Winifred's-- eyes flash like security alarms.

"I would advise thee holdeth thy tongue. If thee sland'r the faerie, thee sland'r me." Ravan steps in front of her (sweeping his cape with the same flourish Lettie flutters her wings-- they've always been extra like this) putting himself between her and Winifred. "And then thee wouldst have to fight me."

"Okay, no. No one has to fight anyone, let's just--"

"You wanna go, bloodsucker!?" Winifred balls their watery fists and raises them, waving them around while bouncing from foot to foot like they're the idle animation of a character in a fighting game.

"Muahahaha! Brace thyself, fiend." Ravan laughs darkly, drawing a complex glyph. A red, glowing circle draws itself in the floor around him. (Gee. He must be really excited to have been called a 'bloodsucker'. Fits his image and all that.) "Art thee prepared to taste the fires of the seventh circle?"

"Oh, that was pretty good laugh. But it's no match for Evil Laugh No. 69!" Winnifred challenges Ravan's weird with even more weird. "Muahahaha! ...HA!"

From there, what Lettie can only describe as a major nerd-off ensues as the two bark exaggerated evil laughs at each other. Ravan completely forgets about his drawn glyph in the process and, sitting incomplete in the air for long enough, it simply dissolves. (...At least they're not destroying the place. The thing about living in a tiny apartment is that it's not an appropriate spot for a brawl. It if takes enough damage the ceiling is liable to come crumbling down on their heads.) Lettie presses a hand to her forehead, at a loss, trading an incredulous look with Juno before flying out from her nook and settling down between Ravan and the ghost.

"Ghostie-- Winnie... Can I call you Winnie?" Lettie holds her hands up to show she means no harm, trying the amicable approach. Anything that won't bust the pipes. This may be her last time in her apartment... but she'd prefer not to leave it a complete wreck, just in case. (She doesn't have the money to pay for any damages if she does. Then again, that's going to be the least of her problems if she ends up stuck here.)

"My friends call me Winnie." Winifred sniffs, rolling their glowing orbs. Then they scoff. "Well, they would if I had any friends."

"My friends call me Lettie." Lettie flicks finger-guns at the watery manifestation of the soul that's been haunting her bathroom for years. "I like your... purple. It matches my purple!" The faerie glamours her purple hair to be a slightly lighter purple, so that she more closely resembles the ghost. "I think there's been a big misunderstanding. Let's talk this out."

"Miss. Under. Standing?" Winifred hums. Oh, not this again. They wave their fingers at her, sprinkling her with water. "Fine, talk."

"We've built a rapport, haven't we? You've been my roomie since I was seventeen--" Lettie starts, wiping her face with her sleeve.

"Exactly! I kept you company through your whole teenage angst phase." Winifred sets their hands on their hips, the pipe rattling menacingly again. "...All the dark make-up and emo music. And this is how you thank me? With banishment!?"

Lettie sucks in a sharp breath, attempting to maintain her pleasant smile. She does not need to hear anything more about her teenage angst phase. Nor do Ravan or Juno. (True, the ghost did keep her company. Mostly by shaking the sink or flapping the toilet seat whenever she cried in the shower... it got her to stop, yeah, but mainly because it scared the shit out of her.) She never took care of the haunting-- mostly because she didn't have the time or resources. After a while she just got used to it.

"I wasn't trying to banish you. They're just trying to keep me safe." Lettie looks back at Ravan and Juno. "Right?"

"You deserve banishment. Squatting in a lady's bathroom isn't right." Ravan earns himself a cheek-puff and elbow to the ribs with that one. He just shrugs in response. "...It's creepy." It is pretty creepy.

"Says the guy who's wanted a coffin bed since he was five." Lettie fires back through her teeth. "I bet they don't watch me or anything... right? You just want to know how sinks work. And, uh... how they break." She nods, sincerely hoping that this is the case. "Besides, I'm technically not even living here full time anymore. I've got a room on Lady Vengeance now. Right Juno?" She blushes and continues to nod, a bit faster now. "...Let's just agree to let Winnifred stay so they don't bust the pipes. Okay?"

Ping, ping, ping! Lettie perks up when she hears her phone waking up on the charging stand. Ah, shit... she no doubt has an avalanche of messages to sort through. "Alright. Lemme check my messages and make a call. Then I'll be ready to go." She waves at Winnifred, Juno, and Ravan over her shoulder. "No more fighting. Please?"

"Lady Vengeance... that's thy ship, isn't it? Badass." Ravan nods with approval. Then he glances back and forth between the nook and Juno. "Twas kind of you to offer her a room." It seems like he wants to say something more-- but then he looks at Winifred, who is still standing there watching them. "...What art thee still doing there? Return to your sink, fiend."

"I..." Winnifred fidgets. "I don't know how to return." Then they point at Juno, spraying more water across the apartment. "...You need to fix this! You're the one who brought me out!"
 
“I didn’t actually…” Juno doesn’t get to finish that sentence before the ghost starts tossing accusation her way, pointing their watery digits at her. Flecks spray over her face and she frowns, unimpressed. “The fuck are you going on about? I didn’t do shit.” Aside from a harmless threat to banish Weenie and starting the ritual, Juno has done nothing. She hasn’t even used her necromancy since healing her hand, as she promised. (Never mind that she also promised not to fight. Technically she promised to not needlessly fight and the ghost started it in this case.) The necromancer crosses her arms and lifts her scarred brow. A slight smirk creeps on her lips. “You fucked up, didn’t you?”

“No!” They insist. Immediately, half their body droops back into a puddle. Yet they don’t back down. With their one good arm, they attempt to scoop themselves back into shape and it holds for exactly one second, then they’re back to being a half puddle, one orb-eye sadly floating into Juno’s boot. “I didn’t. I did not. I am perfection incarnate. Immortally so.” They nod, tossing more water at Juno and Ravan. “This never would have happened if you hadn’t stuck your nose into other people’s haunts.”

Juno rolls her eyes and decides to ignore Weenie in favor of Ravan. (It is admittedly weird to see him in the flesh or even experience the realness of him. Olette’s imagination does not capture this dork half as well as the dork-pire himself does.) “What were you saying?”

“Ah, I remembereth not.”

A prolonged silence passes between them. Juno pointedly ignores looking at Weenie and also finds it uncomfortable to just stare at Ravan, so she busies herself with the desk. At first looking over the assortment of things, then trying to organize it. Well, she at least adjusts the things she knocked over and feels a twinge of guilt upon noticing the broken picture frame with the image of little Olette. ("It was blonde. It was always blonde back then.")

She picks it up, holding it level to her eyes. Olette looks like a carbon copy of her mother in this picture, save for the wings and the flowers in her hair. (For some reason, she can’t really picture Olette’s mother with flower adorned hair.) And she looks happy. Juno’s about to turn and ask Ravan something, but she catches the flash of mischief in his eyes and stops herself. She’s about to set the picture down, too, when two sad purple orbs slide between her feet.

“Please!” Weenie sobs. “I am not meant for this life. Free me from the burden of this corporeal form.”

“Best I can do is banish you.”

“But the faerie— Lettie, said I could stay! This is mine home. Mine lair. Mine castle!”

“Well, I’m not a fuckin' spirit magician.” Banishment only requires some wards. To keep Weenie intact and also exorcise them from the water... Juno's not confident she can manage that. The number of times Juno has successfully worked with spirits is… Well, admittedly, thanks to this mission, it’s growing but each time has required Olette’s assistance. The times she’s worked with spirits on her own were near death experiences. She won’t do that to the faerie for the sake of some ghost she doesn’t give a shit about. “You fucked yourself, Weenie.” Before Weenie can say anything about the bastardization of their nickname, she turns back to Ravan. (Slyly, she also slips the photo of Olette into her pocket. Because her companion might want it, obviously.) “Find me a bucket.”

Ravan nods without question and searches through the kitchenette for an appropriate vessel. Weenie, of course, has several points to raise. “A bucket!? First, you slander my honor— claiming I am a little shit— then you try to banish me at the false behest of Lettie, my roommate and soul-advisor.” Okay, Juno’s pretty sure that last part isn’t true. “Forcing my spirit into water— out of sheer panic and fear for my immortal soul— and now I am to be bucketed!? You deserve to be bucketed, captain poo-poo face.”

“It’s called compromise. It fuckin’ blows, right?” Juno shakes her head, at least grateful she doesn’t have to explain the purpose of the bucket. “Test my patience and we might accidentally pour you down the drain. Then you might really fuse with a little shit.”

"Noooo!" The puddle sloshes around, merely slapping Juno's boots. "Please, I beg. Do not turn me into my natural enemy. The bucket will be just fine."

At this point, Ravan comes over with an emptied trash can that he’s wiping with a lemony-smelling wipe. (Juno already knows this isn’t edible but she’s damn tempted to try.) She then directs Ravan to help her scoop the watery ghost into the bucket. Clumsily, they use their arms and feet to push the water around and the entire time Weenie weeps and mourns, but the pipe sticking out of the wall only shakes a few times. For the time being, Weenie doesn’t seem to be inclined to throw a full blown temper tantrum with the pirate's threat lingering in the air. “Maybe think twice before you go possessing fucking water, you fuckin’ moron.”

They at least let Weenie choose where they want to be placed while they’re away. Even so, even with the entire box as their kingdom, they dejectedly claim the bathroom will be fine as it is what they are used to. (Juno does start to feel bad for the ghost, but she really can’t help. She already spent a lot of magic earlier to heal her hand and she still has her ribs to consider.) “Look, Weenie,” “Winnie.” “Super Weenie, can’t do it fuckin’ today. But, if Ol… Lettie agrees, maybe tomorrow.”

Weenie tries to get Juno to seal her promise by sticking her pinky into the bucket, but one look at Ravan shaking his head convinces her not to trust the ghost. Olette flies down from her nook not too long after and informs them that the corp she works for has invited her to some fancy dinner and that, until then, they should spend some time in the city to continue their search for the Matrix. Juno automatically assumes that this work event is not something she’ll have to worry about until the faerie asks about her hair, implying she can fix it up for the party. Ravan even suggests adding some red highlights and asks if she’s ever gone for a strip of red in her hair. Juno manages to keep her face and just declines the suggestion and doesn’t answer the question. (Nothing can change the strip of white in her hair. She’s tried.)

Though Juno never feels like a third wheel or that she is unwelcome while the two best friends prattle amongst themselves— Ravan catching Olette up on the latest Avangeline gossip— the pirate stills feels like an outsider at large. Neither mention it or make a big deal of it, but she is obviously the reason they're having to take all these terminals to travel to the upper tiers and use the other transit system to move between islands. (Each island could be its own city, in Juno’s mind, with how enormous some of them are. Occasionally, she’ll even forget they’re walking among clouds until Olette or Ravan pulls on her shirt and yanks her back from an unseen ledge.) She can tell it’s much easier and more convenient to have wings and she finds herself thinking of ways she could make up for this in the future. ‘Maybe Olette could build me something?’ Not that she’d ever ask.

The city is bright and glittering, not an inch of room left for anything gray or drab to exist within it (save for Juno). The mosaic murals they walk by, even, come to life each time there’s a passerby, the characters walking alongside pedestrians and trying to grab their attention. The city buildings are enormous and some spiral up into the sky like giant multi-colored corkscrews. Despite how densely packed some sectors are, greenery and flowers stubbornly push their way through the gaps in stone or concrete. There are even plants growing inside of buildings— not like houseplants in pots, but like buildings built around ancient giants or sacred bushes. A harmony between nature, magic, and tech is present nearly everywhere, existing in ways Juno had never thought possible. It’s the definition of wonder full.

While the sights are pleasing, their search yields no results so far. But with no other way to narrow their search (the cube hasn’t made a reappearance since the Forbidden Forest) they don’t have much choice but to continue. Juno doesn’t complain, but with no knowledge of the city she isn’t able to contribute much beyond following along. It’s frustrating, not being able to do anything, though even she knows there’s little she can do about this.

She hops across floating stone steps to get over to one of the floating parks (everything fucking floats here, even fucking water), grinding her jaw with each landing until she makes it the park. Crystals grow out of the trees, poking through patches of moss, and one tree has pink papery leaves, shaped like hearts, with letters that twinkle on them. A small sign posted in the ground reads, ‘Tree of desire.’ Apparently, those who pull the leaves from this tree will have their heart’s deepest desire revealed to them but, as punishment for harming the tree, the offender will never be able attain it. This is warning enough for Juno to steer clear of it, but it has a pleasant smell and even a calming jingle that beckons her closer. It’s not as compulsory as the mermaid magic, but it is surprising to once again learn that (some) plants are evil and out to get her, Juno, specifically.

Ultimately, the park is a bust, just like all the others, and, honestly, the pirate is starting to get tired. She slumps against a tree just as Olette is discussing something with Ravan— she’s pretty sure they’re brainstorming other locations— and her stomach interrupts them with a loud gurgle. Yeah, that toast breakfast, nice as it was, has not stuck with the pirate. “Can’t we get some fuckin’ food first? I'm fuckin' tired and—"

"Hey! Is that Titania's missing daughter?"

Click. Flash.
 
Click. Flash. The flashes from the nosy weasel's camera illuminates Lettie's face like strobe lights at a club. She automatically ducks down and shields her face with the oversized sleeve of Juno's hoodie. She's used to this... or should be used to this by now. At at the same time, she's not and never will be. It's true that even on her travels with Juno, she found herself splashed on more wanted posters than she can count on both of her hands. However, the other worlds are much stealthier with their means of taking pics. To the point that she doesn't even see them being taken half of the time. Which, yeah okay, is a bit spooky. (...She has a theory the cube's made a side gig of selling screenshots of its surveillance footage to these worlds.) More than anything, it's the questions they hound her with that truly burrow down under her skin.

"It is you, isn't it? Do the authorities know of your return?" Still semi-blinded from the flash, Lettie's stunned, shaken, and it takes her a full free-fall moment of panic before she recognizes the feeling of Ravan's hands pressed firmly on her shoulders. He physically maneuvers her around to shield her with his tall, caped figure. She tugs the hood down to hide more of her face, shying away from the camera lens like a turtle retreating into her shell. (It doesn't matter how cool she tries to play it. Nothing can hide the way her wings freak out like a psychedelic light show on her back.) More of these demons with black bird-like wings and flame red skin and horns swarm around her until the camera lights are going off at every conceivable angle. Shit. They're the bastards from Vulture. A gossip column infamous for tracking and swarming their intended targets, always eager to be the first to report on the freshest gossip, throwing integrity aside for the sake of getting the messiest headlines possible. "Where did you disappear to?"

"Were you kidnapped? Have you escaped from someone dangerous? And if so, did you see the perpetrator's face?" The questions come from several different voices, but they bleed together in her mind. "Many have speculated that the culprit responsible for Titania's disappearance was also responsible for yours. Do you have any comment on this? Do you think the cases are related? Did you learn anything about what happened to your mother all of those years ago?"

Ravan scowls when the reporters squawking intensifies as they talk over each other, each one needling the faerie for information about Titania. The mystery of a fallen angel, a fallen star, who'd captivated hearts across Avangeline and then disappeared without a trace. Of course everyone is just dying to learn the answers to all of these questions. But to reporters like this, she's become little more than fodder to sell stories. The case had grown cold after a while, the stories all sounding a lot more like rumor before fading as other headlines made the news... but 'her daughter's' disappearance, the speculation surrounding the possible relation, it just reignited all of it. It flashes Lettie back to the age of sixteen, to a time she never wants to revisit again. "Do you think she's still alive?" "Did she leave you on purpose?" "Do you think she was murdered?"

"...Or perhaps you were running from someone? Were you trying to disappear on purpose?" Lettie flinches. Click, flash. Click, flash. Now it's captured on camera. Stay calm. She has to remind herself. They're just trying to get a rise out of you. They can take any picture out of context, give it any caption they like, and bam! It's a story. "There's evidence that you'd been spent time in a seedy nightclub the night before your disappearance. Could it be that you've seduced one too many demons? Were you being threatened by a scorned lover?"

The way their questions are framed portrays Lettie as a cheap caricature of her mother, as someone who cannot exist outside of the looming shadow she casts. Someone who's only value comes from who she's related to and how she looks. And she doesn't want to be seen that way. Not by Juno, anyway. She's been shameless in the past, not having given a single fuck. Juno knows she's more than that, she's sure-- but at the same time, she doesn't want her to think any less of her. (She's seen the nightmares. She knows something happened. Something... bad.) Entangled in this web of reporters, of the questions, and the wounds they reopen...

Ravan breaks her out of her reverie when he taps her shoulder three times. Oh. She glances up at him. Instead of nodding or saying anything at all, their shared glance confirms their intentions without giving the reporters any clues. (They came up with this code years ago, the number of taps corresponding with the hiding place they'll meet at. Running... tends to get chaotic and always ends with them getting separated.) Lettie begins to turn her head so she can look for Juno-- knowing it may be in vain with all the reporters swarming her-- and Ravan squeezes her arm. The sign for go.

Lettie trusts that Ravan will look after Juno the same way he looked after Prissy. (Not to imply that the badass pirate captain Juno needs looking after like a cat does or anything like that. Avangeline's just... big. And overwhelmingly so for a newcomer.) Still, she wishes she had a moment to reassure her before taking off. Shit. Steeling herself with a breath, she glitches her way through the wall of reporters (elbowing one hard enough to get him to drop his camera), offering them a coy little wave before dropping herself off the park's edge, and swerving sharply to head towards their next destination. The reporters immediately give chase-- but she quickly loses them by glitching herself through a nearby building. Someone curses at her for flying through their store, but she glitches herself through the other end so quickly that she doesn't have time to apologize. From there she weaves strategically through the streets, taking every shortcut she knows of.

Since the reporters are busy chasing after their next big story, they leave Ravan and Juno alone on the floating island. The demons hover confusedly around the building the faerie just glitched through, barking orders and directions at each other. The vampire wannabe takes a deep breath, exhales loudly, and makes his way to the pirate's side. “Worry not. Lettie shall outfly those fiends.” He nods, squinting as the demons begin to scatter. “Once they've all gone we will meet her again at one of our haunts. We must ensure we aren't followed.”

Ravan proceeds to awkwardly shift his weight from one foot to the other, clearly considering a way to phrase whatever it is he's about to say. Then, rather than speaking, he cracks his neck before proceeding to grow in size-- his limbs stretching out so he now stands at a height of approximately eight feet. Somehow, this elevated height only serves to elevate his awkwardness as he offers Juno his hands. "If thee wouldst prefer to make haste... I can flyeth us there."

A while later, they land in a shady spot in one of the lower tiers in front of an establishment with a sign reading 'Three Wishes Tavern' in sprawling lettering crafted from gnarled tree branches, displayed with a backdrop of leaves where firefly glows flicker in the shadows. While it sits on a city street, it still manages to give off a cottage-like atmosphere with the arched curvature of the windows and doors. Music thumps from within-- though it's a distinctly different genre from that Ariel gravitated towards. The music that plays here is a niche that can only be described as medieval techno. Even with all of these characteristics, the most evident detail to a hungry guest might be the enticing smell wafting from the establishment.

"Thee mentioned food. Three Wishes shall not disappoint." Ravan shrugs at Juno. He scopes out their surroundings once more to ensure they're alone before opening the door for her. "She'll likely be in the back."

The inside of Three Wishes is like an eternal night in a forest of twinkling lights. Ravan leads Juno inside, weaving through the stone path sculpted within the dimly lit tavern. (While they are inside a building, there's a trickling indoor stream with lily-pad tables (for the fucking mermaids) and carpet specifically made to look like flower-adorned grass.) It's lit primarily by the multi-colored lanterns hanging on the ceiling among clusters of foliage, sweet-smelling lavender and tiny star-shaped flowers. The walls have the texture of tree bark, though there are spots where the brick of the building peeks through. Some of these bricks are graffitied with glow-in-the-dark paint-- mostly flowers and initials with little hearts stenciled around them. It's also notable that only faeries work here. Where they might have encountered only one other faerie on the crowded streets before, it becomes apparent that this establishment is a faerie-run business.

They find Lettie at the bar in the back, just like Ravan said. She's lounging somberly over the counter as she talks with the bartender faerie there. She stands at about the same height, sporting a green pixie cut and intense jet-black eyes. She wears an excess of chokers and bracelets that contrasts her flower-themed work uniform. Noticing Ravan and Juno, she taps on Lettie's shoulder-- this immediately gets her to perk up and turn around. Quickly swiping at her eyes, she aims her most dazzling grin at them.

"Juju, Ravan!" Lettie waves them over eagerly. "Come say hi to Thistle!"

Ravan nods a silent greeting at the faerie behind the counter (a nod which is silently returned) before eyeing the flute with bubbly blue liquid in Lettie's hand. Darker blue and purple flower petals are peppered in the lower half. "...Drinking before lunch, are we?" He says this with a note of concern underlying his tone.

"Fuck yeah!" Lettie wags her brows playfully before taking another sip. Stars knows she needs it now more than ever. "It's on the house. I couldn't resist an offer like that." Thanks to Thistle, who told her she could use one after taking one look at her miserable face. She holds it up, admiring the presentation of it. "'Sides, it's so pretty! Isn't it?" And it's Juno's favorite color. Then she tilts her hand between Juno and Thistle. "Juno, Thistle. Thistle, Juno."

"Hi." Thistle offers. She's never been a faerie of many words.

"I used to work here with her." Lettie explains. "Though I usually took the later shifts." The place completely transforms at night. It's a lot more popping, to say the least. (She decides not to mention the fact that she'd been fired since disappearing without word for two months. Coming back in was awkward for that reason... but Thistle's been cool about it. Thistle's cool with everything, though. Or at least she seems to be cool with everything.) Ravan wordlessly gestures to her drink and she allows him to try a sip... snickering silently after he does so and bursting into giggles as she watches his face scrunch up like Juno's when she tried a warhead for the first time. Ah, good times.

"So sour. This abomination offends mine tongue!" Ravan complains, flicking his tongue around his mouth as if to rid it of the taste as he shakes his head. "...Thee has't terrible taste." Lettie rolls her eyes. He'll say that all while saying nothing about vampires and their taste for blood.

"Fries." Thistle announces, scooting three baskets across the counter towards them. "Standard, sweet potato, and tater tot."

"I ordered us fries." Lettie smiles at Juno, encouragingly patting the barstool next to her. "I got a few different kinds for you to try. They're just an appetizer, so go ahead and order whatever you want. Feel free to get a drink, too." Her smile becomes a touch more conspiratorial as she mouthes the words, "It's on Ravan."

"...If Lettie were a potato, she'd be a tater tot." Ravan says as he plucks one out of the basket and absentmindedly flicks it into his mouth.

"Absolutely." Thistle agrees simply. What? Offended, Lettie's jaw drops temporarily before she shakes her head at them both. Why, though? Because they're tiny? Ugh, please! Thistle's basically the same height! The faerie behind the bar slides a menu over to Juno. "...Menu." Then she turns around, reaching below the counter, and slides something else. "Ketchup. Enjoy."

When Thistle turns to attend a guest at the far end of the bar, Lettie drapes herself over the counter exhaustedly.

"We've earned a break, haven't we? And, uh... I'm sorry about those guys earlier." Lettie pushes her hair in her face frustratedly before brushing it back over her shoulders. "They make it real fucking hard for me to do anything out in the open." The faerie isn't sure how to explain the situation or how to breach the subject of mother. So she deflects. "Anyway, I'm thinking we might get a proper lead at my work dinner. They're all about discovering ancient relics and junk." She takes a fry and then swirls it around in circles as she thinks about it. They can get away with having a little fun, right? Hit the arcade, a couple of clubs... then maybe she could teach Juno one of Avangeline's traditional ballroom dances for the upcoming dinner. Chewing quietly on her fry, Lettie glances at Juno again. She can't help but wonder what she's thinking right now. If seeing where she comes from is having any affect on how she sees her. "Hey, Juno? I'm curious... what do you think of Avangeline so far?"
 
Juno is white as a sheet when she steps inside of the whimsical tavern. In spite of that, her expression is schooled, not wanting to let on that she officially hates flying. At least when it involves riding on someone’s fucking back like a horse. Convenient as it may have been, quick as it may have been, she has no need to ever do that fucking again. (This also convinces her to scratch the idea that she might ask Olette about making her wings. How fucking harebrained.)

She doesn’t wait for Ravan or really fully process what he’s just informed her and instead marches straight into the tavern, beelining for the faerie the second that she spots her. (It takes an extra second because she hadn’t listened to Ravan’s tip on where she’d likely be.) The pirate doesn’t take anything in about the establishment— not the lily pad tables, not the abundance of faeries, not anything— all she sees and has room to see is Olette.

Relief comes over in her waves and a smile instantly melts her features when the faerie turns and waves them over to the bar, wearing a bright grin of her own. She has to resist the urge to wrap her in a hug, pick her up, and spin her around. Close as they are and have become, she’s pretty sure even that would be weird. (And she doesn’t want to give Ravan the wrong idea. Ariel already seems to think they’re something they aren’t. This isn’t to say Juno minds the implications or that she doesn't want to be associated with the faerie in that way, she just doesn’t want to give off the wrong impression if that’s not how Olette sees them. Especially since she’s only a temporary fixture in her life.) Beyond that, she knows it'd be excessive. It's just that... Well, it would be a lie to say that Juno hadn’t been hurt when she watched the faerie glitch through the reporters and fly off, leaving her without warning. The hurt lasted only a half second, sure, but that’s all it took to remind herself to get used to the image of her back because someday it'll be the last thing she sees of her.

Right now she’s trying not to think of that, wanting only to have happy memories with Olette. While she’s tempted to ask why she’d been wiping her eyes and while she does search them for signs she might’ve been crying, she ultimately drops the topic when her attention is directed towards Thistle. (Who reminds her somewhat of Lina. Maybe it’s the bright and short hair?) Juno nods her head by way of greeting and settles on the stool next to her faerie. She sits with her back against the bar top, surveying the bar and keeping her eyes trained on the door. Her hand falls to her pocket, tracing the outline of the few emergency shards she brought along with her. If those assholes want to ambush Olette again, Juno won’t hesitate. (Back there it had been hard to gauge the appropriate response with her attention pulled between Olette’s wings and the reporters. But if it happens again? She’ll turn them into pulverized demon meat. It'll be on sight.)

The pirate first glances over at the three baskets when they're slid their way and then half turns when she recognizes the assortment of fries. She’s particularly interested in the fries that come in a different shape and the ones that appears carrot-orange. When her stomach gurgles again, the salty-fried smell having hit her nose, she dives for the regular fries first, fearful the exotic options might disappoint. As per usual, she ignores the ketchup. She also ends up ignoring the menu as she shovels fistfuls of regular fries into her mouth, wordlessly claiming this basket for herself. Ravan doesn’t appear to mind, though there is a glint of amusement in his eyes.

When she’s sated herself with half the basket she finally considers the other two, plucking one of the cylindrical ones that are apparently Olette in potato form. She holds the tot up next to the faerie, closing one eye as she tries to spot the comparison and shakes her head. She doesn’t see it. Then she tosses it into her mouth, immediately pleased by the crunchy outside and fluffy inside. “Oh,” she hums, looking at Ravan and Olette. “I get it. It’s because tater tots are the better form, yeah?”

Having made this connection, it does make her wary to try the orange ones. She would have thought a potato with "sweet" in its name would be the potato that most closely represents the faerie, but Ravan believes otherwise. As does Olette’s old colleague, Thistle. (Names are easier to remember when she remembers how Olette introduces or refers to people.) She picks up one of the sweet fries and gives it a sniff before biting into it. Immediately she frowns and grabs one of the napkins stuffed in the baskets, spitting into it. “Dis-fucking-gusting.” Too weirdly sweet and too mushy. Juno is offended that the carrot fries are considered fries at all. She goes back to the original fries as a balm for this fry-betrayal.

“Hmm?” She looks up when the faerie asks her a question, fry ends sticking out from her mouth after having tried to see just how many she can fit in there at once. Nodding, she messily chews through and swallows the mouthful, coughing a few times to help it all go down. ‘Twenty-six. Remember that.’ Her eyes sweep around the establishment once more, then over to Ravan, Thistle, and she shrugs. Obviously, she has a lot of thoughts on Olette’s home but most of them she cannot bring herself to share. The faerie is understanding and she knows she’d never fault her if she shared what she really thought of the place, but she… She doesn’t want to make this visit about her. Olette has been dying to get home since she was blasted across the worlds into Juno. “It’s the fanciest world we’ve been to.”

But what she wants to say is, “I hate it.” And she has to bite her tongue on, “This place reminds me that we couldn’t be more different.” She has to resist the urge to say, “It's not for me.” Maybe if she were more brave she'd tell her, "Every second here reminds me our time is limited."

“The forest was neat.” She had fun in the forest, trying to turn it all blue. But then they found out they were on Avangeline and Juno hasn’t had the same sense of wonder since. Part of that had been because of Olette's own reaction and the distress she had been in, but it continued to fester after Juno had her own realizations about being here. It is a nice world if she thinks about it objectively. She just can't and that makes it impossible to answer this question at all. “Also surprised the sink ghost has been real this entire time. They were fuckin' weird, but I guess I shouldn't be shocked about that.” She nudges her side teasingly, trying to lighten her own mood. "Like does attract like, after all."

But her playfulness doesn't last and drops rather quickly, despite her best efforts. Honestly, she'd rather not talk about the world so she leaves her answer there. She sweeps her fingers through her hair and shifts so that she's facing the rest of the tavern, keeping an eye on the door as she had been before. Coils tighten and become hot in her stomach when her mind drifts back to the reporters and their invasive, suggestive questions. The entitlement to her life. The intentions to make her uncomfortable. Her hand forms into a fist over her knee as her jaw tightens. "You don't have to run from them, you know." Juno doesn't look at Olette when she says this, too focused on nurturing her anger. (It's just easier to grasp onto that than think about this world or the fact that Olette has a home to go back to and Juno... Juno doesn't. Even if she knows Olette's life here isn't the cushy one she once assumed, she has people. They'll take care of her. That much is clear.) "Those nosey assholes, I mean. I'll crush them." Demons on Avangeline might be able to grow to obnoxious heights, but that has never stopped the necromancer from kicking ass. A ten foot demon, after all, is paltry in comparison to towering guardians. Juno's half tempted to try and track one down right now. She's half tempted to pick a fight in general. "Just say the word." Finally, she looks at the faerie. "I'd punch the shit out of one right now. I want to. Let's find one."
 
Lettie's warm smile at the sight of Juno's fry-filled mouth turns into a thoughtful nod when she mentions the neatness of the forest (the forests are pretty neat) and then a cheek puff when she compares her to the sink-ghost turned bucket-ghost living in her bathroom. (What!?) For the record, the faerie would not haunt a bathroom. Even if that bathroom had a snazzy full-length mirror on par with the gym mirror, she cannot imagine a future where that'd be any fun. Nah. I'd haunt a pirate ship. She thinks. That's a lot more badass. And more than that... she'd be able to stay with Juno. She could use her ghostly prowess to watch after her like a guardian angel. She doesn't want to become part of a malicious hive mind yearning for blood, like those forest sprites. (Still-- she cannot promise that she'd never play pranks. She is Olette Lycoris Radiata and mischief is her thing.) This decision may not be so far off, she considers bitterly. If something happens to her here, it's best to be prepared. To have chosen her eternal haunting space. Of course... if the Reaper's den is her final destination, she won't be allowed to choose. Her devoured soul will cease to exist altogether.

'You don't have to run from them, you know.' Lettie blinks, brushing away her doom and gloom thoughts, her heart clenching as she wonders if she'd been so out of it that she'd gone and said something she shouldn't have about her situation. (No. Her throat would be aching otherwise.) She grips the edge of her stool and bites her lip. Juno cares about her. She cares so damned much. And the reminder of that is... it's almost too much, all things considered. Her problems are too big to face-punch away.

"...Juno, it's okay. I'm used to it. I've been dealing with this bullshit ever since I was a kid." Lettie admits, stuffing a tater tot into her mouth and chewing slowly. She swallows. Then she washes it down with the remainder of her blue sour drink. Juno will probably tell her that just because she's used to it doesn't make it right or something like that. (Which would be correct.) However-- "Fighting only makes it worse. They love nothing more than to get a rise out of me. If they know they've touched a nerve, they'll make a big spectacle of me and draw even more press." She shakes her head and bitterly stirs her straw around the empty glass, swirling petals and butterfly-shaped ice cubes. Avangeline isn't like Desdemonia, where having to fight for survival in that way is the way to survive. "It's not just that, either. If I mess up, it could reflect negatively on all the faeries of Avangeline."

"It's fucked up." Thistle sympathizes, having returned by then to get Lettie a refill.

"Super duper fucked up." Lettie nods emphatically, taking a swig of her drink when it's replaced. Then she reaches subconsciously for her neck. Resorting to face-punching on Avangeline just... it doesn't end well for little faeries like her. "If I wanna stick it to those pricks, I've gotta be stealthy about it."

"As for me... I've been training my carnivorous plants to sniff out a bastard." Thistle supplies this foreboding information matter-of-factly as she scrubs at a spot on the bar. "It's only a matter of time."

Completely unaffected by this sentiment, Lettie playfully kicks her legs as the alcohol kicks in and loosens her up. Ravan, meanwhile, tugs at his ruffled collar and gulps. "...What does thee mean it is only a matter of time?"

Thistle grins, flashing her unusually sharp canines as she backs slowly away to attend to the other guests.

"She's terrifying." Ravan says, shaking his head incredulously as he reaches in his cloak for a vial of red liquid. He tips a few drops into his goblet of water before stirring it around with the tiny silver spoon he carries with him in a velvet case, turning the water blood red. (...He calls it a potion but it's just food dye.) Lettie's always admired that he's so committed. The guy knows what he's about and she can't fault him for owning it. "Avangeline is already rife with plant life. If they become sentient and turn against us all, it could be the end of our world as we know it."

"Thistle? Terrifying? Nah, she's a total sweetheart." Lettie waves her hand dismissively. She's soft on Thistle because she had taken the younger faerie under her wing back when she first started working here. Ravan's obviously watched one too many horror movies. That's not to say that the risk of an ending world is unrealistic, though. She sinks against the bar contemplatively. Avangeline has plenty of faults, she'd be content to leave and never come back... but it could be worse. There are many worlds out there that have fallen. Worlds that need help. Like Juno's. Before they get back into that cycle (if they ever get back into it at all) they should try and enjoy this experience while they still have the chance. "...Anyway, I don't want to waste my time thinking about those bastards. They don't deserve it!" She insists, grinning again as she takes Juno's hand and offers a reassuring squeeze. I'm good since you're here. "We shouldn't let them ruin our day. There's so much I still want to show you!"

Their first order of business after lunch is... shopping. Naturally! They have a dinner to attend later and the faerie insists that they need to start preparing for it. Lettie, now sporting blue hair and Juno's hoodie glamoured into a cloak, drags Ravan and Juno all around the stores in Hydrangea Square. "They overprice everything around here. Lucky for us, I know how to get a killer discount." She smirks wickedly before asking a nervous Ravan to distract the pompous employees while she examines the display mannequins poised around the stores with a trained eye. (They display an array of outfits and accessories that periodically shift or change color. Some of the new trends this month are neat-- but oh. Oh no. Whose idea was it to make those yellow, hole-covered shoes a thing? They look like cheese!) Ignoring those shoes specifically, the faerie proceeds to hack into the merchandise screens, siphoning the new styles that managed to catch her attention and expanding her glyph catalogue in the process. (While her glamours can supply her with nearly any outfit she can imagine, it takes much less magic and energy to use fashion-based glyphs like this. These glyphs will materialize into actual clothes that don't drain her magic away.) While this was never an issue before, she's trying to be more conscious of preserving her magic. And if they encounter the shadow entity at dinner, they need to be prepared. (Be prepared and also look good. They can do both!) She eagerly leads Juno around by the hand, trying to gauge her opinions of the suits so that she can secure some options for her to chose from later as well. "How about this one?" She asks-- pointing at a crisp black suit with pretty silver accents. "I think you'd look dashing in it."

Lettie begins to sense that Juno's mind is elsewhere-- quite possibly because she's bored. The pirate probably isn't very interested in shopping when there's no action-packed, high-stakes heisting involved. She wants this day to be good for her, too. With that in mind, she brightly suggests that they hit up the arcade to take a break next. (She hasn't been in ages herself-- having been much too consumed by all her work.) On their way, she and Ravan explain the concept of the games, the tickets, and the prizes that they can win.

The Starlight Arcade is aglow with what Juno would probably describe as more raver lights. The carpet is covered in neon glow-in-the-dark stars and the similarly neon machines flash and make cheerful noises. Once they have their coins, they gravitate to the corner cluster of racing games. Lettie wins one round while Ravan wins the other two, therefore winning their match. Sore from losing, the faerie immediately insists they play the dancing game afterwards (one she knows she'll win) and Ravan steadfastly refuses to play with her (he knows this as well.) She skips over to the machine to play a solo round regardless, content to hear the validation from the game as it tells her that her dancing is perfect as she steps on the blue and pink arrows in time with the beat.

While Lettie bounces away obliviously on the dance machine, Ravan explains the parts of the racing game that Juno didn't fully get-- offering her his pointers in case the two ever return here alone (he seems to be insinuating a date without saying so explicitly) leaving her well equipped to beat the overly competitive faerie if need be.

When Lettie begins drawing a crowd with her over-the-top dancing, she ducks away-- not wanting to be recognized-- and instead focuses her attention on her quest to help Juno find something that'll click with her. They hit up the fighting games (Lettie introduces her to her favorite characters and moves-- it becomes quickly evident that some of her past outfits have been inspired by them) before moving onto the shooting games, skee-ball, air hockey, whack-a-gnome (...Juno breaks this machine and they have to quietly sneak away before they can get caught), and then finally laser tag.

Long story short, their rival team in laser tag end up being total cocky bastards. It gets a bit competitive... a bit intense... and they end up having to flee from the Starlight Arcade after starting a small... (and let her repeat: small) fire. Just a small one! It's fine. Totally fine.

On their way back down the tiers of Avangeline, Ravan heads home to make his own preparations while Lettie leads Juno into one of the convenience stores down the road from her place to grab some fresh food to snack on while they make preparations. There's something admittedly pleasant about doing as mundane a task as grocery shopping with Juno, admiring her stupidly buff arms as she carries their bags instead of the weight of the world. (Although as they check out, an uncomfortable sensation crawls over her back that she's being watched. She... doesn't miss this about Avangeline.) As if to intensify the feeling, one of her mother's songs begins to play on the store's radio on their way out. Shaking it off and keeping close to Juno, they make it back to her apartment without incident.

"Hiya Prissy. Winnie." Lettie greets her cat and bucket ghost when she pokes back in. Prissy mews disinterestedly from her nook... that is until she sees Juno. She picks herself up, flies over to her, and plops down onto her feet. Winnie makes a sad burbling noise. "Here, Juju. Sit down." The faere pushes out one of the dining chairs for her before flying onto her platform to gather some supplies. "Now that we have a minute, let me give you that haircut we've been talking about."

"Sooo, what was your favorite game at the arcade? It's fun, right? Ravan and I would sneak over there sometimes as kids." Lettie says wistfully, collecting a pair of scissors, a small mirror, spray bottle, and comb. Once she has everything she needs, she sets herself up behind Juno. Biting her lower lip in concentration, she gently tousles the pirate's hair. "...It really has gotten long, huh. That leaves us with a bunch of different styling options." She smiles at Juno in the mirror she set up in front of her. "What do you think? Want to change things up?"
 
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