ᴍᴏᴏɴ / ʟɪɢʜᴛ

Sounds of ingredients sizzling filled the kitchen as Jamie continued cooking. “I never did,” Xavy admitted as he watched the older werewolf continue to cook. Other than adding the ingredients to the pan, Xavy had absolutely no idea what the other man was doing. Throughout his years in boarding school, he survived eating whatever the school fed him. Things didn’t really change when he left for the Salvatore School, even with the easily accesible kitchen that it boasted of. “You say that as if people don’t do that anymore.” The tiniest of smirk formed in Xavier’s lips.

“Alright, fair. Fair.” he chuckled, hands up in mild defeat. His time at the school hadn’t been all that long ago, despite the fact that being here made him feel nothing short of old. Worried, too. Half the problems these kids were currently facing were nothing like he’d ever been asked to deal with as a student. The monsters, the pit of goo that was apparently sentient somehow -- at least he was here and could help, however that may be. His own food grilling up pretty fast, he slid it onto a plate and went to sit on the countertop a few feet from Xavy. “How’s it been for you? Pick your classes alright and everything?”

“isn’t beer already scienced just to exist?  i feel like i distinctly remember that being the thing that caught fourteen year old me’s attention in biology class.  something something, this cycle is how beer is made.  oh, watch this.”  ethan grinned and vamped to the kitchen and back with plates, napkins, utensils.  he posed for jamie when he was back.  “ah?  cool, right?”  as though a third of the school couldn’t do the same trick.  he was just trying to find the silver lining.  “if you’re trying to get me drunk, all you had to do was ask.”  ethan playfully hit his shoulder, his mouth forming an over-exaggerated surprise.  “oh, bribery.  got it.  you’re lucky i like you.”

He spent probably too long trying to recall the exact science of beer making, wasn’t it like, yeast? It was escaping him. So much so that he genuinely startled for a moment as Ethan flashed in and out, grinning widely. “Look at you, skills galore. Saving us precious time. Dig in, dude.” He unpacked the cartons of chinese, snapping apart the wooden chopsticks drumming them on the tabletop. “C’mon, you love me, no denying it. Plus don’t you miss it at all? It hasn’t been that long.”

The younger werewolf just nodded in reply. He was just glad to hear that he wasn’t in trouble. Whether the teaching assistant being a werewolf himself helped or not, Xavy wouldn’t be certain. His eyes returned to the ingredients on the table. He could smell the ground breef from where he was standing, making his previously dry mouth water. “Thanks,” he said before grabbing a slice and placing all his usual toppings. He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. It wasn’t half-bad. With his mouth still half-full of quesadilla, he asked, “You cook?”

He returned to the stove, tossing a few ingredients into the skillet to grill up before the tortilla came into play. “I do. Learned pretty young. My parents were both pretty busy, not always home at nights. So I learned to cook to avoid ramen every night situations.” It had been helpful, and he’d only gotten better when he got to the salvatore school and its plentiful kitchens. It was a nice way to detach a bit, escape into mindless activity. “It used to be fun when I went here, sneak in with some friends late at night, cook up whatever munchies we could get our paws on.”

he took a long drag from the bag and starred down at the counter as jamie continued to chop. “uh, i had my classes figured out when i woke up, but they were ones that i didn’t know that i had interest in, like why would i take a history of contemporary magic or latin.” the last time kaleb checked he didn’t know any latin, including the school motto, and he knew only very little about magic beyond the little tricks that twins and hope could do. “at least my wickery lineups for this weekend’s match make sense,” that brought a smile to face. if felt good to talk about something that he was sure he had understood and that probably hadn’t changed too much over the past year. “i can rely on that for now.”

He bit into his food, wincing momentarily at the heat. Patience had never been a strong suit for Jamie. “Huh. Maybe you found a passion for the old dead language. Latin translator of spells extraordinaire. Or met a witch you felt like impressing.” The wolf mused, relieved he at least was restricted to athletic classes and instruction. If he’d woken up and been asked to take alchemy again he might just die. “Oh really?” That was something that sparked his intrigue, though he feigned it off terribly. “Well i’m sure they’re great and all. Nowhere near mine, but beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.”

it felt like an ocean between them as they stood six feet apart and the pressure in the room was almost suffocating. “i’m scared too,” daisy admitted, voice a soft whisper and the blonde sighed as she looked at him, her stance mirroring his as she folded her arms over her chest. if this was four years ago he’d be kissing her forehead and telling her everything would be okay, and she would ignore how he had no way of actually knowing that was the case and let herself be comforted. now, they were the ones doing the comforting; not for each other but, for the younger kids. “but yeah, okay…  a couple of weeks, that’s fair,” daisy agreed with a small hum, “she has you too, that’s not the most awful thing in the world,” she continued, looking up at him with a crooked grin on her lips, “when did we become the adults around here?”

“God, hell if I know. Leaving us in charge of actual children sounds like a disaster waiting to happen if i’m being honest.” He groaned, more dramatics than genuine concern tinging his words. It worried him pretty often, the thought that the school he’d returned to that had once been home in every aspect of the word could feel so different. The school seemed to attract danger like a magnet these days, no one knowing what the next monster would be. And just when those had stopped, they what? Lose a year? What a mess. Still he paused, contemplating his words. “I think everyone’s a little scared. But ... you know you still have me, right? No matter what fucked up stuff we said four years ago. I’d still protect you, Dais. Always. That doesn’t just go away.”

“right … ”  he wasn’t scared, necessarily, but he was a little intimidated and he decided to listen whenever he gestured with the knife.  landon smiled anxiously, like the man before him wasn’t just waving a knife around to and fro.  cool.  casual.  he felt significantly more relieved whenever he set the weapon-slash-utensil down.  although he didn’t exactly have an appetite, especially after that charade, landon still didn’t really want to be rude and say no.  especially if the quesadillas were as good as he said.  “that’s a very specific number, but i can’t disagree.  uh, yeah.  you could say that.”  more like he’d had enough sleep for a lifetime or two, but whatever.  details.

“Quite a few around here seem to be having issues goin’ and staying asleep, don’t blame you.” Jamie turned back to the counter, plating the one he’d already made and walking it around to the kid before heading back to the stove. “I gotta say, my time here had it’s wild times but the crap that all went down once i’d gone? Wild stuff. It leaves a mark. Nothing wrong with that, but also no use in pretending you aren’t changed by stuff.” Ingredients sizzled in the pan, veggies sautéing under his eye. “Not that you need to spill your life story but, I got an ear if you wanna talk about what’s keeping you up.”

     “any chance you’ve seen a cell phone just laying around?” jade asked, frustration clearly laving her voice. she hadn’t been able to find it since waking up, and she’d tried all the normal routes of computer technology already. “it had sparkly case and the background picture was an artsy oscar wilde quote, but who knows if i changed it in the past year.” she shook her head, knowing it was likely a lost cause. she had apparently changed the passwords to everything in the past year and couldn’t figure out what they were to at least she what she’d been posting on social media. she’d had to make do with going through other people’s profiles to see anything she’d done, but there was only so much they could help with. “it’s probably gone for good,” she admitted a moment later. “this kinda blows.”

“Negative, i’m afraid.” Jamie shrugged, having done a peripheral search at the mention and coming up short. She wasn’t the first and probably wouldn’t be the last, the wolf himself was considering mentioning a lost board of sorts to alaric for those who had lost various items in the gap year. The odds of a phone turning back up were much more likely than a pet frog but, they could try. “Have you asked one of the witches to track it? They might be a little more successful than Find My iPhone.”

ethan was still navigating this misery, new and improved and suddenly immortal.  he didn’t understand in what world he would have become a vampire, let alone accept the transition.  but apparently some weird shit went down in that year that led him here.  fucking a.  the one perk he’d found so far?  vamp speed.  which he used to go from his bed to the door as soon as jamie knocked.  or — “did you use your head?”  he asked, laughing as he noticed the wolf’s arms were full.  “what the hell is artisanal beer?”  ethan stepped aside to let jamie in.

“Apparently it is beer that has been scienced to taste better. Though i’m pretty sure the girl who makes it runs a coven adjacent book club so I can’t vouch for how much actual science is involved.” He rattles off, walking in and setting the bags down on the desktop. “Figured everything has been so damn hectic it’d be nice to chill, catch up.” Check in too, but he doubted Ethan would appreciate so much concern being thrown his way over his new state of life. Or er, unlife? “I’m also trying to bribe you into helping me judge tryouts next week.”

daisy is sure he could use that knife in his hand to slice through the tension between them and the blonde hates it. there used to be nothing between them at one point, daisy still remembers a time when jamie was the person she wanted to share everything with. when she learned a new spell or got a bad grade on a test, whatever it was, it was jamie she wanted to tell. but things were so different now and it seemed like time had only served to make the distance between them grow further. “yeah it’s mila,” she confirmed with a small smile and the kettle finished boiling but daisy couldn’t tear herself from her conversation with jamie, not now, “i’m kind of worried about her, jamie…” daisy sighed, his name familiar on her lips, “she’s tired and anxious, and i talked to some of the others and they’ve also noticed her struggling, i just don’t know what we can do because what i see most of all is a nine year old kid away from her parents and terrified of how different her life suddenly is.”

“It’s an adjustment period. But she’s young, and scared, and the fact that half the campus is terrified between what comes next and what already did that they don’t know.... I don’t blame her.” He sighs, wiping off his hands on a towel and crossing them over his chest as he faces her. “I guess we give it a few weeks, see if it gets better for her once the newness has worn off and if not...we take her to the counselors I guess. They might now better on how to help her than either of us.” He himself had been a few weeks short of 16 when he arrived, so full of anger and grief and terror at what he’d become. Hardly the best comparison but, fear wasn’t something new to the students of the salvatore school. As sad a sentence as it was. “She has you though, no one better for a role model sunshine.”

Xavy’s eyes went to the quesadilla and then to the teaching assistant. “Just like you it seems. I was just hungry.” Truth be told, Xavy was coming fown from a high. The weed that he found in his drawers which he supposed was his was proving to be quite useful.  But even with its effects already starting to wear off, he still had the munchies. “I’m not going to be in trouble, aren’t I?” Xavy was no snitch but he’s not above pointing out that vampires were basically free to grab blood bags whenever they want. Why can’t the werewolves come down for a little midnight snack? 

“No, you’re not in trouble. At least not from me. Plenty of kids around here seem to be having some issues with sleeping. I won’t fault that.” He shrugs, glancing down at the counter and the amount of ingredients he still has before him. It seemed plenty, so his next words were an offering. “You want in on this? I can easily just make myself another one.” Even as he spoke the wolf plated the slices, sliding it across the kitchen island between them to where some toppings lay and leaving it up for him to decide. 

the clattering bowl silenced slowly, deafening sound of metal spinning around on the floor subsiding and josie’s attention snapped towards the door. “oh,” she hummed softly, “hi coach,” josie murmured, whisk in hand and cake batter covering her, “i don’t really need a cloth,” she reminded him with a small smile, speaking the incantation clearly, “tersa sursum,” watching as the spilled batter vanished and josie offered a half smile, “if you could pass me some eggs and butter that’d be great though, unless you’d rather leave because i get that, it’s fine.”

“nice.” he grinned appreciatively as the mess vanished to nothing. He always found it so cool to watch the witches work, the way a few words and their power could make so much happen. While he loved being a wolf, all it did him was make full moons an interesting night and the urge to howl at various points. Definitely not as fun. Jamie wandered to the fridge and grabbed the requested supplies, spreading them across the counter for her. “I’m fine here if you are, Josie.” The urge to ask won out next. “People giving you a hard time, then?” 

he froze in the middle of cutting up his food and daisy didn’t dare to move a limb as she stood in the door, “one of the kids can’t sleep,” daisy murmured, her voice quiet, soft spoken as if speaking up would shatter some unspoken rule between them. she had spent the past few days running in a different direction whenever they almost bumped into each other and now her hands curled into tight fists over the too-long sleeves of her jumper. “they asked for help so i was thinking a calming tea would be the best place to start at least,” she explained, brushing past him and trying to ignore the jolt running through her as his warmth radiated towards her and daisy reached for a mug, turning the kettle on as she leaned back against the counter.

“ —oh.” He mumbled, eyes too wide to be even the slightest bit of chill about her finally letting herself be within ten feet of him. “Right. That was nice of you.” But she’d always been nice, hadn’t she? No reason that would have changed much in the years since he’d seen her. It irked him somehow, how the room still managed to feel warmer when she was in it. Witch things, maybe. He slid his food onto a plate and sat it aside, hunger pangs frozen along with the feeling in his chest. “Was it Mila?” Jamie chokes out, wincing at the volume. “I mean, she’s been having trouble the past few nights, I helped her a few times. Just uh, check under her bed for monsters, and the closet. And then the bed again. After that I just read her a chapter of harry potter and it seemed to help?” 

It had been another long night spent hovering over books, spells only a murmur on her lips without any prospect of a solution to their little memory loss problem. However, she wouldn’t give up without a fight. Chris wasn’t someone who liked spending her nights on sleep, a habit that was hard to break but easier to manage ever since she left her teen-years behind. No one was on her case when she wandered through the halls of the Salvatore school, on a mission to get a cup of tea at an ungodly hour. Just as she pushed through the door of the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks upon seeing a familiar face. Familiar in the sense that Jamie was plastered all over her phone, even making an appearance with a rather unflattering picture on her bedside table. The only problem? Chris couldn’t remember them taking it or even how they got to that stage. Though it didn’t stop her from smiling at him. “Glasshouse - meet stones.” It only took her a few paces to stand at the other side of the counter, an amused smirk tugging at her lips. “You can put down the weapon, I won’t take your food.”

Recognizing the face before him from a polaroid on his wall (and since when did he own printed photos? Was the camera his? hers? someone they knew...had known?) he wasn’t too put out by the teasing. Jamie played it up a bit, pointing the knife at her in warning before flipping it in the air and catching it once more. “Alright, but i’m kind of badass when it comes to protecting the carbs. I’m a growing boy and all.” Food now cut and plated, he popped a sliver in his mouth and chewed, glancing around them and back at her. “Kinda relieved you aren’t a student or someone. Still not used to being somewhat of an authority figure.”

kaleb’s stomach growled with hunger as he tossed and turned, his body was tired but his mind was kept awake, focused like many of his peers on past year. failing to make any progress on falling asleep or remembering the past, kaleb decided that it was time for a midnight snack. he slipped on his shark slippers and walked down to the kitchen. 

“an end to institutionalized racism and my memories back but that’s not why i’m in the kitchen,” he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a blood bag. he leaned on the counter and brought the opening of the bag to his lips. 

Relieved enough that it wasn’t someone in dire need of assistance, he grinned slightly and continued on with his cutting. “Unfortunately i’m 0 for 2 on that front, dude. But guess we both had the late night munchies. It was either this or go for another run and I had to find some chill somewhere.”

Food now plated, he hopped on the other counter and set his plate down in his lap. “You end up signing up for all your courses yet, or still feeling em’ out?”

landon was bored, and it was late, and rafael was actually sleeping so he couldn’t do anything in their room without disturbing him.  so before he knew it, he was wandering the halls of the school, and eventually meandered into the kitchen.  his eyes immediately went to the knife in the guy’s hands, and for a second he thought about how one of the last things he remembered was getting stabbed.  cool.  more trauma.  “that depends on what you plan on doing with that knife,”  landon replied, laughing nervously to try and play off the fact that he had stressed himself out until he was teetering on the edge of a spiral.

“Nothing beyond cutting up the best quesadilla ever seen on this side of Virginia.” It took half a second to take stock of the dude before him, vaguely recognizing the picture from the student files though a name escaped him. But the poor kid looked anything but chill or stable in the moment, the decision an easy one. “Take a seat kid, I can share.” He gestures to the chair with the same knife, glancing down at it in dismay before setting it aside, empty hands now repeating the gesture. He brings over some toppings to the table, sliding a plate with the now sliced food on top towards him. “Food can fix like, at least 48% of life’s problems at times. Can’t sleep?”

few things could calm down josie saltzman’s nerves like taking charge of the kitchens. sixteen months, there was a gap of sixteen whole months missing from her life and clearly time had passed because seasons had gone and went and she had found newspapers which indicated it had happened. but, josie didn’t remember any of it, not a single thing. but others seemed to remember her sixteen months ago, power hungry and selfish in every way and josie stirred the cake batter she had made angrily as she thought back on it, as she thought of the way everyone kept looking at her now - like they needed to be afraid of her. the motions soon caused her to knock the bowl over, batter spilling onto her front and the floor and josie jumped back, “damn it!” she swore.

“Woah woah little Saltzman, you good?” Jamie called out from the door, hands held up to indicate he came in peace. Mostly. He approached with relative caution. While he was anything but afraid of her, he’d learned his lesson during his own time here about charging at witches even with the best of intentions. It often ended with him spelled and flat on his ass. “Here, lemme get a rag and i’ll help you clean. Maybe explain whatever that poor batter ever did to you to earn such a fate.”