I'll be formidable

Charlotte held her tongue and listened attentively. That Jenny had… experience cleaning up magic was intriguing, to say the least. Especially since she was the one to bring up trouble caused by magic. Charlotte glanced over, quickly gauging Jenny’s expression to see just how serious of a question this was. “Jenny Du, are you implying I’m a troublemaker?” She asked, playfully scandalized.

“That’s right,” Charlotte confirmed, letting out a short laugh at the mention of a pager. She hadn’t seen one of those outside a hospital in… eons.  “August 28th, I’ll give you my number. Then you can call me or beep me if you wanna reach me.” Her reply was just as serious–an accomplishment, as she refrained from giggling at her own reference. “It’s their daughter, mostly. We went to high school together and she, uh, didn’t quite graduate out of the mindset.” It surprised Charlotte how easily she was able to tell a relative stranger these things. It was as refreshing as it was dangerous. Now it was her turn to give Jenny a pointed look. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”

Now that was a cool job, Charlotte thought. “You might want to try some of the gyms and see if they’re looking for any new instructors?” She tucked that information away for later, knowing full well how out of practice she was with self defense. In her time back home, she’d fallen back on old habits and relying on magic. Complacency was more dangerous than she imagined, and the weight of it grew heavier with Jenny’s question.

After a moment, Charlotte finally responded. “I don’t know.” She said truthfully. Her eyes kept moving, scanning the flow of traffic, and briefly flickered over to Jenny. What she wanted to say leapt to her tongue, I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t feel like my being here has made any impact on why I came back in the first place. I think about leaving every day.

Instead, she said: “But it’s been fun catching up with old friends, I haven’t seen some of these folks in years. Once you get settled in you should come out with us some time, it’s always a blast. And hey, maybe you’ll find some new clients!”

“My finely honed instincts say yes.” Some Elders painted the Kingsleys to be a troublesome family, some pointedly suggested to her not to take them as her charges. The same sentiment she communicated to them was echoed to Charlotte. “I can handle a troublemaker,” she said offhandedly, not quite catching up to the intimacy the sentence implied until after she said it.

The Kim Possible reference went over her head and was overpowered by the idea of already getting Charlotte’s number. Jenny beamed unabashedly. “Stuck in high school and treats you like it, got it.” It made Jenny curious as to what Charlie was like in high school, if she had been the quiet girl that read in the library or gregarious and on the yearbook with a large circle of friends. Jenny just barreled in and asked. “Were you in her group of friends? Or what group of friends were you in? You know, if you had to define your high school experience by a Breakfast Club trope.”

“I prefer to stay freelance with my classes, so I can pick my schedule.” Usually Jenny just taught her charges, but she was known to take on other students - never for pay. It just made her feel good to know she was making someone else stronger, maybe wiser. “Besides, I’m content to enjoy Edgewood - for now. You’re the local, you’ll have to show me the best spots.” 

Jenny was shocked at the honesty that bled through Charlie’s simple I don’t know. Her eyes stayed locked on her charge’s face while she continued to speak, softening. Jenny could only imagine what Charlie had been going through since Jeremy Danver’s disappearance. “I hope you find what you’re looking for here,” Jenny said in a low voice, returning Charlotte’s honesty with some of her own. 

“It’s still good to look out for them, though!” Maggie said, slowly settling back onto her heels from where she was leaned forwards. She knew that the animals couldn’t really appreciate people looking out for them, or thank them, but sometimes there wasn’t enough kindness in the world and sometimes it was nice to be acknowledged for your efforts.

Maggie took the woman- Jenny’s- hand, grateful for the boost. “Thanks! I’m Maggie. I-” She said, trailing off when she became aware of the chill snaking down her back, the hairs raising on the back of her neck. She’d been so distracted, she hadn’t noticed. Oh god, not now, please, not now. She begged. God, she’d just met Jenny she didn’t want the woman to judge her because she ran into a ghost.

“Well, I might be dead but I don’t have all day. Do you want help finding that wretched creature or not?” Said a crotchety, otherworldly voice to her side. Gretchen. One of the gossipy ghosts. Maggie resisted the urge to roll her eyes and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

She pretended to take a call, fumbling as she brought the device up to her ear. “Hello? Yes this is Maggie. What, you know something about Troy Bolton?” She said, turning to feign privacy for her ‘call’ but really wanting to be able to see Gretchen. The ghost was impatiently tapping her foot.

“I think he went that way.” She said, pointing off down the road. “I was chatting with Susan, and she’d mentioned that Clark had said-”

“Thank you so much, I really apprciate you giving me a call, I’ll let you know if I find him!” She said, cutting off the ghostly woman before she could go any farther into her rant. She turned back to Jenny and slipped her phone into her pocket, doing her best to block out the ghost. “That was one of my neighbors, they think they might have seen him go that way.” She said, indicating the direction that Gretchen had pointed.

A warm smile spread at the sentiment. Maggie was right, it was the thought that counted. Besides, she was a whitelighter, she couldn’t help but help. Jenny was just about to thank her - for the reminder and the help with the animal when funny sort of expression formed on Maggie’s face. Before Jenny could inquire or even think about what it could mean, Maggie pulled a phone out of her pocket. Had it even rang?

Maggie mentioned Troy Bolton and Jenny’s brow furrowed, she leaned in and tried to catch the other side of the conversation but couldn’t - that was what she got for being nosey. Jenny was a little too close when Maggie turned around, but she still attempted to smoothly take a step back.

“Well? What are we waiting for?” With a purposeful stride, Jenny started in the direction of Troy Bolton, head tilting back towards Maggie. “Nice neighbors you got and ones with perfect timing too, since you have me to help,” she added with a smile. “We’ll get him together. Tell me how you and Troy met.” She imagined it either involved a dumpster or a magical oyster.

Phoenix pouted when she heard that the poor creature was hurt. She had started carrying around bandaids everywhere ever since her little incident with a vampire–it was better than nothing!–but would band aids even be helpful on something with fur? 

Phoenix gave a salute and whispered, “Be careful. Maybe put your hand in rather than your face, though. It might scratch.” Scratches on the face would not be pretty, and would be more painful than the hand. She would know. Returning the broad smile, she said, “You’re welcome. Mission: start.” She started creeping around the bush, resisting the urge to hum a secret agent theme. When she found the exit, she knelt down slightly to the side so that it looked open. She pulled off her backpack and held it in front of her, ready to capture the creature under it.

“I can handle a few measly scratches, but you’re right.” Jenny nodded towards the young woman. “It’d probably be best to avoid potential rabies. Not that you’ll get rabies!” she tacked on nervously at the end, not wanting her to abandon mission. The woman didn’t seem like she’d be scared easily, though.

When the stranger crouched and opened her backpack beside the bush, Jenny piped up again, still hovering over the entrance she was blocking. “Your backpack? Smart. I hope there’s nothing too important in it.” And with that, Jenny leaned in, getting closer to the entrance than she even had before and reached both hands in. This time she had the specific goal of shifting it towards the other exit rather than pulling it towards her and no surprise, it was a lot easier.

A lithe and fluffy black form launched itself into the young woman’s backpack, adjusting itself and flashing its blue eyes at the whitelighter. “A cat, I think.” It seemed unnaturally calm, but she couldn’t speak to an animals behavior. “Does it look hurt?” Jenny stood, offering a hand to the woman to help her up so they could investigate. “So, what’s my mission partners name?” she asked, her other hand hovering over the backpack.

Opening the club had become like a ritual to Maxine. She knew the steps by heart and could do it in her sleep, even without her partners around. The process, while thought intensive, was so routine that she almost didn’t notice someone had walked in until they were beside her, speaking.

Max blinked a few times at the abrupt phrasing, and being caught off guard, however it only took a few moments to slip into a cool demeanor. “Uh, okay, well that’s not exactly how this process goes,” she began, eyeing the woman up and down. “We do have a posting out for a new bartender, but what are your credentials? Do you have your resume with you and have you filled out our application?” 

Jenny flushed, feeling put in her place as she fumbled in her bag for the resume she had typed out with as much help from local librarians as possible and a lot of lies and the application she had printed from their website. The whitelighter had never had to get a real job before. Jenny assumed she had a job as human, but unsurprisingly the specifics of an application process escaped her. 

“I have both,” she presented them to Max with a short nod. “I’m Jenny Du. I’ve just moved here from Canada.” The two bars she had listed were ones she had familiar with when she had a charge in the country. She just hoped Max didn’t bother with the out of country calls to check her references. “Last job I had at a bar lasted two years.” 

Jenny was dressed as professionally as she could, blazer and dress pants, determined to lock herself into a job at the Underworld that night. She was focused. “I was hoping we could do an interview soon.” she said, looking at Max expectantly.

It was a fairly busy night, with people flocking in for a good drink, good company, and good entertainment. Despite how busy he was, however, Xavier was keeping an eye on a woman at the bar. He’d never seen her before, in the bar or otherwise, so he was guessing that she was new in town. She had a glass of water and was picking at the food in front of her. He was waiting for a lull to get a change to go and properly talk to her, knowing how reassuring a friendly face was in a new place, and there were worst people to make your first friend than a bartender. 

He’d seen the commotion between the couple brewing, which mean he’d also seen the newcomer knock over the drink. Finally he had no choice but to intervene when they both stood up. “Hey now, come on man.” Xavier said, walking over with his hands held up placatingly. “The lady left and the other lady doesn’t want to talk to you. Leave her alone before I make you leave.” He said, catching the eye of a bouncer across the wall, darting his glance to the man and back again.

The unbidden pride that still plagued her reared it’s ugly head when the bartender spoke up; it was something she knew wasn’t an attractive trait in a whitelighter. Her chest puffed up when she glanced at the new face, brow furrowed and clearly frustrated. 

“Man, fuck you,” the man spat out, bringing her attention back. It wasn’t entirely clear if he was directing the crude language at Jenny or the bartender. Either way, he knew he was outnumbered and left, flipping not one, but two birds at them as he did. It made Jenny tsk in disgust. Classy.  

The prideful expression on Jenny’s face melted into a slightly more sheepish one as something inside her loosened. All he did was what she would have done herself, if she’d seen an aggressive man towering over someone. “I didn’t think staff had to get involved. I figured he’d just go to the bathroom to clean up.” Jenny leaned against the bar, cupping her glass of water and head tilted towards him, but didn’t sit. “I could have handled it, if it escalated,” she felt the need to tell him with a curt nod. “It’s not my first time handling a jerk, but I’m sure it’s not yours either. Perks of the job?”

Demitri could feel the good in her from far away. It practically radiated off of her, flaring out and beckoning him towards her. Whitelighter. He clenched his jaw for a moment before loosening it as he walked towards the woman who was clearly trying to do something good. 

A smirk formed on his lips as she put her hand up and told him to stop. Demitri paused, rolled his eyes, and took several strides forward, making as much noise with his feet as he could. He could care less if it scared the animal even more. “If it wanted help, it would let you help it.” Demitri knelt down. “And clearly you’re doing nothing but frightening it.” 

Fear dropped like a rock in her stomach when she sensed the darklighter approaching; his immoral core rolling off him in waves lapping menacingly at Jenny. Fear that instinctively sent her into fight mode. The whitelighter stood suddenly - back straight, chin high, gaze stony and leveled at the darklighter. Her eyes flickered over his form, mentally cataloging as much as she could about this unexpected threat to her charges. 

Jenny took a purposeful step towards the man. “I don’t think I asked for your advice.” As if the universe wanted to undermine Jenny, right after the clipped sentence left her mouth, the unknown animal darted out of the underbrush behind her legs, effectively proving his point. She did not break eye contact, but her nostrils flared in frustration, her jaw tensed.

“I’m sure you’ve been having fun using this fine town as a playground,” she spat out, accusatory. “That won’t last.” The only reason Jenny felt comfortably being so familiar with a darklighter was because of the public arena they were in. It was doubtful he’d pull a weapon out here. Paranoia started to set in though and her eyes narrowed. “Did you follow me here?” she asked, not expecting the truth.

“It sure can,” Charlotte sputtered. Seeing the genuine concern on her passenger’s face, she almost felt bad about laughing. “Sorry, that was a bad joke, I was talking about my family. We seem to thrive off chaotic dysfunction, or it thrives off us. Depends on the day.” Still, it was almost enough to convince her that her passenger held a degree of genuine belief in magic. “Have much experience with chaos magic?”

As they pulled up to a line of cars at the stoplight, Charlotte downshifted and looked over at Jenny. “I like the way you think.” She grinned. “And I appreciate the offer, but I need them not-skewered–at least for a little while longer.” For years she’d wondered exactly how the Durwoods safeguarded the magical pieces they put on display in their galleries. She’d hoped volunteering to help with preparations would’ve been the perfect opportunity to see their process, but the moment had yet to present itself. “Not quite, my sister got that talent. I work for an event planning company. Usually I’m behind the camera photographing the festivities, but I branch out as needed.”

Charlotte turned her eyes back to watch the road in time to see the light ahead turn green. “Probably!” She said, glancing around for sneaky lane-changers. She flashed another grin at Jenny. “Am I? Must be my lucky day, I’m glad I snuck out early.”

At that, Charlotte’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh–wow, I’m sorry. I mean, I’m glad you’re liking it here, but I’d be pissed. Have you found anything else in the mean time?” A job and a ride home falling through in a city she just moved to? It didn’t sound like the poor girl could catch a break. “But yeah, I grew up here. Spent some time away for school and work, and then I came back last winter.”

“I’ve only had experience with chaos magic when I’ve been the one cleaning it up.” A wry smile played on Jenny’s lips as Charlotte spoke on her family, already imagining the difficulties they were going to bring; difficulties she was determined to conquer. “Have much experience with magic getting you in trouble?” The question was pointed and Jenny’s eyebrow cocked, an appraising look. How much trouble are you going to get me into? Was the silent query. 

The whitelighter silently preened at the compliment, chin setting higher and a proud half smile on her face as her eyes continued to be magnetized towards Charlotte. Jenny found that she liked Charlotte’s smile; it made her sit taller in the ratty seat, shoulders back.  “Can’t skewer them until after August 28th, right? The gallery opening. I’ll page you after the 28th then,” she said, tone resolute. Jenny was not joking, any excuse to talk to Charlotte. “What’s so awful about them?”

“I used to teach self defense, so until I can get a by the hour job, that’ll keep me safe.” Jenny could have stayed unemployed her entire time in Edgewood if she wanted, but she was a restless soul and even if she wasn’t aspiring to be the Underworld’s brand new employee, she needed something to keep herself busy when her charges didn’t need her. 

 “Are you glad that you came back?” Insight that she’d never get from the Elder’s before an assignment, but that she was ravenous for and it showed in her expression - brown eyes were trained curiously on Charlotte’s face.

The painkillers weren’t working near fast enough for Bridgette to deal with the woman in front of her. She already knew that she was expecting a lot for the painkillers to work since she took them often enough to know better, but she wished they’d work now since the woman’s voice sounded like she was saying everything through a bullhorn. Bridgette was stopped from closing the door when the woman stepped forward into the doorway. While the cheese and chocolate seemed appealing along with the face masks and bath bombs, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with the overly cheery and enthusiastic woman in front of her. Jenny. 

“Welcome to the neighborhood. The guy in B12 likes to jerk off a lot between the hours of two and four AM while watching reruns of The Nanny in case you want to know,” she told the woman. She hang her head as Jenny continued to run her mouth. “You’re being too loud right now,” Bridgette replied, taking the basket into her arms. “Thank you. Goodbye. Have a nice day. Have fun with your Zumba classes or whatever.” She moved to close the door again, hoping that this time Jenny would leave her alone to her cheese and bath bombs. 

Searching eyes flitted past Bridgette’s shoulder, subtly peering into her apartment as she spoke. It was dark in there which only confirmed what she thought, she definitely interrupted a hangover nap. Jenny had never tried, but she was pretty sure she couldn’t heal a hangover. Even if she could, she wouldn’t want to heal Bridgette’s. Actions had consequences. 

As she stared and her charge spoke, Jenny crept closer towards the door and by the time Bridgette was closing it - she was inside. Not exactly tactful, but that was never her strong suit. Jenny went on with the conversation as if nothing happened, pointedly ignoring the loud comment. Her head is pounding, no wonder Jenny seemed loud.

“B12 is a creep. That is good to know. You carry mace right? Is he creepy enough to warrant mace?” Witches generally didn’t need to carry mace, but Jenny still silently told herself that that was going to be in her next ‘care package’ to Bridgette. “Not Zumba. I actually teach self defense, if you’re ever interested in decking B12. Purely out of defense, of course.” Jenny didn’t want to stay in Bridgette’s hair long, not if she wasn’t feeling well, but she wanted to at least tempt her charge before taking her leave.

“You haven’t told me your name yet.” 

          In her time, she’d seen people try and use their press passes for the wrong thing. Madi had even been tempted by it once or twice — how could she not be when there were plenty of concerts she could have gotten into for free — but she didn’t because that wasn’t right. People that used their press passes to get into places weren’t good people. There were other ways of getting information after all.

          “Nice to meet you Jenny Du,” she smiled. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.” People sometimes did terrible things. Although she wasn’t one to completely dismiss someone, she had to rely on her gut when it came to people — after all it had worked before. “Trust your gut.” Madi’s gut told her that she could trust Jenny and that was enough for now. She liked to think she was good at reading people.

          “Nothing like that,” Madi said with a little laugh. “The new manager apparently has some really great employee and customer initiatives. I’m just doing a small story on that. Probably a little boring, but still. I can’t exactly always find interesting stories.” Though she was sure there were some good ones in Edgewood. She had just yet to figure out good angles and directions for them. 

Leave it to a reporter to tell you to trust your gut. The corner of her lip twitched and she took the advice to heart. “Well, my gut said that guy likes his power a little bit too much.” The gut jury was still out on Ms. Madison Danvers, but Jenny was already endeared to the warlock. The whitelighter could feel Madison’s pact wrapped around her essence and wondered idly wondered who she had pledged herself to. 

“Someone could read that and instill the same measures in their place of work. In the end I don’t think there’s such thing as small stories. As long as they educate, enlighten or move one person then it’s worth it. Clearly I’m an optimist,” she added with a snort. Even she knew how saccharine that line sounded coming from her. 

The plight of a reporter, chasing that meaningful story, the big one. “If I have any leads, you’ll be the first person I call. I haven’t been around here long, but I tend to...gather information. Do you have a card?”

Caught off guard by the question, having expected a grumpy patron, Monty had only his initial surprised expression to offer, before, finally, “If you like finance, I guess.” He, clearly, did not.

Though most of the other tables were empty—there were more than he could count on one hand without so much as a book on them within spitting distance—he tugged the book closer to him, making space for the woman.

“Ah–” the sound slid and ended on a strained ha– not quite a laugh, but close enough to know that the sound had fallen flat of the mark. Was he avoiding a call? “More like several,” he admitted with a grimace. Maybe it was that he hadn’t shared any of this particular problem with his friends, or even just that she was a complete stranger without any skin in the game, but he found himself continuing, “One of my brothers is…” he paused, exhaled heavily as he searched for the right words, “giving me a hard time over some.. dumb family stuff.” More quietly, he added, “I just don’t wanna talk to him right now.”

There was a small breath held in her lungs that Jenny exhaled in relief, when he started to open up. Whitelighters are supposed to be easy to talk to, but a lesson that Jenny still hadn’t quite learned was that you couldn’t help someone that didn’t want to be helped. 

It looked like it physically pained him to talk about it, struggling with words. Family stuff. Jenny hummed in understanding - sort of. All her experience with family troubles was always from the outside looking in, her family was a blank. “Understandable. How can you actually talk to someone who isn’t listening? I’m assuming he’s not great at the listening.” People that bombarded you with phone calls usually weren’t. 

“How old are you?” The question was pure curiosity. Jenny cocked her head, eyes softening as she looked over the stranger. He was an adult, yet his family still affected him like this. “The family stuff never really goes away, does it? No matter how old you get.”

“He’s the best cat.” Maggie declared, looking fondly at the picture on her lock screen before tucking the device back into her pocket. “Yes. He’s named after Troy Bolton, the male lead in the High School Musical movies. Gotta get’cha head in the game.” She said, before she started to hum the rest of the song.

Strange noises? Well… Troy Bolton did have a bit of a warble to his meow. IT was worth a shot, in any case. She smiled gratefully when the woman squeezed her shoulder. “Thanks.” She said when she took out the flashlight, crawling towards the bush. “Is that you, Troy Bolton? Come on, come out, it’s okay. What team?” She called out softly, squinting to make out the shape of the creature. Even with the light it was still kind of hard to tell. “Come on, wildcat.” She reached a hand into the bush, but apparently that was the wrong move because it startled the creature, sending it running. “Well that wasn’t Troy Bolton.”

The creature looked almost like a rabbit, but larger with ears that extended out far more than they should have and what looked like antlers. If the animal was injured, it clearly wasn’t holding it back. “Oh, I see.” Jenny blinked in shock for a moment before shaking herself off and standing, searching the ground for signs of blood, but finding none. “Sometimes things take care of themselves. I still forget that.”

“Bad luck,” Jenny said sympathetically, holding a hand out to the young woman to pull her up to stand beside each other. “Have you been looking for him long? The...cat.” The word fell out skeptically, with slightly narrowed eyes. “I could always help you look. I’m Jenny.” 

“Beatrice Larson. And thank you, but I’ve been hiking since I could walk. I know how to take care of myself.” A slight exaggeration, but her feet had certainly been trying to take her to the woods since she’d started walking. And she appreciated the woman’s concern, but she really didn’t need a buddy. Who needed a hiking buddy when they were a warlock holding a pact with a queen they’d met while in the woods? It was almost laughable to her, but she had appearances to keep up. “I’ve tried taking friends with me, but I scare them off. I’m a little too intense for them, I think.” She laughed. 

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have one, I’m just terrible at navigating streets. I’m great in the woods, take me out of the trees and I don’t know what to do. I tend to follow my feet, not the other way around.” Beatrice was grateful for her offer however. “Hmmm…” She said, taking a moment to take in her surroundings, spinning in a slow circle whilst biting her lip. “That way. I think home is that way.” She said, pointing rather confidently.

Jenny ate Beatrice’s words up. When briefed on the Kingsleys, she didn’t get nearly enough information on the Kingsley housemate and Jenny was interested. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Beatrice - just the opposite. The whitelighter trusted Charlotte’s judgement bringing the woman into the house, she was just curious. “I know the feeling,” Jenny said with a snort. Her very first charge nearly maced her when she announced who she was. “You get extra intense in the woods?” 

Clasping her hands in front of her, she watched Beatrice spinning with a wry smile on her face. To Jenny’s surprise, she pinpointed the way home pretty accurately if her connection to Charlotte was anything to go by. “I trust your instincts implicitly,” she said earnestly. Jenny broke into a grin and started walking, falling into step beside Beatrice. “You must have lived in Edgewood awhile to be so familiar with the woods. I like a hike, maybe you can tell me about the best trails.”

After another late night of partying, Bridgette was very thankful that she didn’t have work the next day. She crashed at some point in the early hours of the morning just before sunrise and didn’t plan on waking up until it was time to get up and do it again. She groaned when she heard a knock on the door and covered her head with her blankets, hoping that the person would go away. Maybe it was just Amazon delivering the package she’d ordered last night when she was drunk. She didn’t put it past Amazon to deliver something that fast. 

When she heard another knock, Bridgette let out a huff and squinted as the light seeped in through her partially closed drapes. She threw an oversized t-shirt over her black bralette and then tugged on a pair of pants so she’d be at least somewhat presentable to whoever dared disturb her slumber. She glanced down at her phone and noticed how late in the afternoon it was. She downed a few painkillers and some water in hopes of getting rid of her headache so she’d be good to go when she went out again that night. Bridgette stomped over to the door and cracked it open to see who it was. She narrowed her eyes at the woman who held a wicker basket. “The bake sale is next week at the elementary school, lady,” she said, already closing the door in her face.

As expected, Bridgette looked a little worse for wear when she opened up the door. Not awful, but her charge had clearly just woken up and Jenny knew for a fact she had been partying - she was trying to loosen the reins and not hover so much, but she couldn’t help herself from orbing in once to check in. She couldn’t help the pinched frown on her face, wondering if Bridgette had eaten anything that day. 

“Nope!” With grit teeth, Jenny thrust her hand against the door with wide eyes, not anticipating the door slam, but prepared to move into action to stop it short. “Nice try, but it’s not baked goods.” Jenny pulled the covering off, tucking it into her basket and revealing its contents. Fancy cheeses and sausages, face masks, bath bombs, chocolates, fruit. “It’s a hi, I’m your new neighbor present. Jenny Du, I moved in last week.” 

And she was off to the races, chattering away, just eager to be face to face with Bridgette. “It’s also a thank you for putting up with my moving. I know I was a little overzealous getting my stuff set up. Feel free to tell me to shut the hell up if I’m ever too loud in the future too. I tend to blast music when I work out.”

Blood, she said? Monica sniffed, tilting her head to mask it as an absent thing, and not her attempting to catch a scent. It was a fairly high-traffic spot, and she wasn’t close enough to make out what was fresh from something recently passed versus what was currently cowering in the bush, but she did recognize the metallic tang of blood, faint though it was. Maybe the animal was just a little banged up?

In any case, she’d just solidified her plans for however long this took.

Monica slung her bag around to her front to sift through its contents. Now where was… Aha! She triumphantly produced a stick of string cheese that only looked a little smushed from part of a day in her bag. “Everybody likes cheese.” Not exactly true, but she’d yet to live with a four-legged critter not hell-bent on stealing cheese if they knew it was on her plate.

She drew within arm’s reach of the woman and crouched down, extending the cheese stick out in offering. “We should think about how we’re gonna get it to a vet, if it’s hurt.” It was the middle of summer, far too warm for Monica to have a jacket on her to wrap the critter up in, and neither of them appeared to have anything large enough to carry anything for any kind of distance, bags notwithstanding.

“As long as it’s not lactose intolerant.” Jenny said with a small snort, but she inclined her head in agreement. Smushed cheese was better than what she had been doing. “I think I was scaring it. I get a little too eager.” The whitelighter made room for the stranger in front of the opening. 

Jenny didn’t have time to respond when there were soft shuffling sounds from the bush, the leaves scraping against each other as the creature tentatively moved forward towards the cheese. A white muzzle appeared, revealing the face of a scraggly looking dog - potentially a chihuahua, but Jenny wasn’t able to tell. “I hope you’re a dog person,” she murmured as it began to nibble on the cheese with indescribable grunting sounds.

Tearing off her plaid overshirt, she took her chance. When the dog was far enough out she scooped him up in the fabric, not giving him much of a chance to fight, but either way he was focused on the food. Sure enough, there was blood. A small cut on his back leg that looked like it could have been done by a fence.   

A vet - Jenny hadn’t thought that far ahead. If it was just her around the plan would have been easy. A quick heal and then carting him off to the closest no kill shelter. “It just looks like a cut. I can take care of that at home. Do you want to help me cart the mutt there?” They looked like a bizarre portrait of a family feeding their baby together, with the woman hanging cheese in the dogs face as Jenny cradled him.

Smirking slightly, Charlotte quirked an eyebrow at the curious phrasing. “Chaos magic, huh? That I can probably work with.” Was she just humoring Charlotte? Or did she have a foot in the supernatural world? It wouldn’t be surprising, this was Edgewood; folks showed up every day looking for and finding magic around every corner… and Jenny did find Charlotte.

Once again, Jenny caught Charlotte by surprise, bypassing her and going right for the car. They were close now, so much so that Charlotte caught the soft scent of leather from Jenny’s leather jacket. Paired with the woman’s smile, it was… oddly comforting, and put Charlotte at ease as she slid into the driver’s seat and let Jenny close the door. (If this was a carjacking, it was off to a very strange start, but for a number of reasons, Charlotte hoped it wasn’t.)

Charlotte waited until Jenny got in to answer her. “As of right now, August 28th is the gallery’s grand opening. But that might turn into a soft opening before today’s over, we’ll see.” The witch explained as she freed her phone from her back pocket and buckled her seat belt. She made sure Jenny was strapped in too before shifting into gear and joining the flow of traffic. “Oh yeah, I know where Riverview’s at, my sister and her friend live around there. I go by it all the time.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but even that felt like more than enough information to share with a relative stranger. 

“Only a week? Well, welcome to Edgewood! I wouldn’t be giving anyone directions, either. Map apps and friendly locals are gonna be your best friends, but it’ll grow on you after a while.” Charlotte said, smiling as she snuck into the turn lane. It had taken her almost a year to figure out where everything was when she moved away for college. “So, what brought you to town?”

The scandalized expression on her face when Charlotte said she played with chaos magic was notable. “Do you? Work with it? That stuff can get you in trouble,” she warned earnestly, unable to mask the worry in her eyes. Trouble that I vow to always help you out of. Jenny didn’t see the harm in talking magic in Edgewood, though. The Elders told her all about the town before hand and she figured it would be easier to do her job if the Kingsleys at least trusted to come to her about magic. 

Jenny’s eyes kept sliding over to Charlotte from the road, reveling in the fact that this was the first time she’d seen her charge up close, not just as an image. The connection between them felt stronger than it ever had - maybe because of the close quarters. “Well, if they do work you too hard, you should tell them where to stick it. Or I can,” she said with a casual shrug. “If you work at a gallery, that must mean you’re an artist?” 

Unsurprised by Charlotte’s little fib, Jenny still couldn’t contain the smile that made it’s way to her face. “Oh! Maybe I’ll see you around the neighborhood then.” She knew she’d be close to Bridgette, but she didn’t realize Charlotte visited her sister that often. 

“I’m glad you’re my first local,” she said with a lopsided grin on her face. Charlotte was the first Kingsley she had officially met, it felt kind of special. 

Beatrice, while feeling slightly guilty, was also relieved to have the woman take over. It was amazing how almost everything you knew about first aid flew out the window when you needed it the most. “Thank you.” Beatrice said, awkwardly folding the stained shirt while the woman took care of her wound.

She couldn’t help but wince when she cleaned it, even though she knew that it was necessary. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about picking up any infections. That’s the last thing she needed. She already knew she was going to get lectured by Charlie and Wyatt, and if she got some weird infection on top of it they’d never let her go to the woods to practice magic unsupervised again. “Thank you. And don’t worry about the shirt. I’ve got plenty more just like it.” She never wore her best clothes when she went out to practice magic anyways.

“Uh….” Beatrice said, actually taking a moment to look around and take in her surroundings now that she wasn’t bleeding from her head anymore. “I’m… not sure? I promise you that I’m not saying that because I have a head wound, it’s just that I’m really bad at, like, navigating. Do you happen to know what street we’re on?”

Expression softening, she set a free hand on the girl’s shoulder, giving it a gentle and comforting squeeze. Cleaning it up was not necessary for anything but the ruse, unfortunately for Beatrice. That and she really had been covered in blood, she shouldn’t have to walk home like that. “No need for thanks. I’m Jenny Du, by the way. Sorry to do away with the introductions. I tend to forget my manners when I see blood. You need to be careful when you’re out hiking alone. I would usually recommend taking a buddy.” 

Jenny had anticipated Beatrice to popping up, walking her straight to the Kingsley manor (the prospect of that made her heart pound in excitement); the confused expression was not expected. The whitelighters eyes widened in panic. 

At least she knew they were close to the Kingsley manor, she could feel the connection to Charlotte anchoring her, but when it came to street names she had no idea. Orbing Beatrice to the Kingsley Manor wouldn’t be the best idea either. Jenny went to her go to excuse. “I’ve only been here about a week, so I don’t think I’m going to be much help. I only vaguely know how to walk back to my place,” she said honestly. “I’ll walk you home, make sure you don’t have a concussion. We’ll find a street sign.”