family first

Dinah let out a little chuckle when the woman jumped at the animal, knowing how she felt the odd time something caught her by surprise, “No need to apologise… maybe the animal should be the one apologising to you,” she joked. 

Joanna shook her head, laughing lightly. “If animals could talk, I doubt an apology would be it’s first priority.” Then again, knowing what she knows about the city and the supernatural species that coexist, perhaps she shouldn’t joke about talking animals. Who knows what’s real and what isn’t these days. It takes her only a moment to recognise the Davenport, and she stiffens slightly but continues nonetheless. “- then again, who knows what they think.”

The Portuguese man chuckled softly at her commentary, shaking his head. They’d created a rather sibling like commanderie over the years but he was under no illusion of the lack of closeness his former wife held with her. “Are these personal inquiries or reports for my ex-wife,” the director asked, standing and heading over to the small bar.

Rolling her eyes, Joanna made herself a touch more comfortable. “I’m hardly the espionage type, Milho. If she wants to know anything about you, she can ask you herself. She’s a big girl. And I’m Switzerland.” Far be it for Joanna to get in the middle of another couple’s relationship, or lack thereof in this case. “I’m genuinely interested in your life and well-being. Tell me you’ve done something other than go to work and go home.”

                    “I don’t recall you as being so jumpy, Mrs.Calloway,” brow rose, wondering if the nods to terrorism in the city and the damage it had done to her husband and son were effecting her more severely than imagined, hues darting from the animal back to Derek’s mother. “You okay?” A more sheepish expression flooded the mien, a rare sight on Caleb. 

“Caleb!” She exclaims, her hand moving to her chest as she urges it to settle after her unexpected encounter. She glares at him gently, though that doesn’t stop the slight smile forming at the corners of her lips. “Yes, well... it startled me.” Joanna said in her defence, before she sighed. “Don’t tell Derek, please.” She asks of him, before she smiles again, touched by his concern. “I am. I’m just... It’s been a rough few months and I’m a little more on edge than usual, I’ll be fine. How are you? I haven’t seen much of you recently...”

“You know, someone once tried to convince me that the rats are all part of New York’s charm, but I’m willing to bet that they’ve never had one run over their open toed shoes when you’re just sober enough to remember it.” An imparted comment to simply aid in leveling out the woman’s clear shock in being so startled. “Don’t sweat it, you didn’t fall and drag me down with you so.– no harm no foul.”

“I’m almost certain whoever said that only said it so tourists wouldn’t boycott the city, in which case, it was likely a politician.” Knowing how politics works, Joanna might not be far off. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” she said under her breath, rolling her eyes before offering a grateful smile to the other. “That would have been awful if I had. And a lawsuit I don’t need.” Jo laughed, shaking her head. 

Claire watched as the tiny animal ran past them. It looked like a possum. She wondered if it was a Vale in disguise or just a random animal. It was strange for the time of day, but what wasn’t strange in New York now days? “It’s okay. It seems like it’s he was more in a hurry than us.”

Joanna nodded, hand still pressed against her chest though she slowly attempt to regulate it’s quickened beat. Eventually, her heart stops racing and she lowers her hand, clenching it gently in to the fabric of her pantsuit jacket. “So it would seem,” she comments quietly, turning to watch as it scurried away. “With winter nearing it’s end, it must have more pressing matters than the well-being of people to concern itself with, I suppose.”

Everett chuckled slightly. “Stuff like that is always the worst because you aren’t expecting it. The worst is when you’re really absorbed in something and someone comes to talk to you.” It happened to him quite often when he was working on a case. “Once, I fell out of my seat because I was so focused on my work that I didn’t even notice my coworker come in.” He told this story, hoping to alleviate some of her embarrassment. 

“I believe it’s called a... a jump scare?” She laughs sheepishly, shaking her head as she wills her heart to settle. “My children take great joy in convincing me to watch a movie with them, conveniently forgetting to mention there are several moments that might frighten me, and then making it worse by scaring me when I’m not expecting it.” Her lips thinned as she tried not to smile at his story, appreciating his attempt at alleviating her embarrassing display. “Did they do it on purpose or what it unintentional?”

“I think we might be better off not knowing… it looked like it had too many eyes and legs to be something I would call friendly,” she laughed despite herself; spiders or those sorts of creepy crawlies were not things she liked. “Oh I’m fine, I’m pretty easy to scare so don’t worry about it”. 

“New York,” she shrugs as if they should expect nothing less, laughing lightly as she wraps her arms around her waist. “Whatever it is, it’s gone now. Thank god.” And she shakes her head. Joanna smirked, brows lifting before she nods. “I’m the same, right now. I didn’t used to be but recently, everything makes me jump.”

It was more the woman’s reaction to the animal that made her jump with her rather than the little creature. “ No no it’s fine, really. I just dreaded what moved after seeing you jump,” Aalis confessed with a chuckle. 

“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what it was.” She groused, brow furrowed as she attempted to catch a glimpse of it before it disappeared. Shaking her head, Joanna stepped back and clasped her hands together in front of her, smiling at the younger girl. “It did not look pleasant though. Are you okay? I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Jumpy today, Joanna?” CJ turned to see New York’s first lady jump as a rat dashed in front of her down a sewage drain. 

“Hah, hah.” She hummed, turning slightly startled eyes on the hunter. “Can you blame me?” Joanna huffed, glaring at the creature as it scurried away, before she sighed. “-- sorry, I haven’t... I’m a little on edge.”

“I don’t think I can deal with them, which is why I squeal whenever I see one. Unfortunately for us, theres more of them around here than they are of us. If you haven’t seen one yet, you need to brace yourself.” She said with a little laugh, though she knew it to be the truth. “No worries. I’ve been through my fair share of embarrassing times. Though it was a little entertaining.”

“I, personally, don’t understand how people can have them as pets.” And she shudders, shaking her head as she crosses her arms over her chest loosely. “That said, I’d rather run in to a domesticated one than one out in the wild streets of New York.” Who knows what kind of diseases they carry. Joanna nodded, half-shrugging with one shoulder as she conceded. “I’ll give you that. At least I didn’t fall over. Managed to maintain some of my dignity.”

“As I don’t know every species that exists in the world, I can’t say no for sure. Everyone has rights, and their existence is not something I can control.”

she would be angry. and hurt. if she found out that clayton knew laurel was in new york and didn’t tell her, she would be furious but she would be more upset than anything. she gave up a lot for both clayton and his career and he knew how much giving laurel up had hurt her and how often her daughter weighed on her mind. she never fully moved on from it nor did she ever forget. they’re supposed to be partners and her learning that he kept this from her would be a serious breach of trust that they worked so hard on restoring after the affair itself. when / if she ever finds out, she probably won’t let it go very easily and she’s unlikely to trust him as much as she did before. she’ll put up a good front, but in private she’ll be very quiet and reserved with him. and she’ll get over it eventually, but it is what it is.

“Giving up my daughter. Not pursuing photography as my chosen career path. I love what I do now and it’s important work, but photography was my first true love… just don’t tell Clay I said that.”

“Their actions at some point in their lives may disappoint me but that will never change how much I love them. And I would never be disappointed in them, personally.”

“My parents. My father, if I’m being specific. We were incredibly close when I was younger and I lost that relationship with him after I met Clayton. They didn’t approve. I miss him.”

“I wouldn’t call him my favourite, simply because I don’t favour one child over the other, but I will admit I’m closer to M. than E. and Derek. He’s my youngest and my baby and I fully intend on taking advantage of that until he, like his siblings before him, realises how incredibly uncool I am to hang out with.”