maeve.

"thanks, mom, but i don’t recall ever saying i was by myself," she sneered. truth was that she was on her way to meet someone who was likely more dangerous than being alone ever would be. deciding she was done wasting time on maeve and her far too 'better than you' vibe, niamh turned for the door. she hummed at the question, a hint of cruelty somehow finding its way into the sound. "aren’t you the all powerful witch? perhaps a bit more time studying then," she tossed the answer over her shoulder. "not like you spend time doing much else. that would require friends."

Her mouth twisted downwards and there was an audible click and clatter as the door locked itself and the sign flipped over to closed. "Don't need to study to stay ahead of someone who's not a witch at all," she said, returning the mocking tone. "So I guess you can either tell me what you're up to or I'm calling Nora."

"my car actually won't start," vanessa gestured towards the window as if it was possible to see the car instead of darkness. "and it's raining. but i won't melt. i can wait outside. just thought i'd peek my head in. you're meave, right?"

"Sucks about your car. Do you wanna use my phone to call a tow truck?" She pulled it from her pocket and frowned down at the screen; no service. "Huh. Weird. Is it storming out there? I barely even heard the rain."

Maeve wished her intuition was better developed. Maybe then she'd be able to guess what he wanted it for. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

lettie wasn't sure what a buffet was outside of a piece of furniture that honoraria fell had fussed over. she knew what all you can eat was, though, and that was enough to paint a picture. "respectfully, miss, i'm not like some of the others. i drink from the blood bags miss pearl gives us. i don't like to hunt. what do you want to know about me? i don't have secrets to keep. i just want to find out what happened to my mama."

"What about after? What if you don't find out?" This was genuine curiosity. Lettie's purpose might keep her focused, but what might she do if the answers she found were less than satisfactory? Maeve knew that vampirism heightened everything, good and bad. "Maybe I could help you with that too."

like a fun new party trick, she knows there's something off in the room before they even reveal themselves. it's a tickle in her senses, a disembodied whisper in the back of her mind that she isn't truly alone. "—are you going to lurk all day, or do you want to talk?"

Yuka had to admit the adjustment to modern society had been jarring, to say the least. Colonization as a whole had been the worst thing to happen to this land and her people, but now there was so much more to catch up on--and that wasn't even touching the topic of digital technology. The life she once had felt almost impossible as a human, but she had the advantage of being a vampire now. She went where she wanted, when she wanted, and these irrelevant colonial systems of government could not touch her. Still, society had moved on, her people forced to become small and spread out. Apothecaries were one place she could find some common ground but they seemed impossible to find these days. Thankfully, Mystic Falls was a little different. Yuka may not have been a witch, but she knew herbal medicine and its capabilities. It had taken some time for her to learn the unfamiliar plants growing here in the south, but she had spent plenty of time doing so before she wound up in the tomb. She didn't turn everyone she saved if she didn't have to, sometimes medicine could help. When it couldn't--there was her blood. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to see the selection, but I can come back another time." Yuka smiled. "It's good to see this place, there aren't too many around these days."

"It's cool if you stay. I'm not in a rush or anything." Maeve could quite happily stay locked up in Leigheas for the rest of the night, but things were troubled in Mystic Falls these days. Eventually one of her sisters would come to retrieve her and then it'd probably be a lecture from Nora. But ten more minutes probably wouldn't hurt— besides, this girl seemed nice. "You're familiar with herbs?"

"chill, it’s just me," niamh sighed, car keys jingling softly from where they loosely dangled from her fingers. there's a regular hint of annoyance to her voice that seemed to tinge every word spoken to her younger sister. an annoyance she had done less and less to hide as the years went on. gaze flicking briefly over to maeve, stepped further into the shop to begin looking through the shelves. she fingered a few bottles, clearly looking for something specific. "hey, where's the-" niamh cut herself off, grinning as she found what she was looking for. the last thing she wanted was help from her oh so powerful sister. the mere thought was enough to have her mentally scoffing. niamh held up the three bottles of herbs that she'd grabbed. "put these on my tab."

after the massacre of most of the entombed vampires, the survivors were on edge. they weren't safe from the humans— or each other. if lettie had any hesitance about being out at night with maeve, it wasn't solely a refusal to believe in maeve's power. there was a reluctance in lettie to bare her fangs against the few left who understood the situation she was in. being seen with maeve meant alerting more to her presence or creating the conception that lettie was trying to gain an advantage. however, at the end of the night, lettie couldn't lose her chance to talk to maeve. she needed her too badly. "yes, of course. do you have an update?"

"But…" But. She needed assurances and had no idea where to get them from. "I don't really know you. No offence. It's a big ask." She spoke as though the opportunity to show her power didn't raise goosebumps along her arms. "How do I know you won't… y'know. Go for the all you can eat buffet?"

"you should go home." it was dark, it was late. it was the perfect time for the unsavory to crawl out of the shadows. lettie— while technically classified among them— had no drive to hurt anyone. " they're saying a lot of people are being attacked by animals still."