HENLEY THOMPSON.

"For awhile, yeah." Anya nodded. "I was with this old lady, Andrea, before that. When she died I got moved to the orphanage." Andrea had never particularly seemed to like Anya, but it was at least more private. The Darling Home was always at capacity. "Eh, it was fine as far as orphanages go. From what I heard, it got better when Minerva Mouser took over. They'd already kicked me out at that point."

Henley nodded slightly as the other girl went on. She was always curious to think about how different her life might have been had she not been taken in by Greta when she was. But despite all the pros that might have, the biggest con would be never meeting Eira. She didn't know if she would trade any fate for that. "You aged out, then?"

"I suppose I've gotten far worse than a little agro before. I can handle that." Words no longer meant much to Sally. She'd heard too many of them over the decades. "I like you. You seem reasonable."

"I try to be." Henley insisted, surprised with even herself for entertaining a conversation with a vampire for this long. Things had changed since Eira had come back turned, and she was trying to keep an open mind about the difference in their species. She had to, or she was going to go insane. "That still doesn't mean I'm super pumped to be talking to you, don't get me wrong."

"I don't like mud." She sniffed, unable to stop herself from being petulant. "Maybe you're okay with stinking, but I'm not. Besides, Adelaide didn't like us getting the carpet dirty." They weren't living with Adelaide anymore, though. They couldn't as long as Edgar was being a greedy asshole. "And for the record, I'm not afraid. Nothing scares me."

"I'm pretty sure that makes you a bad werewolf, you know. We're not all prim and proper. It's literally not in our blood." Henley teased with a soft snort before playfully rolling her eyes. "And I don't stink. But fine, I guess we can head back to town." Getting rained on did sound like kind of a bummer anyways.

"Well, thank goodness for that. My arm is getting tired." That was a lie. Marian had been conditioned from childhood to increase stamina and durability. She'd learned the hard way that she could go hours locked into position. "It's interesting you said one of the bad ones." Her father would consider a good supernatural to be an oxymoron. "Do you really believe you're good?"

"I'm not draining anyone of their blood out here, am I?" Henley shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as she crossed her arms. "And I don't kill people to survive. Sounds pretty good to me."

Before, it would have been a question she didn't dare answer. Kida never would have put herself in the position to speak with an outsider in the first place. Now, it was different. It was not like before. "The Atlanteans," she said, light eyes moving to mark the woman's response. "You're not a caster, though."

"The Atlanteans, right. I don't know much about you guys yet." Henley didn't have a ton of knowledge of the different covens, mainly just the prominent few from the Castorea that seemed to run the town. Even if she was still on edge, she tried to relax her body language a little as she shrugged at the question. "No, wolf, actually."

Emily laughed. She couldn't help it. There were so many things that she had become and okay was so far from any of them. Poor Emily Bones, murdered for her fortune by a man who claimed to love her. Emily Bones, the vampire who was falling apart. Beautifully tragic, tragically beautiful. She had forgotten what okay even felt like. "I'm in love." It was easier to focus on that, to focus on Victor. "Is anyone who's in love okay?"

Henley just raised her eyebrows at that, not sure how to even respond as she stammered a bit. She had her own trials and tribulations with love, but she didn't want to get into them. "I'm guessing it's not going well, then?"

Ember's eyes tracked the woman's gaze to the moon that peeked out from behind the clouds. "Werewolf?" She asked. Werewolf, caster, vampire. It didn't really matter to Ember. Difference in general was something that she was becoming more and more familiar with accepting. Of course, Wade was partially to thank for that. The thought of that warmed her already toasty heart. It was love that her mother smelled on her. Ember had always thought she'd be embarrassed if that ever happened. She hadn't expected the sense of relief and pride that came instead. "It's definitely less overwhelming out here than in town. I wasn't expecting that. I did grow up around people. It's just different in the middle of town with everyone running around." Overwhelming but not necessarily bad. Just different.

"Yup." There was no point in trying to hide it. Henley was proud of what she was, she always had been. Even if she didn't have a pack, she still embraced her roots. "I guess that's why I like it so much. It's... quiet, out here." Pausing, she tilted her head slightly. "Where'd you grow up?"

"How long do I have before you turn and run off to pretend like you didn't see me?" It was quite literally tempting the wolf, but Eira couldn't stop herself from drawing closer. She wanted to feel her for a second, smell her. She craved a proximity that had grown up with that was now being denied. One hand toyed with brunette strands of Henley's hair. "You have split ends," she pointed out. "Being heartless is not an excuse to let yourself go." It was easier to be mean than to cave into her feelings. I love you? I miss you? She didn't deserve to say either of those things after causing all this trouble.

How typical of Eira, to comment on her appearance instead of talk about anything real. They certainly had plenty to talk about. "And you look like you haven't eaten in days. Seriously... there's bags under your eyes and everything. You never have those."

One scuffed boot kicked at a rock aimlessly. "Looking? I'm always looking now. It's exhausting. Right now I'm trying not to look." Anya just wanted to be. "I spent a lot of time out here growing up when the orphanage was too crowded. Which was, unfortunately, always."

Henley wanted to pry about what exactly the other girl was looking for, but she held off. It didn't seem like any of her business, judging by how vague the redhead was speaking. So she moved onto the next statement instead. "You lived in the Darling Home?" Looking back, Henley had always secretly wished that she'd ended up there instead of at Greta Queen's yard. It would have saved her a lot of trouble. But she also wouldn't have met Eira, and she wasn't sure if she could live with that. Even if she hated herself for it. "I thought that place was supposed to be nice."

"Huh, that's... cool." Henley was painfully terrible at holding conversations, but there was something about the blonde's genuine smile that made her want to keep trying. "What're you painting, then?"

"Or what, you'll eat me?" That didn't exactly scare Henley off, even if it should have.

Henley couldn't help but to frown as she furrowed her eyebrows at the boy. "Okay, but I just want you to know that secrets are the worst, Jim." Her tone had a playful edge to it, even if she meant her words.

It was hard to stay annoyed at someone like Woody, cop or not. He didn't exactly compare to the Marian Maids of the police force. And every time Henley interacted with him, he always showed her kindness. Maybe more than she deserved, but kindness nonetheless. "Oh, I'm..." Hiding away from Greta, really. "I just needed to get out of the house. Shifting out here late at night helps me get my mind off of things."

"I wasn't born yesterday." It had been a long time since Sally had been born. Her age wasn't apparent on her face but she swore she could feel the weight of the years in her bones. Or, maybe William was right. She always had been a tad dramatic. "Would it be bad if I said I almost wished someone would try something?"

There was a quip about how old the vampire really was in there somewhere, but Henley couldn't bring herself to actually say it. She was tired of the fighting when it came to their species. With Eira's current... situation, she was starting to see things with a slightly more open mind. Slightly. "Not bad. Maybe a little agro, but not bad."

"Why? Are there monsters?" The words were coupled with a sardonic tone that Shock found herself unable to shake. "I'd bet that it's more dangerous for you than me here, but it wouldn't be fair as you'd automatically lose. This part of the woods belong to Otis."

Henley had to hold back a growl in the back of her throat as she narrowed her eyes at the younger girl. "Since when did Otis own a piece of the reserve?" It felt like his territory was expanding inch by inch every day.

She was fresh from a transformation. The t-shirt Marie had tugged on clung to sweat slicked skin. "My sister would say the same thing." Diana had become so paranoid lately, but the younger werewolf knew why. The eldest Bonfamille had always been overprotective to a fault. "It's not my fault that no one else wanted to come out tonight. It's going to get rainy and gross soon." Her nose instantly scrunched in disdain at the thought.

Of all people to run into, Henley wouldn't complain about the mysterious figure in the woods being Marie. Before Greta lost her mind and everything went to shit, Henley had even been friends with a couple of the wolves in the Bonfamille pack. Things were certainly different now, but the sight of Marie brought a soft smile to Henley's face as she pushed some of her hair back behind her ear and shrugged. "What, are you afraid of a little water? Or God forbid, mud.... The drama."

Marian was off duty. While she always considered herself a hunter, her officer duties were more strictly regulated to her shifts. Anything that happened in the woods would be considered personal and not professional. Stopping to adjust the crossbow she carried, Marian sighed once. "It seems like you all have the same three catchphrases and vague threats you like to say once it gets dark. Tell me, do supernaturals share a script? It needs a bit of work, I'm afraid."

Henley's eyes stayed glued to the crossbow in the other woman's hand as she stepped forward, and she couldn't help but to roll them at Marian's response. Truthfully, the sight of the weapon didn't exactly scare Henley. She'd put her fear of death long behind her. "I'm not one of the bad ones, so you can put that thing down."