ELODIE TREMAINE.

The sight of Elodie's familiar blonde hair instantly caused Aurora to perk up even as she waved off an errant yawn. "Too long," she agreed before instantly plastering the smile that appeased her parents on her face. "Of course. My sleeping schedule has been terrible lately. "Turns out the gift of beauty only goes so far against eye bags." Elodie was one of the few people outside of Phillip and Aurora's family who knew about her grace gifts. "But that's boring. You. How are you? I've missed your face. I'm sorry for not calling. My parents have been all over me lately."

"I've been..." Trailing off, she realized that she couldn't really come up with a good enough lie to try to say she was fine. It flustered her a bit as she laughed sadly and ran her fingers through her hair to push some strands away from her eyes. There was so much she wanted to tell Aurora about the past several weeks, but she didn't even know where to begin. For starters, she wanted to confirm that she was in fact at the ball, just under a glamour. She just couldn't help the disappointment that immediately washed over her as she thought about Henry. "You know. Not great, I guess? A lot has happened."

"Look, it's a long story. If you knew it, you'd probably actually be sorry. I'm feeling self pitying today."

"Well.. I have some time." Elodie didn't want to go back home-- not yet. Not ever, really, but she still had another hour or so before Tremaine would be hounding her.

Ember could actually relate to that to an extent. Instead of the house, it had been her father's shop and the community that her coven had formed. They had believed that remaining separate was the best way to protect themselves, but they were wrong. Ember knew that now, and she was glad her father did as well. "You'll have to come by the gallery, then." It was a nice chance for a shameless plug. "People are more comfortable with the art my magic makes than the fire itself. Burning alive is a real fear for some people." Not for Ember, though. Never for the girl who had sparks skipping through her veins.

"Gallery?" Elodie asked curiously, her interest instantly piqued as her head tilted and she glanced down at the other girl's hands. It didn't take long to piece together the whole fire magic/melted glass thing, and her eyes lit up at the realization. "Wow... That's actually super beautiful. I wish there was something like that I could do with my magic." It felt like she scarcely got a chance to even use her magic, with the way her stepmother and stepsisters breathed down her neck every time she even thought about it. She chuckled a bit at the burning alive comment and raised her eyebrows. "Does fire not hurt you at all?"

"No." That was the one silver lining here. It was ugly and disconcerting but ultimately painless. Sometimes, Emily didn't even realize what was happening. That tended to be embarrassing more than anything else. "It's sweet of you to be concerned. I also have an older sister who's incredibly good at that." The fact that Sally had been through so much because of Emily continued to weigh on the undead heart of the younger Bones daughter. "You're not wrong, though. I wouldn't consider this particularly pleasant at all. Most people just look in disgust."

Elodie's face softened slightly when the other girl confirmed that the deformations didn't hurt, at least. But still, she felt more sorry for her than anything. But she didn't want to say that out loud. She knew all too well that pity from others didn't exactly feel comforting. "Well, you're not disgusting. Just... different, that's all. Lot's of people are different in Walt's Landing."

Comfortable was a tricky word in this context. Kida didn't think she'd ever be comfortable with the loss of life no matter how beneficial it was. How necessary it had become. The news that the caster had no coven gave Kida a moment of pause. "No coven?" She knew it was possible, but it was unfathomable to her. Her identity remained tangled up in hers so tightly it would be impossible to bisect. "Is that a choice?"

"My stepmother is Castorea, but I don't really think I'm included in that." Elodie sure didn't feel like she was welcome to say she was apart of Veronica's coven. If it were up to her stepmother, she would just be pretending like she wasn't even a caster at all.

"I didn't realize I was restraining you." If she wanted to walk, she could walk. Shock wasn't going to chase after her or anything. She wasn't that kind of vampire. Otis would never let her breathe a word of her connection to casters, but that didn't erase it. Draining one pointlessly was of no interest to her. "You're not scared, are you?"

Elodie didn't find that a lot scared her. Not anymore. She'd been fending for herself for years at this point. A vampire roadblock wasn't exactly the worst thing that could have happened to her tonight. But she was definitely still on edge at the other girl's question as she slowly shook her head. "No." The answer was honest, even if her shoulders were right and her fists were clenched by her side.

"A fellow homebody! Forced or by choice?" Anna was definitely in the former category. She had far less time now that she was running the company and trying to be a good partner, but she could always make some. "Honestly, it's all about the spices. People wouldn't think cayenne would work, but it surprisingly does."

Elodie was a little taken aback by the bluntness of the girl in front of her. She hadn't expected to go into the specifics of her situation, but she surprisingly didn't mind. Something told her that the two of them had more in common than she originally thought. "Uh, forced.. I guess? My stepmother is a little strict." A little. "I'll have to remember that for the next time I make some popcorn."

"I had a lot of time on my hands growing up. Like, a lot a lot. You can only talk to the paintings on the wall for so long before you begin to wonder if you're, well, y'know. Every once and a while I was productive and tried to gain a few new skills. This recipe is the result."

Elodie smiled at that as she nodded her head slightly. "Yeah, I can relate to that. Maybe not the talking to paintings thing, but being stuck in the house." She rarely ever told other people about her home situation, so she kept it vague intentionally. Aurora didn't even know how bad Lady Tremaine and her sisters could be sometimes. "Maybe I'll have to take after you and try to learn a skill or something. Have any reccomendations?"

@shatteredslipper

At the sound of Diedre's voice, Elodie had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. That would just be rude, and she wouldn't stoop to her stepsister's levels, no matter how low they went. Steeling herself, she set her pen down and looked up from the bench she was sitting on outside to smile back at her sister. "If you're going to ask me about the floors, I scrubbed them this morning."

By the time she hung up, Elodie blinked and nodded awkwardly as the sales attendants started to give them looks. "Right. Um, how much longer are we going to be out?"

"It's hot chocolate. Yes, people usually drink it when it's cold out. I know that. I just also happen to know that only a psychopath would say no."

Elodie graciously took the cup as she gave the other girl a smile and took a long sip. Even if it was a little warm outside for a hot drink, it was still undeniably good hot chocolate. "Did you make this yourself?"

"You can call me vain if you want, but my life would be so much easier if I was ugly."

"... I'm... sorry?"

"Hey, stop. If you think I'd burn you or something, you need your head checked. I'm an elemental caster — not a pyromaniac. Let's try and be a little more progressive about things now."

"Sorry, sorry... If you can't tell, I don't exactly get out of the house much." If at all. Veronica kept a tight leash on Elodie specifically. Not so much with her stepsisters. "I would love to see what you can do, though."

Emily was falling apart. Literally. It was almost impossible to guess why she was rotting without seeing Doc Finkelstein, but she had her reasons for avoiding him. Instead, all she could do was look down in shame at her arm when she felt the eyes of another notice the unpleasant condition. "It's still attached, isn't it? No need to stare."

"Does it hurt?" Elodie found herself asking softly, but she quickly realized how that might come off as she furrowed her brows and shook her head. "I'm just concerned, is all. I promise. That doesn't look pleasant."

"The Atlantis coven is older than Walt's Landing. We don't need to explain or justify our traditions. Some things aren't meant to be changed." The some things in question was their history of human sacrifice, which appeared to be a hot topic. Kida didn't like it, but it wasn't her place to try and stop it.

"Please, you don't need to explain anything you're not comfortable with. I was just.. curious, I guess. I don't know much about my own coven. Technically I don't have one." She didn't count Anastasia, Diedre, or Veronica.

"Isn't it a little past your bedtime?" The street was quiet and empty save for the two who stood on the dark pavement. "You know what they say about all the things that go bump in the night."

It was way past Elodie's bedtime, actually. Veronica typically banished her to her bedroom before it even hit 8 o'clock most nights. Sometimes even earlier if her stepmother was in a mood. What Veronica didn't know was that Elodie had snuck out of her window for a late night walk. She should have known to be more careful, but by the time she saw the other girl blocking her way in the street it was too late. "I think we'd both have a better night if you just let me go."