#distantsongsofjoy

She knew better than to venture out so underdressed for the cold. Her jacket is too light, the leggings a bad choice with how the wind whips right through them. She’s shivering so badly that her teeth are chattering as they stroll along looking at Christmas lights. Annie and August have ventured on ahead of them, Judah bundled up tight and asleep peacefully in his stroller.

“Huh? N-no!” She pulls her equally-as-cold hands from her pocket and holds them up in surrender. “No, then you will be cold. It’s- it’s okay.” She bumps his shoulder lightly, smiling as they stop in front of a massive display of lights. “I’d hate to have their electric bill.”

When Rhys insists again, she caves – rolling her eyes slightly as she takes the jacket and wraps it around herself. It’s extra warm from his body-heat, and she feels the shivers begin to dissipate quickly.

"...Hm," a contemplative hum was given in return to Rhys' answer, the Wytch taking a moment to glance down near his shoes before looking back up with an amused smile. They were wandering through a local park, their current path completely covered by fallen leaves that created a canvas of red and orange; autumn had officially crept in. Although winter was his favourite season for the snow and festivities, Mylo enjoyed those in between months where the air became fresher and the landscape became an explosion of colour.

But what really cemented his anticipation of autumn was the upcoming veil being lifted between the living and dead, providing a surge in supernatural activity. Everywhere he looked, there seemed to be echoes of those who passed away in a much greater quantity than any other month. It was both a good and bad thing, but right now, as the Wytch focused on something following them, it was what prompted the question: do you believe in ghosts?

"I was only asking because you seem to have made a friend," he laughed through the last word, watching as a spectral cat continued to bound alongside Rhys, attempting to keep up with every stride they took. She had been stalking the other for a while, but Mylo finally decided to speak up after the poor thing failed to understand why this new friend was ignoring her pleas for attention. Each wispy meow sounded increasingly frustrated as claws grappled - but passed through - shoelaces. "The ghost of a tabby is right near your left shoe." He pointed towards an empty (to Rhys, at least) spot besides him. "She's been trying to say hello for the past five minutes..."

She's carrying too many things. Poppy knows she needs to invest in one of those, like, giant work totes or something, but right now she's balancing notebooks, library books, and a hot drink in her arms.

The camp was a bit more sophisticated than what she normally went for. Larger, too. Which would make this more challenging – but she was hungry, and desperate. The approaching winter had already killed off most of the wild berries, game was getting more and more scarce to find. And although all of her raids had been on smaller scales… how different could this really be?

Ellory yanks her hood up to conceal her face. With her head aimed down, she shuffles through the camp – grateful for the pouring rain that aids in shrouding her. There’s chatter and laughter, carefree conversations. And while she has no idea where she is, or who these people are – there’s still a thud of pain in her heart. So reminiscent of home.

She sidesteps campers, gives a little nod of her head but doesn’t speak when folks walk by her muttering hellos. The lack of guards is curious, but they’re out far out in the wilderness it’s unlikely to encounter newcomers (or raiders). It seemed safe enough… no biters would make it this far.

Eventually, she finds her way into a space that looks promising to house supplies. The hallways are dark, bleak – leaving her to feel along the walls softly and with cautious footsteps just in case.

The whole shoot is somewhat of a disaster. Leo’s been on kid duty the whole time, chasing after Annie or Judah when they get too bored and decide to dip out on what’s going on. At least it’s all in good fun, and everyone is handling it well. It was all Leo’s idea, anyway…

“No, go, go get in a picture. I’ll take it.” She’s out of breath as she tries to shoo August away from the camera. “Go- go get a picture with your family.” A little frown as she finally scoots him away, only to be horrified when the kids start yelling at her to be in the picture. “What? No! I’m not – I’m not dressed for that!”

The kids protests win out and after fumbling around the camera settings to find the timer, she dives (literally) into the shot and screams as she scrambles to sit up before it goes off. At the same time, Judah takes a fistful of her hair and yanks it, making her screech just as the shutter clicks.

“Can I like, work here?”

Billie has a pretty pink laptop bag slung over her shoulder, having ducked into the cafe to escape a rain shower (which isn’t fair because the weather app said it was going to be a clear night and Billie’s plan was to write under the stars. Alas).

The thunder is outrageous, wind kicking up and tossing tree branches. She’s just praying that a limb doesn’t fall and smash her car. Even though she worked full-time for the Harper brothers now, she still couldn’t afford much outside of her apartment and paying down her debt. So she stands at the window and gnaws her bottom lip, turning her head to peek at Annie when she pipes up.

“It’s not safe to stand in front of the window during a storm.” Her eyebrows are raised as she points a doll at Leo. “Uncle Aj says so.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I have superpowers, so I’m invincible.” Until there’s a loud clap of thunder that has her jumping out of her skin. “Plus, I’m waiting for the rain to get slower so I can go home.”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because Annie hurls herself at Leo’s legs and clings for dear life. Her eyes widen as she reaches down to scratch the top of her head, sort of wobbling away from the window and back towards the center of the room with Annie still attached.

“Don’t leave!” She screams and cries, clawing at Leo’s leg.

It’d been a while since she last saw Rhys. Not that strange, given the fact she barely saw him out and about before. But usually they’d wave to each other on her morning runs, or she’d see him go for groceries. Hadn’t even seen him outside in his backyard doing whatever it was that he liked to do back there. The concern had grown, and even William was encouraging her to go check on him.

Curious to find the back gate open, she wanders right through it. The entire backyard looked like it needed condemned. She’s careful where she walks, afraid of stepping on glass or something else that might injure her. It seemed like it had been nice back here at some point. A long time ago, it seems; given the massive overgrowth and random shit tossed everywhere.