#tepin

Lilian had a habit of exploring the wider town area, even if it really wasn’t in her best interest. For as small of a town it was, there seemed to be ghosts everywhere, but Lil didn’t really want to think why that was likely.  Still, being stuck to the town meant that she had a habit of wanting to explore it, even the haunted places. She couldn’t just pick up her messenger bag and run anymore after all, so this was the best compromise she could come up with even if she had to be careful. So she decided that she’d finally go to Champlain Falls, even if the weather was cold. It had struck her looking at the map that it would be pretty, and hopefully quiet for her day off. She probably wouldn’t be able to read there this time, but she could at least walk it. 

Lilian was surprised to see someone else there thinking that the area would be abandoned at this time of the year, although it was likely that the same impulse that had moved her here the other was experiencing. She hadn’t meant to catch her attention, but with a sheepish smile Lil waved and said, “Sorry, I hope I didn’t spook you. Didn’t think anyone would be out here today.”

In all the chaos and confusion of her very existence, Tepin often finds solace and sanctuary in Champlain Falls. It’s still a very risky and dangerous venture, though, every time she visits the place, considering it’s a common site for hikers and picnickers when she still can’t control her transformations, but sometimes, it’s a risk worth taking. Maybe the jaguar wouldn’t do anything terrible and instead just take a much-needed refreshing bath. If it were Tepin, she would. Wait, it’s just me… She heaved a sigh at that thought, facepalming in her head while she continued to just sit there and try to meditate. She wasn’t even sure she’s doing the right pose, only learning from what she’s seen on her crappy television, a relic of the past, but it keeps her calm and collected.

Sensing someone's approach, she quickly took a defensive stance, immediately rising from where she sat cross-legged, her eyes on whatever had found her, her arms ready to swing, though her feet were ready to run. When she realized it was just another person, most likely a tourist or someone who needed the momentary peace, she heaved another sigh, this time of relief. “O-oh, it’s fine… I was just… Uhm, I was just enjoying the scenery.” She offered her a warm smile, but then felt something was…strange about this other person. Has she seen her somewhere? Tepin could swear that face was famous…for something. “I’m sorry, this is probably weird but… Have we met? You look familiar… Like I’ve seen your face somewhere…”

Lilian saw her startle and, for a moment and backed up a step, not wanting to encroach on a space that wasn't hers. Still, she moved back so quickly that Lil figured it wasn't anger – maybe something more akin to fear than anything. So, she stayed, hoping her face didn't convey anything but calm, knowing what it was to be reactive. "It is pretty," she said softly, giving Tepin a smile and looking out to the water for a moment.

She hadn't noticed who the other was before, but Lil could pick that she must have been at the market. She wasn't sure why, but her face was familiar to know. It was hard to be in a town where she'd seen a lot of people, and none of them particularly well – but that came with the territory in a lot of ways. At the question, Lil chuckled slightly, "I was just thinking about that – you work at the market, right? I'm sorry, I don't know if I ever caught your name before. I'm Lil Adamson, and I'm sure you saw me around there."

Tepin could only awkwardly nod at the stranger’s description, stealing glimpses of her just in case, even as she turned to look out into the water, following her suit. When she introduced herself, Tepin’s eyes grew wide in surprise, a dab of delight in them. What was once a source of fear and uneasiness for her now became a much-needed beacon of familiarity. Ever since she moved to White Crest, she’s kept to herself, only really reaching out to potential customers and clients, so she can survive. She has barely left the Outskirts, caging herself within its borders to protect not only the people elsewhere, especially the townsfolk, but mostly the scared little girl within her, still guilt-ridden over the many “accidents” that she could not prevent.

“Lil Adamson?” Tepin wasn’t quite sure if that was it, or at least if that was only it, feeling like there was more to her than just another customer of the Night Market, but relented when she could not think of other possibilities. The balam was quite sure she had seen her elsewhere. Like on a poster or something. But for now, that seemed the only accepted explanation. “Oh yeah, that’s probably it… I’m Tepin Silva, by the way. I own the Fresh Greens stall at the Night Market.” She hesitantly extended a hand to shake but kept a warm smile on her face as she slowly approached her, chuckling somewhat nervously. “Are you sure you’re not a celebrity? I think I’ve seen you on a poster or something.”

Lil didn’t know what changed with the other really, but suddenly she seemed a bit less nervous around Lil. It made her feel a bit better, as she wasn’t very good at the whole calm presence thing. It was something that her Aunt June had, but Lil wasn’t really sure she was soothing in the same way. She was trying though. She wanted to be a pillar of White Crest and reliable, but there was always that urge to run. 

“Yes - Oh. Tepin yeah you have the catnip right?” Lil said with a warm smile glad that she had placed the other as well. The town certainly wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. There were plenty of folks she wouldn’t run into, but Tepin did seem to be a fixture at the market.  When she extended her hand, Lil took it and shook it lightly. At the question Lil snorted slightly, “No - I don’t think so at least. I don’t think I’m a celebrity.” Which was true enough. Lil was perhaps infamous in some circles, and not exactly hidden as an exorcist around here, but most people never needed one and would rather not think of exorcisms at all.  Lil continued trying to find where Tepin might have known her, “ I work at Dell’s Tavern in the town, but if it’s Adamson that you’re honing in on you may have known my Aunt June.” 

Tepin continued to be delighted with this…Lil Adamson, appreciating her memory of her stall. Sure, there weren’t a lot of stalls at the Night Market that sold catnip, and advertised it like Tepin did, but it was still a feat she thought was worthy of her most genuine admiration. “Yes, the catnip! You’ve bought our catnip? How did your cat like it?” The answer was obvious, mostly because the purpose of catnip, its effects on cats, were widely known, but she wanted to hear it first from the woman’s mouth.

“Dell’s Tavern…” She repeated the name of the establishment, as if committing it to memory. When the handshake ended, she turned to Lil, and with the sweetest smile she could muster, as a makeshift apology, admitted the truth. “...I don’t think I’ve ever been there before, but to be fair, I usually just stay here in the Outskirts, so I’m not as knowledgeable of the popular spots in town.” The name she mentioned next wasn’t as familiar to Tepin as well. She couldn’t even put a face to it. “Hmm, maybe… I just can’t remember at the moment. Does she also work at the Tavern?”

Lil felt that the conversation was going as normally as she would expected, which made it a bit calmer. She hadn’t spooked the other, and while she wasn’t exactly a born conversationalist it was something she’d been trying to actively work on. “I did. I got it for some of my neighbors for christmas time because they have a few cats. It was a big stand out in the gift, and they talked about it a lot. I’m sure you’ll get some new customers when they run out” While Lil loved cats, she’d never really been in a stable position  where she lived and well she couldn’t make a cat just stay in a car all day.  She supposed now she was in a position to finally get one, but with the long hours she wasn’t sure. 

Lil laughed slightly not out of anything mean or rude but to try and make Tepin feel a bit better. “Don’t worry about it. Although I work there I probably wouldn’t know where it was if I didn’t. And Aunt June didn’t work there, but I think she used to put flyers around the town for her house as a side business. She had a bed and breakfast for a few years, and I see the posters from time to time. I don’t really have the heart to take them down. ” Lil had been told that she looked like her aunt, but she hadn’t really connected it. Further, the posters were sort of a front for people who needed exorcist help. June found it was easier for people to point out a poster then just explain where the house was.  

“Aww, I’m so glad they liked it!” Tepin beamed with giddiness at the notion that her small contribution seemed to have great effect on others. As much as her livelihood earned her some much needed money for her own survival, it meant more to her that she could help others with what little she could provide. Running away from home at a young age, to save her family from herself, from the jaguar spirit that took over whenever it wanted to, that she could not control, left her with little to no other options really. 

She knew her limits, and as much as the fact saddened her, it did allow her a manageable grasp on her reality. She had so many weaknesses but she also had strengths, and one of them was gardening, the things she learned from her mother, the things passed on from one generation to the next. Even beyond the world of the living, her ancestors were still helping her. Tepin believed that to be true. “Thank you so much for sharing them! I don’t think I can thank you enough, Lil.”

“Oh. A bed and breakfast?” Tepin tried her best to remember anything about an Aunt June or a bed and breakfast, but nothing came out of it, nothing useful. At that, she couldn’t help but look a little bit disappointed. She was so sure she’d seen her face before, somewhere, but her mind wasn’t being helpful, just blanking when she needed it the most. “That sounds…fun! I bet she’s a great cook?” Her heart softened some more, if it hadn’t already, at the way Lil was talking about her Aunt June. It made her miss her own family, her parents the most. She wondered if they were doing great right now, how they were, if anything had changed. “Your aunt must be a wonderful woman…”

“I am too.” Lil said with an easy smile. Lil had been trying to make friends with her neighbors, which hadn’t been as hard as she had worried about. It seemed there was a lot of good will for her aunt, but Lil had wanted them to know her. It seemed like a small thing, but when you were used to having people around you it was an important one. 

“No problem at all,” Lil said sheepishly. It didn’t seem a lot to her, but then again it was one of those things that other people might not find important but it was to yourself. Especially if Tepin was new, and the tree was affecting her farm it might be super important. So nodded slightly after and said, “I’ll be sure to visit again. I’m thinking of getting a cat soon although I have no promises when.” 

Lil nodded slightly, and realized that she probably didn’t know. It had been worth a shot at the least, and Lil did like talking to people who’d met June. She’d known her aunt well, but it was always nice. She’d loved it when Bobbi told her a snippet here and there. “She was a good cook and she was a wonderful woman.” Lil hadn’t realized until she had responded that the other thought June was alive, but there bits like that she couldn’t control. “Ah - that’s probably the only other reason I think you might have seen me before or knew the name.” Well, unless she needed an exorcist, but it seemed pretty unlikely. 

“Aww!” Tepin couldn’t help but feel all warm and tingly inside, maybe even giddy, at the thought of her newfound friend getting a cat. Tepin loved cats. Well, most of them. She definitely loved domesticated house cats more than she did big cats, wild cats. It’s hard to, especially when you have a wild and murderous jaguar spirit living inside you. Maybe one day, when she finally finds a way to cure herself of it, maybe she can learn to love all cats regardless of size and eating habits. “What kind of cat are you thinking of getting?” 

“Tell you what, I’ll even give you a discount on your first purchase. Think of it as a gift from me to your new friend!” A part of Tepin wanted to just give that gift for free, but the way things were going in the Outskirts, she realized she couldn’t afford to do that. She has no other source of income outside of her business. She was lucky she still had a few stuff saved. Otherwise, this whole roots situation would’ve been reason for her to finally move out and find someplace safer.

It took Tepin a while but when she finally realized that Lil’s Aunt June was gone, her wide smile slowly ceased to be, turning instead into a horrified frown. “O-oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t know…” That didn’t make it any better, though, and Tepin felt a little worse for not being as careful as she should have been. “I’ve…only been around for, like, three years, and I’ve mostly just stayed out here, in the Outskirts, so I don’t really know much about the people in town. Or the town itself.” She tried to smooth it over with a chuckle but it came out weird and very awkward. “I’m sure, wherever she is, she’s in a better place, watching over you…”

Lil smiled at her enthusiasm. She hadn’t really talked to anyone on the idea of getting a cat, and she was sure that it was out of character. She usually was ready to leave at a moment’s notice, not something you could do with a tiny friend to take care of. However, she wasn’t going to be moving anymore, and if she was honest it was lonely being in as big of a house she was in without anyone around. However with her odd hours, and random visitors she doubted she could get a roommate to put up with all of it. So a cat sounded like a good idea. “I hadn’t really thought about what kind of cat, but maybe a black cat. A big poofy one.” Lil said her hands showed an exaggerated shape. 

“Thank you,” Lil said with a smile and laugh. “I’ll be sure to come with them when I get one. Well if they like being on a leash I guess.” She knew it was a bit abnormal, but she’d heard of people being able to get cats on leashes. Maybe then if she had to go on a trip they could come with Lil. 

At the other’s realization Lil shook her head slightly. “It’s okay. I got a bad habit of talking about her like she’s still around. It’s pretty natural to get confused.” It was true enough, and she should have been more careful about it. Tepin seemed to want to make Lil feel better though so she gave her a small smile. “I’m sure she is. No worries at all. Although if you ever need a guide post the old orange house was hers - I guess it’s mine now. It’s on peaberry road if you ever venture further in. Do you live around here then?” 

“Aww!” Tepin repeated herself, a hand finding its way on her chest, as if her heart was actually swelling too big for her chest. In her head, she was already imagining how big and poofy that black cat would be. She had spent so many nights watching cat videos on her phone, the gadget a gift from one of her frequent customers, and they always made her smile. She knew in her heart of hearts it would make Lil smile as well, especially when the cat was real and not in a video. “Do you already have a name for her? She already sounds so wonderful!”

The balam shook her head, a grin on her face too warm and excited. “No, thank you! I love cats, so that would be a treat for me.” The mention of a leash, however, slowly chased off her smile, a frown replacing it. For a few moments, Tepin lost herself in her deeper, darker thoughts, remembering a bad memory involving a similar bind, though she was already in it when she came to. Whatever happened to the jaguar, it was bad. Fortunately for her, someone came to her rescue. A lot of someones. Men trained to deal with her captor who was revealed to have committed some crimes of her own.

Tepin snapped back to her present reality soon enough but all she could muster then was a weaker, meeker smile. She nodded in agreement to Lil’s succeeding statements, clearly out of it. “P-peaberry road? I don’t think I’m familiar, but I’ll keep that in mind. Y-yeah, I live out here. In the Outskirts. In a cabin.” She made a face, wincing, a little bit embarrassed at the idea that she may find her even more odd with that revelation, especially after spacing out that long. “It’s not… I’m not… I got it from a friend…who died, so… It’s… I’m normal.”

“Not yet, I don’t think I’d change her name if she had one already. If I get a kitten though I’ve always liked the name Rowan and I think it would work well,” Lil said with a small smile. It was nice to see someone else excitable, it wasn’t something Lil came across a lot - well maybe Bobbi, but her excitement was usually a bit different. Most of the time Lil wasn’t usually the bearer of good news, or even okay news so it was pretty rare to see someone being genuinely happy around her. For a moment she caught a look in the other - that she had said something off, but she wasn’t sure what for. Lil might have asked, tried to correct it but well Tepin had moved on. It wasn’t for her to pry, so she left it alone.

“ Right next to the movie theater if you like location based marks better,” Lil nodded at the idea and said, “Oh that would make sense with your business. I mean - well that’s kind of how I got my house too, just with my aunt.” Lil said with a chuckle and small smile trying to calm the other even a little. “I don’t think it’s that uncommon to live in a cabin, especially up here. It’s really pretty out here, I doubt most people would mind having some of that peace. You probably don’t have to worry about the neighborhood kid’s balls ending up in your yard at the very least.”

Somewhere in the distance, someone had stepped on some twigs. Tepin zeroed in on that for a bit, not unlike a kitty cat that just realized another presence was nearby. Fortunately, it did not last long, as whoever that was, they seemed to not be heading in their direction. She heaved a sigh of relief before realizing Lil probably thought her a weirdo now. The balam tried her best to bounce back, to seem a normal, totally not weird, human. “Did you know cats’ collar bones don’t connect to their other bones because these bones are buried in their shoulder muscles?”

Her feet scrunched the gravel as she steadied herself, awkwardly, caught embarrassed by her sudden shift in attention. “Rowan’s a nice name. Like the tree.” Tepin looked to the ground, feigning a cough. Her heart was beginning to pound in her chest, her lungs felt as if they could burst any second now, not unlike when she’d randomly wake up in these woods, heaving breath after breath of the cold night air, uncertain how she got where was. “I knew a Rowan once. He had a great set of abs.” Chuckling, she tucked a stray strand of her own hair behind an ear, as her eyes fixed on Lil in front of her.

“Oh, right,” she grimaced at the thought of having reminded Lil her loss. Definitely not something Tepin intended to do. Or would ever intend to do. “Sorry about your aunt.” Above them, and away in the deep forests that haunted this part of town, things whooped and buzzed, nature signaling that it was always watching, a living, breathing babysitter on a good day or a perverted monster just like a few days ago. “Yeah, it has its moments… I don’t have problems handling balls, though. I’m sure you don’t either.”

  Lil noticed the shift in attention slightly wondering if the other was waiting on someone, and if perhaps she’d taken too much time from the other. It was something she was still getting used too, being cognizant of others' time but not worrying if she was taking to much.  She almost said something and asked if she was waiting on someone when Tepin gave her a fact and - there was something that reminded her of herself. Without a thought she smiled and said, “I didn’t actually. I guess that makes sense, they are pretty strong.” 

Lil nodded a little. Her mom had a habit of naming her children with a plant name, either the middle or first with the exception of - well they already had a name. It also probably wasn’t a light topic to bring up either. Lil laughed and said, “That’s good for him. I’ve never met a Rowan, well I guess until I get the cat.” 

“No worries,” Lil said with a soft smile. “There’s no reason to be sorry either.” She meant it, but she couldn’t really convey why. Lil’s life was full of death, literally. She was never under the impression that her Aunt wouldn’t die one day, and she had just been grateful it had been peaceful - more peaceful than most in her family. It was sad to be alone, and most people wouldn’t have seen it as a miracle for her to have lived just to her fifties but Lilian had. Still, that would be more questions and sympathy then Lil really wanted to get into. After all, as similar as she thought her and Tepin might be, she wasn’t like Lil.