2019-09-28 - Drive-By Cam

This two bedroom bungalow is the epitome of a run down college student rental. The carpet is stuck in the 70s, the kitchen the 80s, with brown wood paneling that serves as the wall decoration.

The main living area has a dark brown shag carpet, and the furniture consists of a couch, coffee table and two inflatable chairs. A small tv is stuck in one corner, complete with a VCR and video tapes that look like it probably came with the rental given its original age. The kitchen is separated by a halfway from the living area, with white appliances and white counters with wood handles.

The newest addition to the bungalow is the three seasons room in the back, which given the sheer amount of sunlight has been setup as an art studio. Paintings are stacked against one wall, along with various small bits of supplies. A drafting desk is setup for sketching, and this too holds several various papers of half finished pieces.

The autumn evening is cool, dipping toward chilly as the shadows darken with nightfall. A thin, misty drizzle falls from the sky and swirls grayly.

There is always quiet in this house, so unlike her own, Mae doesn't have to hide somewhere to get peace. So she is in the living room, sitting on the couch, looking pretty comfortable. She's wearing a pair of loose black sweats, a fitted white tank top and a pair of outrageous bunny slippers. Her curly hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and she's make-up free. She's not watching television, she's listening to music on her phone, sending out the occasional text as she makes random notes in a notebook.

There are some munchies on the coffee table, fruit and pop tarts. She plucks a cherry from a bowl, sticking it in her mouth to suck on it. She has no idea where Dylan has got to, but like a bad penny he always turns up eventually. Especially since this is his house and all.

Her bones still ache, her head still feels kind of heavy, but good god damned if Cameron Cambridge did not need to leave her trailer and go somewhere. Anywhere! After Love had come to check up on her with goodie bags and Netflix, she'd mentioned she hadn't had the chance to make the rounds and check on the others yet. Which was the PERFECT excuse to vacate her lot and do so!

Totally not at all a cover for being able to ask about better Halloween costume ideas than 'sexy witch doctor'.

The newest dancer's shitty little Honda pulls up and the engine dies as she turns the ignition. The dark-haired young woman unfurls herself after opening the door, slamming it just a bit too hard as she walks around to the trunk. Her dark brown leather jacket wards off the chill from her black halter top, that goes all the way down and clings into a pair of yoga pants of the same color, with white sneakers for contrast. Having learned her lesson last time, she's put on makeup, pair of dangling hoop earrings, and is determined not to be the ugliest person in the room today as she retrieves a brown paper grocery bag from the trunk.

This, too, is slammed shut, the all-white pumps squeaking a little with the wetness the ground has been soaking up lately as she makes her way towards the door. Little did poor Mae know that her peace and quiet was about to be destroyed in the most witchy way possible. A hand lifts up, preparing to knock...

It stalls. Cameron glances around, frowning. Then she reaches into the bag and pulls out a piece of red chalk. She makes a few marks, crude designs, on the two upper corners of the door frame, before touching two fingers to her lips, and then two to the wooden portal. So blessed, NOW she knocks on the door, firmly enough to be heard, but not to damage her beautiful knuckles.

"Hi!" She calls through the door. "It's Cam. Um, I hope this isn't weird, I just kind of... asked around for your address. I brought food! Like, I have to pass it on. It's not expensive or anything. Just... edible."

Emerging from the basement, Dylan closes that particular door and locks it. Click. Nothing suspicious about this at all! That's right when that resounding knock comes upon the door, and the man furrows his brow, casting a curious look towards Mae as she sits on the couch to check and see if she was expecting anyone, since he obviously was not.

Dressed in an old pair of cargo pants and a button down, striped short sleeve shirt, he ambles his way over towards the front door just in time to hear those muffled words through the door. A quirk of his mouth comes in recognition and the thought of 'Cam' and 'not weird' together in the same sentence, but thankfully for her, he opens the door. "Food?" Up his features perk in curiosity.

He does step to the side, offering a hand up to motion her inside, and he? He seems well on the mend, even if his expressive features aren't /quite/ fully up to what they'd normally be. "Mae," He chimes out, explaining it all, "protege!" Because that, in his mind, is what she is now, even if it's only a few tips that have been passed back and fourth.

Mae glances at the door when there is a knock, and since this isn't her house, she's not in any hurry to answer it. She shrugs at Dylan when he passes, and then peeks when he opens it. "Food?" She is curious too, but she's got some apples so she isn't starving to death. She sets her phone aside and takes her feet off the couch to sit politely. "Cameron?" She asks, when Dylan mentions the protege.

"Hey." She gets to her feet, holding out hands to take any bags that the woman might be holding. "How are you holding up? You don't look dead from the flu at the very least." She is still a little raspy, her features flushed, but she looks a lot better than she did yesterday. She can actually speak as well, bonus.

"Sit down, do you want something to drink? I can grab you something out of the fridge.. or.. did you bring something.." She trails off, glancing from Cameron to Dylan and then back again.

"Yeah!" Cameron grins as the door opens to reveal the owner, or at least resident, of the bungalow, hefting the bag up in her arms. "Quickest way to a man's heart, right? Someone brought me some, so I'm bringing you some. Debt repaid! Kiss my ass, Karma."

As the male steps to the side, the brunette steps inside, her eyes falling on Mae where she has claimed her section of the couch as her nest of hedonism. "Mae! Hey, girl, this is great! That saves me a trip." But the words from Dylan make her glance back at him, then back and forth between the pair of them. She will need further elaboration on the 'protege' part. She's not quite up to speed on her English-to-Dylanese translations.

As the tattooed woman gets up and reaches for the bag, the brunette walks over and hands them to her. She also slings a one-armed hug around Zoiya, giving her shoulders a little squeeze. "No, I survived. Barely. Had a lot of time out of my body. You guys get that? Astral projection?" She lets go of her fellow dancer and gives a look towards Dylan, trying to gauge how weirded out the following conversation might get.

"I did. Or, if they weren't, they were really freaky hallucinations. Hey, don't strain yourself, I'm fine! I'm fiiiiiine." A beat. "...But if you have any green tea with mint? It doesn't have to have mint."

Cameron unslings her purse from around her arm, looking for a place to sit. The bag will likely be startlingly disappointing. The brunette obviously shops in the health section, with gluten-free snack biscuits, herbal remedies, weird-looking, but pleasant-smelling herbs, in abundance. There's some vegan soup in there, and, at the very bottom, if one hasn't lost hope yet, some gold apple cider. Not quite beer, but close enough.

"How about you, Rink? You seemed to have made it through all right."

First things first, which is closing the door behind Cameron when she comes on in, and his head bobs up and down in agreement that food? Food is the right gift to give him, or at least one of the top five. "Glad... good." He states about the woman's current state of being, and up his hands lift to gesture to his head to try and given an answer to how he he was during the flu. It's a gesture to his drain, and his features seem to draw a rather somber, scared expression. "Totally drained." Whatever that means.

Astral Project? He just blinks at that, his shoulders lifting up into a hapless shrug, a complex enough answer that he'll leave it to Mae to tackle that particular one. Instead, he starts onwards to the kitchen to see to drinks. "Tea!" He may not have mint, but there are fluids a plenty in the house at the moment, including some green tea. He tugs the fridge open to start rooting around, before finally a bottle of it is found.

"Baaad hallucinations," Rink agrees as to the flu, a frown curling to his mouth at this. He just seems to stare off towards the back sunroom, where all those art supplies are at, a touch of disturbance at something or another before he steps towards Cameron to hand her the drink.

Mae aims a smile at Cameron, giving the woman a side hug when she comes close. "I'm glad you survived, and.. I had some weird dreams, but beyond that?" She shrugs and shakes her head, putting the bag she relieved Cameron of on the counter. She gets some more of the hot water, dips in a tea bag for herself and lets it brew as she stands at the kitchen counter. "Thanks for bringing all this stuff for Dylan, maybe he'll eat right for a little bit, yeah?"

She pulls out her tea bag, spoons in some sugar and pours in some milk. She picks up her cup and makes her way slowly back into the living room, obviously not used to walking in the big comical slippers. She keeps her eyes on her feet and sinks into a nearby chair, pulling her feet up so she can hide behind her knees somewhat. "I'm sure Antonio will be excited to get us all back in. Business probably isn't going quite as well as it might usually go."

"Totally drained. I get that. I get that. God, I feel sluggish, don't want to get out of bed, all my joints ache..." Cameron bemoans her fate, even though she LOOKS pretty quickly-recovered. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's herbal remedies. "But if I'm locked up staring at my walls and my tiny ass TV for one more day, I was going to start lighting things on fire just for excitement. So..." Hands spread out to her sides, then fall cheerily as she drops her handbag next to the couch. "...here I am!"

The Wiccan takes the drink with a small smile, mouthing 'thanks' as she does so. There's a critical eye given to Mae's non-organics she puts in her tea, and Cameron looks like she reeeeeally wants to say something. Thankfully, she holds back on that, just flicking her eyes away instead. "Oh, I don't know. It's probably even better now. We'll all head in soon for our big reunion tour and find out we've been fired."

Cameron flumps sideways into a seat, tucking a leg up under her, the other resting on the floor as she shrugs out of her jacket. It's laid over the back of her seat with a glance towards the sunroom that has Dylan so absolutely entranced.

"So Love came by yesterday to make me feel totally bad about myself and said something about designing costumes. Are you guys doing that for the Club? I didn't really ask her much about it, but then she started telling me about her Halloween costume." The brunette is gestures airily with her hands in front of her as she speaks. "And now I'm thinking I can't go with my lame idea, because it's so damned lame. What's going on with you guys there? Anything- Anything good?"

Translation: Any ideas I can steal?

A glance downwards, then a grin on the young woman's thick lips. "I have major slipper envy right now, Mae. For real."

"No," Dylan comments about feeling sluggish being the same as drained, his features scrunching up as he taps against the side of his head again. "All empty." Right. Cause that clearly makes so much more sense! Despite all of that, the one thing he can agree with? Is keeping locked up in the house for another day, had they not gotten to the point where they could go out.

And then it's over towards the kitchen he goes to start sussing through everything brought, a low and delighted 'mmmm' coming as he spies everything. One of the snack biscuits is taken up and bitten into, chewing on it as he listens to the two talk for a few moments until he swallows to have his mouth free. It's when Cameron says Love made her feel bad that he takes it rather literally, a quizzical look cast towards her at this. "Halloween costumes?" Oh, right. That's right around the corner. Anything good?

Oh no. He just has a blank stare on his face, and then he looks over to Mae. And then back. This goes on a few times, before the slippers are mentioned, and this? Truly seems to amuse the man for some reason, a big and silly lopsided smile touching to his expression.

Mae sets down her tea cup, listening to Cameron as she speaks. "How did Love make you feel bad?" She blinks at that, scooting a bit until she's comfortable. Her eyes move to take in Dylan when he starts unloading bags, watching him take a bite of a biscuit. "We're making masks, there are a few downstairs. I think we're making enough for everyone at the club, but if there was something specific that you were looking for, we can maybe do something?"

She looks toward artist number one again, because he's the one who makes the miracles happen, she just follows directions.

Her feet wiggle a bit and she reaches down to fluff at the fur on the slippers. "Stole them from Dylan. They're really cute, and pretty warm." She taps the top hat on the rabbit's heads. "You should see how many slippers that he has, he.. he collects a few things." She wrinkles her nose and shrugs slightly. "I should be a little better in the next day or two Cameron, if you wanted to get together at the dance studio. Maybe?"

"All empty." Cameron repeats with an uncomprehending stare at as Dylan taps the side of his head. She looks towards Mae, as if for a direct translation, then back to the male in question. "Like... did someone steal your memories? Like a faerie? When you were having a hallucination or something?" The brunette looks dubious even as she mentions the fever dreams. "Maybe you went Astral, too. I bet you did. Your aura seems capable of it."

"Halloween costumes, Rink!" Cam repeats, tilting a finger his way. "It's coming up and I can't be walking in club looking High School while everyone else is fierce and fab and drop dead sexy. And then I make no money and I go homeless. Sad Cameron."

She turns to smirk at Mae, rolling her eyes. "You know her. Showing up looking like a haaaaard ten," Cameron snaps her fingers three times in a Z configuration. Then she lifts a hand and circles it around the top of her own head. "While wearing my comfort PJs with a rats nest of tangles going on, no face happening, just looking ratchet A-F. ...I'm kidding, she didn't do anything wrong. Just made me feel ugly."

Slippers are gandered at, then Dylan, as Cameron snorts and leans back with her tea in one hand, fingertips over her grin with the other. "You a, uh, slipper collecter, Rink? I never would have guessed. I would have taken you for a, like, limited edition sketch art collection." The smile takes a tumble as she looks back towards her fellow dancer.

"Oh my God, Mae, yes, that would be AMAZING. I've been working on this hula-hoop schoolgirl routine, but it's not going so well. I can hula hoop, I can sway, I can grab my boobs. But, like, rhythm, this white girl ain't got."

"Lots!" Dylan expresses as to just how many slippers he has, as if this is the best life choice he's ever made. "Masks. Sloooow," He speaks about that hwole process, a puff of air pushed out, and one can imagine how this particularly flu set back the work they had been doing. That biscuit is polished off, and then he starts to go about the process of putting things away, so that anything that should be in the fridge is.

"Ideas," Hmmm, he ponders about it all, even if he hasn't given a single bit of insight as to what he's going to be. Nevermind that's because he hasn't even thought about it! And it's then he steps forward towards Cameron, not hesitating a moment to reach out with a hand and grip her chin with it if she doesn't move. He squeezes gently, forcing her mouth to make that smoosh, fishy type silly face, another 'hmmm' coming from him as he considers.

"Mermaid!" he concludes, head bobbing up and down as he lets go if he even got her in the first place, before trundling off and towards the studio. "Paint scales!" He explains, and he leaves any discussion about his empty head to Mae, if she bothers to explain it at all. "Slippers best!" He explains, as if this is all that is required to embrace the love of slippers.

Mae chuckles softly and she returns Cameron's look for a few beats before she quietly explains. "He lost all that inspiration he had." She grimaces, glancing at Dylan, and for a moment it seems like she's going to say more, but instead she shakes her head. "I think it's coming back though, he was pretty crabby about it for a few days. There are a lot of paper balls in the bedroom." Mae clearly isn't sleeping in the guest room.

"Ooh yeah, mermaid. I think they're dressing me up as a goblin, which is going to be.. very not sexy. I'll have to make it sexy on my own." She doesn't look bothered by this, she isn't used to feeling drab.

"He has these pair of slippers, they're like.. Godzilla slippers. They .. scream and make woe is me sounds, they're the best." Mae looks pleased when Cameron perks up. "Hula hoop routine? Sounds fun, I can't wait to see it. I've been gathering music myself, trying to come up with a few new routines. Won't be as classy as Roxy, but.. I do better with sexy than classy.. because I'm not really classy." She shrugs, running fingers through her hair. "What kind of music are you hooping to?"

Cameron's face is grabbed, her cheeks pushed together and formed into a fish-face. She even opens and closes her lips a few times while looking up at him blankly for the full effect. And that's pretty much where she remains until she's let go. After he's made his declaration and trundled off, the brunette opens her jaw and works it around a little, as if trying to feel if it still operated correctly.

She wets her lips. "Mermaid? Would that be too, like, Ariel?" She looks down at Mae, leaning against the arm of the chair she's claimed, sitting forward just a little to listen as it's explained quietly to her. She glances at Dylan's back, then back to the woman.

"Oh no, really?" Cameron keeps her voice low, grimacing with a scrunched-up nose. "That's got to be the worst. But it must be coming back, right? He jumped on 'mermaid' pretty quick." Another glance, as if trying to see if the male was listening. "Don't worry, I put a protection charm on the door." She hooks a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the entryway. "He'll be fine now. Things have been kind of wonky in the Astral Realm since this bug went around."

There's a nod at the mention of goblins, and then a little laugh, raising her voice and leaning back again. "If anyone can pull off 'sexy goblin', it's you! I think so. You put some, like, green eye shadow." She sweeps her index fingers in front of her eyes. "Lime lipstick, like wear this scaled breastplate thing and some fur. Something for a weapon..." A finger goes to her chin as she pulls her lips tight and glances around. Her gaze snaps back in an instant. "A riding crop! Sweep the hair back, put some beads in there, a couple of small braids. EVERYone will want a piece of that shortstack."

"You have to show me these slippers." The brunette exclaims with a little laugh, twining her fingers together and leaning to the side as she laughs. "And I don't think any of us are as classy as Roxy. We have to survive on inspiring boners, not hearts. I'm kind of searching for the right music, because I'm thinking like baaaad school girl." She nods as she talks about her own idea, as if trying to psyche herself up about it. "Dark red lipstick, maybe some hair highlights, a little Catholic uniform, Crom forgive me."

"But the music, eeeeesh. The music's the hard part. I want something that rocks, but has a tempo to it that matches. But with attitude. I was thinking of asking Mee for help."

"Rawr!" Comes Dylan's not so scary godzilla monster sound from the sunroom as he rummages around, finally finding a handful of pages which is what he was searching for. "Mean mermaid!" He shouts out before he manages to come back in from that back room, as if /that/ will make all the difference in the world.

Those pages are held out to Cam to see, rough sketches of different masks. Most of them are just eye masks, or C shaped masks that leave the mouth open. A lot are rather plain, while others are like those goblins Mae discussed, or plague doctors, even a few reptilian ones, and yes, one with fish scales like a mermaid should have.

No, Dylan wasn't listening, thankfully. It's Mae he beams a smile towards, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of her head in reassurance that sexy goblin? She has that, without a problem, and then onwards he goes into the bedroom in search of slippers.

Mae waits until Dylan has started to head toward the bedroom. "He'll be fine." She agrees, nodding up at Cameron. "Thank you for the charm, hopefully it will help." She blinks and glances down at the sketch that Dylan has dropped off, pointing to one of the obvious mermaid masks. I think this one, with a light blue body suit, maybe if we can do it quickly, some silver used to sew some scales. I dunno what kind of function the Cabaret is going to have at the festival that Byron is putting on. If we're stripping or just dancing in general."

She glances at Cameron and nods. "Mee has a great head on her shoulder when it comes to music. I have a few songs I've worked up routines to, and some things in mind for Saints and Sinners. I wore a nun's outfit a few weeks ago, I think I'm just gonna redo that routine as well." She brushes her hair back and picks up her tea cup again for another sip. "I've been stripping long enough that I have.. Christ, a ton of music built up." She licks her bottom lip and takes another sip. "I'll show you my next routine when we go to the studio, and we'll see about fixing you up with some rhythm."

"Of course! We're friends, right? Friends-adjacent, at least. I feel like we share enough of each other that I would want to protect you both. I can come by and do it on your place, too. Or..." A glance to where Dylan disappeared off to, then back again. "...are you living here, now? Part-time?"

Cameron folds herself up in her chair, tucking her knees up to her chin and propping her feet on the edge of it as she leans back, her tea held at her ankles, arms around her shins. She gives a little tug at her halter-top as she tilts her head. "You're on board with the mermaid thing, then? You're not punking me, right? I mean, maybe I can pull off Slutty Disney Princess, but I'm really hoping he's thinking more fish tail, less fish face."

There's a simple nod of agreement when it comes to Park, smiling widely. "She has got to be the most adorable thing I have ever met in my life. And that includes puppies. I bet she'll hook me up. But if you," A hand is raised, palm up, in Mae's direction. "Have any suggestions, I am all ears."

"Oh yeah, show me, that'd be neat. I love watching you dance. You're confident and no bullshit." A hand swipes in front of her. "Like its just all out there, you're the shit and if they don't know it, fuck 'em. I can't wait for you teach me, Sifu." Mindful of not dropping her bottle, the brunette places her hands together, and gives a mock mini-bow.

"I'm sure it will go so much better than trying to get on a skateboard did. If only it had been filmed, you would have laughed your ass off. And maybe been proud. I didn't cry until the neosporin went on."

"Friends." Mae says, but her face doesn't follow with her words, it's got a wary cast to it. She glances toward where Dylan went and her cheeks actually get red. "I've.. been staying here, yes. I have most of my stuff in the house I rent out." She glances toward the door, her nose wrinkling as she tries to look serious.

"I'm not punking you. I think mermaid sounds like fun. I trust that whatever Love comes up with, I'll be okay with. I can make it work." She considers Cameron for a few beats, her head tilted. "What kind of music do you like? Because.. you'll move better if you're listening to music that you enjoy. Me? I like something with a thick and meaty beat so I can twerk and move to it."

She ducks her head and taps her fingers against the side of her tea mug. "Thank you. It's taken years for me to get there, and it takes me time every day to stay there." She blinks about the skateboard, sneaking a look at Cameron to see if she's for real. "Yikes, you fell off? That must of hurt. I've seen skaters around Seattle a few times."

The way Zoiya confirms 'friends' leaves Cameron a little unsure, but she kind of glances away and nods along, brushing right past the potential awkwardness. About the living situation, she has a bit more to add, biting her lower lip and glancing once more toward where the lone male vanished off to leave them to their girl talk. "That makes sense." She smiles at the tattooed woman. Smiiiiiiiiiile. There's a lingering smug teasing to the grin that stays on her face, until she finally blurts it out.

"You guys are so adorable together! Don't worry. Don't worry. I ship it." She places a hand over her chest as if confirming her shipping.

"Okay, well... her and Rink are the artists, right? And he did such an amazing job on the picture for the band, I'm certainly not going to second guess him." The topic of music comes up, and one can literally see the brain in Cameron's head switching tracks. She tucks her chin down, looks to the side, and swans her neck back a little. "Oh. I like punk rock mostly. Heavy metal. Screamers. But usually kind of hard to dance to. So I try to stick with pop rock on the stage."

"It's lighter, it moves better, easier to keep in synch with. I usually go with the slower, more mellow stuff, because I just can't move fast and make it look good."

Her skateboarding mishap has her releasing her legs, putting both feet on the floor as she pushes herself to her feet. She abandons her bottle and sidles into one of the vacant spots nearest to Zoiya, grinning and avoiding eye contact out of embarassment as she holds her arms up, bent at the elbows, forearms displayed. There are light scratches just barely visible as red marks now, and the remnants of what may have been a bruise.

"I took a run on the half-pipe without my board. No pads or ANYthing, like a total doofus. As if I had skateboarded in the past six years or something! It was so not hot, but Madison was so insistent. I met this guy named Greg there, he was pretty okay for a drug pusher. Not even skeevy or anything." She drops her arms and leans back. "Sooooo... Splat. Lesson learned."

Mae leans forward a little bit, her eyes slightly wider as she gazes at Cameron. "I'm sorry. I .. haven't had girls who are friends for a long time. I've been dealing with the catty back biting of normal strip club hierarchy and .. it's hard to just settle and think that people are nice and don't have any ulterior motives, you know?" She brushes her hair behind her ears and smiles back, trying to look more friendly.

She glances toward where Dylan has gone, and then her eyes dart back to Cameron. "Well I mean.. like.. it's nothing to ship, we're just.. really good friends?" She glances down at her hands, grimacing lightly. Friends.

"They're really good artists, and I've seen some of the things they can do. When they made the mask mold, it was.. wild, and I trusted them. I can't wait to see how things turn out." She gazes at the scratch and winces. "Yikes, I don't know if I'd do that ever again." She quirks a brow and giggles softly. "Yeah, I've met Greg. Seems like a nice guy."

"Oh, honey," Cameron smiles benignly, leaning forward once more to touch her fingertips to Zoiya's knee lightly, as if she were the wise old soul now imparting wisdom. "Being really great friends who sleep together is all dating is. Being there for each other, as friends do, and sharing bodies and souls and warmth. Uplifting each other."

She takes her hand back after a little pat. "I understand not wanting to put a label on things. As people who are polyamorous, like us, they're... confining, restrictive. Come with baggage. But I feel if appropriately supplied, they can say a lot in just one word. If I say, 'Madison is my girlfriend.' You know I care very much about her and we're sleeping together. And if I say 'Love is my friend.' You know I care about her and we're probably not."

She lowers her voice to a whisper, as if what she has to say next were some deeply conspiratorial secret instead of just, "Even if you say you're not a thing, I still ship it. Or root for it, at least. You guys have a connection."

Her hands slide to her own knees, rubbing up and down her thighs a bit as laughs down at them, shrugging her slender shoulders. "Oh, I'll be- I'll be doing it again, all right. Despite what happened, I kind of forgot how much fun it was. I was real, real into it when I was younger. From like eleven all the way up to when I left home to try and go pro."

"You know, I haven't seen anything Love has done. I'll have to get her to show me." She points towards the space where Dylan isn't any longer. "I'm always stealing Rink's sketchbook every time I see him, so I know he's the bomb. Does she sketch, too?"

Mae takes a deep breath as dating is brought up, wincing. "We're just.. I .. don't.." She glances toward the bedroom again, and then back at Cameron. "Polyamorous?" She nods at the distinction and huffs out a soft sigh. "I like Dylan. I don't want to ruin our friendship, and I will if we're dating." Her 'be calm' towel is in the bathroom, and she grabs a pillow instead to hug it.

"She wants to paint me. I think I'm going to let her. I'm not very sure if she sketches, she's.. usually busy doing other things when we hang out." She pulls her legs up closer to her chest, her head tilted slightly. "His sketchbook is.. beautiful, he has older ones as well, they're beautiful too. He's beautiful. I'm gonna hurt him.. Cameron."

Cameron presses her lips together as Zoiya hugs a pillow to herself, recognizing the wall for what it is. A barrier, meant to keep the bad things out. She's on the other side of it, and she drops her eyes and just kind of nods as the other woman does her best to explain.

"Polyamorous. Loving... more than one person at a time? You've never heard of it?" The brunette's eyebrows rise and fall as she cants her head to the side, reaching up to toussle her hair. "In our arrogance, we forget that humans are animals, too. And nowhere in the animal kingdom is monogamy foound. Well, except in some penguins, I think. But I'm not a penguine, I'm more of a giraffe."

She points at her thighs. "With the legs and," Then at her throat. "The neck. We all share different things with different people, in different ways and at different times. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. I think..." She looks away, parting her lips to say something. She apparently changes her mind, sitting backwards instead. Her eyes return to Zoiya.

"You should. I bet she'd do a really beautiful job, Mae. Do you justice in a still. And she's... probably a very busy woman, too! I don't know, I don't know a lot about her. She's a Grade-A person who cares about those around her is about the extent of it."

The topic returns to the man of the hour, and she glances around suspciously, as if she thought Dylan might be behind the couch eavesdropping or something. "He is beautiful. He has a very evocative aura of passion and creativity. His soul is kind. But you're not going to hurt him, Mae. Not if you're honest with him."

"What I see is two people wild for each other," She points a finger all around the room, and then finally at the slippers. "Crazily comfortable together. Like married comfortable. Who are doing their best to find reasons not to grab a little happiness together. You're heart's only gonna beat so many times before it stops, girl. Don't let fear be the thing that holds you back."

Mae clears her throat and nods at Cameron, is she making a joke? Maybe. Maybe not. She just watches for now and tries to keep up. "Love is a really nice woman. She's a great friend, one that I wish I had met earlier in my life. Might not have been quite so distrusting of people in general if I had met someone like that earlier."

She tilts her head, and doesn't see Dylan. "I've been honest." She exhales and glances down at the slippers. "We have a nice thing, but I don't think it needs to be labeled. He keeps saying the R word, but I don't really do that word. I .." She gets to her feet, picking up her tea cup to carry it into the kitchen. "I'm going to try not to hurt him, we'll see how it goes." She shrugs and pours out her tea. "I usually do what I want ,when I want. The thought of not being able to do that.. it makes me very nervous." She glances over at Cameron and points toward the kettle. "More tea?"

Into that ever so very serious girl conversation can be heard a muted, 'AHHH! Please don't step on m-' SQUISH. Dylan is coming back into the room, and it isn't his voice making it. 'RUN! It's GODZILLA-AAAAHHHHHRRRGHGGURGLR' When he reappears, he has slippers on. Slippers that look like a squished man and woman, complete with flailing, flopping arms and legs sticking out the sides. It triggers every few steps. 'I'm too young to die!' SQUISH.

He clearly hasn't heard anything that has gone on, just giving the big goofy smile, lifting a foot up to waggle a slipper towards Cameron. It's only, 'more tea' that he caught onto, and his hands lift, shooing them both back down into the couch while he goes to pick up cups and take off into the kitchen to fetch them both tea, wanted or not. "Figure costumes?" He inquires, assuming that's been all the heavier conversation they've gotten into.

To that, Cameron can only smile her agreement on the assessment of the other heavily-tattooed coworker of theirs. "I can see that. We've all had some pain in our past, I think. I hope she's around us all for a long time. Maybe she can help you with some of your scars, and you can help hers, too. You two seem very close."

The Wiccan shakes her head, holding up a hand as if to object. "Oh, I wasn't suggesting you haven't been! Maybe you don't need to put a label on things, that's okay. I don't think you're the kind of person who hurts others intentionally." A beat, and then holds her hand out to the side, instead of infront of her. "Well, not the ones who haven't pissed you off, anyway... I get this very turbulent vibe from you. Like you are a wildcat when triggered, ready to claw things to pieces."

"That's a good way to live, and there's no reason that has to stop, right? I mean, you're poly... right? Are you not? When you said 'I don't do dating' I kind of assumed we had that in common. Have you just talked to him about... not... being monogamous?" The Trailer Park Witch closes her eyes and sighs through a brief smile. "I'm sticking my nose into things I shouldn't. Sorry."

But then comes the offer of tea, and it seems the dark-haired young dancer has completely forgotten about the one she abandoned on the other side of the room. "Oh, please! Yes. Thank you. Um..." Hands wrap around her knee as she leans back a little. "...what's the 'R' word? R... Rough?"

But then a monster appears, stepping on people. Cameron's head snaps to the doorway Dylan appears from, eyeballing the macabre set of slippers with their ghastly noises. At first, she can't seem to decide if she likes them or not. Then comes the slipper-waggle. It makes those floppy arms flop around, and Cameron laughs, throwing her head back, hand to her chest, mouth-open, deep kind of laughter that comes from the core.

"Oh my fuck, I love them! JeaLOUS!" A moment, and then her face lights up with rememberance as to the question. "Yes! I'm going to be slutty Ariel!"

Mae scoots from the kitchen when Dylan appears. He probably was summoned by his spider sense that she was attempting kitchen things. Never a good idea. She retakes her seat and shrugs about the questions, her eyes on Cameron. She is suddenly very less talkative, She does summon a smile for Dylan, settling back in the chair, gathering her pillow back up to hug it to her.

"Relationship." She mutters, about the R word, that's about as much as she can say before she focuses on the pillow, there are lots of things that can picked off of this pillow. What a mess!

A beaming smile is cast to Cameron once she professes her love for his slippers, his head bobbing up and down in rapid succession to show that yes, she's got the right idea! And then she mentions being a slutty Ariel, starting to wonder if this is a requirement for costumes. And this, of course, means he looks at the not so talkative Mae. "Slutty costume?" He asks as he points to himself, pondering just what he'll have to do. Hmmm.

Only when he brings the tea back to the pair does he catch on that something isn't quite right, his mouth curling into a faint frown as he peers between the pair, right as a, 'Not my spi-' CRACKLE SNAP. He blinks, brows furrowing together in worry. "Can leave." He assures, even as he starts to take a few steps back and towards the basement.

'Oh' is all Cameron mouths when Zoiya sits down and clams up. Boys have a way of putting the kibosh on girl-talk! Insteady, Cameron leans over to put a hand on the tattooed woman's upper arm and rub up and down her bicep comfortingly as she looks at the ground in front of her. Maybe she made things worse by coming over here. Is there a hex following her? Could be!

Maybe she should just ask fewer questions.

As Dylan returns with tea, the brunette makes grabby hands at it with a grateful smile, pulling it into her lap and furrowing her brow, as if deep in thought, at Dylan. She purses her lips, truly considering what she's considering. After her expression indicates she's made an apparent decisions, she speaks up.

"Yes, Rink. You must have a slutty costume, too. The sluttiest one, in fact. Basically just a decorative banana-hammock." Then she shakes her head. "No, no, staaaaaay! You can listen to us talk about periods and help us decide if tampons or pads are better. What do you think? When the monthly discharge comes, is it better to plug it or patch it?"

A moment of silence.

"I'm kidding! Staaaaaaay. Oh my God, you have to stay or I'm going to make sure Mae never lets me in here again. She gets even more weirded out than you do about my witchcraft stuff."

"I agree on the slutty costume." Mae pipes up, accepting the tea with a brief smile. She sips at it, sips again and them puts it down on the coffee table. "Stay, Dylan. I'm going to .. I need a walk." She gets to her feet, stuffs them into her biker boots (which doesn't look good with sweats, but warmth), before she turns to pick up her phone. "I'll... " She vaguely gestures outside. "Just a walk.. uh.. I'll be back." She blinks at the pair and then blows them both a brief kiss. "Cam, I'll.. call you about the dance studio. I have time bought there, we'll use it well. Yeah." She shrugs on her jacket and before anyone can tell her to stop, she has the door open and has crossed the threshold. She's even left behind her purse.

When Cameron states just what sort of costume he should be in, his head just bobs up and down, not an ounce of concern or issue taken with the outfit itself. He has no shame, apparently, or at least not about being in a banana hammock! No, his concern is more what he'd be. "I'd be..." He trails out those words like a mad-lib fill in the blank book, letting either of them take a stab at it.

And then Cameron is asking his opinion on Things. Things he doesn't even want to discuss, and he gets that deer in the headlights look, all wide eyed and frozen. It's surely why he doesn't even have a chance to stop Mae when she so quickly takes off. He peers down at his slippers, mouth squirreled up into a frown as if they might be the culprit. Off they are slipped, and he picks them up to find the little toggle on them to turn off the sensor. "What happened?" He murmurs, with at least enough wisdom to know he's missed out on something.

The sudden announcement of Zoiya needing a walk gets Cameron's eyebrows raised, and she studiously avoids looking directly at anyone. Instead, she looks down at the floor, over there at an empty chair. Towards a wall. Juuuuust anywhere else. Anywhere but at the departing woman and the thoroughly-confused not-boyfriend left behind with her.

She is gone, and her and Dylan are left, not looking at each other. The man blames his slippers, Cameron seems to blame her shoes by the way she looks at them, guiltily setting her tea down on the coffee table as if she no longer deserved it. Silence lingers. Slippers are turned off. Awkwardness is oppressive and heavy.

She looks longlingly out of a window as if desiring to dive through it and escape into the wild. The question makes her glance at him. Then away. Then back.

"Heh, she, ah, she runs away better than you!"

There's a wince, a hand held up to her forehead, one hand on her knee, cocking it up a bit as she tilts her head to the side, lips pulled backwards and down in a grimace. "I, ah, I'm kind of a bitch. Talked about some things I shouldn't have, poked at other things. Basically was the worst person in the world. I have this... boundary issue... thing. In that I don't have any."

She points at the door, hand upside, down, elbow close to her body. "I should- I should probably go. Um, you should do something nice for her when she comes back. And... tell her I'm sorry? Please?"

Dylan listens while Cameron at first fumbles for that lame excuse, and he doesn't at all believe her given the look that he casts her way. Up his arms lift, crossed over his chest, bare foot tapping until finally she speaks that more honest truth. His smile is faint, but no less sincere, and that question that rolls off the tip of his tongue? It's truly curious. "Why poke?"

His head turns to look towards the door when she says she should go, and he can read that look on her face that she is desperately hoping to be able to go. "Ok," He murmurs a touch reluctantly, those blue eyes lingering on the door where Mae left, having not a clue as to what has her so paniced. Out a puff of air comes, and when he looks back to Cameron, that smile reappears. "Thanks. Food."

"Caring ok..." He offers up as his only thought, a hand extending out to point a finger towards, Cameron, then towards Mae, before he soothes out, "Not bitch." A beat of a pause, a small bit of laughter coming as his shoulders lift, giving another point towards her. "Need subtlety," And those fingers come together, to show that she needs just a /tiny/ bit, not much.

"Because I'm a meddler, okay!?" Cameron says defensively, raising her arms up in the air with a groan, before leaning forward and burying her face in her hands. "I meddle and I poke and I prod at everything and everyone around me. It's what I do, I meddle and twist and bend fate until it all fucks up. That's how I help people. By fucking everything up!"

Her head lifts up, folding her hands in together, to rest her chin on them as she shakes her head. "Don't mention it. Someone did it for me, least I could do is bring some things to help you to recover. The things that look like ground up tea leaves? Put those in an incense burner. It helps with joint and headaches. Sorry I couldn't bring stuff sooner, was too busy medicating myself and having out of body experiences."

"Aw..." The brunette stands, starts to extend her arms, then draws them back... then extends them again and takes a step towards her host to wrap them around his shoulders and give him a hug. "You really are beautiful. Everything's going to be okay, Rinky doo." She steps back, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "When she comes back you just give her that GOOD lovin'." She slaps her hands together. "She'll bounce back."

Lips quirk to the side, a hand on her hip as she looks around for her purse, spotting it by the couch. She picks it up. She also picks up the bottle she'd abandoned earlier. "Yeah. Need subtlety. I'm, ah... I'm gonna work on that. Okay, bye. You let me know how it goes. Rooting for you!"

The bottle is waggled in parting as she summons her best smile and closes the front door behind her. Three seconds later it opens again so she can lean her head in. "Don't wipe the chalk off out here. Kay, bye, loves, kisses!"

And then as abruptly as the wrecking ball came, she is gone, having crashed through the wall of life and left a big mess.