[psl] 1991: you're a bad idea and I know it

[firewatcher]

Ever since the family had gotten back from their reunion trip to the northwest, Maria had been anxious to see Aunt Danielle. Even so, she'd managed to end up alone on stakeout with her three times already and not actually bring up the topic she really wanted to talk about.

Maria stared out into the dark through the sight on her rifle, biting her lower lip and resisting the urge to glance over at her "Aunt." Prepared for everything, she'd always been, except, well... this. And asking for advice meant acknowledging to herself what was going on. It had been easy to think of it as no big deal after that one night on the camping trip... less so after the next time she and Vera had been alone together, and the next, and the next.

Okay. This was it. She had to do it tonight. After all, Aunt Danielle was basically the only person Maria knew who, well... knew what it was like, if rumor was correct. And the only one, because of that, who stood any kind of chance of keeping her secret.

All right. Gonna do it. Just gotta spit it out.

Maria cleared her throat. "Uh..."

Comments

[beyondthisillusion]

"You," Danielle said in a tone that was at once both accusatory and teasing, "are an optimist."

And there was positively no room for optimism among the Remington clan.

But she got it. She did. Not everyone in 'the life' shared her desire for normal. Shawn was the perfect example of that. And Maria, for all her hard lines, seemed more well-adjusted than most.

[firewatcher]

"Not an optimist in the least." Because, if she thinks about it—and she has thought about it—there's a lot of ways this could end poorly. Vera's parents would never accept it. They could never get married. And that was if they both managed to live long enough for those things to become issues. Slim chances, there.

"Believe me, I'm not imagining fairy-tale endings. I just think there's good parts to the life. And I don't think it's just the rose-colored glasses."

[beyondthisillusion]

"Fairy-tale endings aren't all they're cracked up to be, anyway," Danielle said, smiling faintly. "The stepsisters get their eyes pecked out by pigeons. One of Sleeping Beauty's babies dies. Snow White's stepmother is forced to wear hot iron shoes and dance at the wedding..."

Maybe missing the point.

On the other hand, you had to take the good intermingled with the bad.

[firewatcher]

"Someone always dies in the end, don't they, in the classics," Maria said. "They're supposed to be cautionary tales, but people don't like to remember those parts, eh?" She shrugged. "Maybe you're right that I should worry less about this. After all, if I might get my eyes pecked out tomorrow..."

[beyondthisillusion]

"Never underestimate the power of a Ventrue with a lot of experience with animals," she said. Mostly teasing. Except not entirely.

...she might have seen eyes pecked out before.

But that was beside the point.

"I think," she said, "that...whatever it is you feel for this girl...if you don't pursue it a little bit, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. And nothing sucks more than regret, you know?"

[firewatcher]

"We'll see about that," said Maria, but smiling. "But I do... I do really like her a lot. I'm not sure I could not go for it. Her parents are going to flip, though, if they ever find out. Mine, too, for that matter, but for different reasons. At least I probably won't get disowned. I don't think so, anyway."

[beyondthisillusion]

Danielle shrugged. "So don't let them find out," she replied.

It wasn't as if she'd been a perfect angel. She'd done plenty of things behind Miles' back. Of course, the difference was that she'd snuck around, mostly trying to be normal.

It wasn't easy climbing out a window in a prom dress.

"This isn't about the supernatural, or even hunting. This is personal. Just because you're a Palmer, that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a life."

[firewatcher]

"Yeah..." Well, not quite, but she understood the sentiment. "I mean, I'm practically an adult, right? I get to decide this stuff for myself."

She nodded to herself, and then paused. "How do you date someone as an adult, anyway? I can't exactly take her to the school dance. Not that we could do something that public, anyway. I'm not even sure if I can call what we're doing dating, but..."

[beyondthisillusion]

"It's not all that different from dating as a teenager," Danielle replied. "You go to movies. Out to dinner. Bowling. Maybe a museum or a show. Think of it this way. If it's something they'd do on The Cosby Show, you're probably fine."

[firewatcher]

"Heh, all right," said Maria. Dinner... dinner might be a nice thing to do, sometime. Something that felt a little more concrete than stolen moments of intimacy here and there. "So what you're saying is don't take a girl hunting wendigos."

(Too late for that.)

[beyondthisillusion]

"That's what I'm saying," Danielle replied, smirking just a little bit. "Because skin and blood and guts in your hair doesn't really do much to set a romantic mood. And, you know, most normal human beings couldn't really handle the existence of wendigos on the first date."

Normal again being the operative word.

[firewatcher]

Maria had to bite back the crack that sprang naturally to mind—I dunno, it was pretty hot, don't knock it 'til you've tried it—she was trying to keep a secret here, after all.

Instead she settled for laughing. "Maybe so," she said, with a grin. "So where did you go, for your first date?"

[beyondthisillusion]

Danielle ducked her head, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. In spite of her posture, she had a self-effacing, absent-minded smile. "We went to the movies," she admitted. "We saw that new spoof, Hot Shots. The one making fun of Top Gun."

Not exactly a romantic outing. But it had been just plain fun. And considering her line of work, Danielle didn't get a lot of opportunities for good, clean silliness.

And the movie had been very, very silly.

[firewatcher]

Seemed a bit tame, but Danielle had always been reaching for a quiet normalcy she couldn't quite have. "Suits you perfectly. Sounds like it worked pretty well, too." Maria glanced sideways at Danielle. "Did you kiss her yet?"

[beyondthisillusion]

Danielle's grin probably said it all. Oh yes, they'd kissed. They'd done plenty more than kissing. A normal, tame date suited them well. Because everything else was like a wild ride. Like a roller coaster.

She never wanted it to end.

"Yeah," she finally said, when she felt like she could manage to control the sound of her voice.

[firewatcher]

"Nice. I'll high-five you once we're off duty," said Maria, matching Danielle's grin. "Seriously, though. I'm really happy for you. It sounds like you make each other really happy. Regular cutest-couple nomination, and I haven't even seen the two of you together." Hopefully it'll last. Hopefully all of it will last.

[beyondthisillusion]

There were moments when Danielle saw Shawn in Maria's enthusiasm. This was one of them. And as Maria prayed that Danielle's relationship would last, Danielle hoped that Maria's spark would always burn this brightly.

Nothing lasted forever, of course. But a lifetime was forever enough.

They both had to take what they could get.

"I don't think anyone's called me cute before," she said, wrinkling up her nose.

[firewatcher]

"You're so goddamn cute about this that I think I'm getting cuteness cooties or something. Next thing you know I'll be wearing a flowery dress." Maria gave her cousin a friendly punch on the shoulder, jostling her slightly. "But hey, I think you could own it. I—"

Maria turned, spotting a change outside out of the corner of her eye. It was only for a split second, but it matched up with the description of the weird lights they'd gotten. "Whoops, I think it might be showtime."

[beyondthisillusion]

For a split second, Danielle had a look of utter delight flash across her features. She could actually be very pretty when she was happy.

The problem was that she was almost never happy.

But all of that was gone in a flash. Of light, to be specific. Her game face was on and she immediately set the barrel of her gun on her arm, sitting up in a crouch.

"I'm going first," she hissed. "Watch my six."

[firewatcher]

"Right behind you," said Maria, grinning even wider even as she lowered her voice. "Just make sure not to look directly at the light. And watch out for the teeth, but you knew that."

She was always glad for their little talks, but that was enough feelings for one night. Time to do some serious violence to a hideous abomination of nature.