[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

It was hard to tell whether or not Cory was genuinely outraged at pizza being slighted. Her tone was so serious and her expression so fierce that Persephone was quite convinced that Cory’s protests were in fact deadly serious. She smirked a little, unafraid of displaying her amusement.

“I think even the most dedicated of pizza connoisseurs would hesitate before branding a failure to prioritise fast food blasphemy.” She laughed. “Got your own little strand of faith that you’re following there?”

Even now, far away from her devout father, Persephone still danced around the topic of religion from time to time. She didn’t believe in a God, certainly not the same one her father followed, but it was hard to shake the years of her parents’ occasionally, but sternly, enforced doctrine. Blasphemy was no laughing matter in their house.

And yet, as she gradually let the details of the accident tumble out of her mouth, it seemed like Cory was dancing too – in her own way. She wouldn’t have noticed normally but for the fact that it was like staring at a reflection. Weird. She wondered if Cory’s mother had some strict rules about hospitals and confidentiality or something.

In any case, despite Cory’s obvious interest, it seemed like she was determined to steer the conversation away with a dismissive chuckle and a roll of her eyes.

Ignoring the pressing feeling that she was giving something away and treading where she ought not to tread, Persephone straightened herself up and folded her arms.

“I’m not lying you know,” she insisted. “That doctor is probably capable of so much more than you or I could ever dream of. She brought six of us back – either from death, or from the brink of it. It’s changed us somehow.”

The joint spun around in her fingers, a nervous habit.

“She’s powerful, and apparently she’s not the only one.”

ψ

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While giving fake smirks and pretending to listen to the next few comebacks that Persephone had lined up for her about the pizza, Coryelle attempted to recall what she could about every conversation her mother had about work at the hospital and what had happened that night. There was plenty of venting both on the phone and at the dinner table when she'd invited her and her sister over to sit down and eat. That was, of course, after she was actually given time to come home and perform the natural functions a human being needed: sleeping, eating, etc.

Nothing she could think of in particular really struck a chord. After all, "lots of insane things.." was a pretty umbrella term when it came to the ER in an inner-city hospital. Especially after a disaster on that scale. What pulled Cory out of her thinking state was Persephone trying to defend her point after Cory did her best to brush it aside and move on. Why did she pick now of all times to try and wave her ego around? This wasn't the time to be one-upping.

"I’m not lying you know."

"Yeah, okay, sure," she tried to agree with her, an annoyance in her voice as she took another hit and shut her eyes. Still, the girl wouldn't relent.

"That doctor is probably capable of so much more than you or I could ever dream of."

"Dude. I get it okay?" Fuck..

"She brought six of us back – either from death, or from the brink of it. It’s changed us somehow."

This was getting way too far out of hand. "Okay, seriously-"

"She’s powerful, and apparently she’s not the only one."

Cory dropped her joint and grabbed at the edge she was hanging from to flip over and drop down to where she'd climbed up it before, just feet away. "You need to shut the fuck up! Seriously!" Her face wasn't irritated anymore. It was serious - an expression very rarely seen on the ex-dealer's face. For a bit she just stood there, looking at Persephone and breathing a bit deeper than she should've been from the panicking feeling of how freely Persephone was speaking about that subject. She realized the tense space of lengthy silence and turned around to her bag to quickly snatch it from the wooden floor. "I should go."

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: said too much

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

Well… Persephone officially had no idea what was going on in this conversation any more.

The Tangerine Sky was losing its appeal, tainted by the scary expression on Cory’s face. She stubbed the joint out in her ash tray and carefully rose to her feet to stand in front of Cory. It was a surprisingly difficult task – face to face with that deathly serious look. It certainly confirmed her suspicions that she’d over-stepped some unknown line.

It was hard to believe that Cory could react so passionately to a breach of patient confidentiality. There was definitely something else here. It had to be something bad – Cory was fearless.

Now Cory had turned her back on her and was grabbing her bag, having also discarded her joint, and seemed to be ready to leave. Ordinarily, Persephone would have let her go. There was still a fairly vocal and proud part of her inner monologue that insisted on leaving Cory to it, but she pushed it aside. There was a sudden dart piercing her high. Fear.

“Okay, if you have to,” she said softly. She took a deep breath.

Ugh.

“If you wanted, though… we could go in.” She gestured towards the door. “It’s not comfortable but, as I said, great for hotboxing. I’ll uh… I’ll shut up about the hospital. I don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s all very strange and new.”

It was quite humiliating to be talking like this. She was practically begging Cory to stay, in her own way, and she was sure that Cory would know that. In the end, it didn’t matter too much if Cory did leave, but Persephone had genuinely been enjoying the company and there was always the chance that she could approach the subject of the doctor and her new powers much more sensitively in the privacy of her home.

Until then, she was staying well clear of the subject.

“There’s still quite a load of that unwanted stock left,” she pointed out, smiling.

ψ

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This was dangerous. So, so dangerous.. On the slim chance that Persephone was actually digging into the realm of supers and been a part of something she shouldn't have been, she had way too big of a mouth right now to handle it. Witnesses were rare, but damn if they weren't hard to deal with.. Most were workers in collaboration - government officials, police officers, that kind of thing - to help the supers keep under wraps. But here she was throwing around her impossible survival story bragging-rights like a trophy. Under any other circumstance, that'd be just fine.

But the Families..

"If you wanted, though… we could go in," damn it, Seph. Now she was picking the time to try and be hospitable? Now she was being welcoming to a cure for loneliness and boredom? The hotboxing had sounded great before and it sure as hell did now - especially with her mind trying to clear up with how on-edge she was. Her heart tugged closer to the door, her mind pulled down to the bag in her hand. Cory was visibly struggling with a decision, sighing heavily and turning her head over her shoulder to see none other than a rather sad-looking Persephone. Then the hopeful smile.

"Shit, chica," she dropped her head dramatically out of exasperation, slung the bag over her shoulder, and gave in. "Another joint, kay? Then I should.. jet," Cory turned to the glass door, situating the backpack, and waiting there with an expecting expression. Curse her weakness to weed and pretty, begging faces. As long as nothing else came up, hopefully that meant Persephone had learned to keep her mouth shut.

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: said too much

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

Persephone nodded tersely and backed her way through the door, moving to one side and motioning for Cory to come through. There was just enough room on the floor for the two of them to sit amongst the plants, although there was also the option of the stairs and the tiny loft area should Cory opt for a higher perch. Definitely not an ideal hosting space but not without its charm, she supposed.

She wondered how much Cory would understand of her surroundings. She would obviously recognise the cannabis plants, even if she wasn’t a grower herself, and possibly some of the more common, traditional herbal and medicinal plants, but the vast majority of the indoor garden was probably just a bizarre, nameless sea of green peppered with the occasional flower. It was probably a safe bet to assume that Cory wasn’t about to try and taste anything that was growing so Persephone kept quiet about some of the more dangerous plants in the room. If Cory was interested, she would be honest about which plants she had here, but there was no need to trouble her with such details unnecessarily.

There was also the small matter of her gift’s effect upon her garden. Cory hadn’t reacted out on the balcony, which didn’t say much except that gardening was not an interest of hers, but the unnatural vitality of her plants was ten times more obvious in here. Whether Cory would recognise it as an act of supernatural ability rather than immense competence was unlikely, but it was still glaringly obvious that everything here was a prime specimen.

“ Just one joint, sure.” She cast her eyes around to see if she’d left out any of her own smoking supplies. There was a recent, quite indulgent acquisition to her collection which was sure to impress.

“Or…” She finally spotted her new treasure randomly balanced on a rare free spot on the windowsill and presented it excitedly to Cory. “I’ve got this new ice bong. Makes everything so smooth.”

She toyed with the glass vessel in her hands as she waited for Cory’s assessment. Honestly, any response other than that stone-cold seriousness was fine by her. Definitely not bringing up the doctor again any time soon.

ψ

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"Uh.. wow. Okay, Jungle Book," she chuckled a few times under her breath as she made her way in behind Persephone, making sure to not bump into any plots or potted plants. "Out of all of the hobbies you could have, gardening is definitely not one I would've guessed-heyyy!" she pointed at the healthy cannabis and looked over to her for with a wide grin. "Niiiice! Hahaha. Hey there, bright little guy," she teased the plant, padding a finger down on one of the leaves.

"Got some kick ass spices in here, damn," oh boy.. the baker in her was coming out.. She'd said too much. Cory quieted down and shrugged, "My ma loves to cook." Well, that wasn't a lie. When attention was called to her, she tilted her head over her shoulder away from the plants she was observing - backpack still slung over a shoulder - and glanced at the bong on display. Her lips puckered in a straw-like circle and she gave an impressed whistle. Needless to say, that was a definite 'yes'.

~*~*~

Okay so this was way more than 'one joint'.. But who cared? The green had done its magic again in relaxing everything about the world, its worries, yada-yada. They sat in comfortable silence, Cory rather sprawled out actually where she could be on the floor, until eventually an idea spawned in her head. She sat up wordlessly to crawl her hand towards her bag and pull it into her own lap with searching fingers that dug around for a bit until pulling a zipper free. "You uh.. You wanna go a little harder?.." she asked honestly, her hand pulling out of the bag with a white pill held between her index and thumb for Persephone to take - another in her other palm for herself - with tiny letters in the side: 3-500 vicodin.

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: show time

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

It seemed that all tension in the room had evaporated. Persephone was pleasantly surprised by Cory’s assessment of her garden and, as she had relaxed, began telling Cory all about the slightly more interesting plants in the room. She gushed fondly over her Sungolds, which were her latest foray into the world of tomatoes, and pointed out a couple of the lesser known spices which Cory’s mom might like to experiment with. From Cory’s enthusiasm, Persephone surmised that she was probably at the very least a proficient assistant when it came to cooking. Ever the diplomat, however, Persephone continued to pretend that the advice was 100% aimed at momma Wilde.

There was something nice about being able to share her space with somebody. She’d reached a pleasant, sociable level of high that was allowing her to chatter away mindlessly for the first time in years. Normally she smoked alone, so she hadn’t realised until now just how tense she always was around people in her sober state. It made her question her own acting ability. Maybe she wasn’t so good at putting on a positive and friendly face as she thought.

They’d fallen into a pleasant hush, Cory spread out in the little space she had available while Persephone sat cross-legged with one hand propping up her head, hair tumbling into her face once more. She was just about to reach out for another hit when Cory moved suddenly, rustling through her bag for a second.

Then she pulled out a couple of white pills, one extended towards Persephone.

“Oh, um…” Persephone peered at it more closely from behind her curtain of dark curls. “I don’t know, Cory. I don’t know what that is.”

She hated to be a buzzkill, but she was also very much against the idea of taking a mystery pill. Even relaxed as she was, there was no fighting her natural distrust for the unknown. It was a huge part of why she was so fixated on uncovering the doctor’s identity, after all, and that fixation was not going to go away of its own accord.

Remembering the Cory of high school – who would never take offence when kids turned down her offers of a quick toke – she pushed her hair back momentarily and looked her in the eye. “You go for it. I’m not so sure, I’m already fucking…” She lost focus, giggled, and returned to her sentence. “Super, super chill.” The hair plummeted back into position – unintentionally, but successfully, illustrating her point.

ψ

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The whole plant thing was actually kinda neat, she couldn't deny it. Though she'd probably suck at it, the idea of trying out her hand at having a green thumb maybe back at her mom's sounded kind of fun. Maybe a Spring project for the future; the plan went into her back pocket of future things on the mental to-do list. Now that they were all lit up again, Persephone declined her offer which didn't actually surprise Coryelle. It wasn't for everyone... But if the reason she was saying 'no' was because she didn't know what it was, then it was easy to clear that up.

"Vicodin. Y'know, pain reliever. If you're not allergic to hydrocodone, you'll handle this fine too," she lifted a shoulder with an honest expression, lips forming a thin line as she explained. "Ohhh, I know you're chill," a small wave of laughter rolled from her as she continued, scooting back against the wall by Persephone with both pills in one hand - bag between her bent legs, "but this.. this is like a different kind of chill. Like everything about your body will match how calm your mind is. It's like.. sleeping on a warm water bed.

"Here, just.. if you want to try it ever." Cory set the pill along the bottom of the bong as a peace offering without any further pushing. Not like she had to, but it'd be damn fun and less scary now that she knew what it was. She returned to the bag and pulled out a small, rectangular wooden box along with a coffee straw. The pill dropped into the open box and she pressed the ball of her thumb down onto it until it crunched down, then giving a few more presses util the whole thing was just white powder. One sniff later through the straw and she set the box and straw on top of her bag to let her head fall back against the wall with a -thunk-, eyes shut and breathing deep. "..yeah."

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: show time

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

Honestly, Persephone was tempted. For the tiniest of moments she even started to reach for the pill that Cory had set down before her but she stopped herself, frowning. There was still something that put her off; clearly her defences weren’t as lowered as she thought. She still watched intently as Cory methodically crushed and snorted the little pill, undeniably curious.

“Does it hit hard?” she asked, eyes fixed on Cory. “Are you gonna be out of it now?”

She tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling for a moment, enjoying the rushing dizziness that came with it. A bubble of laughter burst from her of its own accord and she indulged in it for a while, letting herself go giddy. With a deep breath she tore her eyes away from the ceiling and tucked her chin into her chest, peaking sideways at Cory.

“So you’re done with dealing...”

It was hard to imagine finding yourself suddenly unemployed with a fairly difficult-to-transfer skillset. Sure, it was technically customer service… but Persephone could hardly imagine that more conventional retail outlets would consider Cory’s work experience valid. Out of an unusual, THC-born sociable curiosity, Persephone was finding herself genuinely interested in the avenues available to Cory now.

She reached for the bong once more, still keeping clear of the pill for now. The ice was no longer quite so icy but it had been doing her good so far, and her next long, deep breath was still just as satisfying as the last. Smoke poured back out from her mouth, taking with it another tiny percentage of any anxieties still remaining.

“What’s lined up for you now?”

ψ

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Did it hit hard? Hah! "Like a truck," a slow smile stretched across her face, "A soft.. pillowy.. truck." The grin stayed and when Persephone began to let loose a few giggles, so did Cory. It was hilarious - two grown women sitting here doing absolutely nothing but having found a state of bliss the rest of the modern world would probably kill for. While other people worried about their marriages, their house bills, their job status? These two didn't have a care in the world. And it was great.

"A little, yeah.. But, hey-" her head tipped over loosely onto one shoulder to look over at Persephone, clearly much more than just a normal type of stoned Aunt Mary J would give. Every muscle was relaxed, her eyes were dilated, and the carefree grin remained, "-it's easier like.. the second and third time, y'know? It's like knowing how to handle it and stuff.. Like uhhmm," her hands went in front of her and she made finger motions in circles to try and think of the term. Oh yeah! "Like riding a bike." The flopped back down to her lap so she could enjoy the smooth, calm ride.

"So you’re done with dealing..."

"Yes ma'ammmm," she drew out, head leaning against the wall behind her again.

"What’s lined up for you now?"

"Pshh.. shit, I dunno. The shelter doesn't pay worth shit for their full-time employees. I'll just stick to the volunteer work," every word was slow, but discernible. It was clear she was having to focus a bit more and extend some effort into forming her thoughts and sentences. "Probably see if I can run again. Good money." she popped her tongue against one of her cheeks and threw up a thumbs-up for a brief period before it fell back down to her side. "What about you, Mowgli? Still busin' tables and shit?"

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: ..oops.. she said it.

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

Persephone grinned, mimicking the cycling motions that Cory was making with both hands raised in the air like a really lame gang sign.

“I never learnt to ride a bike. I tried to ride my sister’s once,” Persephone mentioned casually. “My brother thought it was hilarious, he’d never seen me cry so much.” Now she definitely knew she was high when she started recalling her childhood. She flushed with embarrassment, moving on quickly.

“The shelter? Like, for the homeless?” Much easier to talk about Cory.

Her sniggers returned once more. She had an image in her head that she was sure had been planted there by all the talk of superpowers and heroic responsibility over the last few days. She took a deep breath and heaved herself up onto her knees, pushing her chest out and staring at an imaginary horizon. “Coryelle Wilde, good Samaritan by day, shady dealer by night!”

She looked down at Cory was looking very, very relaxed and was probably not about to haul herself up from her position anytime soon. She grinned to herself and settled down on the floor again.

“I take it you don’t mean making money as a track star,” Persephone said drily. “Probably a good way to put all those contacts to use…”

It took a second to process what Cory had just called her – a natural development from her earlier “Jungle Book” quip – and she couldn’t quite work out whether or not to be offended. She settled for a confused raise of the eyebrow before passing it by entirely. “Yeah, I’ve got a shitty diner and a shitty Italian restaurant to bust my ass in ’til something better comes along. Whatever, it’s money right?”

She played with the stem of a nearby plant, biting her lip in thought. “Although, I guess I have new opportunities now too. So we’ll see.”

ψ

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"Homeless? Pffffff," her body was slouched against the wall as she let out a lazy set of laughter, almost as if she were half-awake, "oh my God I couldn't deal with people that long." It took her a second to gather the thoughts, hands already up in front of her to try and explain her answer. "Like dogs and cats and stuff. And this really cute ferret - but I'm like.. taking care of it at home and might adopt it. I named it.. Nugget," another snicker escaped her from how incredibly perfect she thought the name choice was.

"You should come on my bike sometime," she spoke honestly, hands pressing to the floor to try and get herself to scoot up the wall a bit until she was eventually further up it. "It's faaaaast, so much fun. Wouldn't need to know how to ride, just.. sit and enjoy," it was an honest offer, no humor in her voice. Cory watched her situate dramatically to describe the dealer's would-be autobiography title. "Track? Nah, but I bet I could do that too," she grinned proudly, eyes shutting again to relax and let the powder do its work in her bloodstream.

She opened up one eye to look over at Persephone just in time to see her thoughtfully touching a leaf of a plant nearby. "What, gonna start a farmer's market? Heheh!... Well you let me know if you need a delivery girl, chica, I got you coverrrrred," a smooth hand extended to display the word before placing back down in her lap.

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: warmer, warmer..

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

Persephone nodded lazily in agreement with the sentiment – dealing with people was certainly not one of her favourite activities. Fortunately she was getting pretty good at it professionally. It played well with her ability to hide herself behind walls of fake smiles and agreeable pleasantries and there was something exciting about trying to manipulate her customers. The regulars were her favourites. It was a longer game with them, but a far more fruitful one. She now had to do little more than remember their name and she could guarantee a comparatively generous tip.

Still, it definitely fatigued her. Dealing with people for that long everyday was tempered only by the fact that she’d made the conscious decision not to have a social life.

She snorted at the idea of Cory playing with animals. The girl had carefully maintained quite the tough image at school and it was hard to picture her going gooey-eyed over rodents. “If you’ve already named it then you’re already in too deep,” she laughed. “Seriously… Nugget…?” She shook her head. Typical stoner.

There was something tempting about Cory’s bike offer. “Maybe some time when you’re not so, um…” Persephone giggled as she looked for the word, “Relaxed?”

Whether Persephone herself would be interested in the offer when she was also of a sober mind was another matter. Having someone who could jet you quickly across the city could be handy though. Maybe Cory was useful to her as more than just a smoking buddy.

“Noooo.” Persephone shook her head excessively, hair whipping back and forth. “There’s no money in that. I’ve just recently become really good at gardening and getting all these weird ideas out of nowhere…”

She eyed the asparagus plant nearby. Most people didn’t realise that the berries of a mature asparagus plant were poisonous, but she knew that ingesting a handful of them would be enough to induce symptoms similar to food poisoning. For some reason, ever since she had found out that a representative from a larger chain of Italian restaurants had been looking to check out the restaurant she worked in with a mind to take it over, Persephone had been greatly fascinated by this plant. The abdominal pains and nausea could easily be attributed to food poisoning and that would be sure to scare off the guy, which was ideal for her even if not for her boss. Persephone just couldn’t stand the idea of the place changing hands, especially because it could come with a change of staff and leave her stranded. Sabotage seemed like her only option.

Every time she looked at the plant, her power whirred into action. She knew it was the power – she’d never had such clarity and conviction when thinking of a use for her plants. The recipe for a perfect little potion – tasteless, odourless, poisonous – was lodged firmly in her head just waiting to be used.

She laughed, hoping her expression hadn’t turned too serious. “Side effect of alternative medicine, I guess,” she joked with a grin.

Oops, she’d been trying not to mention the doctor. Hopefully Cory wouldn’t have the energy to get really mad and just let the comment pass. Or she’d think it was a reference to marijuana which – considering that she’d named her ferret fucking Nugget – was not too far-fetched a hope.

ψ

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"Hey, don't you judge me, missy! It's like.." she slouched forward and tried to explain, "the perfect name for a ferret. It's brown.. it's small.. it's cute.. Nuggggeetttttt," her lips moved slowly to emphasize the sound of the word as if it'd clear it up for the girl who obviously was missing how flawless this was. "Like you'd have any good names for a ferret! Probably name it... Potato or something. Whatever brown thing you grow in your weird garden." Okay, actually, 'Tater' would be hella cute. But more on that later.

Wait. Would she seriously be up for a ride? Cory's eyes sparked with excitement and she leaned further forward, an arm draping around Persephone's shoulders as a wide smile stretched along her face. Her bike was special to her - it'd become nostalgic really - and she adored being able to share how great it was with someone since no one else really ever cared. Her mother thought it was a death trap (even though she helped buy it for her birthday) and her sister-.. well, it was Amirah. "Oh my God, you'd love it! I have an extra helmet and stuff. It's a total classic. Ducati!" she pulled her in slightly with her arm to jostle while she exclaimed.

This was increasingly confusing.. So much so that frankly it was getting easier and easier to not give a rat's ass. The hell was up with this new crazy plant lady thing? "Right... So really good at gardening," her arm slid down off the girl's shoulders as she sat beside her, trying to figure out what on earth she was saying, "but not gonna sell the stuff that you're growing everywhere?.. Cuz that makes sense," Cory huffed with a chuckle and nudged Persephone with an elbow.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever with your angel doctor bullshit." Oh she'd caught it. She just had zero fucks to give in this pure state of bliss. "Whateverrr," Cory slowly stood to her feet, lethargic but seemingly balanced, and walked around a couple of the plants while giving curious looks at some. It was silent for a moment.. then, "I bet I could get you a side job.." Her eyes looked over one of the leaves towards Persephone, hands in the back pockets of her jeans as she half-leaned toward the produce she'd been observing.

[attr="class","lying1"]✎ Persephone Dean , wearing , notes: hmmm.

ulla

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[Persephone Dean]

High School Reunion

If Cory was attempting to persuade her with that long drawl, she was sorely mistaken. It was also very hard to agree with her assessment that nuggets were “cute” but they’d probably have to agree to disagree on that one. She puffed up a little at having her garden insulted though, immediately trying to think of a more suitable ferret name. Persephone had never been one for pets so it was proving difficult, but in her current state it felt amusing to try.

“If I had a ferret,” she began slowly, tickled by the hypothetical, “I would call her Mrs Spaghetti.”

Ferrets were long and noodly, right? It didn’t really matter, what mattered was that the name felt really, really funny to her. She let out an unattractive snort of laughter as she awaited Cory’s appraisal.

The fact that Persephone didn’t flinch away instantly as Cory wrapped an arm around her spoke volumes regarding how much weed she’d been smoking. She couldn’t recall a recent moment in time where she’d been so close to someone physically and it was definitely uncomfortable, although she tried her best not to tense up. Her discomfort wouldn’t be noticeable, at least.

“Oh, wow, you’re prepared,” she said with approval. “I’m, um, not going to pretend to know what a Ducati is though. I’ll take a wild guess and say it can go pretty fast?”

She blushed at her own ignorance. Ridiculous, because how could Cory expect her to know anything about bikes, but still a sting to be the clueless one of the situation. At least when she didn’t know the name of some random drug it was ignorance born from a conscious decision not to stray any further than weed. Cory could keep her crown for that one.

Persephone rolled her eyes. It was so hard to explain her power to people and Cory was no exception. “It’s not just really good. I’m not bragging here, it’s a fact. My head’s different now, I get lots of intuitions that seem to come from nowhere but they give me literally perfect produce.” She shook her head, amused. “It’s no big deal if you don’t get it. I’d just rather not raise any eyebrows from growing this kind of ridiculous shit in a studio apartment in San Francisco, especially considering some of the species.”

Ah, "angel doctor bullshit". So she was past the point of getting properly angry about that now, that was good.

She watched with mild alarm as Cory rose to her feet, worried that she might sway and catch something, but she was impressively steady as she mooched around the room.

Persephone frowned, a quizzical expression on her face. “What do you mean, a side job?”

ψ