devilwcman:
"yes - those ingredients. silly me,” andy responded with squinted eyes and pursed lips. her face shifted into one more playful, one more willing to put aside their past. not that it seemed to be a shared one between her and the witchy reincarnation. funny, the vampire thought bitterly, i didn’t take you for someone who wanted to live forever. part of the reason why the blonde had been hesitant to convince francesca to join her in the afterlife.
one where she wasn’t completely dead. but apparently, that was a choice more fitting for her old lover.
"so how’d that happen, huh?“ she asked with a curious bounce of her brow, leaning an elbow on a stack of books at the head of the desk, "your aunt’s a witch, with a shop like this, and you wind up a skeptic?” maybe someone had erased her memories. her coven was capable, even if francesca had always been their strongest link. wasted potential. all wasted when she decided to die. and an eternity with her one true love was wasted, too. “i just got into town. everyone else seems to think this place is cursed or something. i guess believing you can protect yourself with some deer tears is worth it to some?"
no deer tears could keep her out though, but real magic could. andy smiled despite wanting to rip everything to shreds. years of practice. straightening again, she reached into her purse to pull out a twenty dollar bill. handing it over, her fingers barely brushed frances’, and she wondered if the mere contact alone might jog the mortal’s memory. like electricity. although, she knew, her touch was a cold one, given her species.
"i know we didn’t get off to the right start,” she optioned to try for, teeth grazing her lower lip, “but since i’m so new, i don’t really have anyone around town to ‘show me the ropes.’ and i could use some of these-” she wiggled the potion vial with a charming smile gracing her fair face, “under the counter. considering they’re so expensive.”
"mm, those ingredients," frances replied in the same tone, mirth and sarcasm mixed together to create the perfect playful tune. add boredom to that, because the ever repeating question had just been fired at her for the umpteenth time since the beginning of her career as her aunt's storekeeper. she's resigned when she answered, "my aunt's a human -- a ... well, an eccentric human who has a thing for magic and mysteries and potions. she probably learned about the kink and decided that it'd be a good idea to indulge some people's fantasies. bless her heart. she takes it way too seriously, hence her absence and my presence in this store."
if her aunt hadn't been so dedicated in her little shop, maybe frances would be in a place that wasn't vernon — a place where she could do what she really wanted to do. instead, she's stuck here, watching over a family pride.
she rolled her eyes, mostly at her own thoughts, but also at the hint of this stranger biting on rumors of curses and some other shenanigans in vernon. "listen, whatever you heard? it's not true. people like to make up stories to keep kids and adults inside their homes at night to lower down the crime rate in this town. it's always been an effective scare tactic, isn't it?"
and yet, there's the list of missing people; of voices never to be heard in the quiet streets of vernon; of names forever engraved on cold stones.
frances clenched her jaw, eager to disregard the possibility of them being involved with anything remotely supernatural. humans were just as scary, if not more. they did say that humans were scarier than ghosts.
pulling herself out of her straying thoughts, frances came to just in time as the woman handed over the bill, a chilling shiver zipping down her spine at the brief contact between their fingers. she frowned, so unused to such reaction when touching other people (and frances was a tactile person).
frances would blame it on the woman's cold fingers later on. it's still the winter season after all.
curling a shaky smile on her lips, she shook her head slowly and scrunched her nose as she spoke, "well, since you apologized for your rudeness earlier. hm. yeah, i can give you a second chance." she pushed an open palm, her smile shifting into one that's more at ease. "i'm frances."
