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Mar. 3rd, 2020 at 2:17 AM
[ Sometimes she honestly wonders if she won't wake up and realize that all of this has been one insanely long fever dream, but whenever morning rolls around- or sometimes the dead of night depending on her current schedule and whether or not something that wants to kill and/or eat her has tracked her down -it's always just as depressingly vivid as it all was in the moments before she'd settled in for sleep.
She can't remember the last time she'd heard her father's voice in person, and she hates knowing that. Normally Piper was pretty good at keeping track of things like that, but life had taken a hectic turn since she ran off from her last boarding school. She might've tried returning home, but after the third monster attack, when it became apparent that she had become some sort of supernatural magnet? Not a chance.
It hasn't been all that bad though, out here on her own. Aside from missing her father like crazy and wanting for a peaceful night's sleep, she's getting by alright. She's got to keep that optimism, because she's not sure what the alternative is. It'd be pretty easy to give in to fear and despair, hopping from town to town with no place to call home, making due fighting monsters with whatever weapons she's lucky enough to stumble across. That's just not her style, though. If anything this turn of events just makes her angry. Out of absolutely no where after years of being an absentee parent, her "mother" decides to pop into her life for the first time, tell her monsters are real and she's half-Barbie goddess, hit her with an unasked for makeover, and then POOF back off into the aether and the mist. At least she'd given her a parting gift to make up for all the missed birthdays: Katoptris, a ceremonial dagger made of celestial bronze. It would be effective against the monsters that would come after her, she said. There's a place for your kind in New York, she'd said. Find it and you'll find safety in numbers, she said!!! Well. That's GREAT and all, but how the fresh heck was Piper supposed to get there and FIND this place?
Ugh.
The worst part of the impromptu road trip, aside from monsters popping up every few days, is having to turn to actual, proper thievery to get by. Before she'd take comfort in knowing that whatever she borrowed would be returned or paid for, but now it's for keeps, so she doesn't go hungry or catch something out on the streets from exposure. Doesn't really make it any easier, but she's underage, can't get a job, doesn't want to resort to sketchy activities, and can't really afford to hang around in one place for too long. If the monsters don't catch up to her, the authorities will, because she's pretty sure that her father's reported her missing by now.
Most of the time it's just little stuff: food, drink, clothes, but this last time she'd had to "borrow" a car to get out of town in a hurry, trying to outrun an empousa. The car hadn't survived the journey. Now she's in need of a place to crash for the night, and there's only one motel in this rinky dink little town where they're less likely to ask a ton of questions.
The door of the motel office swings open, but Piper doesn't pay any particular mind to whoever just walked in. Her business is with the clerk on duty.
A crumpled stack of fives and tens rests on the counter between them. Piper knows full well that it's only barely enough to cover the room. From the look on the clerk's face he's aware of it too, and neither impressed nor buying that she's old enough to legally rent a room on her own, meaning she's going to have to get creative today. She doesn't have the money to bribe him and she doesn't feel like ripping off some innocent shop owner to GET the money for it (bad enough that she does the charmspeak as often as she does, and she hates it), nor does she feel like sleeping under a bridge tonight.
Option D it is. ]
I'm flattered you think I look that young, mister, but I'm definitely over eighteen. So, you gonna rent me the room?
(ooc: I use this color to denote charmspeak!)
She can't remember the last time she'd heard her father's voice in person, and she hates knowing that. Normally Piper was pretty good at keeping track of things like that, but life had taken a hectic turn since she ran off from her last boarding school. She might've tried returning home, but after the third monster attack, when it became apparent that she had become some sort of supernatural magnet? Not a chance.
It hasn't been all that bad though, out here on her own. Aside from missing her father like crazy and wanting for a peaceful night's sleep, she's getting by alright. She's got to keep that optimism, because she's not sure what the alternative is. It'd be pretty easy to give in to fear and despair, hopping from town to town with no place to call home, making due fighting monsters with whatever weapons she's lucky enough to stumble across. That's just not her style, though. If anything this turn of events just makes her angry. Out of absolutely no where after years of being an absentee parent, her "mother" decides to pop into her life for the first time, tell her monsters are real and she's half-Barbie goddess, hit her with an unasked for makeover, and then POOF back off into the aether and the mist. At least she'd given her a parting gift to make up for all the missed birthdays: Katoptris, a ceremonial dagger made of celestial bronze. It would be effective against the monsters that would come after her, she said. There's a place for your kind in New York, she'd said. Find it and you'll find safety in numbers, she said!!! Well. That's GREAT and all, but how the fresh heck was Piper supposed to get there and FIND this place?
Ugh.
The worst part of the impromptu road trip, aside from monsters popping up every few days, is having to turn to actual, proper thievery to get by. Before she'd take comfort in knowing that whatever she borrowed would be returned or paid for, but now it's for keeps, so she doesn't go hungry or catch something out on the streets from exposure. Doesn't really make it any easier, but she's underage, can't get a job, doesn't want to resort to sketchy activities, and can't really afford to hang around in one place for too long. If the monsters don't catch up to her, the authorities will, because she's pretty sure that her father's reported her missing by now.
Most of the time it's just little stuff: food, drink, clothes, but this last time she'd had to "borrow" a car to get out of town in a hurry, trying to outrun an empousa. The car hadn't survived the journey. Now she's in need of a place to crash for the night, and there's only one motel in this rinky dink little town where they're less likely to ask a ton of questions.
The door of the motel office swings open, but Piper doesn't pay any particular mind to whoever just walked in. Her business is with the clerk on duty.
A crumpled stack of fives and tens rests on the counter between them. Piper knows full well that it's only barely enough to cover the room. From the look on the clerk's face he's aware of it too, and neither impressed nor buying that she's old enough to legally rent a room on her own, meaning she's going to have to get creative today. She doesn't have the money to bribe him and she doesn't feel like ripping off some innocent shop owner to GET the money for it (bad enough that she does the charmspeak as often as she does, and she hates it), nor does she feel like sleeping under a bridge tonight.
Option D it is. ]
I'm flattered you think I look that young, mister, but I'm definitely over eighteen. So, you gonna rent me the room?
(ooc: I use this color to denote charmspeak!)
Comments
They're making their way towards New York when they start running into all kinds of trouble, mostly of the monster variety. Dean can't remember the last time they fought off so many creatures in the span of such a small amount of time. Sam came up with the theory that the surge in things that go bump in the night seems to be due to the fact that the monsters seem to be chasing something. Or someone.
Sam's still out in the Impala, gathering their things, when Dean makes his way into the office of the only motel in town they can afford. The walls and floor are stained, and he's fairly certain some of these rooms charge by the hour. Not to mention the overwhelming stench of cheap alcohol, and, just beneath that, what he thinks might be some kind of bleach. Given the dark coloration of some of the stains, he can't say he's surprised.
He is taken aback by the presence of what looks to be a teenager in the office. Dean blinks, taking in her appearance and the pile of cash on the desk next to her. When she speaks, and the clerk behind the desk nods at her request, Dean becomes even more interested. Something about the way the clerk responds, as though in a trance, catches his eye.
She's awfully young for a witch, he thinks, if his instincts are correct.]
Didn't realize this place lets out to underage teenagers. Maybe I'll go find somewhere else for the night, after I alert the police.
Sorry, I ended up changing the color for that, it was burning my eyes a bit. LOL
Great. The one time she runs into a customer with a conscience in a place like this, or maybe he has something against kids? The urge to tell him to buzz off is pretty strong after the day she's had, but instead of doing the rash thing Piper dares to glance back over her shoulder at him, studies him a bit even as the clerk, confused and still under the weight of her charmspeak, replies.
"But she's definitely over eighteen. She said so..."
This guy doesn't look like he's going to take no for an answer... Weighing her options doesn't take long. Putting aside the issue of her own conscience: she could try charmspeaking him too, but as stubborn as he looks she's not sure she's strong enough to override HIS will. She definitely can't afford a run in with the cops. Odds are good they'd catch on pretty fast that she was Tristan McLean's missing daughter, and then she'd be putting him in danger by getting dragged back home. So instead for her part Piper bites back a curse, grabbing up the money again to pocket.
Under a bridge it is.]
Just forget it. [She half mutters, shoving the cash into her jacket and turning away from the counter to leave through the front door of the office. The whole while she's silently hoping that Mister Morality here won't try to stop her, pointedly avoiding looking at him on her way past.
Meanwhile, the clerk does just that, simple as pie. "Wait, what were we talking about...?" Anyone who didn't know better would probably just think the guy was a dazed stoner.]
No problem! Sorry for the wait in this tag!
Dean's surprised when she backs down; she has the look of a fighter, he thinks. Now he's even more intrigued; she definitely knows how to pick her battles, if the way she backs down is any indication. Dean ignores the dazed clerk in favor of blocking the girl's exit as she makes her way towards the door.]
How about we grab something to eat and you can explain to me why you're trying to check in as a minor?
[The fake cop routine won't likely work with her, he thinks, based on what he's just witnessed here. And if she's in any kind of situation like the kind he was in back when he was her age, well. The offer of a free warm meal will go down a whole hell of a lot better.]
No worries at all! \o It was a nice surprise to wake up to. :)
The moment that she realizes he's moving she's already hesitating, a subtle slow of her pace until she knows what he's going to do, her eyes watching him like a hawk. Slowing down becomes outright halting once his frame blocks the door, and her priority becomes making sure she isn't within grabbing range.
And now her suspicion is flaring up. It's hard not to be wary! At first she was willing to believe he was really just looking out for a random kid, but now...?
Piper arches an eyebrow at him, her expression purposely openly uneasy.]
Yeah... no. Listen, sir, you said it yourself, I'm a minor, and I'm not keen on going anywhere alone with a strange, older guy.
[To be totally fair she doesn't ACTUALLY think he has nefarious intentions, not necessarily, but she doesn't feel like answering questions, and one thing she's learned about adults is that it's pretty easy to rattle their bravado if you put them in a compromising position. They're in a seedy motel, the kind who's clientele PROBABLY deal in a lot of illegal business. She wouldn't dream of accusing some random stranger of being inappropriate like this normally, but desperate times and desperate measures and all that. Besides, for all she knows he's a monster in disguise. She's been tricked before.
Maybe inferring something shady without stating it outright will fluster him enough to back down. That's the hope anyway.
The other option is that he calls her bluff, in which case he's PROBABLY a monster that doesn't give two craps about human sensibilities, and she has to figure something else out on the fly.]
Sorry for the lateness of this reply! This past week has been crazy. Thank you for your patience! <3
Fair point. Anyone ever tell you you'd make an excellent lawyer?
[He's trying to think of a counter, some kind of way of convincing her to believe him without sounding like a creepy asshole. She has no reason to trust him and he has no reason to offer her; he'll have to find something in between.]
How about this. There's a diner next door; I'll go over and bring back food. You don't have to go anywhere with me.
[She can also choose to flee, in which case, Dean will tail her. He doesn't think she's dangerous but, then again, monsters come in all forms and sizes. He can never be sure.]