A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

"Oh. I guess I can see why that would lead one to have a poor opinion of Jedi," Ana said, the glib tone vanishing from her voice. "So how did you end up traveling the busy space lanes? I used to do a bit of traveling myself, back before they went and set up this new Jedi Order. Now I'm stuck here, training people. Other than my last Padawan, they've all been annoying enough to almost drive me to the Dark Side."

-----

"Just as soon as we could find one, I suppose. There's bound to be more hiding within the depth of the town, since this Slayer has come to town. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't on the trail of a powerful vampire or a nest of them," Miss Lucinda replied, clearly thinking out loud.

The elderly witch jumped to her feet, looking as delighted as humanly possible.

"How would you like to go hunting for vampires, dearie? We could warm up some cow's blood and go poking into all the dark nooks and crannies of Ditto Town. We'd be like great explorers, questing for the fanged unknown!"

Restart

"I really think being pregnant does bad things to you." Walter mused, glancing at Elena.

"I mean, besides the obvious stuff where like you blow up like a balloon and always have to go to the bathroom and act like a rabid wolf all the time." He said, thinking about Cadence's lack of rationality during her pregnancy.

"I'm gonna actually try to do some work while I'm here. I got this side of the bar, you take that one." He said in a tone of command as he waved at her assigned side of the bar.

---

"Here's the sink...I'll just pile stuff here for you." Helena said, dumping a stack of plates next to the sink before ducking out of the kitchen again. Lynn stepped in through the back door, still smoking his cigarette that he'd stepped out there to smoke.

"You the new pee-on?" He asked, standing in the doorway letting all the cool air in so he could keep smoking.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

"Wellllll, I kinda got caught stealing something from our Captain," Caeden said with a slight grimace. "But I talked myself out of it so convincingly that he said I amused him and he offered me a job so I'd stop with the stealing. Of course I still steal things from everyone on board the ship but at least they find it somewhere onboard . . . eventually." He gave her a devious smile, his strange eyes flashing slightly.

He took a swig of one of the drinks in his hands, forgetting which one was the Juma Juice. Unfortunately for him he downed half the twistler. Instantly the room seemed to blur and bend faintly. He blinked rapidly and glanced down at the drink.

"Man, what do they put in these Juma Juices? Anyway, I'm really good at hiding things. Everyone says so. I once hid Jones's sidearm and he couldn't find it for a week." Caeden grinned again, only this time it was somewhat goofy.

----

Katie's eyes lit up. "That sounds right excitin'," she said with a grin. "Wot we got to do first?"

She stood up, finishing the cookie in her hand quickly.

Restart

Elena blinked. "I-I think I'm dreaming. Walter is actually going to work . . . I can't believe it." She shook her head and pretended to brush away a tear. "The little baby's finally growing up!"

----

Thomas looked blankly at Lynn before he realized who the man was. A wave of disappointment rushed over him as he realized this was who he was going to be working with.

"I'm the new dishwasher," he said with more importance than the job really merited. He walked over to the sink and picked up the first plate, fishing his iPod out of his pocket and stuffing an earbud into his right ear before turning his music on and starting to work on getting the crusted food off of the plate.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

"Uh-hmm, that's what you think." Walter said, grinning a little as he slung a dry towel over his shoulder.

---

"Yeah, hello pee-on." Lynn said, tossing the cigarette outside and closing the door behind him as he went to check on the grill.

"Welcome aboard." He said, feeling diabolically happy about the fact that this pup was gonna have to wash dishes forever.

Restart

"I hope so at least," Elena said, shaking her head slightly. "Cadence doesn't need too little boys to take care of."

----

Thomas sighed and turned up his music louder, but not before saying in a slightly annoyed yet painfully light tone, "It's Thomas, actually."

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

"Yeah well I'm not her problem anyway." Walter shrugged, grinding his teeth a little.

"Hey man." He said, walking over to a guy that had just walked in and sat down at the bar. Walter could tell by the looks of the guy that he was probably set to camp the night out there until they closed and he was forced to leave. The guy looked up and nodded in greeting, looking a little too preoccupied to be bothered with actually saying a greeting.

"What can I get you?" Walter asked, hoping the guy wasn't broke.

"Just a Pabst." The guy said, kind of hoping Walter wasn't gonna pretend to be an authority on human nature because he was a bartender. He really just wanted to be left alone at present. Unfortunately, Walter did consider himself an authority on human nature because of his background as a bartender, and immediately set about finishing his analysis of the customer as he fixed the beer in a glass.

"So..." He said, sliding the glass towards the guy.

"Thanks." The guy said, taking his glass and jumping up before Walter had a chance to launch into anything. He walked to the other side of the bar that Walter had designated as Elena's domain, hoping he'd be safe there from the nosy bartender.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

"I don't think we've ever met," Moira replied. "But I'm a banshee. I sense when a person is nearing death and I will attempt to warn them. I can sense death about you, but I don't know what you are."

Malcolm gingerly placed the money Nikolas had handed him in the cash register and hoped there wasn't some kind of freaky death vibe on the money.

-----

"Well, since you're done with those cookies, we could go now. Oh, this is so exciting! I haven't done anything nearly this fun in ages!" Miss Lucinda exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

The excited elderly woman scurried back into the kitchen, beckoning for Katie to follow her. She flung the door to the basement open, fingering the invisibility charm on her bracelet. A few of the more objectionable dark magic items disappeared from sight.

"Just come on down here, dearie! I've got all my vampire-capturing gear down here! I like vampires, mostly, but you have to be careful with the little dears. Sometimes they can get violent when I ask them to work for me, so I like to take some precautions."

Miss Lucinda threw open the doors to a large cabinet. Within it were many of the typical trappings of vampire hunting. Garlic, stakes, various bladed weapons, even crosses. If Miss Lucinda was aware of the irony of the presence of the religious symbols, she didn't show it.

-----

Ana laughed at Caeden's story and watched him accidentally drink the alcoholic drink with interest. If she could keep him talking, maybe the alcohol would lower his inhibitions enough that he might let something slip. She wasn't willing to risk trying to mind trick him. She could feel the presences of Force-sensitives vaguely around her and knew that at least a few of the bar patrons were strong enough in the Force to sense her attempts. Earlier she might have mind-tricked the sleazy guy just to start a fight for the sheer fun of it. Now, she really didn't want to risk losing her chance to find out what was causing the Lilith's odd vibe.

"So where are you headed next? Anywhere interesting?"

Restart

"Wow, what did he say to you?" Elena asked the customer with a slight laugh. She figured if the guy had got up and left Walter's side that fast, Walter must have done something she could taunt him for later.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

"Why would you want to warn them?" Nikolas asked, frowning slightly in confusion. "Death is a natural part of life. Everyone dies . . . eventually."

"Except monsters, unfortunately," Peter said with an annoyed look as he bit into his scone.

"I don't think they really count," Hero commented idly.

----

"Wot if they bit us?" Katie asked. "Would we turn into a vampire right away?" She looked over the instruments in the basement with interest. Picking up a stake, she weighed it in her hands thoughtfully.

----

"I don't really know ex-act-ally," Caeden said slowly. "The Cap'n keeps a lot of things on the down low. And I mean like, waaaaaay down low. Sometimes Jones is the only one who knows anything about anything. All I know is that we're looking for something important. Possibly a person." He nodded suddenly. "Yup, pretty sure it's a person. We've searched around um, three planets now?" He took a sip of the Juma Juice hesitantly, unsure if it was the same one he had had before. It tasted different, but he still was not sure which glass in his hand was his order and which was Jones's.

With a sigh he realized he would have to order again.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

"Well maybe you should come back later," Alyson said coolly, not intimidated by either Dotty or the policeman. "It's obvious you're not going to get anything out of her today. Not while she's in this state. And if she hasn't been accused of any crime, then I don't see the point in interrogating her like this." She glanced sidelong at Dotty.

"Is she being accused of a crime?"

The cop took a moment to respond, contemplating his words carefully as a frown creased his forehead. "No," he replied slowly and curtly. As much as he wanted to say so but there was nothing he could charge the girl with, although Dotty's verbal abuse was drawing a fine line on assault.

Dotty smirked in satisfaction as the police officer quited the room with his henchmen and the pesky doctor with him. She almost wanted to exclaim in triumph herself; a rare burst of non-insolent glee from this cheeky girl indeed, but with the way that Nate was looking at her, Dotty's victorious mood was cut short.

She frowned acutely, her jaw clenching as he approached the bed. She knew that look on his face, that look of a time-bomb waiting to explode. She knew all the looks he gave off and knew from them what he was thinking. Nate was so easy to read, and this particular look told her that whatever he was going to say next wasn't going to be good.

It took Nate a long moment to say anything. Not because he didn't know what he wanted to say, what he wanted to ask, but because of the conflicting emotions he was feeling at the present. It was hard for him to feel sympathetic to Dotty after the scene he just witnessed.

Why was she giving the police such a hard time? Didn't she want to deliver justice to the person who did this to her? He was beginning to think that he didn't know this girl anymore . . .

~~~~~~

"Oh wow, cool, thanks!" Chase said, grabbing the present and tearing into the wrappings.

Jenna came into the room with a cup of water that she held out to Mary Jane. "That's very sweet of you," she said, smiling slightly. "But you really did not need to."

"Yes, she did," Chase said quickly, looking up to wink at MJ before pulling aside the last of the wrapping paper to reveal . . .

"Oh, it wasn't a big deal," Mary Jane told Jenna. She took the glass that was offered to her tentatively, suddenly hoping that her gift didn't bring any means of offense. She really didn't think there would be any complications in giving Chase a present.

She smiled weakly, looking between Jenna and Chase, as she tried to reassure them of any misgivings, "I just saw this and thought that Chase would like it." Her smile grew into something of a knowing grin when Chase peeled away the paper and revealed a bowling ball trophy.

Restart

Alyson smirked with some satisfaction as everyone left, but the expression faded as the tension grew at an alarming rate.

"Um, should I leave you two alone?" she asked hesitantly, glancing between Nate and Dotty.

----

Chase crowed with laughter as he unwrapped the bowling trophy.

"This is great!" he exclaimed, leaning over to give MJ a big hug that left him wincing but still grinning widely. "Ow," he said cheerfully as he pulled away. He ignored Jenna's look of concern and examined the trophy more closely.

"I love it," he told MJ. "Thanks a bunch!"

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

"Yes," Dotty hissed through her teeth, and with a nod toward Nate, she added, "and take him with you."

"Now wait a minute!" It was like a slap in the face, but this was a glimmer of the Dotty that Nate used to know. "You don't get off that easily. We need to talk--!"

"No, we don't," Dotty interjected brutally. Glaring at him, she knew this would be the simplest way to evade the inevitable spiel he was ready to dish out--by cutting him off completely. "Because I have nothing to say. To either of you or to anyone else for that matter. So get out!"

~~~~~~

Mary Jane was taken by surprise slightly as Chase hugged her. Her face flushed, she ducked her face in embarrassment as she brushed a stray hair that fell in front of her face. "You're welcome," she offered quietly. "I'm glad. I had wanted to get it engraved, but James told me he didn't think anyone would engrave a plastic trophy."

Restart

Alyson took Nate's arm and steered him toward the door. Before she left however, she fished her cell phone and tossed it onto Dotty's bed.

"Call if you need anything," she said sincerely, hating to do it but knowing it would not be nice to be mean to an invalid. "And don't think about calling your movie star friend to come and bust you out again. Remember how well that went last time." She gave the girl a pointed look and dragged Nate out of the room.

----

"How . . . thoughtful of you," Jenna said, but she looked rather confused.

"I could engrave it with my pocketknife," Chase said. "Once my arm is better at least." He set the trophy down carefully on the floor next to the couch and looked over at her. "Want to stay for dinner?" he asked hopefully.

Jenna looked ready to protest, but she caught the pleading look in Chase's eyes and sighed.

"We'd be happy to have you," she said with a slight smile.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

"Eh, I just felt like he was planning on fulfilling his role as a "good bartender" by delving into my personal life and trying to analyze what "type" of alcoholic I am." The guy said with a slight grin that only made him look more tired.

"But, if I have to take my chances on being analyzed in returns for service at a bar, I'd rather put myself at a... girl's mercy." He said, not entirely sure what he'd been trying to say or not say.

"Sorry. It's been a long day." He said, flushing slightly and staring at his glass. He was beginning to think he should've just taken his drink to a table.

Restart

Not expecting such an invitation, Mary Jane's mouth fell open in surprise. "Oh, I-I would like that," she started to say slowly, lost for words as her mind still caught up with the idea. "But John Luke is waiting for me at home." She felt like she was making up some lame excuse since her reply tripped awkwardly out of her mouth, but she was supposed to take care of her brother tonight.

"I don't want to keep Layla from you," she explained quickly, "when I can take care of John Luke when I am home."

Restart

Elena wanted to remark on how sexist that comment was, but refrained from saying anything in the hopes to not irritate the man as much as Walter had.

"I try not to learn everything about complete strangers," she said instead. The truth was that she was nosy, but she preferred to delve into the personal lives of people she already knew and liked to irritate. Walter for example . . .

A girl ran into the bar at full speed and slammed her hand on the counter in front of Walter. "A shot of whiskey, please, STAT!" she cried, her eyes darting all over the place in almost a panic.

----

"But we always have Layla," Chase complained. "I want you to stay. We never have guests over."

"For good reason," Jenna said pointedly, looking around at the mess on the living room floor and sighing slightly.

Chase just stuck his tongue out at her.

P.S."Brooklyn!"