The Previous Night:
Stewart Borgin was sore, tired and absolutely famished. 12 hours in a Greyhound had finally brought him to the mid-sized Californian town of Lakeview, around two hours up the coast from San Francisco. The city's titular lake made it a minor tourist destination and weekend getaway, with dozens of lake houses and small resorts dotting it's shore, but Stewart had not come for pleasure. An associate of his had sniffed up signs of some very valuable prey lurking amongst the mini-mansions and boathouses. He cracked his neck as he shuffled out of the cramped bus, before walking off through downtown Lakeview. The traveler cut a scruffy figure in the fading light of dusk, wearing a mildly stained tee shirt, dark trousers and old leather jacket. He knew his hair had to look a mess, and not for the first time wished he could use a blasted mirror.
Working off directions from his phone he managed to work his way from the city center over towards Ivy University's campus. Before long he was standing at the entrance to Ivy University's main library, where he was to meet his contact. Checking his pocket watch, the bus had actually managed to get him there a good hour before the meeting. Plenty of time for a snack he thought as he surveyed the students coming and going around him. He zeroed in on a dark haired guy walking up toward the library, he'll do.
"Hey partner, could I have a moment of your time?" Stewart asked in his rustic Texan drawl. The student was about to brush him off, before momentarily making eye contact. He slowed to a stop as his jaw went slack and his eyes glazed over. "Uh, sure man..." he replied, making Stewart smile, his fangs gleaming by the light of the rising moon. He began leading his mesmerized victim off towards somewhere more secluded so he could feed. He should be finished sating his blood lust well before Agent R arrived. After all, hunting dragons is going to be thirsty work.
Cassandra smiled beatifically across the candlelit table at her wife, Lydia. I know not what I did to deserve this beautiful creature, but I thank the spirits everyday for whatever it was, she thought dreamily. "Darling, I know you like this blouse, but if you stare at my cleavage any closer, you're liable to fall in," Lydia teased, well aware of where her wife's eyes were drawn. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't similarly oggling Cassandra in her low cut, strapless green cocktail dress, but she liked to think she was at least a little more subtle about it.
"Can you blame me, it's the most glorious sight in the world," Cass responded, bringing a rosy tint to Lydia's cheeks. The lawyer cleared her throat, "Yes, well as charming as that is, do try to restrain yourself. It wouldn't do for our reputations to be ripping each other's clothes off before the main course even arrives." The pair had gone to La Roux, an upscale French restaurant that catered to Lakeview's upper class, and the well to do vacationers who made the pilgrimage there. With their level of magic it would have been possible to teleport and dine in Paris itself, but they were loath to stray so far from home, leaving their daughters unprotected. Young Djinn were prized as kidnapping targets by unscrupulous magic users, making the mothers a little over protective.
"I like how you're not denying that we will in fact be ripping each other's clothes off at some point," Casandra replied. Lydia flashed her a brilliant smile, "Of course not, darling. Regardless of how exemplary the meal is, the best thing I'm going to eat tonight is sitting right across form me." Now it was Cassandra's turn to blush and also shiver with anticipation. Even being together for decades, and having three children, the two Djinn were still as besotted with one another as newlyweds. Still, Lydia had had a point, best to exercise patience and enjoy their date, so she turned to a different topic.
"Oh, I had some good news I meant to tell you! Mother finally got back to me, and it looks like she'll be able to be here for Jasmine's play next week," Cassandra declared. She was delighted one of her mothers, Jasmine's grandmother, had agreed to come and could only hope the older Djinn remembered the correct date. Her mother, Diana Galenos, was nearing 800 and tended to be rather poor at keeping to a modern human timescale, which was probably why it had taken her so long to reply in the first place. Her other mother, Persephone, who served as one of the Djinn delegates to the Hidden Council, would unfortunately be busy with the spring summit for the next month.
"Wonderful, I'm sure Jasmine will be over the moon to have her grandmother see her perform," Lydia replied, while taking a sip of her Cabernet. She was genuinely happy Diana could make it, as she generally got on well with both her mother in laws and knew her eldest might burst from excitement over the news. "Hopefully this will help bring her out whatever funk she was in when we left."
"Funk?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head curiously. When she'd helped her daughters with their magic practice that morning, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. Lydia frowned slightly before replying, "yes, she just seemed a little out of it, and maybe a little worried when I checked on her before we left. She's normally much more upbeat when Karyn's coming over."
"Ah, that's probably the trouble right there. I do believe our darling daughter is pining for her best friend," Cassandra posited as the waiter delivered their coq au vin and steak au poire, a minor perception enchantment keeping him form processing any of their conversation. Lydia sighed, "I don't know what we should do about that. On the one hand I want her to be confident in herself enough to ask out a girl she likes, but on the other... well, you know how difficult relationships with humans can be."
Cassandra chewed on her steak thoughtfully before responding. "Karyn's already her best friend, beloved. Jasmine's going to be crushed when she dies regardless, so I think there's little point in discouraging her from pursuing something romantic. The odds of her first girlfriend turning out to be her soulmate are dreadfully low anyway. I think we should just be supportive, and be prepared to comfort her if things end poorly."
"My wife is so wise," Lydia purred while subtly turning her leg to smoke beneath the table and twirling it around Cassandra's leg. "Have I ever told you how attractive it is that you love our kids so much?" Cassandra shifted her own leg into smoke, letting their vapors intertwine. "Only a few hundred times, beloved, but I never tire of hearing it, considering I intend to continue loving them and you until the sun burns out.
It was a testament to Lydia's passive perception dampening that nobody snapped a picture of the respected lawyer, Lydia Galenos, diving across the table to kiss her wife on the lips.
