Network + Action= Open | This is definitely not a book review

[dorkify]

Network

[ There's a blonde on the screen. She's got her long, curly hair pulled over one shoulder and she's leaning in a little on her elbows. She waves at the screen. ] So, this is definitely not a book review. In fact, I'm sort of wondering what I'm going to do my vlogs over if it's not books. Maybe I'll just talk about them in a general sense. Books are good. Portable magic. Yadda yadda. it's not the same, is it? [ She sighs dramatically. ] Aslan and I are at the book store, in our proper bodies. Come see us at Subtext and have an iced coffee. Gracie out.

Action

For those that take Gracie up on her offer of books and iced coffee, they'll find her curled up in a big, squishy armchair near the front of the shop. She's reading a book and has an iced coffee at hand. There's a grey and white Scottish Fold cat dozing in the front window. She'd had a fun few days in Dani's body, zipping around, running into things and generally making a pest of herself, but she's grateful to be in her own body again.

When the bell over the door rings out, Gracie looks up with a smile on her face. "Hey, have a look around and if I can help you with anything, let me know."

Unless, of course, she knows you, then she'll be out of her chair, coffee abandoned on an end table to dole out hugs.

Comments

[duelo]

[ Well, on the plus side, it means Derek wasn't being oblivious for too long. But on the other hand...it means Alcide has been in that place that much longer before this reprieve. ]

Yeah, no, I'm awesome. You have no idea how perfect, actually... I don't know, I'm trying to still wrap my head around everything, but when you end up in a place where someone you lost is still alive, you tend not to complain. So I'm not complaining. Plus, holy shit did I miss real clothes.

[ And the wolf, but he figures that goes without saying when it comes to Alcide. ]

Are you back to your normal self? Because I am...

[ And he's sure that Alcide knows exactly what he means by that, too. ]

[rouxgaroux]

[ Alcide absolutely picks up on what Derek means by that. They get each other in that way. Or in most ways, if he's honest. That's why they got on so well. ]

Yeah, back to normal. Also, the clothes here are free - which is pretty damn helpful since I have no money.

[ Lots to like about this place. Which brings him to the next thing. ]

Buffy's here too.

[duelo]

My sister said everything here is free. Which wouldn't really matter to me if I had access to my assets back home, but since I don't, it certainly comes in handy. They have a pretty good bar. Cute bartenders.

[ Not that he's interested; he's got Katniss. Or would, if she were here. If Alcide and Buffy are here, then it's only a matter of time before Katniss and Prim are, too, right? ]

Drinks don't suck. We should catch up — the three of us, then, definitely — and fill each other in on what we missed because I've been here a little while but I missed you guys.

[ Badly. Badly enough that he hasn't actually bothered to try to make any friends here. Yet. ]

[rouxgaroux]

[ That whole free thing bothers Alcide. He's had to work hard for everything he's ever had. Alcide has always been the sort of person who needs to be employed. That's how the world works. Nothing is free. And that makes him wonder what the catch is. It makes him worry for his friends and himself what price they'll be paying - eventually. ]

I don't get it. But I guess I can't argue with it... yet. [ Free clothes and food that isn't soylent? Beer? A bar? He's gonna at least wear new clothes for a day, eat a burger and drink a beer before he starts a ruckus. But they both know that Alcide isn't one to accept things without question. He didn't in the Complex and he doesn't here either. ]

We'll do that. Yeah. I don't know how you were here and there at the same time... but I'm not very good at timelines and such. [ He pauses, backtracking a bit. ] Your sister's here?

[duelo]

[ The only reason it doesn't bother Derek is because Laura is here. If she wasn't, he'd be looking a lot more suspiciously at pretty much everything. It's only because of Laura that Derek doesn't have his hackles up. He's not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth. Now, he supposes, he knows how Katniss felt when Prim showed up in the Complex. It was a nightmare there, but it meant having her sister back, so Katniss dealt and largely turned a blind eye to things that weren't a direct threat to she and Prim. Derek gets it now. ]

I don't know that I was, but I don't understand all of that time stuff, either. ...and yeah. My older sister.

[ Whom Alcide knows to be dead, because it's one of the few things Derek's shared about his personal life. ]

So...I don't know what's up with this place, but I'm not going to complain. I know it's her; it smells like her.