Loni
Carina couldn't think of many things in life that couldn't be healed over with a hot meal and a strong cup of tea. She was willing to admit, however, that a town full of werewolves could in fact be one of those things. Still, she was going to try her damnedest. 

Obviously, in her eyes, there was not a soul on this planet who did not feel equally healed by food. Her roommate Lily fell into the category of "Souls on this planet," And therefore would be receiving a share of the consolatory breakfast that Carina was making for herself, now three days after the full moon. 

This morning, healing looked like thick-cut bacon, fresh eggs with the first springtime sprouts of chives Carina'd stumbled on in the overgrown garden out back, apple hand pies, and a strong pot of Assam tea the Carina had sent for, special from her usual general store stock order. 

At first, she'd only added enough tea leaves for herself. It was expensive, after all— she couldn't be sure that anyone in this town would appreciate its complexity beside the pedestrian sachets of Red Rose she stocked in the shop. Lily struck her as a person of taste, however. Carina invested in this small act of kindness as another test for her roommate, constantly looking for as many new ways to hate her as she was looking to respect her. Perhaps this would win Lily some respect. 

In any case, the spread was hot and ready. Carina'd heard the sounds of Lily stirring in her bedroom, and had tried to prepare the food in accordance with their emergence from their quarters. An invitation would have helped the timing, sure, but there was nothing Carina understood better than the act of assumption, and she assumed that *Lily* Would smell bacon and assume it was to be shared. She took her place at the small kitchen table which was clearly set for two. She poured herself tea and waited, her impatience clear on her face. 
_ _
Karina
In her previous life, Lily was someone who could lounge in bed for hours. In this life, however, Lily was someone who had to get up and going the moment her eyes first opened. They were still far from an early bird, she'd spent years working night shifts and the sun rose well before she did. They'd not been made to be a farmer, that much was certain. But Briar Ridge? Maybe she had been made for life here. At the very least life here had changed her. It had kneaded the soft clay that Lily was made from, reshaped her ever so gently. It had smoothed out some of her jagged lines, and Lily found herself not minding the removal of some of her thorns.

Briar Ridge had welcomed her as she was, not because of her use, though uses she did have. No, it had allowed her in when she was broken and scarred and full of sharp shards grown from mistrust and manipulation. Lily remembered their first day in Briar Ridge. How she'd shown up at Hazel's store, damn near begging her to suture the cuts so they could avoid the doctor. How their skin had been split much like her heart. It was through Briar Ridge that they healed. The hands of its seamstress had gently but firmly sewn them up, its people had shown them kindness when they deserved none. Yet it was still given. She was welcomed in against better judgment. 

Lily was finally discovering who she really was. Her flower planted in the soil of the holler, its white petals had started to unfurl, and for the first time, it was only her who guided the growth. No church, no nuns, no mobsters, no backstabbing bootleggers, this time it was all Lily. Thorns still remained in her side however, and one such thorn answered to the name Carina.
_ _

Lily suspected that the two had simply gotten off on the wrong foot and that the general store clerk was not as bad as Lily thought. If Dimitra trusted her, then there had to be more to their roommate than Lily currently saw. Truth be told, it was exactly what Lily saw that made their initial relationship a rocky one. Carina reminded her of herself, and she'd not been in a place where that mirror was a welcomed one.

She was greeted by a breakfast table set for two. "You expecting anyone?" She asked, not waiting for the answer as she sat down across from Carina. The two had survived yet another full moon entirely unharmed, no wolfmen had barged through their door or even their street. If she didn't know any better, Lily would consider her presence a good luck charm. "You know I don't think I've ever properly thanked you for lying to me when we first met." That was what it had been, Carina had painted herself as an untrustworthy person in some odd attempt to protect Lily from the truth of Briar Ridge's wolfmen. "I'm not in the habit of thanking people for that, but for you I think I might just make an exception." _Thank you._ This was as close as Lily was going to get to outright saying it. "Would have been a really good book though, I will stand by that."
Loni
"Just you," Carina supplied, "The bacon wouldn't be so cold if you hadn't spent so long in the washroom," She commented, not as an attack, but as what Carina saw as a simple statement of fact. She began to pile eggs onto Lily's plate, along with half the bacon and two hand pies, all notably before serving herself. As she poured the tea for both of them, she looked up at her roommate as Lily's gratitude laid awkwardly on the table between them. Carina finally began to serve herself as she processed the situation. 

"You're thanking me? For lying to you?" She repeated. She would have preferred to accept Lily's *Exception* As an admission of defeat, but something was preventing her from pocketing the person's words with conceited confidence. She simply didn't understand. 

Carina had figured that that first string of lies was mostly responsible for the distance between herself and Lily. She hadn't entirely minded their coldness. It was easier to navigate than warmth. With warmth and kindness, reciprocity was expected. With coldness too, she supposed, but the equal contribution of nonchalance was far easier than the thought required to pay back generosity with generosity.
_ _
Karina
"Some of us actually care about our looks, Carina," They said as they scooted the chair closer to the table. She'd pulled her hair into a french braid this morning, elegant while keeping it out of her face. She took note of her roommates actions, loading up Lily's plate before her own, something was going on here. Carina seemed to be exhibiting kindness without a clear purpose for it. What did she want?

"Well, I haven't said those exact words just yet," They started, "But..." They tapped their fingers on the table. "_Yes._" Pride was one hell of a hurdle to jump. "If you had stuck with the truth I would have left, who knows where I would have ended up." In a sense, Lily owed Carina much of her current life, but it would be a cold day in hell before they would openly admit that. "I still haven't quite figured out why you let me believe you were crazy," They said. "And I still haven't actually _seen_ any of your mysterious wolfmen." Lily had half a mind to just sleep through the next full moon, truth be told. "But I can accept that they exist alright, you win, they're real." _Happy now?_ She took a bite of bacon, and it was somewhat colder than bacon should ideally be.

Few things brought Lily more joy than reminding people that she had something over them, be that knowledge, a bet won, a deal snatched from under their noses or simply proving them wrong. As one might expect, few things annoyed her more than others doing just that to her. This had been the third month in a row where those howls sounded like clockwork, the first time she'd been able to attribute it to regular wolves, coyotes maybe, but by now even Lily had to admit that Carina was right. Werewolves were real. Lily had been wrong. _Boohoo, big deal..._
_ _

"Your other tricks were unnecessary and childish though," She added hastily, "And I'm still the one paying you, so I think we're even." Lily may have grown as a person, but fully admitting defeat or genuinely apologizing, being vulnerable even, that was still beyond her. Maybe one day they'd get there.
Loni
Carina had to smile at Lily's snide remarks. She had to– *Had to* Smile. If she were more self-aware, she would be smiling at the irony of the two of them, sat here, trying to out-snark the other. They were caught in a neverending pissing contest. The whole setup was objectively funny, but Carina was not self aware. She only *Thought* She was, and her laugh was inspired by pity, when it would have been a more righteous response to her and her roommates comical sameness. She pitied Lily in thinking she was the cleverer of the both of them, when in reality the two of them were hounds straining at short leashes held by no other hands than their own. 

She heard Lily out, and at the end of their explanation, sighed in frustration. 
"You would have ended up fine. You seem the stubborn type." She took a sip of tea, feigning disinterest as she set her cup down and cut into her apple hand pie with a fork and knife, "Stubborn enough to keep yourself safe." What Carina meant to say was *Smart,* And her tone was gentle enough that maybe Lily would be able to read between the lines here. She only glanced up from her breakfast at the words *You win.* She smiled in earnest, letting silence settle sweetly around the admission to make sure Lily had time to reflect on what they'd said.

"They were, I agree," She nodded, "But they were *Very* Entertaining." Her smirk remained. Clearly she was as pleased with herself now as she had been then. Finally, she took a pause to study Lily's expression, anticipating satisfaction from her teasing. As usual, she was greeted only with Lily's utter lack of vulnerability. It struck her too suddenly and too uncomfortably that the face Lily wore now was one that Carina herself often defaulted to. There was room for mutual respect here, as she stared into the mirror seated across the breakfast table, but Carina filled that void instead with frustration.

"What do you think of the tea?" She asked, flustered. 
_ _
Karina
"Thank you," She quipped, stubborn that she was. They wore their stubbornness as a badge of honor. Lily chose to ignore the fact that Carina was smiling in response to their admitted defeat. Lily admitting defeat, how the mighty fall indeed. "Don't let it get to your head," They murmured, still unable to truly face her own loss. The tea was... _fine_ Lily supposed, she usually preferred hers on the sweeter side. "It's not my tea of choice, but I can appreciate good tea when I taste it, you know your stuff don't you?" She was by no means an expert on tea, but she had a sneaking suspicion this may be on the more pricey side, especially when it came to Briar Ridge. The fact that Carina had chosen to share it with them had to mean something. Had this always been a peace talk?

"You haven't kicked me out yet, and I've started to grow attached to this town, _somehow_, so how about we **Both** Leave those childish acts in the past?" They too had acted purposefully spiteful toward Carina, and as much as they enjoyed it, they knew that any deal or compromise required sacrifice from all parties involved. Lily wouldn't be asking for friendship quite yet, she knew that would be wistful thinking. But a truce? A call for peace? That they could do. In Lily's eyes it would be beneficial for the both of them, she was more than used to having bad blood between herself and others, but at least they could avoid those people. Living with someone they didn't quite trust was becoming tiring. The proposed making-up wasn't fully genuine for that exact reason, it was as much about making Lily's life easier as it was about repairing a damaged acquaintanceship. Lily hadn't quite yet tricked herself into believing she was capable of being a good person. Anything she did had to have an element of benefit to the thief. The added benefit here being some peace of mind, which was apparently hard to come by in Briar Ridge, if the stories were to be believed.
Loni
"A tiger cannot change its taste for meat overnight," Carina sighed, annoyed. How could she possibly promise not to do anything *Childish* When it wasn't a word she related to at all? How could she promise not to do anything so subjectively categorized by her company? Perhaps, instead, Lily should agree not to be so sensitive. 

"But I can agree to peace. Look, we're breaking bread." She said shortly, setting down her teacup with an abrupt *Clack.* She had to snicker at Lily's comment about the tea, but her interest was piqued all the same, all the happier to move on from talks of ceasefire. Their 'disagreements' were a non-issue, as far as she was concerned, and were made up of nothing more than Lily's ability to stomach Carina's dry humor. 

"What *Is* Your tea of choice, pray tell?" She asked, tearing into a strip of bacon, careful not to disturb her subtle rosy lipstick, "Eat, then. Aren't you one for a morning meal? I can't stand to start the day on an empty stomach," She confessed around a mouthful. It was one of the first personal anecdotes she'd shared with Lily– it had just slipped out, she supposed. There was a certain degree of comfort here, generated from sharing a living space. That had to be it; that was all. Far be it from Carina to admit she might be developing some kind of fondness for the person seated opposite her. 

She put several more slices of bacon on her plate, along with more eggs, not having finished what she'd originally served herself. If Lily wasn't going to take advantage of the spread, Carina figured she could easily finish the food on her own. Thank God for fast metabolisms.
_ _
Karina
Annoyance, that's the thanks Lily got for trying to be a good person for perhaps the first time in their life. Really? So much for kindness begetting kindness, all it was begetting her was an attitude. _I forget that flexibility isn't amongst your many talents._ Had Lily verbalized the thought, she'd have immediately sunk the deal she proposed mere seconds ago; no childish comments. Their near constant need to always get the last word in was infuriating to many. They supposed this was one of the many sacrifices one must make for peace. Then again, Lily admired those who stood firm in their beliefs, maybe it would have been seen as a compliment. Unlikely. 

"I was taught it was impolite to speak with one's mouth full," She said, loading an apple hand pie and some eggs onto her plate. "By nuns, no less. But really, what do they know?" They remarked, clearly not a fan of their teachings, or general existence, and scooped a spoonful of egg into her mouth. "I like my teas more flowery," She said, after swallowing the bite. "Can't say I drink enough tea to know my exact favorite, but I know I like it sweet." In another life Lily would have been a sweet person, in line with their tastes.

Carina appreciated a good breakfast, Lily on the other hand, was more of a dinner person, if she had to pick a meal. "I used to just eat whenever I had time, sometimes that was right after I woke up, sometimes it was hours later," They shared. Irregular hours meant irregular eating times after all. They'd known their fair share of hungry periods growing up, and was more than capable of operating on an empty stomach. "You get used to it, you know?" She suspected Carina possibly did not know.
Loni
With the beginning of Lily's statement, Carina was so poised to fire back a retort, but she held off for the sake of maintaining their treaty. As they finished speaking, though, Carina found herself genuinely smirking, of all responses. The rest of Lily's anecdotes were received pleasantly. It was almost as if they were having a normal conversation. Purely on accident, Carina began to think of what fruity teas she had in stock, and what more could be ordered from the supplier special. No, of course it didn't have anything to do with *Lily!* She was just curious, and loved thinking of tea. That was all. 

"Mm, utterly unrelatable." Carina commented, again in the midst of swallowing, "I must eat four square meals a day. Breakfast, a second breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dessert makes five, if you're counting." God *Damnit* There she went, smiling again! She flattened her mouth and weakly cleared her throat. It felt good to share herself with someone, just as it felt good to share in the comfort of food. But Lily? If men could turn into beasts with the lunar cycle, Carina begrudgingly accepted that she may find a friend in Lily, yet. 

"Why were you in the company of... *Nuns?*" Carina asked, pronouncing the last word with distaste. She did not consider her question to be too personal, and did not pause to worry over what memories it may dredge. Her own curiosity came before all else, and now that Lily had presented themselves as a subject of interest, they would suffer for it. 
_ _
Karina
"I was raised in an orphanage, Catholic, hence the presence of nuns," She offered. Lily had half a mind to retort with her usual _wouldn't you like to know?_ answer, and perhaps they should have done so. They didn't make it a habit of speaking about her childhood. Talking about it involved having to think about it, and she wasn't a huge fan of doing that. However, she was living as Lily again, the same Lily that had been left on the doorstep of that orphanage, a flower pin closing the bundle of blankets she was wrapped in. That pin was what gave her her name, a white lily flower. It was all she had to tie her to whoever her parents really were. Not that she cared who they were, of course. ~~She did care.~~ Not caring about it was the biggest lie they had ever constructed, so large and all-encompassing that she'd even tricked herself into falling for it. "It's been a good while since I've had the misfortune of stumbling into any clergy though, and I do intend to keep it that way."

Carina seemed to share Lily's distaste for nuns, maybe the woman seated across from them was in possession of redeemable qualities. Wonders never ceased. "Is that why you've grown to be so tall, all that food?" Lily wondered if that meant she grew up being able to afford all that food too. Carina's accent didn't match that of those Lily had learned to identify as those born and raised in the town. "What about you," She asked, information for information. "Am I right in assuming you weren't born here either?"
Loni
"You'll want to walk the other way when you see Preacher Hughes, then. He's awfully... Persistent." Carina warned, sipping her tea to hide any incriminating facial expressions. It was true that, before he had taken Dimitra into his home, Carina hadn't been particularly fond of Abel. She'd tried to make her peace with him, as Mrs. Bigby had been so devout. With her passing, Carina was free to tend her grudges as she pleased. 

Carina stayed silent through Lily's inquiry, recognizing it as dry humor, not to be answered in defense or in honesty. Their next question, however, marked itself for a response. Information for information. Sure. 

"I was born in Richmond." *Damnit!* She'd meant to say *Virginia!* It was out now, no reeling it back. Her face flushed out of self-directed anger, and out of anger at Lily for drawing a reluctant truth out of her. Suddenly, she stood, gathering her plate and utensils and taking them to the basin. She began to wash them.

"It was never my home. I have always belonged in Briar Ridge." She muttered, over her scrubbing. 
_ _
Karina
"Preacher Hughes, that wouldn't be the same preacher that got Dimitra Florakis to _settle,_ wouldn't it?" Lily asked. "Him being persistent would explain all of that then. Never thought I'd see the day when she got tied down," She mused. Then again, Lily never imagined she'd feel at home in Briar Ridge, and yet, here she was, doing just that. They often joked about the unlikely nature of Dimitra and a pastor, but in the end, if he made Dimitra happy, Lily wasn't going to do anything about it.

"Richmond," They repeated. Carina's face turned a shade of red, and Lily couldn't suppress a small grin. They hadn't even intended to draw out that reaction. She suspected she may have struck a nerve, that Carina didn't enjoy talking about her birthplace. They had that in common then, a distaste for their pasts. Normally that exposed nerve would be subjected to eager prodding by Lily's fingers, trying to draw out more information. Not now, they had a truce, and Lily resigned to not push the topic. At least not overtly. "I've never been," She admitted. Richmond had spit out both Lewis Ashworth and Carina Templeton, there had to be something in the water there that made people develop irritating personality traits. Though with Lewis she could bear them, mostly. Maybe one day they could do the same for Carina. 

"I used to think I was made for the city, but Briar Ridge suits me just fine," She offered, trying to seek out common ground with Carina. "I wasn't lying about that when we first met, I _was_ looking for a fresh start. I don't want to go back to New York, at least not permanently." Not that they could even if they wanted to, those bridges had been thoroughly burned, both metaphorically and literally.
Loni
"One in the same," Carina confirmed, through a slightly clenched jaw. Her loss of Dimitra's affection to a man– the *Preacher*, no less!*— was a difficult kind of pain to navigate. She had no right to be so bitter. It had been her own fault, after all. Seeing Dimitra go down screaming between the jaws of a werewolf, and seeing herself- her own hands- fall frozen in response to the violence was a reality she'd taken weeks to contend with. By the time she was ready to admit her failings, Dimitra was healing in the home of Preacher Hughes, and Carina dare not step foot there lest she set the place ablaze with her unholiness. 

From there, the hurt had taken hold. Couldn't Carina have cared for her? Wasn't her home just as healing? But she hadn't been able to save her in the first place, and from there, a wound in her own pride had ushered her down the bloody burrow of self loathing. Instead of dressing Dimitra's wounds and boiling broth for her, she'd sold caramels and bullion to Abel Hughes, knowing how Dimitra's lips might touch the spoon from which he fed her. 

A wretched shiver rose gooseflesh up her spine, and she set her clean dishes to dry beside the sink with a slight clatter. She smoothed her hands down her apron, and finally untied it to reveal a navy blue cotton dress with charming tortoiseshell buttons down the front. 
_ _

She was now confronted with a choice: sit back down and make polite conversation at the risk of driving a fork into her thigh beneath the table in an effort to cope, or excuse herself to open the shop an hour early like she truly wanted. More than anything, she wanted to be gone from this kitchen where shuddering timelapse frames of Dimitra still flickered across the walls. 

"You should stay, then," Carina suggested abruptly, her body language tense as she hovered near the doorway, somewhere between settling down and fleeing, "New York is ghastly." She asserted, blinking a few times to ground herself before she allowed just the faintest curl of a smile onto her lips, "Besides, I fear how dreadfully you might miss me, should you leave town now."
_ _
Karina
There was something more there, between Carina and Dimitra, Lily realized. She didn't know what exactly, but there had to be, given how Carina reacted. And oh how Lily loved a good mystery. They had the annoying habit of sticking her nose where it didn't quite belong. But look, if people didn't want her snooping around, they shouldn't be leaving such wonderful little breadcrumbs for them to follow. Unfortunately, Carina seemed a little bit too on edge for Lily to do her poking properly. They had to wait until her roommate wasn't so tightly wound in order to unravel whatever she was hiding. A real shame that was, but at least the beginnings of something had been created.

"Would it be me missing you, or have I started growing on you, Miss CT?" They said, harkening back to their first meeting. It was a meeting that now felt so long ago. Back when she didn't believe werewolves were real at all. And could you blame her? "But you're right, New York is ghastly," They agreed. "It did spit out Dimitra though," She remarked casually. The words were calculated, and shaped with purpose. Lily was eying Carina for any kind of reaction. "We used to work together, you know?" Again, they were searching Carina's face for any hint of information, as they too got up from the table. "But where are you off to in such a hurry?" Lily didn't exactly keep perfect track of Carina's schedule, but it seemed too early for her to have to leave just yet. "Have we truly been talking for that long already?" They asked innocently.

|| they are in hot pursuit of the gossip