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Calamity
Rena knows where Calamity lives. Hell, she may have squatted there too, Before. B and F have been in this "abandoned" house for a few years now - some agreement with the absentee landlord. Nothing on paper, but there's usually running water and the lights are usually on.
But it's been ages, since Calamity has actually invited Rena over. She's got her own place, and Calamity knows that the B+F house is a shithole, so what's the point? But some days it's just too fuckin cold to go anywhere, and so Calamity's invited Rena over to chill. They've got a ratty blanket wrapped around them like a cape when they open the door, but at least the temperature inside is a few degrees colder than the temperature outside.
Rena
Rena knocks. The last thing she wants is to have to dodge a bullet or three. "Buuuuuuug!" she shouts, ruining any stealthiness of her approach. "Can I come in?" She's dressed unseasonably, why buy a puffer jacket when you could buy a trade paperback, but does have a nicer shirt and jeans than she has in the past.
Calamity
They're in their PJs when they open the door a couple seconds later, their curly hair flopping in their face, and they're squinting like they just woke up. "...Fuck," they mutter, "hey. Didn't mean to sleep that long - why the fuck aren't you wearing a jacket?" They themself don't have one on - the ratty blanket is just fine for indoors - and they gesture for her to come in before quickly shutting the door. "'S fucking cold." It's not quite a whine. "Aren't you cold?"
Rena
"Don't get cold anymore." She shrugs. Death is what it is. "Don't touch me until I've been inside for a while though, I'll freeze ya." She pauses. "Yo, what if I got ice powers? Then we could be a fuckin amazing duo. I should see if Double Secret Vampire Club can teach magic like that or if I gotta go to the witchy vampire club."
Calamity
"Ice powers?" Calamitty snorts and pads toward the "living room" - a section of the unfinished interior walled off with grungy sheets - and tugs one of the sheets aside. There's a few comics strewn around in here, and a space heater purring and sputtering occasionally as it fights a losing battle to heat the place.
"Don't you already got a fuckton of powers? That'd just make you extra OP - 'specially 'cause all I really got is fire. For like...fighting shit, at least."
Rena
"All my powers are so much lamer than yours, Bug," Rena says, stretching out her back in a series of pops. "But I'm learnin' how to do shit with shadows. The rat fuck who turned me could just straight up become a shadow. It was rad." She pauses. "'nough about that though. How's it been?"
Calamity
"A shadow? That's cool as hell though - I can like...blend into shit but I can't actually be a shadow." They flop down in front of the space heater with a groan. "Been cold. I fuckin' hate winter. But...I dunno, fine, I guess? Shit's been...quiet." The way they say it implies that quiet is a bad thing, and they shrug. "What's goin' on with Double Secret Vampire Club?"
Rena
"You hate the cold enough, I could just turn you into an immortal creature of the night and you'd never be cold again," Rena pops her fangs as she says it, letting out a short annoying laugh. "Been quiet on our side of the fence too. 'Parently some a'us go hundreds of years before somethin' crazy happens. And the Vampire Boss of the Vampires is keepin' things pretty clamped down."
Calamity
"...Hundreds of years?" Calamity blinks, and then looks Rena over, her fangs not even registering. "I...'s gonna be weird 'f I ever look older'n you. An' weird shit happens when you turn someone into one'a you, right? Dunno 'f I could ever give up fire, anyway. That...I mean fuck, yinz can't even get close to it."
Rena
"Whenever you wanna stop agin' tell me. I'll move heaven and hell to keep you tickin'." Rena says, uncharacteristically seriously, "You can learn to get over that if you join my club, but it ain't- We wanna think about it before it happens. I ain't gonna be lamenting immortality and rendin' garments or nothin' but it's a different world."
Calamity
"I don't..." They shove their hand in the pocket of their pjs, their lighter clinking as they open and close it. "I dunno 'f I wanna live forever. Hell, I mean I dunno 'f either of us thought we were gonna live to right now, you know?" Their laugh is a little hollow. "'S pretty okay that we are, though. Just gonna be weird 'f we're still both around..." they gesture vaguely toward the future, and pull their zippo out of their pocket with their other hand, along with a package of cigarettes. They pluck one out for themself, and hold the pack out to Rena - an unconscious gesture, really, but a recognizable one from Before.
Rena
Rena looks sadly at the cigarettes, trying to pretend that the sad is that she can't smoke and not that Calamity doesn't want to live forever with her. "Nah, I'm good. Tryin' to stay pretty clean 'a everything right now." She pulls out a 6 month sobriety chip and dances it along her fingers. "Imagine if I can get to a year a' this."
Calamity
"Oh fuck yeah!" Calamity speaks around the cigarette in their mouth, grinning, before lighting up. "Good for you, I bet you can make it to a year. I know how hard that shit is but you're like. The strongest person I fucking know, you know? You have a plan to celebrate, when you make it there? Or hell, did you celebrate six months even? 'Cause you should."
Rena
"Course I'm the strongest person you know. If you knew stronger, I'd have to fight them to the death." She grins toothily. "Nah, I only celebrated by gettin' clapped at in a meetin'. Didn't think a' celebrating." She puts her head back and lets out a breath, watching it float into the air, "you wanna do somethin' then? Do a big party to make up for that birthday you worried the shit outta me?" She says, skirting possibly too close to discussing that time rat monsters kidnapped them.
Calamity
"I do not wanna have a big party, too many people's the opposite of a good time..." Calamity wrinkles their nose in distaste. "But...I dunno. I'd totally do something with you, 'f you wanted. Go...I dunno, how do fuckin' normal-ass folks celebrate shit like this?" They're smiling now as they exhale smoke toward the ceiling, and scooch a little closer to the space heater.
Rena
"Go drinkin' or go out and do somethin'." Rena thinks for a second. "You wanna watch some Giallo Horror? Haven't watched Suspiria in forever. And they made a remake, too," she rambles, radiating an intense nerd energy.
Calamity
"You wanna...celebrate bein' sober by watching horror movies?" The firebug's grin widens and they nudge her shoulder. "You got a place that's got a TV and I'm totally down - though I mean I guess we could prob'ly ask Fin if zhe's good with us crashing zher place too. But yeah, sure. Nerd."
Rena
"This is no normal horror, Big Bug," she scoffs, "This is crazy arthouse horror. Beautiful colors. Fuck, I'll have to get the Blu-Ray to get the best film transfer quality. And how dare you call me a nerd. Do I need to arm wrestle you into the ground again?"
Calamity
"Nerd!" They repeat with a laugh. "You're a fuckin nerd, Rena, even 'f you can beat up literally everyone I know. I'll keep your secret, though." They stick out their tongue. "You got a place I'm allowed to go to or are you still living on the super secret vampire boat?"
Rena
"You're a nerd!" Rena says, taking off her beanie, balling it up and hucking it fast as she can at them. "I'm sorta responsible the boat. Like, I need to be there in case the spirit starts causin' shit. We'll have to either go to Fin's or I'll have to smuggle you in in a backpack."
Calamity
They don't quite manage to avoid the beanie, and they throw it right back at her with a laugh. "Well let's figure it out with Fin, then, I don't wanna deal with fuckin'...sprits? That's like...so far away from anything I know anything about, but it sounds obnoxious as fuck. B'sides the fact that I don't really wanna get smuggled into anyplace, an' I know there's a fuckton of ways that yinz all know how t'disappear me 'f we get caught." Their voice is light, and they stick their tongue out at her.
Rena
"Spirits ain't that bad. The boat's is pretty chill as long as we keep it happy. Sides, they're fuckin' everywhere in the ghost layer. I told you I can see 'em now, right?" Rena puts the Beanie back on her head to cover her roots. "I mean, I'd be the one who'd have to do it, so you'd be safe. I mean, I don't think Boss'd have a problem neither and he's the other guy." She pauses, "Oh there's this new weirdo in town, but I didn't ask what kind a' Knight she was. Regardless, I could take her."
Calamity
"You don't gotta fight for me," Calamity mutters, "the point's to have a good time anyway." As much as Calamity's whole deal is breaking and entering, something's got them a little spooked by the vampire ghost ship. Probably the knowledge that every single entity on it can and would kill them if they wanted to. "So you're not the most weirdo in town anymore?" they say to change the subject, and stick their tongue out at her.
Rena
"Oh, ha ha." She goes to slug them lightly. It's harder than it ought to be. "You joke, but she was creepy as fuck. She liked to hang around looking like the goddamn alien from alien. She had two voices. Apparently, some a' us can just do that." She groans, flopping down to sit on the ground. "Also Guy can turn into a talkin' cat now. Gangrel are fuckin' weird."
Calamity
"Ow -" they complain more for the sake of complaining than because it actually hurt. Mostly.
"He can turn into a cat? Fuckin weird - like...like a leopard or a tiger or something or just a really fuckn' scary house cat?:
Rena
"Just a house cat!" She says, throwing her hands up, "it's crazy. All my friends have cooler superpowers than me."
Calamity
"Oh my god -" their eyes light up in glee. "He - so small - so terrifying - but you can punch harder'n anyone I know, that's pretty fuckin cool..."
Rena
"Guy is crazy strong. He doesn't punch like me, but he could beat me in a handshake off." She pauses for a second, a thought crossing her mind. "Do you think Guy has super strength as a cat? "
Calamity
"Oh man..." Calamity huffs with amusement at the thought, and takes another lazy drag of their cigarette. "i'd wanna see that. Just fuckin'...a cat lifting a car, or...can he lift cars? Seems like something he could do but I dunno 'f I've ever actually see him do it. But...fuck, you gotta ask him."
Rena
"He probably can. He and I can do a trick where we get really strong for a bit. An' he's stronger than me naturally so..." Rena shows her scrawny arms as example. "I'll ask him. But I dunno if he's ever tried. Sounds like the kinda thing where he'll tell a story about how he was around before cars were a thing."
Calamity
Calamity snorts. "I mean he's got some cool stories, but 'f he does that it'll just sound like an excuse..." they huff again. "Plus, there was shit heavier'n cars before there was cars, anyway. But - you know I think I can do a thing where I get stronger, but it means I can't...do other stuff as well. Like I gotta give up some of my flexibility and shit."
Rena
"Yeah, in our case it's more like a burst of strength. It takes magic blood power to do, so I don't do it much, but if you catch me on a good day, I could show you all the shit I can do now." She thinks for a second and then grins toothily. "Y'ever seen how fast I can run nowadays? Olympics wouldn't have shit on me now."
Calamity
"Oh yeah mine lasts for like...an hour? An' I don't think I've seen you have'ta run away from shit, we haven't been gettin' in enough trouble." They stick their tongue out at her. "We could go to one of the parks sometime for you to show me, except 's fucking cold at night now..." They grimace and pull their ratty blanket a little more closely around their shoulders.
Rena
"Boss and I have a spot in the woods where we can show off no prob. But yeah for you," she switches to an over the top bad British accent, "pathetic beasts of flesh and blood," she switches back, "we'd wanna wait till it isn't tit freezing cold."
Calamity
"Fuck you," Calamity says affably. "If I...I dunno, find those hand-warmer things and just, wrap my body in 'em I might be okay. I wanna see what yinz can do."
Rena
"We know anyone with a car? Because we could like... drive down south and find some place in the boonies. Might be tricky with the sun and all, but it might be nice."
Calamity
"Uh...." Calamity pauses, wrinkling their nose slightly as they think. A few moments of muttering under their breath, and they shake their head. "No one I'd wanna ask," they say, "'les Guy wants t'like...let us ride with him..."
Rena
"I ain't spending a day touching Guy on a motorcycle." Rena shrugs. "An' I don't feel right asking him to rent a car. And we'd probably need to get a hotel too. It'd be a whole thing. Probably ain't worth it."
Calamity
"Mmmph." Calamity wrinkles their nose in distaste, this time. "Maybe we can just wait 'til it's not as fuckin' cold. But I do wanna see what you can do, you keep talking yourself up but not showing me, starting to think you're a liar." They're teasing, they even grin at her about it, and scoot closer to nudge her shoulder.
Rena
"Oh, I see how it is!" Rena says, mockingly offended, "You don't trust your dear sweet sister. I'm going to have to give you a super strength noogie or somethin'."
Calamity
"Don't you dare -" They scramble away, just as mock-offended, but they only can stay away for a few moments before the warmth of the space heater is too alluring for them to ignore, and they return, leaning theatrically away from their sister.
"Hey maybe 'f...I..." they pause, and eye her for a second, like they're not sure they actually want to keep talking. "Been thinking about...getting my own place. I got some money saved up, 'f you helped me move you 'n Guy could just lift stuff for me." They grin at the thought.
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