2023.03.15 Lunch and Lost Dreams

2023.03.15 Lunch and Lost Dreams
JJ‘s promised lunch with Damon goes pear-shaped thanks to the Dreaming. Dasia shows up to help!
IC Date	03.15.23
Players	Dasia, Damon Carillo, Janneke
Location	Smoke and Barley
Spheres	Changeling

Smoke and Barley - Main Room

The smell of spices, fire and broiling meat assails one's nose upon entering into the bar and grill. The soft murmurs of patrons seem a non-ending drone as the door shuts, blocking off the sounds of the city. Wood paneled walls are adorned with hanging plants and pictures of forests, bringing the feel of wild places indoors. Full spectrum lighting keeps the outdoor daylight feel of the restaurant by shining on the plants and pictures.

In the center of the room is a large curved grill, a specialty built item that allows guests to watch their meats cooking and the chef at work. Thick oaken tables are laid around the grill for those that would enjoy the dance of the flames as it sears the meat. The tables have large leather seats and are set for the barbecue feast to come, with a bucket that holds bottles of spicy sauces and piles of napkins.

To the right of the front door, taking up half the room, is the bar. The bar is a deep mahogany, a gorgeous piece with slightly dulled brass poles running along to provide foot rests, and an armrest, with comfortable stools lining it to allow others to sit. A mirrored shelf rests behind the bar, with light shining up through the drinks to allow them to be seen clearly. A chalkboard on a wall lists out the micro brews of the month. Beyond the bar a section is marked off and three cork dartboards hang on the wall.

A small hallway leads the way to a set of stairs, a private area, bathrooms and kitchen. The door to the private room is marked "Members Only" and locked.

There are waiters and waitress roaming around constantly with meat on large skewers to be given out to those who want them. http://www.cityofhopemush.net/index.php/Smoke_and_Barley

Janneke is weirdly nervous. You would think a woman her age would be over the fluttery stomach thing, but no. She reminds herself that she has a paramour, thank you very much, and enters the restaurant, smelling BBQ and making a happy noise. Good choice for lunch. Good choice for a time when she doesn't mind getting covered in BBQ sauce, too, though.... damn. Should have worn all black. Oh well, keep the manners in the forefront, JJ.

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Like a god damn force of nature, Damon arrives, his natural HAWTNESS seems to be twice as nice when he isn't covered in grease and grime. HOWEVER! There is something otherworldly about him, like a slipping seeming, his feature much more gaunt and elvish in nature as he approaches Janneke, "Hey there, ready to pay me back?" He smiles gently at her, Are those ears pointed. He slip into the place beside her, a warmth to him, inviting, kind and sweet, his natural charisma is overpowering and just generally breathtaking.

Damon's beauty borders on otherworldly, striking slightly gaunt features set into a long face, causing his attractive aspects to come across as sickly in certain lights. Hair as black as coal is a dark compliment to deep steel blue colored eyes framed by full lashes. Such a strange hue, his eyes are limitless pools of swirling blue encapsulated with secrets of a universe hidden deep in the shades of abyssal swirls.

His clothing consists of a distinctive lightweight silk blend which catches the most subtle of breezes and ripples over his body like liquid glass with every movement. Midnight black in color, the eerie silken suit looks perfectly tailored for its wearer's narrow physique. Black boots polished to a mirror finish complete his attire with a respectable punctuation.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Damon rolls Appearance + Seduction + 2 vs 3 for 9 successes.
1 +3 +3 +3 +3 +5 +6 +6 +7 +7 8
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Janneke looks up and *blinks* slowly, realizing that either the light in Erin's shop is horrible (it isn't), or something very weird is going on. VERY. FUCKING. WEIRD. Oh dear. He left with Dasia, did something happen there? Is it possible that the gorgeous fashionista banged the ungodly-handsome mechanic into having a faeself? Does that even happen? Cripes, JJ, *answer* the man. "Absolutely," she says with a broad smile, but she also looks a little worried, and that seems to cut into the lust a bit. Leave it to her to be more worried about his well-being than admiring. "I haven't been here before but everyone I talked to said the BBQ is to die for!" She slips a hand into the crook of his arm and stands a little taller, because I mean, what girl wouldn't be proud to be escorting *this* gorgeous hunk of gorgeousness?

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Janneke rolls Intelligence(4) + Gremayre(3) (7 dice) vs 6 for 4 successes.
1 4 +6 +6 +7 +8 10
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Damon tenses up at her touch, It is clear the man isn't used to alot of physical contact with .... well anyone. "Ya, I have been here a few times. I tell you what, the last few days have been a very wierd set of days... I think someone slipped LSD into the coffee at the shop, I have been seeing things, feeling wierd.... and I could have sworn I had some wierd conversation with Dasia and Clementine last night. It was odd." As she touches him, it is intoxicating pleasent to be this close to him. He grabs them a booth and takes a seat, "So... They have amazing ribs here and I am so... so hungry and... " he shakes his head a bit as if his head was in pain, his eyes shift to a beautiful Violet shine as he looks to her. yet another trait to entice.
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Janneke inhales and offers a smile, this one of the comforting variety. As they move to the booth, she listens, and hrms thoughtfully, watching him, seeing the need in that face, and it calls to more than one part of her. Such a lovely shade of violet. She shakes away that and focuses on the immediate need, the question and the fear in his voice beneath it all. "You didn't imagine it," she says softly, "But the memory may not cement itself properly for a little bit, until.... the hard part has passed." She presses a finger to her lips and waits for the server to come and accepts a menu. "Let's figure out food first, and then we can talk about the weirdness.... but be careful what and how you speak, because.... you are verging on secrets that aren't well-known, and for good reason." She gently pats his hand, and it feels, strangely, less like lust than genuine concern is what motivates her.
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Damon blushes hard when her finger touches his lips, no one does that to him, his breath shutter as he has contact with her, instead of just letting her hand rest on his, his fingers lace with her and rest between them, he gives it a good squeeze, "I... hmmm... I..." he find himself in new territory much quicker than expected. "Janneke, I don't know what you are talking about... " he takes his hand and turns his gaze to her, looking deep in her eyes, "Maybe we should get food to go... I feel a little weird.. and lately when weird stuff happens... I feel weird right before it... Dasia... she froze... " he then leans in tight against her, "I.... don't think I am ok... I think... I did some weird things the other day and I get so tired..."
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Janneke hrms thoughtfully. "If you're unsure, then to-go might be the option. If you want to speak privately, we could take food back to my place." A pause. "And I mean as a visit, to eat. Nothing else. You're perfectly safe with me, I promise you that." And yes, she clearly believes that men can feel unsafe and afraid, and isn't judging, either. "I think.... whatever else may be floating around here, I need to focus on helping you through this. Because if I'm right, it's just going to get a little harder, and work may be impossible for a little bit for you. And I think you're gonna need someone to be a rock for you. And I'm no rock, but I can do the right thing when the need is there."
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Damon nods to her, glamour almost radiants off his body as he looks to her, "Ya... I don't have anyone in my life that is a rock... I am a bit of a drifter... No family, Erin and crew is about as close as they come to family. I ..." He wince in a touch of pain, The food arrives just in the nick of time, assuming they found time to order it. "Maybe... maybe I should go. I don't know if you would be safe around me." He is worried, scared, so many changes, so little time. "If I am alone, no one but me will get hurt if something go wrong." Clearly the man is gearing up mystical for the change, but in his mind, he thinks he is having a mental breakdown. The crackling of a sizzling steak on a platter draws attention to the large grill in the center of the room.
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Janneke shhhhs. "Just stay, and don't worry. I'm pretty hard to offend or upset. You won't do that. You're fine, Damon." Just then, her hair shifts, and the point of one ear peeks out, and he's sure he's never noticed that before. Her cheeks seem a little more rosy, rounder and cuter. "We won't get hurt, Damon. I already know what's happening. It's something to be explained in a quieter spot, but I'm going to call Erin and tell her, too, as soon as I've explained as much to you as I can right now. I promise you, on the word of my name, that I will do what I can to help you come through this with everything intact. Okay?" That promise -- it had *weight* to it, with a weird flourish of color and light attached to it. Oaths to the Dreaming do, after all. She picks up her fork, and smiles. "But you'll need sustenance, and all the boring normal life things, too, to help you stay grounded. So enjoy.... and know that you're not alone."
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Damon looks to her, his full seeming in view now, the Autumn sidhe is beyond beautiful, beyond basic understanding, there is a nobility to him, he takes her hand and places a gentle kiss on it, then whispers, "Thank you, I feel like... I am of two minds right now, like something is just under the surface, I can feel it scratching the edge of my mind, trying to break throught, but I keep fighting it, holding it back.." He attempt to eat a little, barely touching the food.
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Janneke draws in a shaky breath, but smiles, too. He has no idea what he looks like right now, and he's acting.... like the part of him that's struggling to the surface. "Okay, a quick question. Does this feel like.... a you that you don't know yet, like.... familiar, but you don't know it yet? or something unfamiliar? Does it feel natural. somehow? It should." She keeps her tone calm, soothing.... her voice has more power than her looks, and she's clearly all in on making sure he's okay. "You'll need your strength. Try and just focus on the food and how it tastes, that will help a little." She smiles knowingly, and picks up her own knife and fork as a good example.
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Damon nods a few times in agreement, "This... other me, he is so powerful... so strong, he is a force of nature, there is a presence of strength and power to him, a command of dominance to him, He is... a.... King." he whispers as if it scary him, "I am afraid if I let him out, even for a moment... that I will never be me again... like this part of me... will be gone forever." He pleads with her, He pick up a fry and softly follow her orders, eating it, but not drawing pleasure of it.
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JJ draws in a long breath, and lets it out, her ease settling back around her. "Well. What if I told you that.... he is you, you are him, and somehow, you will find the place to be both, and live as both? It's not easy at first. You kind of have to mentally sidestep a lot of the contradictions and accept.... both of you into the same space." She pauses, making a point to eat as she thinks. She'll need her energy, too, because she's not about to leave things half-done here.

"Can you tell me what you're experiencing in detail? What you remember, that is, don't worry about getting it in order, just give me the impressions you have, what you've seen and heard. If anything *here* feels or looks weird to you. Don't worry about making sense. Just get it all out. I promise you, no judgment, and nothing you say is going to scare me. I've seen.... well, lots of things in my time."
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Damon looks to her with those violet eyes, those beautiful violet eyes, "It was old london... This... Me, he was a ruler, a knight and a just king... But He was alone and without a Queen. He hated his existence, it cause him no small amount of grief for his beauty was his curse, it kept everyone at a arms length, fearful of rejection. He develop a anger, a rage that ended his rule... with exile... " His story is clearly a dream, He looks to her, "I am nuts aren't ?" The crackling of a sizzling steak on a platter draws attention to the large grill in the center of the room.
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Janneke ohs and there's sorrow in her own stormy eyes, their gaze taking on more of the muddle of blue and gray to his new Sight. "It sounds like a very sad story, and one that feels very real. Just remember.... just because it isn't happening right now, right here, doesn't make it less real. History is real. Memory is real."

She draw in a long breath and is working on pure, thin fumes of willpower to keep from losing herself in those ungodly-beautiful eyes. "The loneliness both of you feel is real. But it isn't *destiny*," she says, firmly. "It's not the end of the story. This is the good news: This, here, right now, with all the madness you feel.... this is the *beginning* of this chapter of your tale, you and him both, together. It.... isn't going to make sense, yet. But soon.... soon you both will feel the power of your own Myth come to life. It's there, right now, but it's not quite.... fully in place. Keep Damon strong, remember what Damon loves and needs as well, and you won't have to fight one another. Food helps, so does doing things you love. Working on cars, maybe. For me, it's music. Music always puts me back in harmony."
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Damon looks to her, "You know I wandered for years before coming here... I worked on cars to pass the time, just to keep my mind business, If I stay in one place to long, people would come to me, expecting me to make their choices for them. I am no leader." He whispers to her, his arm now around her shoulder as they talk privately between the two. "Lonely is what I know... until Angie, Well she didn't have time for me. she work so much, so again, I was left with my thoughts and figured it maybe time to move on again.... " He frown a bit, "I disagree, I am destiny to be alone, both this me and the other me... we both agree on that." He recite something, "One to walk, one to dream, both to die alone in a stream." He mutters it as if it was a limerick about himself.

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Dasia enters! The attention gets doesn't come from some supernatural faerie attraction or triggering anyone's lizard brain into noticing her.... it comes from the fact that Louis Vuitton is not a common sight in these here parts. She stops a few steps inside the door, those giant karen sunglasses that seem like they were designed to conceal black eyes on for half a second before she pulls them off to fold up and slide into her equally designer and fancy handbag (though the mists around the handbag part a little, and Damon can see that it is actually more a handbasket). Her eyes scan until they land on JJ and Damon, at which point she raises an arm to give them a wave and begin to scurry in their direction.

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A long breath is drawn in, then released -- the sorrow of those words, the story within them, and she looks at him, opening something within her to try and give some balm to this wounded soul. "That was a truth," she says quietly. "I am a Seer, someone who can read the threads of fate. If you wish, I will look at yours, later and away from public. But I can tell you that they will be muddled for a while until you both settle into one another. But you are never alone, you will never be alone, so long as you are fae. There are *two* of you as one. And more.... you have those around you who will stand with you, support you. I cannot promise you will find a Trueheart, but I can promise you will have the strong hearts of friends and boon companions, and lovers in their own time as well."

JJ looks away to gather words, and then she notes Dasia, and waves her over. Maybe the other woman will be able to give her some answers, too?
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Damon looks to Dasia as she arrives, Damon barely looks like Damon, the Fae seeming almost on full display, he almost looks like a cosplay for a elf, his cheek gaunt and slender as his feature more pointed, the inhuman nature of the man just draws the eyes in like a moth to flame, "Please join us, Dasia." His voice was so welcoming, awe inspiring that it almost felt like a command instead of a request, His violet eyes turns back to Janneke, "I don't even know what that is... You girls.." He starts to rub his own temples as he looks to Dasia, Pain is what is being served today to Damon.
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Dasia's grey eyes are overlain with faerie silver, and the peroxide blonde has streaks of starlight-blue. The metalic bronze of her fae skin coming across more like toner or blush, atop totally normal skin. All of it fading in and out as the mists roil around her and the Glamour and Banality fight within Damon. She glances between the two where they sit. Arches a thin, microbladed brow. "Damon," she greets. "You look exhausted, have you been getting enough sleep?" She moves to sit next to JJ, giving one of Damon's hands a quick pat of encouragement.
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Janneke smiles at Dasia, perhaps grateful for the help. She says, "He's exhausted," she agrees, "But I don't think sleep is helping right now." She's keeping her tone relatively quiet, and trying to keep the words neutral as best she can. Sorta. "I think we ought to do something, but I'm not sure what. I can try looking into the threads of fate," she offers softly, "I am not sure whether it will help, but it's a matter of trying to help get.... both sides to work."
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Damon nods to Dasia, "I feel like I am still asleep while I am wake.." He sigh, "I am sleeping 12 to 15 hours a day right now, I feel sick most of the time, in pain most of the time, eating is a touch challenging." He is clearly fighting the process within him, all sign would point to this, it isn't a acceptence it is a outright fear of what is happening to him. He closes his eyes and lay back against the booth and his feature shift to the Damon of before.
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"Have you, perhaps, taken some time to touch grass?" Oh Dasia. Now is not the time to mean girl. "Drink plenty of fluids, maybe eat a little here and there. Don't force anything, but starving yourself for any reason other than to squeeze into a dress is insanity." Dasia.... Dasia no, stahp. After a pause and a deadpan look that indicates she is clearly being serious, she elaborates. "The body knows what it needs to feel healthy," she says. "Fighting agaisnt what it tells you it needs..." She shakes her head, and doesn't try to finish the thought. Instead, she turns the wheel hard to the left. "What do you like to do for fun? Maybe we can pull you up out of this slump by turning it into a ball pit or something."

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Janneke offers him a glass of water to sip, to help with the sick feeling. Terror is a perfectly normal and rational response to a feeling like what's going on with Damon. However, this situation is neither normal nor rational -- he's caught in a dream, a nightmare, and everything in his Self is fighting it.

JJ feels empathy for both of him, the lonely mortal and the lonely noble both. She looks to Dasia and says, "I know what's happening, without a doubt, but.... I don't know if he can accept," she whispers, offering her comforting gaze to the young man. "I don't want to push too hard, or too far, I'm afraid of making things worse. I'm trying to help, but..." She hrms. "Do you know an oneiromancer around here?"

A pause. "A ball pit?" She hrms. "You may be onto something."
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Damon looks to him, "I just need to sleep some more... " He shakes his head, the thought of fun isn't a good idea to him, He need control, at least that is what he thinks he needs, "I am not a good person when I am having fun... losing control me... drinking and being wild... " he shakes his head, "Last time I drank I ended up sleeping with Angie for the first time and only time... So ya... I don't plan on doing that again, anytime soon." A mug of beer, freshly poured, slides down the bar, leaving a trail of foam behind.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Dasia rolls Willpower vs 6 for -1 successes.
-1 -1 -1 5
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Dasia makes a little theatrical bow at the compliment paid by JJ, but the smallish smirk on her face is only there for so long. Because Mopey Damon is still around. "Sleep is good, but you still need to eat food, even if it's just a little, and drink plenty of water," she says. "Trust me, I'm from the fucking desert. Water does a body good." She almost looks offended when he mentions drinking and being wild as a bad thing. "Honestly, I kind of want to see drunk and wild you, since you were pretty sober when you ended up naked in my lap," she says. Incredibly casually. "In fact, maybe it's not a ball pit you need to cheer yourself up at all. Maybe you just need some shots and a good lay to hep you get over this Angie lady, who sounds like a bit of a bitch, making you sleep in your truck and everything." A pause. "And believe me, I know a thing or two about being a bitch. But at least *I* would only make you sleep on the couch if I was pissed off at you over something."

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Janneke 's eyes go wide with that. She stifles the mental image and exhales. JJ does that a lot. Air is good. She says, "Water is good, food is good," she agrees with Dasia. "You're.... struggling right now, and if it's any consolation, we both know this from experience." She blinks again and says, "She *made you sleep in the truck*? Jeez, what a frothing bitch. I wouldn't do more than the couch, and I have a really comfy couch." There is a tinkling of voices as a small group comes in.
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Damon looks to her, "That happened?!?!" he questions it, "Teleport thing happened? I.... what the fuck?!?" He remembers that moment, one moment he was dressed the next moment nude as a newborn. "I... live in my truck, I... As for getting laid, it was the first and only time I have ever had sex ok... I guess I want to have my next time something I can remember a touch better." He is beat red as he looks at Dasia, clearly now embarrassed by the moment. "I... I.... god damn... fucking hell.." He messes up his hair in frustration.
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"Maybe not even the couch," Dasia thinks out loud. "Maybe still in the bed, but handcuffed so you're stuck on the one side, always just out of reach." She sighs, distracted by the thought of VERY PRETTY HANDCUFFED MAN, before she shakes the thought away. For now. Later, girl. "She could stand some pranks on her, as revenge," she adds, giving JJ a glance with a very Unseelie twinkle in her eye. Damon freaking out, though, has her giving his hand another reassuring pat. "A lot of things happen that people choose to forget," she says. "Whether they want to choose to, or are forced to choose. Don't think about it too much, there will be time for the mists to part and for you to remember it all, but not for some time yet." A pause. "Or the mists will close back in and you will remember this as little more than a fever dream." She arches one of those microbladed brows again. "Planning on there being a next time? I'm sure we can figure out a way to make it memorable, despite all..." she gestures at the Sidhe soul peeking it's way through. "All of that."
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Janneke is not going to touch the 'first time having sex' thing, she's honestly just.... not going there. Not right now. The last thing this situation needs is *more* discomfort. She listens to Dasia, and mms softly at the assessment of what happens. "I think," she says, quietly, "That this may be a little too much all at once. But..." She looks at Damon and winces. "We can't slow it down, we can't stop it. It's just.... you, part of you, finally coming out to the fore. Nobody really knows what causes it to happen when it does. Sometimes there's a catalyst, sometimes not..." She stops, thinks, and then says, "Maybe the breakup is what brought it to the fore." There is a tinkling of voices as a small group comes in.
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Damon looks to Janneke and sighs, "Can we go somewhere else, a place that is with less... people?" He looks to her with those soulful eyes almost begging for a quiet moment, He waves off Dasia and shakes his head, "This isn't going to stop is it?" He ask the question more for himself then anything else. "I think... I know what happened... what cause... this to happen.... all of it came down to one simple choice.." he frowns, "That I am not going to share here."
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<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Dasia rolls Lustful vs 6 for 2 successes.
+9 +10
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JJ doesn't need to listen to any of this firs time talk, but Dasia could stand to talk and critique and give helpful hints all night. It's plastered all over her face. Somewhere. The resting bitch face is a tricky read. "Where would you be comfortable talking about it?" she asks. "We've both got apartments, but if you want peaceful scenery, there's also the Gardens at Scheherezade's, or maybe one of the beaches?" she suggests.
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Damon shakes his head, "Either of your apartment are fine, it make no differences to me, if either of you have a shower I could use that would be amazing... I use the community shower at the shop alot. but overall. I could use a hot shower and a quiet talk."
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Janneke ohs. "Well, I don't mind letting you use the shower at my place. I have a washer and dryer too if you need things cleaned." She'd forgotten that whole 'living in his truck' thing. "And it's a pretty quiet place, overall. Comfy. So.... yeah, let's do this. You need a lift, Dasia, or did you drive?" There is a tinkling of voices as a small group comes in.
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"I drive, but if you have space, I'll ride with. I can always swing back by on my way home," Dasia replies, standing up and putting the handles of the designer bad/wicker handbasket over her forearm, to settle in the crook of her elbow.
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