Sugar and Spite

Ban the User Above You

Banned for feeling like a `big man`.

Ban the User Above You

Banned for bringing this shit back.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I have a thing for @HaleyTheRandom's avatar. Long as she doesn't change it now, because that would make things weirder than they need to be.

@Erroneous G

I think I might be sticking with this one for a minute, for what it's worth. xD

Post a random fact about yourself.

Fear and Fridays by Zach Bryan is a poem that I will always stop to read or listen to.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

I'm a sucker for these types of RPs. I think it's too many years of watching everything on the CW when I was younger. Anyway, I'll throw this CS up for consideration. I will admit, I wanted to try something a little different with this character. I totally understand if it doesn't fit the vibe of the RP. I'm fine with changing whatever needs to be changed, or packing away the idea, entirely. I was trying to think of something different that still stayed with the main setup and themes of the game. I also left some things intentionally vague to be filled out by the GMs and the other players. Cohesiveness ftw.

Pallas Xenakis

_______________________________________________ "Stories of my death have not been exaggerated at all." N A M E ⋮ Pallas Xenakis A G E ⋮ Appears to be in this Mid-Twenties G E N D E R ⋮ NB (AMAB) // Him/They S E X U A L I T Y ⋮ Pansexual E T H N I C I T Y ⋮ Greek H E I G H T ⋮ 6'3" W I T C H // W A R L O C K ⋮ Witch S C H O O L S OF M A G I C ⋮ DIVINATION ▮▮▮▮▮ ⋮ ▮▯▯▯▯ Portent ⋮ Pallas is able to see fifteen seconds into the future. It's not a lot, but it's enough to avoid a quick death for both him and his friends. He can only use it three times a day. Mantis (Diviniation) ⋮ This is more proper divination for his family. In this method, he has to imbibe wine mixed with someone's blood to conjure the spirits of his family. From there, they speak through him as to the future which awaits someone. The trick is, he doesn't remember what he says. He's even tried recording it, and the video goes to static. And he cannot divine on himself, as he doesn't bleed. What he says can reflect what will happen in the near future or a hundred years from now. There's no set timeline. He also speaks in rhyme and metaphors. ABJURATION ▮▮▮▯▯ ⋮ ▯▯▯▯▯ Nondetection ⋮ He can block someone from being able to find him using any form of location spell. This doesn't stop them from being able to open Twitter, but fortunately, he doesn't have much of an internet presence. NECROMANCY ▮▮▮▮▮ ⋮ ▮▮▯▯▯ Inflict Wounds ⋮ First and foremost, this is not how the Xenakis family operates. This is magic that he gleaned after his soul was placed into a soul jar. The person that he is affecting has to look him in the eyes and hear the words he saying, but after that, he is able to use this power to tether their bodies and inflict wounds. Whatever he does to himself will be duplicated onto them. The spell is broken if he is overcome with pain, after ten minutes, or if it is counterspelled. He can't make the wounds fatal, for if he dies the spell is broken before it reaches who it is supposed to influence, but he can make it hurt. Vicissitude ⋮ This spell can only be used upon the dead, but technically Pallas is dead. He can change the shape of his body by crafting his flesh and bone into different forms. This can range from hiding injuries that he has sustained that haven't killed him but would be worrying for anyone to see, to elongating his finger bones into sharpened claws, to giving himself sharpened teeth, to causing his ulna bone to leave his body and extend into a scythe-like blade. It's akin to turning one's body into a literal weapon. He mostly just uses it to reform himself, but it does mean he's never weaponless. It does ask if you want to hear him grunt in pain while he turns his thumb into a knife. It's immensely painful, and the limitations are within the realm of what a body can do. SOUL JAR Pallas has put his soul into a magical jar, allowing his body to become undead and basically unkillable. He can survive without air, food, or water. He's also immune to poison and sleeping potions, but not to the magic that induces this. He's also strong against the cold and ice magic, but in return is very vulnerable against fire, magic or not. This power comes with a lot of caveats, though. First, if the jar is destroyed, his soul will return to him rapidly aging him to his actual age (which will mean death). Second, if the jar falls into hands that are not his own, that person has power over him. Third, while he is unkillable he has to have time, and all his parts, to mend his dead body to "come back to life." If he's incinerated, it may take hundreds of years for him to come back together without assistance. If he's decapitated, again, and someone makes off with his head--he won't come back to life until it's met back with the rest of his body. There are reasons that there are large gaps between his appearances in Tanner, and some of them have to do with dealing with an undead body.

___________________________________________________________________________________ P E R S O N A L I T Y P E R S O N A L I T Y Pallas is the sort that brings cocaine to a book club meeting, wine to an intervention, and weed to a hospital. He truly doesn't understand social norms in this regard. He'd rather be halfway to the moon dragging someone with him than actually be a responsible adult. It's hard to take things seriously when you've seen so much and been through even more. Like your bachelor uncle, he has stories about all of his travels and adventures. He always brings gifts. And will take you out to ice cream despite your parents' objection. He's also not judgemental and a shoulder to lean on when you're feeling bad. Because whatever you think you've done that you can't come back from, he's probably done worse. Pallas is aware of his shortcomings, and he's more than happy to joke about them in a straightforward manner. No one is going to get under his skin by seeing all the chinks in his armor. He's prone to laughing about it, self-deprecating even harder. Pallas is what rock bottom looks like in a suit and a tie. He also has a tendency to use out-of-date terms for things the he doesn't know the modern equivalent of. H I S T O R I C A L I N A C C U R A C I E S H I S T O R I C A L I N A C C U R A C I E S The Xenakis family came from Greece in the late-1800s to early-1900s. They settled in Tanner, Washington after hearing that it was a safe haven for witches and warlocks alike. To ask why the Xankis family left Greece, they'd just laugh and say that had a "disagreement" with the Ottoman Empire. Though the Balkan War was on the horizon, bloodshed and death were on the horizon. The Xenakis were old-school fortune tellers. They had sat at the side of sultans, politicians, and even prominent criminal organizations. Ionas and Polina Xenakis were the heads of the family and had three children: Dimitrios, Micial, and Nicolaos. Other members of the Xenakis family came with them, including Ionas's brother, wife, and children. Though, they were half-blooded. Though the Xenakis were not the sort to treat them as secondary citizens, they were not allowed to be the head of the family. A few years after arriving, Ionas and Polina had their fourth and last child--Pallas. And then shortly after that, their house caught aflame while the three elder children were visiting their uncle. Ionas, Polina, and Pallas all lost their lives, or at least that is the story. Twenty years later, Pallas returned to Tanner and to the few remaining members of his family. They were more than ecstatic to have the prodigal son back, but they were less happy to have the sentient piece of hedonistic trash that he'd become. He promised to change his ways if they taught him the family way of divination. He'd inherited the family power of being able to glimpse into the future, but it was wildly untrained. They agreed, showing him the old arts of abjuration to hide himself and more methodic divination than his sporadic portence. What the family didn't know was that he'd made a living as a con artist, and he'd pissed off a very powerful witch of a very powerful coven in New York by stealing a valuable artifact. Surprisingly, years passed in peace. No comeuppance was delivered to him, and he assumed that he'd hidden himself perfectly from his actions. He studied hard to catch up with his cousins along with dipping his toes into some of the darker practices that they'd brought from the Ottoman Empire. Pallas even met a young girl in town that he fancied. Things were looking--up. That was until his family found him decapitated in his room one morning, the artifact having been stolen back. They buried him next to his parents and mourned his loss--again. One year later, he woke up. His family had reconnected his head before his burial, and it'd taken that long for him to "heal." Pallas was surprised about this before he panicked at the realization of how it happened. The ancient artifact that he'd stolen from the family was a soul jar, and he'd successfully put his soul into it. It was what he'd been researching in the older tomes. He'd thought it would be a way to protect himself if the coven came for him. It'd worked, but now he didn't have his soul jar. So, Pallas left the quaint town of Tanner once again. This time he'd be gone for thirty years, showing back up again having gotten a good lead on his soul jar. He showed up one morning, drinking their tea, eating their biscuits, and promptly scaring the shit out of them. He hadn't seemed to have aged a day. He wasn't back to catch up, though, he sought some of the old tomes he'd used before. Fifty years passed after that, and he returned having achieved his goals. He was ready to settle down. Tanner had changed, wildly, though. This would be in the late 1990s, and Pallas stuck out like a sore thumb. The remnants of the Xenakis family were in their thirties and had no intention of having any children. He pretended to be a cousin that had been born from a family that had stayed in Greece. This was the truth, but it was wildly truncated. He might have been able to keep this up except his bad luck had a tendency of following him. He was shot in the head. No one can really say why. But the rumor was that he was drunkenly belaboring a member of the town, and it had turned to fisticuffs... which had turned into Pallas having just brought insults to a gunfight. Pallas had only been buried a week, and per tradition, his gravesite was being visited by his family and a handful of the elders of the coven. So, when he dug himself out--they screamed, he screamed, and it was probably a nightmare for all involved. At that moment, he was excommunicated from the coven til there was a time that he would be needed. But they swore that he wouldn't be. Well, apparently hell froze over because he received a letter inviting him back to Tanner, Washington after his cousins stepped down from their position. E X T R A E X T R A FACECLAIM ⋮ Evans Nikopoulos HEXCODE ⋮ #ce5836 PLAYLIST ⋮ Just Some Vibes

@psych0pomp

Hello darling ~

10/10 on the sheet. I really applaud your creative effort.

While the GM team thinks that we could incorporate your character into the plot by having past interactions with NPC's, we're worried about he will interact with current PC's. If the last time your character was technically in Tanner was the 90's (if I'm reading the sheet correctly), then our characters parents would have been teens. Our RP is heavily driven by character interactions and relations, so we're just worried about your character being 'iced out'. Is their any possibility that he may have returned to Tanner a little sooner? Anytime within the last five years would work for us - just so that we can establish relationships with your character.

Also, please feel free to join our Discord, which can be found on the first post of the OOC.

Edgebaston Academy - SoL High School RP

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

Fiona had spent her summer just like she had spent every other day since she was born - making music and looking after The Twins From Hell. She had squeezed in time for parties, booze, and romance where she could, but her responsibilities took up most of her time - not that she was complaining. Fiona wouldn’t have her life any other hectic, slightly messy way.

The brunette had arrived early at Edgebaston Acdemy that morning, helping set up the booths and tents for the clubs and such. The first day of school had always been her favorite, and the thought of this being her last first day almost made her frown. Thankfully, being back in her element was enough to shake any negative feelings.

Once everything seemed set up for the day, Fiona began walking around the campus yard handing out campus maps to anyone who looked lost or simply walked by. In addition to her maps, she also had fresh breakfast sandwiches that the school cafeteria had provided for her to pass out. While said sandwiches were delicious, the young woman had also taken the liberty to stop at the store on her way and grab chips and various candies for anyone who walked her way.

She had spotted a few faces here and there. Alistair was standing by the gate, bullying newcomers until he had finally decided to walk away. Fiona would have given him a piece of her mind per usual - but it was to fucking early in the morning to deal with that dipshit. He and Daphne seemed to have grown extremely close. Watching that scene nearly made her vomit as she tore her eyes away to greet a freshman with a smile. Handing the young man a map, Fiona quickly answered any questions that he had and sent him on his way to the Cafeteria Hall. More familiar figures passed by as the morning dragged on. Fiona had given waves to those who deserved them, keeping a careful eye out for the face that she wanted to see the most.

Hearing the familiar rumble of his motorcycle, Fiona turned her head just in time to spot Eric driving in. The view made her heart skip a beat, which then caused her to furrow her brow in frustration at herself. She and Eric were just friends. What was wrong with her?

As more and more students began to arrive, Fiona continued to pass out directions and snacks to the crowds.

Edgebaston Academy - SoL High School RP

_{A collab between @Hedgehawk & @HaleyTheRandom; Featuring Alistair LeRue & Ryan Reid.}

Alistair had a rather productive morning. At least by his standards. There was nothing that boosted his ego more than putting down the confidence of others. He had also come up with some rather creative insults too. It was always nice to start the year off on a high note. Marabeth arriving however put a slight damper on his mood. It seemed that she was trying to cancel out his insults with compliments. He was going to make an insult aimed towards her, but decided against it. Marabeth wasn't exactly a threat, but he had learnt that the rest of the senior year, sometimes acted like a pack. Attack one of them and the whole herd moves against you.

Instead he focused on making his insults more vicious than her compliments. He was also doing his best to target Freshmen. They were far easier to keep compliant than older students. After a while however, Alistair was getting bored. The flow of arriving students had slowed down, and so instead he checked his phone to see if he had any messages:Nothing. It seemed Persephone was having her own plans to deal with. Alistair placed his hands on his pockets. It seemed he had time to kill. What to do? He pondered for a moment before walking back inside the iron gates and into the campus proper. He ultimately decided to go on a walk; patrol the campus. Look around and try and see if there were any good groups of people that he could barb on. His walk had taken him to the edge of Cavendish hall, more specifically to the side entrance to the multifunction hall that they were going to be using for the assembly later.

Part of the benefits of living at Edgebaston year round was being in the know. If you knew how to eavesdrop on people's conversations, you really could learn a multitude of things - and Ryan had done just that. She had heard of some of the renovations coming to the school this summer, & had even gathered some of the names of new scholarship winners. What had interested her the most, however, was the arrival assembly this evening. Ryan knew that she would have enough time to have the auditorium to herself to do what she needed, seeing as most of the equipment was set up the day before. The directing team wouldn’t be doing a sound check until closer to time - leaving her an opening to create one of her best art pieces yet.

Waking up early that morning, Ryan was sure to shove all of her supplies in her backpack and make her way to the auditorium just as the sun was rising. The stage curtain was still lowered, offering her all of the extra cover that she would ever need. Ryan knew that there were no cameras inside of the buildings on campus, but the extra coverage still eased what little bit of nerves she had. Once she had made her way inside the building, and up the stairs to the stage, Ryan began her work.

Standing back and taking it all in, she was rather pleased with the giant picture of Baphomet on the wall. On the left she had written “welcome to hell!” followed by “eat the rich today!” on the right side. Once she was happy with the finishing touches, Ryan put the spray paint back in her bag before covering her hands in rubbing alcohol and making sure that she removed all of the spray pain from her hands and arms. She changed from her sweat pants and crop top into her chosen outfit of the day before making sure everything that she needed was back in her bag before exiting the building.

Using the side exit, Ryan nearly hit a familiar blonde figure with the door on her way out.

Looking the boy up and down, she scoffed. ”Piss off, Alistair,” she greeted him warmly.

Alistair nearly jumped as the door came swinging forward. Seeing Ryan walk out made him smile slightly. It seemed he was getting lucky with the people he was meeting. The introduction was something he was used to by now, so he just let it slide. "Nice. Don't worry, I ain't going to tell that I saw you sneaking out of the assembly hall" Alistair turned his smile into a smirk. "Looking forward to the rest of the peasants coming back? I imagine that summer is a time when you make very low sales."

As Alistar spoke, Ryan repositioned her bag so that it was firmly planted on her shoulder before crossing her arms across her chest. His words had only solidified her decision in the words she had painted on the walls the moments previously.

At his mention of business, Ryan’s eyes locked on his as she pursed her lips - doing the best that she could to fight the shiver running up her spine due to recent summer memories.

”Business has been fine,” she replied simply, still putting on her tough girl facade. ”You're aren’t the only one around this town with money to spend, you know?” Taking a deep breath, she rolled her eyes. ”Do you have anything of substance to talk about, or are you just wasting my time per usual?”

It seemed as if Ryan was throwing up barriers again. All summer he had noticed that Ryan had been slightly more distant and guarded against him. With a deep sigh he leaned up against the brick wall. "Well, I need to talk about my birthday next month. We are having an official party at the country club, but that will be boring and bland. I need to know if we can do something more underground for the afterparty" Alistair arched his eyebrow, trying to suggest he was hinting at something, subtly wasn't his strong suit.

Listening to him speak, Ryans mind shifted into planning and business mode. Going over her mental inventory of hang out spots she had required around town over the last year, the dark haired girl quickly settled on two options. ”There’s the river by the railroad tracks - about a ten minute drive from the country club, and a half-mile hike - or the hike to the lake, about a mile off campus, through the woods behind Independence Hall. It depends on where you think people would actually want to go. I honestly think the one closer to campus is best. Easier for people to access and shit, ya know?”

"That checks out. We will need all the drinks and favours and the nice stuff. I am willing to pay double given the shorter notice and the fact it's my birthday. So I want it to be special." Alistair gave off a small smile, admiring Ryan's petite frame for a second. He would be lying if he wasn't always entranced to be near her. Something about her always seemed to draw him closer, even if it was going to get burnt. "It's going to be lit though. We are going to get upto so much trouble"

Ryan nodded her head, breaking eye contact as she watched Alistair look her up and down with a look she knew all too well. A look that she had seen from boys and men alike - women as well; one that screamed of hunger, thirst, and everything in between - but also a strong, deep rooted hesitation. The young woman hated how it made her skin crawl, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to use it to her advantage.

Eyebrows raising as he mentioned to pay double, her head tilted sideways ever so slightly as pondered his offer. She knew that she could help Alistair with his request on any given day - it was just a matter of did she want to help him. Then again - it wasn’t like she had much say in the matter any more, given the recent paths she had been taking in life.

”I suppose we can make that work,” Ryan responded, beginning to put her hair up into a bun as she spoke. She took just enough time tossing her hair here and there, positioning it into the right places and exposing her collarbone and neck as she did so. He was always too busy playing checkers while she was playing chess. ”’Nice’” stuff,” she questioned him, now placing her hands in the back pocket of her jeans. ”Obviously you mean expensive booze - but what else does Alistair LeRue consider ‘nice’,” she questioned him, taking extra time to make sure that his name flowed from her mouth like honey.

"Well I consider attractive girls nice… Alistair let out a small groan as he looked at her exposed neckline. " Well, I consider you the most attractive of the girls though" He knew he was about to get shot down. But he would try nevertheless. Maybe this time she would say yes and finally he would score a little win.

Swallowing the bile that quickly rose to the back of her throat, she forced a sly smile while quickly becoming interested in her converse sneakers for a moment. Looking back up at him, Ryan chuckled. ”You know,” she began, moving to close the space between them. ”You ride around on that high horse that daddy bought for you, calling the rest of us peasants, but you’re the one that seems to do the most begging.”

As Ryan closed the gap between them, His heart skipped a beat, his breath went short. She was teasing him, and he was falling right for it. "Well, I only beg for the things that I really want." He would smirk at her and lean in that ever bit closer, making the gap between them almost nonexistent. While he enjoyed his games with Daphne, Ryan was on another level. He enjoyed Daphne, he needed Ryan. "And I really want you" His voice dropped in volume, trying his best to sound seductive, but more than likely coming across as goofy.

While Alistar dared to inch closer, Ryan's smirk grew. Wrapping a finger inside of one of the belt loops on his jeans, she closed what very little distance was left between the two of them by pulling him towards her. Alistar may have been a whole foot taller than her, but with him leaning over her, she was able to whisper a few words in his ear.

”You’d just love that, wouldn’t you,” she questioned him, taking the time to make sure that each word was enunciated as her breath lingered on the side of his neck. ”Tell me Al - is that your wildest dream? Skin on skin, my body on yours, each breath becoming one?” The thought made her laugh once more as Ryan moved her hand to his chest, pushing him away from her. ”Down, boy.”

Pulling her phone from her pocket, Ryan quickly looked down at the notification before swiping it off the screen and turning her attention back to her current target.

”Message me with a list of everything you want for the party, and I’ll round it all up,” she said, her tone losing all traces of flirtation.

Alistair's heart began beating faster as he felt Ryan tug at his belt loops. As she spoke, his breath became heavy, and his hormones began to kick in. He agreed with everything she was saying. Yearning for it. It was suddenly cut short as in the flick of a switch Ryan changed her demeanour and pushed him back. Alistair coughed slightly at the back of his throat, embarrassed by what just transpired, he would try and control himself and suppress the hormones. He felt humiliated. Ryan had strung him around like a love sick puppy. But he still wanted it. "Ye… Y.. Yeah I will. I will do that. Not sure what I want yet"

Watching Alistair squirm was the most fun that Ryan had had in months. Despite that fact, she still didn’t wish to be in his presence any longer. Crossing her arms once more and raising an eyebrow in his direction, she rolled her eyes. ”You should really think about what you want before you run around propositioning people, Alistair.” Clapping her hands together in the best fake cheerful demeanor that she could muster, Ryan added ”See you on the flip side.” Turning on her heel, Ryan began to walk away from the boy.

New song reference time

"Liberal red necks get drunk on a dirt road
Attention deficit kids in their gym clothes
Paper bags drift wherever the wind blows
And mine's full of receipts -

Ooh, this town is for the record now
The intersection got a Target
And they're calling it downtown
You and all of your new perspective now
Wish I could shut it in a closet
And drag you back down
And drag you back down"

_{- New Perspective, Noah Kahan}

Post a random fact about yourself.

Noah Kahan's album Stick Season has no fucking right to have the grip on my heart that it does.

The Witches & Warlocks of Tanner 2.0

_{A collab between @SouffleGirl123 & @HaleyTheRandom
Starring: Miles Price & Lilith Montgomery}

It seemed Delaney and Miles’ D&M went longer than Miles had thought, that or the coven were weirdly adept at fighting while drunk. When he and Delaney had reentered the temporary battlefield that had become of the main hall Lucien seemed to be far gone from the scene as were the werewolves who’s carcasses didn’t decorate the floor. His dark eyes scanned the scene before him, everyone seemed to be relatively ok but he didn’t really care about anyone else. Miles’ only had 2 things on his list; find booze to numb all that stupid introspection he was once again drawn into then find Lilith. Booze first, babe second he thought to himself, making a mental note of his list before wandering to the drink table. As he came closer to the table he’d come to make out Lilith standing by it. What luck! Both the items on his agenda in one go.

Despite their dwindling numbers there was still a good amount of bottles on the table, ripe for the taking. Miles poured himself half a solo cup of rum before downing almost half of it in one go. With the liquid courage quickly coursing through his veins Miles walks the small distance to Lilith. ”Y’know, baseball bats suit you,” he slurs, giving her right shoulder a squeeze.

After her encounter with Lucien, Lilith had stood in a daze as she watched him recall his small army and disappear into the night. Eyes still glued onto the scene in the backyard through the doorway, there she stood frozen. The rush of adrenaline was dissipating, leaving her alone with the mind and body numbing effects of anxiety and alcohol.

Mind still locked in defense mode, Lilith did what Lilith did best when someone randomly touched her - she attacked.

Quickly grabbing onto the bat once more with both hands, the brunette swung and connected with her target. It only took her a few seconds to realize she had fucked up.

”Oh my gods, Miles,” she shouted in shock. ”Dude, I’m so sorry! What the fuck - you can’t just - are you okay?”

In hindsight, touching a post-battle Lilith was probably far from wise but only hindsight was 20/20 and nothing said hindsight like a baseball bat to the gut. As she made contact Miles couldn’t help but let a guttural grunt escape him as he doubled over, dropping his solo cup in the process. The cup fell to the floor, the remaining of the light brown liquid sloshing at his feet. ”Mm-hm,” he groans, giving her a meek thumbs up from an arm wrapped around his now very raw stomach.

”When… I said… it looked good… on you… I didn’t mean… I wanted to be… a victim,” he replies, attempting to jest with the woman but the attack had winded him and the words struggled to come out. For what must have been the hundredth time that evening, he was glad the alcohol itself made him pink as he thought he might nearly die of shame and embarrassment in that moment.

As she watched Miles gasp for air, Lilith let the weapon disappear from her hands. The last thing she had wanted to do right now was hurt Miles - yet she had managed to do so. She could almost feel the cosmos laughing from above.

”In my defense, you can’t just walk around grabbing onto random drunk people,” she responded, doing her best to joke about the situation. ”You didn’t take any other blows tonight, did ya?”

”Most random drunks can’t-” Miles takes a sharp breath followed by a pained sigh leaving his lips. ”-can’t form a baseball bat out of thin air,” he defends. He straightens himself back up, eliciting a groan as his stomach is reminded of the blow. ”I, uh, that was really my first proper blow for the night. Guess I was due for a hit, hey? How are you holding up?”

Nodding as she looked him up and down from head to toe, she was glad to find that Miles didn’t appear any more injured than he already was. Turning her attention to the drink table, she began to make him another drink to replace the one he had fumbled. Reaching for the bottle of rum, she sighed. ”I’m fine. Pretty sure there’s some weird target on my back, but we’re Gucci over here.”

Taking a drink out of the solo cup herself before handing it to him, she rolled her eyes while being hit with another realization. ”And I guess someone has to go and see if dumbass is alive,” she grumbled.

”A target on your back in like a ‘the universe is mocking you’ kinda way or ‘there’s someone out to get you’ kinda way?” Miles questions, taking the new cup from her. He raises the cup in her direction before taking a drink from it himself. When Lilith mentioned Carlisle Miles choked on the tail end of his sip. For a while there he’d forgotten about Carlisle, or at least about his state frozen in place. Miles couldn’t help but hope he wasn’t privy to outside events or he would have a massive cheek bruise to answer for. Regardless, he did want to see his friend at some point. ”Want me to come with?” he offers

”Mostly the latter, still trying to figure out the former.” she responded, her brow furrowing as she spoke. ”I don’t think Lucien is finished with whatever that was, and his arrogance definitely isn’t finished with me,” she sighed.

Pondering over his question for a moment, a thousand small scenarios ran through the young woman's mind. Were here and Carlisle even still friends at this point? Had Lilith indirectly ruined his and Miles’s relationship as well? Would Carlisle even look at her as long as she remained - at the very least - cordial with Miles? Hell - was he even alive?

With a defeated expression, Lilith reached into her skirt pocket and fumbled around for the key to the basement. Shrugging her shoulders, the brunette nodded towards their exit.

”You’ll be a great buffer if he starts his shit up again.”

”Great, so I’m the human meat shield, I see how it is,” Miles replies with a chuckle, downing the rest of his drink. He gives a sigh before turning to the door. ”Alright, let’s hope he’s still sane,” Miles muses before leaving to accompany Lil to Carlisle's temporary cage.

You’re a lot more than that, Lilith thought.

Laughing at his comment and leading the way, Lilith bobbed and weaved through the crowd to get to their destination. Thankful that it wasn’t a long walk, she struggled with the door knob before finally unlocking it. Twisting the handle and going to push the door open, Lilith looked concerned as it barely moved and hit something behind it. Trying once more, she pushed up against it with her shoulder this time - putting more weight behind it. Huffing in drunken frustration, she turned to Miles.

”Can you try? I think the doors stuck.”

”Yeah, sure” Miles replies. He puts a bit of pressure on the door, finding it was indeed stuck. Odd, he didn’t remember anyone leaving anything on the top of the stairwell as they left after dropping off Carlisle. With a shrug he rams the door with his shoulder causing it to fly open and obviously sending whatever was behind it down a few steps, evident from the ]thump thump thump that echoed down the steps.

Carlisle had just reached the door to leave this cursed basement. It has taken him at least ten minutes to just climb the stairs. Every step felt like he had ran an entire marathon. Only to then have the door smash into him with enough force that he fell backwards and tumbled all the way down the stairs. With a heavy groan he lay on the floor. He was far too tired to even check for damage.

”Owwwwww”

It wasn’t until the yelp of pain echoed up the stairs did Miles realise what- or more accurately who- was in front of that door. He sucked in his bottom lip for a moment as the fact he had once again damaged Carlisle hit him. ”Oooooooo, sorry bud!” he calls down the stairs. At least Carlisle wasn’t dead.

Looking back and forth from Miles to the staircase, Lilith shrugged her shoulders once more. ”At least he’s alive, I guess,” she mumbled, beginning her descent.

Carlisle looked up and he saw Lilith walking down the stairs. ”I did it! I broke the curse. May have gone a little too hard though” He said with a soft cough, trying to sit up a bit. ”The astral plane is a weird place. I met so many strange people!”

Miles begins his careful descent down the stairs, being sure to remain a few steps behind Lilith lest he trips and slips down a couple. When Carlisle mentions breaking the curse Miles calls out a simple cheer, pumping the air with his fist. ”Good on you, Car!”

”Glad you managed to figure something out,” Lilith replied. Once she had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, she waited for Miles to finish walking down before taking a seat on the bottom step. Lilith was honestly in shock that she hadn’t fallen down the stairs herself, seeing as how her legs felt like drunken noodles.

’I’m just gonna come right out the gate and say it,” she began, throwing her hands up in the air before letting them fall into her lap. ”The barrier is fucked, and Victors cousin attacked the Coven.” Tilting her head to the side in thought, she narrowed her eyes. ”And I think the coven has a spy.”

Carlisle rubbed his head as Lilith spoke. Lots of words. His brain took a moment to process them. ”Alright… Thanks for covering. I will deal with everything from here” He tried to get back up, only to fall onto his knees. ”You know, I met some interesting people. I met this guy, called Charon. He is like the traveler who carries people from life and death.”

Lilith scoffed, blowing off the comment about how he said he would handle things. Miles took his place on the stairs right above her - something that oddly gave Lilith a sense of protection.

”That makes sense,” she responded to the half end of what he had said. ”You were almost dead, and he’s the Ferryman for the Greeks so….” Sighing once more, she continued. ”Look - if I’m being honest I really don’t want to hear about your travels. I just needed to see if you were alive for everyone else's sake.”

Hearing her words, even in his exhausted state, Carlisle could hear the lack of enthusiasm. He had almost forgotten how they had parted ways earlier. With a small sigh he looked at Lil. ”I know before I got frozen we were on… thin ice, putting it mildly. I was acting like a child. And in all honesty, it was such a dick move. Can’t exactly be a friend if you aren’t there for them” He wasn’t expecting it to gloss over what had happened, but it was at least a start.

”Charon showed me something as well. He showed me, you and MIles on the sofa in the sitting room, and how close you were getting. Not that it matters. You look good together. But you mentioned your grandpa. Is it true?”

Listening as he spoke, Lilith knew that Carlisle was trying to apologize in his own way - but she didn’t want to hear it. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Miles, she would have just unlocked the door to the basement and walked away. Instead, she was now sitting on the stairs, listening to him ramble on about nearly pointless shit.
She had zoned out for a moment, focusing on the various items hidden in the shadows until Carlisle mentioned her and Miles. Her eyes flicked back to see him sitting on the floor - vulnerable and injured. He was an easy target at the moment - and Lilith would have had no problems striking. At his mention of her grandfather, Lilith glared at him. She knew how the Astral Plane worked, and that you often stumbled upon things that you didn’t mean to. Even still, she felt as though Carlisle had been digging in and snooping around in her life again.

”What does it even matter to you,” she snipped.

Sensing an even more hostile tone, Carlisle raised his hands in a surrendering motion to show that he didn’t mean any harm. ”Charon was trying to show me how happy you and Miles were together. And then you mentioned it. I am so sorry. I should have been an adult and been there for you. I know I have failed in the past. But if I can do anything to help in anyway, You just need to ask” He knew that in her current mood, there was no way that Lil was going to accept this. But He needed to say this.

”I also got to meet your great grandmother Cordelia. I can see where you get your…. Charm from” He said with a slight chuckle. ”She helped teach me more about my powers, and also gave me a few pointers about my personality and how insufferable I am. She also told me about how the universe had put you and Miles together. Found that really sweet.” He knew he was information overloading, but he really wanted to make sure that he was being as honest as he could be.

”The universe put us together, ey?" Miles echoes, looking between Lil and Carlisle. He'd silently been just listening to the conversation. This was more of Lil's conversation to have than his own and the alcohol was making him kinda spacey. In saying that, he couldn't help but be surprised at how well Carlisle was taking Lil and Miles reuniting but saying something about it now would only come across as gloating, and that was the last thing Miles wanted to do ”Look, that was a lot of information in one go, my head's kinda spinning and I'm not really a fan of this place so, uh, can we go back now? Do you need help up the stairs, Car?"

"No no it's fine. I'm fine. I can get backup the stairs myself. I did it once already. Need to go and give myself an energy boost and get the barrier back up and running." Carlisle mumbled as he began to try and get up again.

Lilith simply nodded her head in agreement with Miles. She had never had the chance to meet her great-grandmother while she was alive, but Lilith did know that Cordelia’s reputation preceded her in death. Normally she would have asked Carlisle how the whole interaction had gone - but she was far from in the mood.

”I agree. It smells like mildew down here,” she added, careful not to really respond to either of them. Ready for this conversation to be over, Lilith stood up herself and took a couple of steps so that she stood above Miles before turning around and offering a helping hand.

Carlisle would get upto his feet, using Lilith's assistance. He felt bad for actually having to take the offer of help in the end. He was starting to get the feeling he was nothing but deadweight. As he began to climb the stairs he tried to keep the mood light. "Well, I can give you a magic pro tip: Never try to break a curse on yourself while standing in another dimension. Turns out it is really exhausting and puts your physical body through hell" He tried to chuckle but winced as the motion hurt his ribs.

As Carlisle reached for her hand, Lilith recoiled. The helping hand had been for Miles - not him.

”I’ll do you a magic tip better than that one, Carlisle,” she quipped. ”Never ignore a diviner.”

With the hand being withdrawn, Carlisle leaned far too forward, nearly bowling forward. He managed to stop himself from doing that by holding onto the wall. He carried on walking slowly without the support. He could almost feel the venom coming from Lil and her words. It was clear she was having none of this from Carlisle. Was this what it felt like to be in the doghouse? "Yea… Yeah. You are right. Definitely" His earlier chuckle being replaced with a nervous stammer.

Before Miles could even take hold of Lilith's hand Carlisle grabbed at it. Even now he seemed determined to have Lil. Miles, who had remained in that step below, pulled himself up instead. He did feel bad for Carlisle but the man had turned down help, and Miles was sure the last thing Lil wanted now was him giving his friend that help. He flashed his friend an apologetic smile with a shrug before reaching his hand out toward Lil.

Taking Miles’s hand, Lilith held on to him for the rest of their climb up the stairs. Once they had reached the exit, Lilith turned to Carlisle for a brief moment. Her expression was one that clearly stated that she still didn’t want to be fucked with - but there was something else there too, something that even she couldn’t put her finger on.

”As the last Montgomery, I have duties to this Coven - and you aren’t going to keep me from them because of some spat. As much as I don’t want to, I’m going to go home and find Cordelia’s grimoire over the next few days. If you find out who the spy is - let me know. Do not hesitate to bother me with Coven matters.”

Reaching the top of the stairs, Carlisle’s stammer got worse. Every possible chance she got, Lilith was proving that she really didn’t want to know Carlisle. And it was hurting. Sure he deserved it, but that didn’t lessen the pain he was feeling. In a single day his whole life had been turned upside down. ”Um …. Sure…. Yeah I will let you know if I…um… find anything” He tried his best to smile, but his face was not hiding the pain he was feeling.

Giving him a curt nod, Lilith did her best to force a fake smile herself. ”Excellent. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Miles didn't dare say a word until the pair had left the basement and was somewhat safe from earshot, it felt less like a courtesy to Carlisle but so there was privacy in their moment despite the room before them being full of drunken young adults. ”So apparently even the universe ships us," he slurs with a chuckle, giving Lilith’s hand a squeeze.

”Not that I blame it, as you said yourself, you do adore me," he continues. Miles wasn't sure what to make of all this, he had far too much alcohol pumping into his veins for that, but even in this state he had enough conscious thought going for him to feel almost disappointed when Lil ignored his probing for what she had said about him back outside the house but she definitely had other things on her mind.

”That’s putting it mildly,” Lilith responded to both of his comments simultaneously. They were both far too drunk for Lilith to explain to Miles that she always knew they would end up crossing paths again. Lilith being Lilith, she wasn’t going to drop her guard - even now as she scrunched her face in playful disgust. ”You’re more tolerable than most - I’ll give you that much.”

Observing their surroundings, Lilith was met with the sight of the drinks table for the umpteenth time that night.

”Say - why don’t we take a few of those bottles that are left and find somewhere where people aren’t staring at us or trying to kill me?”

”Gee, what a downgrade,” Miles scoffs playfully, fidgeting with Lilith’s fingers in his hand. He watches as her gaze shifts to the drinks table once more. At her suggestion he gives a small nod ”Well, I know the barrier’s down but that sky’s looking real nice right now. If you can survive another bottle got for it, I’m way too drunk to know what to do if you pass out on me.”

”I might wake up tomorrow - I might not,” she joked, shrugging her shoulders as she closed the short distance between them and the table. Grabbing the last bottle of tequila, she turned back to him with a smile on her face as she laughed. ”And here I was hoping to seduce you. Dammit.”

Lilith let go of his hand just long enough to wrap her arm around his, locking on so that they both had support from each other to walk.

”Ya know,” she said thoughtfully, looking up at him. ”I never thought I’d say it - and it could just be the alcohol poisoning talking - but I’m kind of upset with myself for avoiding you all this time.”

”Only so much seducing you can do from six feet under. And only so much you can do with tequila. Maybe we’ll leave the seducing to me,” he jokes, winking as he holds her arm close to him. A small smile spread across his face. Home. He’d been trying to place the main feeling behind their past few interactions, it felt like he’d come home.

He starts leading Lilith to the door, taking in her words. He hesitated slightly at how to answer. It was less of a question of how to answer and more of a which answer to give. Instead he gives a shrug, ”Gotta say, I’ve never had someone try so hard to avoid me for so long before. Guess I truly am just irresistible,” he jokes with a chuckle. ”Really, though, I missed you,”

Still laughing herself, Lilith elbowed Miles gently in the side. ”Keep on, and I’ll never compliment you again.” Replaying the last of his words over and over in her head, she was glad that they were finally outside in the darkness as the heat rose to her face. Again - it could have just been the alcohol - but Lilith was going to chase this feeling for as long as she could.

”So where is it you’re taking me, exactly? Besides outside, obviously.”

As Lil jokes about never complimenting him again, Miles laughs. ”Ah, there's the LiLi I know and love," he responds. At her next question he shrugs. He hadn't thought that far ahead. ”Beats me, you know as well as I that I'm not that forward thinking. Just… away from the crowd," The pair walk a little longer before Miles nods at a patch of grass seemingly unaffected by the heat of the Summer just gone. ”There?"

Love. There was that word again - and it was the second time he had said it tonight. Walking silently, Lilith decided to blame everything on the alcohol again. There was a large chance that neither she or Miles were going to remember any of this when they woke up the next morning. Even still, she couldn’t help but to keep repeating it in her mind.

Love; What did that even mean?

As her gaze followed his, Lilith shrugged her shoulders and continued on their way. Once reaching their destination, she let go of Miles’s arm and promptly sat down on the grass below. Crossing one leg over the other, she cracked open the bottle of tequila and took a small drink before offering it to Miles. Looking up at the night sky, she quietly sighed.

”You were right. The moon is super pretty tonight.”

When Lilith passes Miles the bottle he takes a swig out of it before passing it back to Lil. His face scrunched up as the liquid swirled around his mouth and down his throat, he was never too fond of tequila but alcohol was alcohol. With that he falls back to lay on his back, eying the stars. He outstretches an arm, inviting Lil to lay on it. How he longed to feel the weight of her head on his chest once again.

Miles remained silent for a moment. In a way he seemed to be thinking to himself but Miles would claim he didn't really have any thoughts in that moment, until one popped in his head. One that made him chuckle, although that may haven't been the right response. ”So, Sunday night, how dead do you reckon I'll be now?" he asks.

With her eyes still glued on the sky, Lilith hadn’t noticed Miles lying in the grass until he had spoken. Seeing him stretched out, a small smirk formed on her face as she thought about his question and settled herself into place. She hadn’t been this close to Miles in a long time, and she didn’t want to do or say anything to scare him away. Placing an arm across his torso, Lilith sighed for the first time tonight in relief.

The truth was that Lilith was terrified of how other people would react when they found out about whatever there was between her and Miles again. She knew that her grandfather wouldn’t be happy about it, and the Coven was an issue all in itself. Not to mention that the way Carlisle had already acted was already bad enough. Laying there listening to his heart beating, Lilith’s brow furrowed. Why did it matter what other people thought?

”Well… hopefully not dead, but I don’t think gramps is going to let you off without a speech at the very least.” Taking a moment to think, it was now Lilith’s turn to laugh. ”You know, I’m pretty sure the only thing that’s saved you all this time is your mom.”

As soon as Lil had made herself comfortable on his chest he instinctively wrapped his arm around her, a contented sigh leaving his lips. His other hand remained tucked under his head and his eyes remained fixed on the sky but even with a couple of inches of distance he could smell Lilith’s hair. Was it Miles’ imagination or did it still smell exactly the same as it did almost 10 years ago?

At Lilith’s closing comment Miles chuckles softly himself. ”There’s probably been a lot of times she’s the only reason I’m alive, honestly. I mean, she said yes to Sunday dinner so there’s little your gramps can do now I guess. My only saving grace the past decade is that they get along.” he says gently before looking down at Lil who was holding him close. He readjusted his head to free his other hand and played with her hair. ”Probably the only reason I was somewhat safe from your wrath too,”

”Hey now,” she jested. ”I only ever got mad at you when you did stupid things like trying to get yourself killed.”

Feeling his fingers in her hair, Lilith closed her eyes momentarily - just soaking in the moment. Miles’s scent of leather, bourbon and musk. The way that the heat radiated off of his body. The thudding of his heartbeat, and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. How could she have been so stupid to think she didn’t still have feelings for him? Here she was, always on her high horse, acting as if she knew everything - when she didn’t know jack shit.

”You don’t think that this… whatever it is… between us… you don’t think I’ll ruin it again, do you?” Alcohol and anxiety now speaking for her, she rolled her eyes in frustration.

Way to kill the mood, dummy.

”Well you'll be proud to know I've gotten better-" he says defensively before mumbling ”At doing the same stupid things,"

Miles enjoyed the silence a moment, a small content smile sat on his face as he kept his eyes on the sky once more. If he was being honest he wasn't sure what this was, what they were. As much as he wanted to believe his proclamation of still loving Lil was enough and as much as he knew their 'drunken words, sober thoughts' mantra had substance he was unsure if it would be enough. He wanted to freeze this moment; Lil lying in his arms under a beautiful night sky with booze to share. At least he'd know Lil was really his, he wasn't sure if either of them would remember enough to be back to lovers in the morning.

That was when Lil spoke up. ”You?" Miles questions, furrowing his brow. The hand that was once massaging her head was removed as he surrounded her with its arm, pulling her slightly into an embrace. He gave an elongated sigh, he wanted to think that talking about his past of cheating was going to be easier now that he opened the jar with Delaney but admitting you messed up to the victim of your ways was a whole new hurt entirely. He didn't want to bring back more bad memories for her. He didn't want to risk losing her again.

”I don't think you were ever the one to ruin us," Miles muses, his voice starting to become shaky despite the stoic mask he was attempting to keep up.

Lilith focused on her breathing and doing the absolute best that she could to keep herself from crying again. It was true that Miles had put them both into some really shitty situations. Even still, Lilith was sure that she had made those situations worse in the end. She was an angry sort - and she knew that too. It was one of the things she hated most about herself.

”Yeah - but I pushed your buttons. Sometimes it was an accident, other times I did it on purpose. You chose to do what you did, but I also chose to stay. I could have reacted better - or not at all. More importantly, I put expectations on you that I knew you could never live up to. And I’m not saying that to be rude it’s just -” Lilith paused for a quick second to catch her breath, not realizing how quickly she had been speaking. ”I can’t keep expecting people to give the same love that I do. It just ends up hurting me and them.”

Propping herself up on her free hand, Lilith reached across Miles to pluck the bottle of tequila from his other hand.
”Hell, Miles. I dunno. Maybe we’re both to blame.”

As Lilith readjusts herself Miles moves his free arm. He remains silent for a moment, pursing his lips. The temptation to just kiss her and take away all her words was overwhelming. Or to fill her with compliments that although were true were to push her away from her talking of uncomfortable things. Old habits die hard. Instead, he waited for Lilith to be done before propping himself up and taking a swig of tequila from the bottle himself.

”Maybe, and this isn’t to discount what I did to you, but maybe we were just dumb teens who didn’t know what they were doing,” Miles responds, taking another sip of tequila, his face scrunching up at the taste once more as it burnt down his throat. He needed all the filterless truth serum he could get to get through his thoughts. ”Look, I don’t know what this is or what it should be or whatever. I just… look, all I know is today made me realise I missed you so much more than I ever thought I would. I know that everytime I tried to have anything with anyone it was just never the same, it just didn’t feel right because it wasn’t you,” he hands the bottle back to Lilith before flopping back on the ground. ”But I also know you deserve someone who’s going to give you the same love you are, you shouldn’t settle. I want to say I will but I’ve betrayed your trust many times before and I’m really way too drunk to be making judgment calls,”

”I’m not asking you to be something that you’re not - just like I’m not asking it of anyone else. I don’t want you to make any decisions, or try and fix my bleeding heart or any of that other dumb shit just…” Taking another drink from the bottle, she looked at him lying there on the ground once more. ”If by chance either of us remember any of this tomorrow - just don’t make me look stupid for trusting you again. Please.”

Miles gave a sigh, rubbing Lilith’s shoulder. How much did he even trust himself to not go and mess this up again anyway? Less than he was willing to admit, that’s for sure, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do all he could. It may have been the alcohol thinking but in that moment he decided he didn’t want to be the same person he was in their relationship all those years ago. He rolls onto his side, his face only inches away from Lilith’s. ”That is the last thing I want to do,” he replies gently, pressing his forehead against hers.

As his words settled into the night air, a small chill ran up her spine. For the first time in a long time - she actually believed him. Looking into those brown eyes of his, Lilith could have sworn her heart was beating louder than the bass coming from the speakers indoors. She was too wrapped up in physical emotions to form any cohesive thoughts, so she chose to act on instinct instead. Closing the extremely short distance that was left between them, Lilith chose to kiss Miles for the second time that evening.

There was once again silence between them for a moment they looked into each other’s eyes, sharing a single alcohol fuelled breath. Soon Lilith’s lips were on his once more, the tequila tasted so much more sweeter on her tongue, even bearable. His free arm wrapped around her, pulling her in closer as he lost himself in the moment once more, closing his eyes. Yes, this is exactly what his heart had been waiting for; her soft lips pressed against his, the warmth of shared breaths, the feeling of her hair between his fingers. He never wanted to let go- and he didn’t intend on loosening a single grip until one of them finally pulled away.

When eventually that time came he readjusted his arms to pull Lilith in tighter, planting a kiss on the back of her neck in the process. ”Y’know, mum’s on the night shift if you wanted somewhere to be tonight,” he says, kissing the top of her head before setting his chin on her scalp.

While Lilith had known that Miles would kiss her back, she wasn’t expecting it to be like this. Every touch made her body feel more and more like a live wire. She could have stayed in that moment forever - wrapped up in Miles’s arms and their own little world. Lilith had never been one to drink bourbon or rum, but the combination of the two on Miles’s tongue tasted like what she imagined heaven felt like.

She wasn’t sure which of them pulled away first - reminded of the need for air and the fact that they had human needs such as breathing. As Miles pulled her closer, Lilith wrapped her arms around him in her own embrace, letting the moment linger. His words pulled her from her thoughts, snapping her mind back into reality.

”Miles Price,” Lilith laughed. ”What kind of girl do you think I am?” she teased him. And then after a split second of silence: ”Can we make pancakes?”

”One who adores me. Or the girl who tried to seduce me only half an hour or so ago” he teases, moving his head down to kiss her neck once more before curling some loose strands of her hair around one of his fingers. At Lilith’s question Miles laughs, returning to his original position and pulling her back in. ”We can or I think there’s some of mum’s cookies left in the kitchen if you’d rather,” he offers

Once Miles had repositioned, Lilith had gently buried her face in his chest. ”Either way,” she muses. ”But I don’t really know how we’re gonna get there.”

”I’m gonna hazard a guess that you won’t get in the car with me if I’m driving right now, would you?” he muses, resting his cheek on Lilith’s head, taking in her scent. He’d never liked tequila more. ”I could always get us an uber?”

At his words, Lilith pulled away long enough to scrunch her face up at his first question.

”If I saw you anywhere near a car right now - I’d probably fight you,” she half-joked before settling back into her comfort zone. Lilith had all but forgotten how safe Miles had always made her feel - especially moments like this where they were intertwined. It was nice being this close to him again. ”If you can remember how to work the app right now, because I think anything on a phone screen would look like Latin to me right now.”

”Please, I’m practically an expert at the drunken uber booking. I just… uh… I need my arm back,” he says. In all honesty he could have easily slipped one of his arms in their embrace but he didn’t want to move. Part of him wanted to just live in this moment forever, just him and Lil, alone, together in each other’s arms. Eventually though he was able to reach for his phone and, after spending way too long trying to get his fingers to tap the right letters, managed to book them a car. ”Let’s get out of here,”

As Miles rightfully reclaimed his limb, Lilith huffed and pouted drunkenly, still keeping her face buried against his chest so as to not be blinded by the phone light. Once she had heard those magic words, Lilith climbed to her feet. ”With pleasure,” she sang, offering a helping hand to Miles.

Miles takes Lilith’s hand with a smirk and pulls himself up. He scoops up the bottle of tequila from the ground and hands it to Lil before throwing an arm over her shoulders and leading her to the driveway.