[for Juno] January 1, 2015

[happy_dsign]

Daphne hadn't waited up for Bay to get home. She'd finished her deliveries for the catering jobs she'd gotten, stopped by City Hall to watch the effigy burn (bee-free this time), had a glass of champagne and gone home and to bed.

But when she woke up and there was still no Bay, she started to worry. Especially when she looked outside and saw that the city was at a standstill, blanketed in deep snow. And when Bay didn't respond to half a dozen increasingly panicked texts, she really started freaking. Desperate she tried Scott, with the same result. She didn't know Scott's mom's number, and all she could do was hope that they had gone there after the party. Maybe they were just hung over and sleeping late. It was possible. She wouldn't relax until she heard from one of them, though.

The apartment was too still, too empty, and she couldn't get anywhere else. She was going to go out of her mind, she was pretty sure. "I have to get out of here," she told Milo. "Stay. Be good." She grabbed her phone and tucked it into a pocket, then packed a half-dozen muffins into a bakery box and headed downstairs to Juno's.

She knocked, hoping her friend was home, at least. She was starting to feel jumpy and on-edge. What if everyone had disappeared again? Including Bay and Scott this time? What if she was snowed in and alone?

Comments

[thecautionarywhale]

Being snowed in sucked balls. Juno had taken stock of the food in her house and realised that if the power stayed out she'd be screwed. There was a pile of food in her freezer, and she refused to open it in the hope it would stay frozen as the poer went on and off.

The knock at the door surprised her, giving up on staring into the near-empty cupboards to answer it. "Daphne. Hey."

[happy_dsign]

"Hey." Daphne tried to smile, but it was strained. "I brought breakfast." She held out the bakery box as an offering.

[thecautionarywhale]

"My god, it's like you were spying on me or something. I seriously have no food in here," she says with relief, opening the door for the other woman. "You rock."

[happy_dsign]

"I have tons, so feel free to come over if you need to," Daphne assured her, stepping inside and moving to the table to set the box of muffins down. "It's crazy outside, huh? I've never seen snow like this." She turned to face Juno so she wouldn't miss anything being said.

[thecautionarywhale]

"Are you a secret base for baked goods?" Juno thinks she remembers Daphne or Bay mentioning some type of business but she isn't 100 percent sure. "Yeah, I mean, I have, but back in Minnesota. You almost expect to get snowed in once a year there. As a kid it would feel like such a rip off if it happened during holidays and not the school year."

[happy_dsign]

Daphne chuckled. "I run a catering business, and I supply some of the local businesses with their pastries and muffins and stuff every morning," she explained. "So I usually have muffins and quick breads around." "We got snow in KC, but nothing like this."

Too anxious to make much more small talk, she asked, "Hey, did you go to the party up on the mountain last night?"

[thecautionarywhale]

It’s a quick change of topic, and Juno frowns, looking up from the box of baked goods. She’d pulled plates out ready, and there was at least a pot of coffee on, one of the few things she kept in the apartment at all times. “Uh, yeah. But I left before midnight. Party pooper, maybe, but I didn’t want to get attacked by whatever weird bees decided to strike this year.”

“Bay said you were working, and heading to the effigy. Was it fun? Cause you would not believe how lame all the bands up there were.” She wonders if that’s insensitive, if talking about music is somehow rude. She turns and points at the coffee maker. “Want some?”

[happy_dsign]

Daphne nodded at the offer of coffee. "It was okay. Uneventful, for once." She sighed and leaned against the counter, grabbing one of the muffins out of the box and turning it around in her hand, studying it for a moment. "I was just asking because I haven't heard anything from Scott and Bay since last night, and with this weather...I'm just worried, you know?" If they were still at the lodge, that was one thing, although still sucky. But what if they'd been on their way home when the worst of the storm hit? What if they were stranded somewhere out there in this weather?

[thecautionarywhale]

"Last I saw Bay, she was pretty determined to stay the night and get kinda drunk?" Juno pours two cups, pulling out milk and sugar and leaving them on the counter after adding some of each to her own mug. She feels almost embarrassed saying that Bay wanted to drink to distraction, but it is what it is. "I don't think she meant to leave early. Why? I mean, they're trapped in there too, right? They'll be safe, right?"

[happy_dsign]

The news didn't surprise Daphne, but it didn't thrill her, either. Bay knew better, knew that as Regina's daughter coping through alcohol was a bad idea. It didn't stop her from doing it, which drove Daphne up the wall. "Yeah, I'm sure they are," she said with a sigh. "I mean, chances are they just got snowed in up there and have to wait it out. I just hope they weren't...you know, already on their way home. If I could at least get in touch with her, make sure they're safe, I'd feel better, but no one's responding to my texts. I don't know if that's because they're not getting through or if it's because something's wrong."

[thecautionarywhale]

"Honestly?" Juno doesn't like the idea of her friend wandering the slopes, cold and alone. "I think she wanted to stay. Maybe they're snowed in? Her and Scott?"

She pushed the second mug toward Daphne. "If you want, we can keep trying to call? When they clear the roads we can go up. Until then, you can totally stay."

[happy_dsign]

"I'm sure they are. I'm just worrying over nothing, I'm sure," Daphne said with a sigh. She smiled and nodded at the rest. "Yeah, that'd be great. It's just so empty in my apartment right now. It was driving me crazy." Hanging out with Juno would be a good distraction until she could get ahold of Bay or someone that could tell her they were all right.

[thecautionarywhale]

"Hey, I'm sure they'll get the cell phones up soon. Then we can call. Until then?" She pushes the coffee mug toward Daphne again, grabbing her own mug and taking a sip. It's hot and strong, which is how she likes it. "I have a couple movies I wanted to watch. Or... There's yahtzee?"

[happy_dsign]

Daphne grabbed the mug this time, trying to put her fears and anxiety out of her mind. They wouldn't do any good right now, anyway. She added a little milk and sugar and stirred it as she asked with an apologetic smile, "Do you mind having the captions on? If not, then a movie's fine. Or we can play Yahtzee. Either way," she finished with a laugh. "I'm just happy to be in good company right now. I don't care what we do." She took a sip of coffee and rolled her shoulders, forcing herself to relax, maybe even enjoy herself.

[thecautionarywhale]

"Captions are fine, but you might have to show me how?" It's not something Juno's done before, except by accident a few times while trying to change the screen ratio. She grabs her mug and the box of treats Daphne brought, jerking her head out to main room. "Come on. We can watch dumb shit and I'll make some popcorn later. It'll be good for us both."

[happy_dsign]

"Sure, no problem. It's pretty easy nowadays." She'd never actually had a set-top decoder, but Melody had told her about them before, as well as how hard it used to be to even find closed captioned shows. Things had come a long way for the deaf community in some areas. In many areas.

"Sounds good!" And it did. Curling up with a silly movie and Juno sounded like the perfect solution both to the weather outside and to her own anxiety about Bay and Scott. "So what movies are we watching?"

[thecautionarywhale]

Juno feels slightly embarassed, a strange thing for her when it comes down to it. She's never been one who's felt embarassed about much, especially her tastes in just about anything. But there's some reason she can't quite pinpoint that she is concerned now.

Setting things down she grabs the two cases. "Hot Tub Time Machine and Warm Bodies. What can I say, I have a few years of movies to catch up on."

[happy_dsign]

Daphne didn't quite catch the titles, so she glanced at the cases. "Warm Bodies? I've never seen that. Can we start with that one?" Not that she had anything against Hot Tub Time Machine. It was a stupid, silly, fun movie, but it would require more focus to watch something unfamiliar, allowing less room in her brain for worrying.

[thecautionarywhale]

“Sure. It's zombies, but a love story, apparently,” she says as she pops it in the player, settling back on the couch and handing Daphne the remote. It’s easy to hang out with the other girl, and she likes that. Today it’s appreciated, both a tiny bit hung over and worried about being snowed in. “I mean, I’m going off what it says off the back.”

[happy_dsign]

Daphne smiled and nodded, looking excited. "I love zombies," she said with a twinkle in her eye, then studied the remote to figure out how to work it. A few minutes of messing around and she was pretty sure she had the captions on, and she started the movie, setting the remote aside as she got comfortable next to Juno. "This should be interesting."

[thecautionarywhale]

It's an instinct that makes her curl closer to Daphne than she might otherwise, their shoulders and sides nearly touching. "Zombies are kinda cool. I like the old movies, the really cheesy ones from the 50s and 60s."

[happy_dsign]

Daphne glanced over as Juno nestled close, intending to flash her a quick smile of gratitude because just having another person there, warm and real and comforting, was helping to quell her anxiety about Bay. Instead she realized Juno was talking and frowned slightly, focusing on her lips. "Me too. Remind me to show you Deafenstein sometime," she replied with a grin, "If you like cheesy old horror films."

[thecautionarywhale]

It’s only when Daphne turns to look at her that Juno realises she can’t watch the movie and watch her talk at the same time. “Yeah? Deafenstein, huh? I love cheesy and old,” she adds, nodding back to the screen and mouthing the word ‘sorry’. Just watching and chilling seems just about right to her for now.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne wanted to offer a lengthier explanation of what Deafenstein was--but she also wanted to watch the film, so she smiled quickly and said, "It's okay," before turning her attention back to the TV herself, resting her hand on her leg. "Just get my attention if you want to say anything," she added softly as her eyes started the long-ago-learned pattern of jumping between the captions and the action on the screen.