undergrounds | August Catch All

They had arranged to meet at mid-day at a small coffee shop close to the apartment. Wednesday had arrived early to first check on the place before handing keys over to her new tenant. The place was acceptable, to an Addams' standards, but whether or not that meant Lydia would like it... Still this was a favour to a friend - of sorts - and an Addams always did their best by their friends. They seemed to be so hard to keep, otherwise.

So, she waited, cup of coffee in hand.

Tracking people down was not especially difficult, especially in an era of constant online presences. It took the fun out of it, really, Wednesday thought. Part of the reason she didn't have social media - she didn't want to make it that easy for anyone hunting her. Her prey in this case were three of the local werewolves, all of which she had met.

Really, showing up at their door and knocking was too easy. Someone should do something about that.

By the time that Lydia reached the cafe, there was a frown on her face. This area was grotty. There was rubbish on the floors, boarded up windows, smashed glass, overflowing bins... it was disgusting. And it smelled.

The cafe too was grotty: it was a far cry from Costa or Starbucks, or even Cafe Nero. it was a proper greasy spoon. Surely this was a mistake? But no - there was Wednesday in the window.

Lydia tried to smile as she waled in, but it's probably clear from her expression that she's not too impressed.

"Hey - Wednesday?"

"Lydia," Wednesday nodded in greeting. "You're late." Only by a minute or two, but she was in the mood for being particularly pedantic that day. "Shall I take you to your new apartment, or would you like to purchase a drink first?"

"From here?" It's all Lydia can do to keep the 'eww' in. Like she'd buy anything from here. The mugs probably aren't even washed properly. Ew.

"I'm... I'm not thirsty. Let's just see the place! I'm so excited... it's not right near here, is it?"

"It's not far," was Wednesday's reply. She stands, gathering her things, and walks out of the cafe, assuming that Lydia will follow her. Her pace is brisk, and she doesn't make with the small talk.

She enters a building - no access control, and makes for the stairs. Three flights up, she stops in front of a door. "This will be you."

Lydia's expression becomes more and more alarmed as they journey through the maze of streets that have obviously seen far better days.When they actually go in and up, Lydia even goes to grab Wednesday's hand.

"Hey - this is safe, right? There aren't any druggies round here, are there?"

She does seem to actually consider the question for a moment. "I've never been accosted. Perhaps it would add more colour to the area." She turns back towards the door, taking out the key and unlocking it. Stepping inside, she calls to Lydia over her shoulder.

"One bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. Small, but serviceable."

Lydia literally couldn't care less about the size of the apartment. She cares more about what it looks like. And what it looks like is shabby.

"Wednesday?" she asks, weakly. "Don't you have any nicer apartments going out to rent? I mean... look at it! It's... gross."

Wednesday just stares. That... was not the reaction she had expected. "It may need a touch up here and there, but I can assure you it's up to code." Stupid health and safety... loose wires were fun, not dangerous.

No one comes to their door. Like, ever. No one's made a call for delivery, there's nothing for a neighbor to be angry about, there aren't Jehovah's Witnesses here, so what's the deal? Unless it's the cops. Shit, it's probably the cops. Ghoul doesn't personally remember doing anything super sloppy lately, but Party probably has and now it's caught up to him. Does the law work the same here as it does in America? Whatever, it doesn't matter. He's ready. Fuck the police.

He yanks the door open like the furious little creature he is, immediately snapping out, "You better have a warrant, motherfucker," before the air even has a chance to settle. And when it does settle, two thoughts hit him at about the same time:

One, that's a tiny pig.

Two, that's not actually an officer. Or a motherfucker. Hey, he knows her... "Oh. Hi." Yeah, hi.

"I don't believe a warrant is required for visiting, but I could forge the necessary papers if you do want them," Wednesday replied dryly. People opening their doors and screaming in her face? Well, it happened fairly regularly in her life, so it was not really anything to be surprised by.

"I have a proposition for you and your pack," she said, not really feeling the need for preamble. "Can I come in?"

"But it's so dark." Lydia wrinkles her nose. "I mean, seriously, Wednesday, I know you're into all this goth stuff, but I'm just so... not!"

"It can, of course, be redecorated to your wishes." Though Wednesday wondered why anyone would want to redecorate such a perfectly miserable place.

"Uh, no, I'll let it slide this time." Real nice save.

Ghoul steps to the side and pulls the door wider, gesturing for her to come on inside. It's safe enough- the place is currently in acceptable shape, considering a group of nearly-feral animals lives there. "A proposition?" That sounds fancy. Of course, his first assumption is that she's referring to the entire pack instead of the smaller band he spends nearly every waking moment around. "D'you need me to get you in front of Katherine?"

"Yourself, your friend, and the younger one you take care of. Perhaps immediate pack would have been the correct term," she ponders briefly, coming inside. "It can be hard to remember which terminology is the right one to be using," it's added in an off-hand manner.

She opens her bag, and pulls out a manilla folder.

"I have some properties. To be correct, my family owns properties throughout the city, and part of my being here is to see to their upkeep." She takes out a piece of paper, a photo, and holds it out to Ghoul. "I was wondering if you and your friends would like to occupy one of the warehouses."

...Really? She wants that group?

"Wait, really?" Color him surprised. People don't normally seek out the shitwolves specifically- not for actual, legitimate business, yet here she is, offering them a warehouse to look after. Them. A now-trio of werewolves whose most mature, least destructive member is a literal teenager. They're a little unbalanced at the moment; they used to have two teenagers... Although their second kid was pretty calamitous too.

Despite being 99.999% sure he is somehow mishearing her here, he still reaches out and takes the offered information, scanning over the picture with a slightly confused expression. It looks... habitable. Why would anyone willingly give them A Thing that wasn't already ruined beyond all repair? "Um, are you sure? Why would you want us?" Sure, he thinks their tiny sub-pack is the bee's knees, but he also knows they don't have the most upstanding reputation even for werewolves.

"I know you," it's a simple enough answer and it has the bonus of being the truth. Wednesday has met all three of them and seems to enjoy their company enough to be willing to offer them a place.

Ghoul glances back up at her face, staring blankly. That's it. That's her reasoning. "Oh." Well, what was he expecting? "No, that makes sense."

He makes a thoughtful sound, stealing another glance at the picture. Having their own warehouse to hang around in would be pretty neat... But it can't be that easy. No way. "Okay, so what do we need to do if we take it? You gotta have some kind of terms and conditions or whatever." Maybe they have to repair it if they move in? Or the rent could be crazy-high... That would suck. That might actually make the decision for them, right there.

"Keep it standing." That was all her Father had requested of her. "Tell me if there's anything immediate that needs... repairing," her voice hesitated on that last bit. Generally speaking, she wasn't a fan of repairs but people liked them.

Word spread fast around the den, particularly the good when they'd had so much bad to report recently. She was just surprised the good news actually included her this time. A warehouse reminded her of the places she'd been in when she was a kid, seeing all the run down buildings her old pack would hid away in during the full moon.

It wasn't hard to run down Wednesday before she left the property, Girl could move pretty fast when she felt like it. "You're really just gonna hand it over to us, just like that?" Girl asked when she was close enough, eyes wide. She didn't take Wednesday for the joking type, at least not about something so benign, but it was hard to imagine anyone giving responsibility over anything to Girl and Party. Maybe having Ghoul around was what swung the vote.

"Yeah, 'course." They certainly wouldn't want the place falling down on their heads. But there's a definite difference between collapsing and clearly lived-in by rowdy werewolves, which... Well, that last one would be obvious enough.

If it happens at all. It's time to get down to brass tacks here. "Okay, so how much a month is it?" Probably too much. There's no way they can afford Party's apartment and this place, and probably not even this place all on its own. It is, after all, an entire building. Maybe it's morbid curiosity that's driving him to discover exactly how broke they truly are. Kind of like looking at million-dollar house listings online, just for the masochistic element.

"No rent," Wednesday said. "You would after all be informing me of anything needed to keep the place in relative upkeep, so charging you for doing a job seems... redundant."

"Yes." There was no point in stringing out her answer, after all.

It wasn't that he was soft, no matter what Jem White would claim loudly to the contrary. It wasn't even that he was trying to butter her up. It was... well, frankly, the Dodger couldn't properly explain the why of him showing up at Nancy's doorstep like that, a bottle of gin in his hand. He just...

They'd never gone so long without talking. Even on bad days, they always seemed to be able to find something to natter about, and not being able ot have that natter with her felt... strange. Like something wasn't right.

So he was here. With gin. Gin always helped.

August Catch All

For Lydia [probs backdated]

For Fun Ghoul / Party Poison / Girl

Re: For Lydia [probs backdated]

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For Nancy