The funeral isn't private, or intimate, or quiet. If she stares straight ahead, she can almost pretend they're not all gawking. Almost. 

But then they start whispering, or shouting, and there's a camera flash, and the newscaster says her piece about the awful tragedy-

Allison doesn't cling to her parents, because she's not a little girl anymore. 

She sits, back straight, letting the words wash over her.

Jay is not down by the funeral itself. She's managed to find herself a good vantage point where she's well hidden, and brought a set of binoculars. It's vulgar, really, the way photographers and reporters are buzzing around like vultures. Even with everything she's read about this situation, it isn't right to hound a family when they're grieving.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket and she pulls it out to check the message.

'You are so creepy.'

She ignores Tantalus for now and turns her attention back to the funeral.

Thankfully, there's a police presence. They've made it hard for anyone insufficiently determined to reach the mourners, and that means anyone who does deserves whatever comes next.

Mourners. Chris had always expected to be at plenty of funerals, for outstanding pillars of the community, who piled up bodies at night. Wendigos, werewolves, a druid or three, a witch, a brownie...he'd never thought he would run out of things to pretend to mourn.

Pretending to mourn his sister is new. Pretending not to mourn her is new. Being asked to do both at once- he's never been a good actor. 

He stands with his wife as the minister finishes his piece. 

Jay thinks there's something off about this entire set-up. It feels like people are going through the motions. Not that she has much experience with funerals, and almost all of it is from this distance or greater. She almost texts Tantalus, just to gain some of the perspective she feels she's lacking.

The girl - Allison - looks almost blank, like she can't figure out what to feel.

Her father looks like he's trying to feel too many things at once, none of them precisely genuine.

And the Argent matriarch...

She keeps one arms around her husband's waist, and one on her daughter's shoulder.

She leads them gently towards the casket. She would have chosen an open casket, herself. Kate would rather people see her damaged body, no matter what the town would think, and Victoria is inclined to agree. The people of Beacon Hills had only the Argents to defend them, if they didn't know what they were dealing with. 

Kate had been the first to accept her into their family, even before Chris. He'd wanted to keep her to himself, to keep her away from hunting. But this was her legacy too, now. She waited for their fourth member, and walked with her family. 

Seems to be the one keeping her family going through the motions. Keeping them close, keeping in contact with them, being strong, a solid presence. And isn't she something. Jay can't help the way her eyes are focused on her as the family head for the casket.

She wonders whether she should slip away now. It doesn't look like much interesting is going to happen now, and it feels like she's intruding. (Yes, even this far away through binoculars.)

But she would be pretty terrible at her job if she gave up when she started feeling like she was intruding, so she stays put for now, just in case.

If she is scanning the crowd, she'll see two boys hiding behind a large tombstone.

They seem to be watching the youngest Argent. 

There's also a boy sneaking past the police line, with a camera in hand. 

She does notice them. And pulls her phone out to fire off a text to Tantalus, a second set of eyes right now would be useful. Also a second opinion. Because people hiding behind headstones is not normal.

She takes a moment to feel sorry for the boy sneaking past the police line. That isn't a good idea, especially not when you have a camera in your hand at an event already overwhelmed by the media.

Tantalus responds to the text, because Jay is actually asking for back-up, and this is not a thing Jay does. And she doesn't need to know that he'd been loitering near by anyway. He circles around so that he's opposite Jay's perch, not quite directly behind the two boys, and far enough back in the trees that he won't be noticed either - and if he is, he's got a map, and a very good 'I'm lost' face.

The boys behind the headstone are focused on the young Ms Argent. Which begs the question: are they here for moral support or something else? And if the former, why are they hidden behind a headstone, and not at the funeral itself? He was fairly certain there'd been nothing saying family only in the announcement.

The boys don't announce their intentions.

The aspiring journalist takes his shot. 

A man grabs his camera.

"This looks expensive."

He runs his fingers over it gently, caressingly.

"Yeah. Nine hundred bucks."

He takes out the SD card, and with a brief smile, snaps it.

"And how expensive is that?"

The boy leaves the cemetery in a hurry.

And the man goes to reunite with his family. 

Tantalus watches that little exchange in amusement, given that the two behind the tombstone aren't doing anything all that interesting. That is someone who knows how to put people in their place. The man isn't overtly threatening, but Tantalus still gets the impression of a predator as he walks away from the teenager who's hurrying out of the cemetery, flanked by two other men.

"Well damn," he says. And then remembers they don't have comms and pulls out his phone to call Jay instead. "One:," he says when she picks up. "You're still creepy, I don't care if I'm being creepy with you. Two: old guy is kinda scary. Was sure he was going to break the camera."

Jay traps her phone between her shoulder and her ear and rolls her eyes. "Guess he takes crossing lines seriously. I'd have broken the camera."

She had at her brother's wedding.

"Other two are still just watching from behind that tombstone. I think that's creepier than me."

"You're watching a funeral through binoculars. That is...probably creepier. Smarter, but creepier. So that's the Argents all here. Lot of seats for a small funeral..."

The newest Argent turns his head sharply, towards the tree line where Tantalus hides. Seeing nothing, he returns his focus to his family. 

"Do you remember me? Considering..." 

His voice is lost to the wind as the reports and camera crew buzz excitedly, shouting and demanding answers. 

"I...don't think I was made," Tantalus says, slightly unsurely, "but Argent Senior just seemed to be looking directly at me.  There would've been consequences if he'd spotted me, right?"

"Almost certainly," Jay agrees. "Jokes aside, they probably won't like the idea of people hiding in trees watching this funeral. It's got enough attention as is. You might want to see about changing position in case he saw something."

She lowers her binoculars for long enough to take in the scene as it is, and shakes her head. "How long do you think it's been since Argent Senior saw his granddaughter then?"

The media almost remind her of hyenas, fussing around a carcass.

Distracted, Jay misses whatever the two creeps say to each other.

"Ugh. The two of you, unbelievable."

The Sheriff vacates the much-creepier-than-Jay guests from the premises.

"The Sheriff just dragged our two tombstone-lurkers away," Tantalus reports. "Looks like he knew them. You didn't happen to catch what they were saying, did you?"

"They weren't armed," Jay responds, almost casually. "I'd discounted them from things I needed to keep an immediate eye on. And the media are distracting.  Also, this isn't all that big a town. It's perfectly feasible for the Sheriff to know them. Maybe they're the town troublemakers?"

"Maybe. It looked a bit different to me, more like... Almost like a father dragging two unruly sons away."

Tantalus winces at that particular phrase, waiting for some biting rejoinder that's likely to come from Jay about having no frame of reference, but she stays surprisingly silent.

The Sheriff hovers by the squad car, listening to something on his radio. 

The Argents huddle close, talking quietly.

Except one, who watches the boys get dragged away.

A boy looks into the trees, just a bit to the side of Tantalus. 

"I'm not wrong in thinking there's a police scanner in our car, am I?" Jay asks. "Something seems to be happening. And I think Ms Argent was...aware, of the lurkers."

"Maybe," Tantlus says. "If I say yes can I go and hide in the car? Too many people are looking in my direction..."

That the boy currently looking into the trees isn't looking directly at him is actually more worrying.

"How come no-one's looking at you?"

"Maybe because I took time to conceal myself?" Jay suggests with a grin. "Yeah. Go ahead and let me know what the score is with the police."

She hangs up before Tantalus can say anything. A quick scan of the crowd produces nothing new, and she follows the teenager's sightline to the trees. Because that is slightly disturbing.

The man standing at the edge of trees doesn't stay long, but he nods at the boy before vanishing. 

The Argents head home.

Jay catches sight of the man just before he leaves, and frowns.

She gives it a few minutes after the Argents leave to depart herself. Tantalus is waiting in the car nearby.

"You look tired," he says after observing her for a few minutes.

"I am," Jay admits. "Anything interesting on the scanner?"

Apparently, an ambulence was stopped and its passenger kidnapped. 

While moving. Rammed in the side by something that left a dent.

"And there was no apparent vehicle involved?" she's reaching into the glove compartment and digging under the map and packet of sweets to dig out the box she'd left here earlier.

Nope. Probably a bear, or mountain lion. 

Tantalus side-eyes her. "We're going and investigating aren't we? You remember that sleep is kind of a thing you need?"

"It's still early," Jay shrugs. "And I just want to get a look at the scene. We were sent here to investigate you remember."

"You remember that you're starting school tomorrow, right? This is a thing that is happening. I am not getting in trouble because you miss your first day. But fine. We can go and look."

Are they sure they don't want to follow these two boys who are sneaking out of the squad car? 

Or the grieving family? 

"You've got that look again. The one that says I'm really not going to like what you're planning."

"Well. I'm just thinking we can probably...acquire a police report, and I doubt they'll move the ambulance at speed. So, we can probably...get a look at it. Somehow.  I'm going to follow our lurkers. I need you to follow the Argents."

"You're kidding right? How come I get the ones who are gonna be more dangerous? Well, I...Fine. Be back before midnight. School is still happening."

"No promises," Jay says as she slips out the car again, nodding slightly.

The boys are heading into the woods. She'll have to keep very quiet.

The Argents seem to be discussing strategy.

"...the alpha. We've been keeping our distance so far, but I bet you want us to step in."

"The wildlife around here needs some good old-fashioned population management." 

Jay is good at very quiet, even in woods, she follows at a discreet distance, careful not to fall too far behind.

That...does not sound good. Tantalus really doesn't want to get caught in the middle of a war. Or on the edges of one. Especially not if weres are involved - and why else would they be talking about an 'alpha' and 'wildlife'.

The boys are walking, one of them sniffing the air periodically. 

He pauses, and turns in Jay's direction.

Jay freezes. Moving downwind isn't an option when that would put her ahead of her quarry. And somehow their Intel had missed there being a teen were in town. Which meant he probably wasn't a born were.

"Is that her? Where is she?" 

"...no, just a squirrel," he says, looking at where she's hiding.

They keep walking. 

Jay makes a note to find out who they are looking for, breathes a sigh of relief (and confusion) when the were decides she's just a squirrel, because she's almost certain he has to know different, and continues to follow them.

She veers slightly to try and be a little less obviously upwind.

There's something moving in the trees.

The were sets off at a run, his companion barely keeping up.

Jay swears, inventively, and in many languages, in her head, and takes off after them. She spares only a fleeting thought for stealth right now, fumbling for a weapon - she isn't carrying a gun right now, as much as she'd prefer to be, but she does have a few knives on her person, one of which is old, tarnished silver. It's her springblade she drags out though - because that's less of a risk to run with, no chance of falling and stabbing herself.

His companion utterly fails to keep up.

"Scott, wait- Lydia? Lydia, Lydia!"

But with Jay following the werewolf, she won't have a chance to find out who or what a 'Lydia' is. 

He runs, following what's clearly a fellow werewolf. 

"Wait, I can help!"

The werewolf does not stop to receive help. He keeps running.

Straight into a trap, that springs and traps him in place, arms caught, his body dangling from a tree. He struggles ineffectually.

Jay skids herself to a stop when she sees that, sliding in behind a tree, and putting her back to it.  She takes a couple of deep breaths. Okay, there's traps, that means hunters. And given all the other factors at play, that probably meant Hunters. She could only hope that they weren't going to walk past her hiding place.  She looks around, trying to pin down where the teen who'd been following was.

It looks like he turned back before they got this far. Nowhere in sight. 

The were makes to step out from the trees-

-and someone stops him.

"Wait! Stop, what are you doing? I can help him!"

"They're already here," he says, sparing a glance for Jay. 

He looks towards her as well, but before he has a chance to speak, he's interrupted. 

"Quiet," he warns.

And a familiar face appears. He approaches the werewolf, now more nervous than before. It could be the weapons.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" 

Jay catches the whispered conversation, and manages to locate approximately where they are, but she can't quite make them out.

Her attention is drawn back to the clearing. And that's Chris Argent, which really, Jay should've been expecting. She digs out her phone shielding the screen to stop the light giving her away. No message from Tantalus. She'd gripe at him later.

Tantalus hasn't sent her a text because he's been a bit distracted following the Argents and trying not to get caught doing it. There's a lot of weapons there, and he prefers keeping all his blood inside him, thank you very much. He's hidden in among the trees, crouched down behind a bush.

He isn't liking what he's seeing. This looks far too much like a set up, and he's not entirely sure the person caught is the actual target.

Gerard is the only other Argent there, of course.

It wouldn't do to put an Argent woman in the field again, not after what happened to his reckless daughter. 

He waits his turn.

"Nothing. Nothing, I swear!"

There may only be two Argents here, but there are plenty of hunters to back them up.

"You're not from here, are you? Are you?!"

"No. No, I came- I came looking for the Alpha. I heard he was here. That's all. Look, I didn't do anything, I didn't hurt anyone. No one living. He wasn't alive in the ambulance, he wasn't, I swear." 

That explains the ambulance at least. Tantalus eases himself closer, trying to catch a glimpse of facial expressions and body language. The number of hunters here means that he can't intervene, even if he wanted to. He manages to get eyes on Argent Senior, stood patiently, as though waiting for some unknown cue.

Tantalus reaches, almost reflexively, for his gun. He could get away with one, Jay risking it wouldn't have been wise. He leaves it in its holster, but keeps his hand resting on it.

Jay has her knife held flat against her thigh, and is watching the scene carefully from around the edge of her tree. This is an interrogation, but something tells her that giving the right answers isn't necessarily going to go the way this wolf hopes it will. She's counting heads, seeing what the odds would be, and the answer is too high. Besides, there's no guarantee that the guy isn't lying about not hurting anyone living to save his own hide - she certainly wouldn't be admitting to anything in his position.

Indeed, as if the stars have aligned and the perfect moment has come, he steps in front of his son, lifting his sword. 

"Gentleman! Take a look at a rare sight. You wanna tell them what we've caught?"

"An omega."

"The lone wolf! Possibly kicked out of his own pack. Or the survivor of a pack that was hunted down- maybe even murdered. And possibly alone by his own choice."

Tantalus rubs his forehead for a second, because he can see exactly where this is going. He pulls his gun out, and checks his clip. Aconite bullets. He has a lighter in his pocket. Well. Time to see if Jay's info about how to cure aconite poisoning is accurate. He screws the suppressor into place.

If he gets himself shot, he is so totally blaming her.

He stands, aims for the omega's lower left stomach and fires.

Taking a deep breath, he strides into the clearing, gun held lax at his side.

Jay hear's the distinctive sound of a suppressed gun going off and her head snaps around just in time to see Tantalus stride into the clearing, a dangerous look on his face.

"Really?" she mutters, more to herself than anything else, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers.

She gets ready to step out if it looks like things are going to head south.

"Well," Tantalus says, lips curving into a none-too-pleasant-smile. "Glad to have finally caught up with this bugger. I thank you for your assistance, but I think I've got it from here."

Mr. Argent seems a bit thrown. 

"I can't say I know what you mean."

"Oh, it's really very simple. This man wants the kill for himself. Tell me, how do you plan to do it? Slow poisoning is cruel, but it's not the most painful, is it." 

"Precisely," Tantalus agrees, inclining his head. "I've been tracking him for a while now. I'd feel rather put out if I had to concede my kill."

He tilts his head considering. "Poisoning them is a fairly good way of making sure they're slightly less agile. And then, if time permits, you have the leisure to...have a little fun while you're waiting on it doing it's. I can't help but notice that you have a shock-baton there, electricity is one way of doing things, but there are others. Knives, acid. Shooting out various joints." He pulls out his lighter with his spare hand, in a way that seems absent as he flicks the flame off and on.

"Really rather depends on what path you want to go down." He lifts his gun to look at it. "Or, you can just treat it how you would any other animal. Put it down, out of its misery. Then again, I care more about my dog than I do about one of these. And sometimes you have to send a message."

Jay keeps a careful eye on the area the two other wolves were in, hoping they won't try to intervene. She still hasn't decided whether to make herself known. Right now though, it doesn't sound like he needs her help.

Then again, she doesn't know how hard a sell it's going to be to get these guys to leave.

"Oh, yes. As needs must. We do what we have to. I think we'll have to leave this one in his very capable hands, don't you, Chris?"

"Whatever you want. Boys, let's pack it up."

Chris and the other men begin to leave, some befuddled, some disappointed. 

"I don't suppose you could send me a souvenir, after you're done with him?"

"I won't make any promises," Tantalus says slowly, wondering whether or not he could actually manage to figure out a way to do that. "But I'll keep in mind that you wanted something."

"I guess that's the best I can ask for. Are you planning on staying long? We could use more hunters around here."

The werewolves are now having a whispered conversation.

Jay can tell they're talking, but nothing else. 

"For a while at least," Tantalus admits. "Got a ward who needs to finish up school. This hunt came up sharp and we were the only ones in the area. If nothing else comes up, we'll probably hang around until the school year's out at least." A valid reason, he thinks, for staying around. Plus it means that if they run into Gerard again, he won't have to explain why he hasn't left when his business is apparently concluded.

Jay just hopes they don't try to intervene right now, otherwise things might not go the way Tantalus probably has them planned. And if it's a choice between the omega and them, and Tantalus, she's going to choose Tantalus every time.

"I understand. Your children come first. I hope we see each other again."

He sheathes his sword, and follows the others away. 

And one of the werewolves is gone. 

Scott...waits, looking at Jay.

He doesn't have a clear line of sight, but it's clear he has a bead on her.

Jay waits until Gerard is out of sight before, with the feeling of eyes on her back, hurrying down into the clearing.

"Give me one of those bullets," she says, holding out her hand.

The omega has very little to contribute! Mostly just crying.

The other werewolf: still doesn't interrupt, but he steps out into the clearing when Gerard seems to be gone.

He takes the least threatening posture a werewolf can, really.

Tantalus still shifts to cover Jay as he drops a bullet into her hand.

"I'm perfectly willing to do this," he says, watching her split the bullet with her knife and pour the contents onto the blade.

"I've got this," Jay says, lighting the powder on her dagger with her own lighter. "And what the hell kind of plan was that?"

She waits until the flames die - pretty quickly - and hikes the wolf's shirt up, pressing the dagger and its contents against the wound. Thankfully, the blade isn't hot enough to elicit the smell of burning flesh.

"You realise that there's a really good chance of this guy not dying getting back to Argent, right?" She looks at the wolf. "Will you be quiet? Please?"

One of the werewolves continues to be quiet.

The other one...gives it his best effort, really.

He starts to shift back to human, whimpering. 

"Alright," Jay says, stepping back. "If I let you down, are you going to try and kill me, or run?"

Because they need to make sure this guy gets the hell away from here sooner rather than later. Making an enemy of the Argents is not on her to-do list.

Tantalus, assured that Jay probably has that situation in hand, is looking at the still-quiet werewolf.

"So," he says after a moment. "You gonna just stand there and watch, or you gonna say something?"

"Whatever you want. I don't want any trouble." 

The other werewolf interjects.

"There's no alpha here. The rumors weren't true."

"I know the alpha is here. If you would just let me meet him-"

He looks at Tantalus. 

"Do not run," Jay says firmly. "We're still having a conversation here."

She reaches up and cuts his hands free, stepping back quickly.

Tantalus smiles pleasantly, and tries to go back to looking relatively harmless. "Well, I'm not sure whether I should be saying listen to the kid who lives around here, or calling bull given that there's obviously more than one wolf here, which means that there should be an alpha."

He catches the look. "Oh, and I should probably say 'I mean you no harm' round about now, right?"

"Unless you try to harm us," Jay interjects.

"Must you try to be helpful?" Tantalus asks with a sigh.

"So you think there's an alpha, too. Any idea where to find him?"

"If you stay here, they'll know you're alive. You can't keep hiding forever." 

"I won't need to stay forever. Just long enough to find a pack." 

"Well, I have no idea how to find the alpha without serious hunting," Tantalus says cheerfully, "and given that our young friend has already told us there isn't one... Well, I doubt he'll be inclined to change his story."

And Tantalus can't be bothered working out social cues right now. It's dark, and he's tired. But the kid is right.

"I would rather you were gone sooner rather than later. I'd prefer not to find out how the Argents deal with their enemies..."

Jay is watching the other wolf, trying to get a read on him, see if there's any cues that he may have been lying about the lack of an alpha.

She spins her knife around her fingers. "And if there is an alpha, you're likely to be joining their pack. Which isn't leaving."

"...it won't be any safer if I leave. Maybe you can feel better, because I didn't die here, but I'm going to die if I go back." 

The other wolf is definitely lying about the lack of an alpha. 

If the omega hasn't noticed, it's because he's distracted by the almost-dying.

"I'm not really concerned about your safety," Jay says with a careless little shrug. She jerks a thumb at Tantalus, "I'm concerned about his."

She narrows her eyes at the other wolf.

"Would speaking to the alpha here help you find a pack elsewhere?" she asks.

"Aw, you do care," Tantalus teases, sweeping his gaze between the two wolves, still not entirely sure they're threat free yet.

There's a moment's hesitation.

"An alpha could at least put me in touch with other packs." 

"There isn't an alpha here. The Hale pack has been gone for a long time. I know you were hoping to find one of them here, but they're all gone. There's no one left. I'm sorry." 

Jay thinks about that for a minute. Then: "Well. If he's sure there isn't one, I guess it would probably be better for you to move on before the Argents find you again and finish the job."

She wants to ask why the teenager is lying, but right now, she's considerably more focused on getting rid of the omega.

"Please. You have to give something, some way to defend myself." 

The other wolf has nothing to say to that.

Jay looks away. "The best I can offer is a knife."

And it really is, even if it wasn't what was meant. She spins the one in her hand around her fingers again.

"Don't look at me!" Tantalus holds up one hand. "I've got nothing."

Except for the gun in his hand, but like hell is he parting with that.

"Don't even have any information I could give you, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry. You'll be better off out there," and that seems quite sincere.

Jay tries to look more apologetic than she really feels.

Tantalus manages to look slightly more apologetic. "There'll be other towns with packs , and probably less hunters to boot."

He's starting to really wish he was home in bed right now. He's wiped out.

He sighs.

"Thank you. I guess I'll let you pretend I survived, then. You did a good thing. Congrats."

And he walks away. 

"Does one of you need to make sure he leaves, or is it okay if I do that?"

Jay thinks for a second. She would rather be sure he's gone, but the teenager seems just as determined to see the back of the guy.

"All yours," she decides. "Although we will want to talk to you later."

Because him being out here wasn't suspicious at all. Ignoring the fact that her and Tantalus has both followed people here.

Tantalus waves magnanimously. "Go ahead. It's been a long day. We should get back to ours."

He's careful not to say Jay's name, just as she's been avoiding his. Although no doubt she'll meet this teen in school.

So he goes, and they're alone at last. 

They can wait, if they like, or they can follow. 

"He's lying," Jay says as she moves to follow. "There is an alpha in town. Can't figure out why he's lying about it though. Something is really not right."

"Well we already knew something wasn't right," Tantalus points out. "This just confirms our feelings on the matter."

He looks over at her as he removes the suppressor from his gun and tucks both away.

"And where, precisely are you going?"

"To follow them," Jay says slowly. "Y'know. Make sure they follow through. They seemed genuine, but..."

Tantalus shakes his head. "No. Not happening. You remember the part where you have school tomorrow? We are doing no more traipsing through the wood tonight. Back to the car. Now."

Which is what they do, despite the grumbling.

The woods appreciate this lack of traipsing.

Would they like to listen to their police scanner, acquired through totally legal means?

Jay doesn't give Tantalus a chance to object, flipping it on with a hard look at him.

Tantalus sighs, but concedes this round, and reminds her that they're not doing any more running around tonight.

Apparently, a girl who recently vanished from the hospital was found naked in the woods. She's perfectly alright, despite the day she spent missing. 

Tantalus is relieved. The girl is fine, the police have it in hand, there is no reason for them to go back out.

Jay is almost put out by the lack of reason to head back out. But tomorrow is going to be exhausting. So, she'll never let him know it, but Tantalus is right about that.

They make it back to the house they've acquired for their stay, and Jay heads straight for bed.

The next day, Jay has legally-mandated education. 

"Please don't kill anyone," Tantalus says as he drops Jay off - they'd done all the registration stuff yesterday afternoon. "Or maim. Or declare war on."

"I promise the only warfare I will wage will be psychological," Jay says, sliding out of the car.

She looks around. "Wish me luck."

She isn't looking forward to being the new girl.

"You got this, girl."

Jay nods, steels her shoulders and heads for the steps into the school.

Very little of the attention is on her. Most of the gossip seems to revolve around the youngest Argent. Apparently her aunt was some kind of psycho. She lived in her house for a month before they finally figured out she was behind the Hale fire. 

The Hale fire, really? The mysterious arson, finally solved.

She's not the only topic of conversation. Her friend, standing close by her side, is the subject of mocking. Together, they're getting judgmental glances aplenty. She ignores them, strutting through the halls. 

Jay is very thankful that she's not the centre of attention. She's not necessarily happy that other people are being mocked - because she's been mocked before, for other reasons, but it isn't nice - but she definitely prefers managing to skate below the radar.

She heads for her locker, keeping her head down and trying to avoid notice.

Although there's bound to be someone who spots her.

Someone does notice her.

"Hey, can we talk?"

Jay looks at him, and then around, not obviously, just a quick flick of her eyes.

"Sure," she says, and if she's feeling nervous, it certainly isn't showing.

"Anywhere you want, any time. We can do it now, or we can do it later, with your friend, somewhere more private." 

"Now would make more sense," Jay says, settling back on one heel. "Unless you particularly think my friend needs to be here. I prefer not to delay things."

"I'm mostly worried about eavesdropping. Kind of a dangerous topic." 

"Wise," Jay agrees, her estimation of him going up a notch. "There somewhere we can do this in private, then? Or is that your way of saying do it later? Because if so, right after we finish. I'm sure we'll be able to find somewhere secluded."

She doesn't mean to make that sound like a threat, but the last sentence might come out a little more harshly that she intended.

"Anywhere private is fine, but it's not a right-now kind of thing. Lunch?" 

"Lunch sounds fine," Jay says with a nod. "Now, if that was everything, wouldn't do to be late on my first day..."

She moves to walk away, determined to get to her locker and hunt down wherever she's supposed to be first.

Here's her locker! 

And here's this kid.

"Hey. You must be the new student." 

"Uh, yeah," Jay nods. She's silent for s second before remembering she's supposed to introduce herself. "Jay," she says, holding out her hand.

"Danny. Do you know how to find all of your classes? I'm kind of the unofficial welcoming committee." 

"Does that mean there's an official one?" Jay says lightly, aiming for teasing but not quite sure if she's hit it.

She almost says no to the help, but figures making friends is a good way to get all the gossip and digs her timetable out. "Help would be fantastic. Sc- New schools are always confusing." She kicks herself for the near slip, but keeps a friendly smile on her face.

"Standard tour? Or should I just show you where all your classes are first?"

"The standard tour would be brilliant," she decides. "I should be able to find my classes after that."

Plus it gives her a chance to scope the school itself.

Well, it will have to be a brief tour, since she will have to get to classes- but a quick stop by the nearest teacher gets her out of homeroom.

"So, Beacon Hills High. We have plenty of classrooms for you to check out later, but first let's go for the amenities. Girls' bathroom is over here, boys' on the other side of the hall. Two on each floor. If you want to be strategic, memorize a route to the cafeteria that takes you past one. That way you can cover all your basic needs and still have time to meet new people." 

"These are the locker rooms, where you can get changed for the ever-important gym class, and here's the gym, where you can prove yourself on the dodgeball battlefield." 

"The pool is over there, opposite side of the locker rooms, that's the computer lab...the library, but you're probably better off skipping it for most things." 

"The auditorium, which we use twice a year, and the music rooms, which we use a lot more often...and those are the greatest hits."

"Well, I certainly can't think of anything else I'd need to know," Jay admits - a slightly lie, roof access would've been nice, but she'd spotted a possible door and can check that out later. "Thanks for this."

Which is when the bell goes.

"I'll see you round, then?" Jay is not ashamed to say that she's more than willing to use Danny as a springboard to this being social thing. He's friendly enough that it makes it easy.

"Sure. If you don't find anyone more fun by then, you can sit with me at lunch. Good luck."

"I appreciate that," Jay says with a smile.

And then it's off to class, and it's math. Which is...boring. Not all that difficult compared to figuring out the precise angle required for-

And, no. Jay is supposed to be a normal teenager, who doesn't think of things like that. So she looks around the room instead, trying to spot anyone she recognises, or who looks interesting or suspicious.

Does the young Miss Argent count as familiar or interesting? 

The young Miss Argent counts as both. And again, an opportunity for information gathering.

"This seat taken?" Jay asks, pointing at the empty seat next to her.

"No, it's all yours. I'm Allison, by the way." 

"Thanks," Jay sits down. "I'm Jay. Being very grateful to run into two relatively friendly people. It...doesn't normally happen."

"Beacon Hills is pretty friendly," she agrees.

"I'm new around here, actually. It's been a little over a month." 

"Well, my experience so far agrees with that." Barring the incident in the wood last night, but that was hardly likely to reflect on the entire town. "Oh, so you still remember being new girl. Sucks doesn't it? I mean, I think I've been lucky, gossip mill seems to be focused on other things this morning..." It isn't said to be intentionally cruel, and sounds honestly offhand, but Jay is watching Allison out of the corner of her eye, waiting to see what reaction that gets.

"Oh-oh, yeah. Um, what are people saying?"

"Well, apparently a girl ran out of the hospital naked, after being attacked, and well, apparently none of them have any understanding of trauma?" Jay shakes her head. (She might be forgetting that a lot of "normal" teenagers won't have any frame of reference for responses to that kind of trauma.) "And apparently whispering about what someone's Aunt did is okay? I mean, how does that change the person they know? People like that are really good at hiding who they are..." It sounds there like she might just be talking from personal experience.

"People don't care about who they're gossiping about, or it wouldn't be any fun. I usually steer clear of it, if I can. That's the nice thing about not being new anymore."

Jay smirks slightly at that. "Well. I kinda hate saying this, but the upshot of all that is that I'm pretty low on the list of things to be gossiped about!"

"I'm sure the girl with the crazy aunt doesn't mind. I guess you know who I am."

Jay grimaces, slightly sheepishly. "Sorry. Didn't want to..." she pauses, trying to word this right. "I didn't just want to come out and say it. Although I think my inability to do words might have just ended with me sticking my foot in my mouth. My condolences, by the way. Family's family."

"She was a lot younger than my dad. We were basically sisters, growing up. I moved around a lot, and she would always blow into whatever small town or big city or isolated ranch we landed on." 

Would everyone like to take a packet of algebra exercises to prove they remember all of the important stuff?

Jay gives as close to a sympathetic smile as she can manage - she hasn't had all that much practice at the one, so it might come up a little wrong.

And then: algebra. And Jay ends up with on hand tugging absently at her hair, because sure, she can do this, but she's never had to do it on paper before.

Luckily, notation is the first thing they're being tested on! So she should probably learn fast! She can always take advantage of the tutoring services the teacher mentioned at the start of class.

Jay, thankfully, is good at picking up on things quickly, but she does ask the teacher about the tutoring service, just in case she needs it, under the guise of her previous school having been focused on something else.

It is not that unusual to need a review!

Would Jay prefer someone taking the same level of math as her, or an AP student?

The teacher can probably find someone either way. 

Almost definitely someone the same level! Although she isn't all that fussy and will take anyone, so long as it gets her caught up. Is that everything she needs to do in this class?

The teacher suggests that Jay give him contact information to give to her tutor, once he finds someone suitable, but other than that, class seems to be over. 

Jay quickly scribbles down her phone number - it's a burner phone anyway, after they're finished here it'll never be used again.

That done, she heads off to gym - the one class she's probably actually looking forward to, because physical exercise, yay!

Physical exercise, yay!

She doesn't recognize anyone, which gives her the opportunity to meet someone new! How exciting!

They are apparently doing fitness testing today, and Jay follows her assigned group over to an area set up for pull-ups. And there's a pause as precisely no-one steps forward to start. Jay sighs and steps forward to start.

"It's not that difficult," she mutters, aware that her arms are probably going to hate her later, but she pushes herself a bit harder than she normally would.  When she drops and gives up, she's not entirely sure how she's going to manage push-ups, but she will persevere. She moves over to the girl who had been keeping count.

"I lost track," she lies. "Care to tell me how I did?"

"Better than any of the mediocre competition. I suppose showing off is a good way to worm your way into the social ladder, but try not to be too obvious about it; no one likes a girl with an ego." 

"Ooh, nice claws," Jay drawls. "Perhaps I just enjoy challenging myself? But I'll take that under advisement, thanks for the tip."

"And I suppose you'll get to laugh at me when I fail miserably at press-ups because I just killed my arms." She's grinning, but she's feeling a kick in the gut there. Failure never did sit well with her.

Are they done with pull-ups? Next looks like sit-ups thankfully.

The girl will ignore all these sit-ups and stare at her nails. 

"Good job keeping your chin up, Carson! Maybe the rest of these hooligans could learn from that? That means you, Greenberg!"

Jay can't help the pleased feeling that the Coach's words cause, even as she clamps harshly down on it and goes about doing sit-ups. She shoots a look around, trying to locate Greenberg and then watches the girl looking at her nails out of the corner of her eyes. Sit-ups complete - and she keeps her own count in her head.

Shuttle-runs don't give much time for talking, but she takes a moment to introduce herself to the girl before starting on push-ups.

"I'm Jay by the way. Not that you probably care."

Greenberg proves difficult to locate, since the gym teacher proceeds to insult and yell at most of her classmates. 

The girl indeed seems not to care, and fitness testing continues without any further commentary. 

Jay shrugs at both, she can't have everything, and manages to not fall flat on her face the first push-up she attempts. She does let herself collapse after what she thinks is a not unreasonable number.

Which, regrettably, brings them to the end of gym. Which means English is next if she doesn't get waylaid at any point between leaving the gym, showering and changing, and getting to class. English is...well, at least she might get to read something?

She might get to read something!

Here's a grammar workbook.

She can also look for some other students to talk to, if she'd like. 

She stares at the grammar workbook for a moment, before looking around, trying to appear slightly lost and hoping this will lead to someone being nice enough to point out a spare chair. Hopefully this person will also be willing to talk to her. Can't get information without dialogue. 

There's a seat in the front open, which the girl next to it gestures to. 

There's also an empty seat next to this fellow.

Jay half wants to take the seat next to the guy, because so far she's been networking with girls, but it would seem rude to snub the girl who's effectively inviting her to take a seat, so she takes that one.

"Jay," she says, trying to manage a smile - she's not sure she succeeds, but she thinks she does.

She smiles politely.

"Hey. I'm Harley. Are you new?"

"Yeah," Jay nods. "Feeling a little lost to be honest."

She waves the booklet. "And a little overwhelmed. I'll be fine once I get into the swing of things, but that still takes more than three classes."

"Yeah, I bet being the new girl sucks. Ready to learn your parts of speech again? I never understood why they did this every year." 

Jay nods and frowns at the workbook, trying to act like this was a boring bit of repetition, rather than a boring bit of new stuff. "We don't really have a choice, do we? Maybe they think it doesn't stick in our heads?"

"It probably doesn't, if you don't pay attention. Most people are lazy and don't care, which is a bad combination."

"That...is horribly accurate," Jay can't help a slight chuckle, her estimation of the girl goes up a notch. 

And then: to work. Because Jay doesn't want a lecture for failing any classes. And if she's less reticent to ask questions than normal, who's to know?

Certainly not the English teacher, who seems to expect them all to avoid making eye contact or moving their arms for fear of being called on. 

Grammar ensues, and the bell does, eventually, end their misery. 

"What do you have next? Maybe we can walk together." 

"Lunch next, I think," Jay says. "Then chemistry."

She's not forgetting that she has someone to talk to at lunch, she just figures she can slip away if she needs to.

They walk.

Mina attempts small talk. 

Did Jay watch the game? How does she like the weather here? Why did she move? Oh my gosh, did you hear about their town scandal?

Jay looks blankly at her before realising she should respond.

What ga-Wait. Lacrosse is big here right? Did they win? The weather's fine. It's not the coldest place she's lived, nor the warmest. Simon's job. (Don't call him Tantalus in front of the uninitiated.)

Town scandal? You mean the Hale fire and who caused it? Hard to miss!

Yeah, apparently the new girl who moved, just before Jay, lived with the arsonist for a month, and now she's dead. 

It's pretty mysterious and scary. 

Speaking of mysterious and scary, here's the cafeteria.

The story doesn't really scare Jay. The cafeteria does. She forcibly reminds herself that she is unlikely to be attacked by these teenagers, and if she is, she can probably fight them off...

She scans around herself, looking for the boy she's supposed to be talking to.

There is a boy sitting at a table with his friend, looking her way. 

His friend stands up, weaving through the crowd towards her.

"Want to sit with me and my friends?"

"Thanks, but I just remembered I wanted to talk to the Coach about something."

Which is excuse enough, Jay hopes, to duck out of the cafeteria. Hopefully he follows, and she has an apple in her bag that'll keep her going through the afternoon.

Well, it must be enough. Her new friend doesn't follow her.

"Hey," says the werewolf.

He wasn't being particularly stealthy, but werewolves move fast, even when they're trying to act human. 

If Jay's startled, she doesn't show it.

"Hey," she echoes blandly. "There roof access anywhere? Seems unlikely we'll be disturbed up there."

And if it also shows her how to access the roof without having to look around herself, he never needs to know.

"There might be, but I don't know how. We can just find a spot by the pool or the music room, no one will hear us over the noise."

Jay hums out an affirmative and away they go to find a quiet corner.

"So talk," she says, not willing to give away what little she does know.

"I think you should ask the questions, and I'll answer them. We'll cover more ground that way." 

"Want to tell me why you were lying about the lack of an alpha then?" Jay goes straight for the hard one. "I mean, sure, you have resident hunters, but the larger the pack the stronger it is."

She considers. "How long have you been a wolf?"

And then: "And should I be worried about your interest in Ms Argent?"

"I don't know what you've heard about the Hales, but the last alpha we had turned me, and killed a dozen people last month. The new alpha killed him."

"Rumours mostly," Jay says. "We knew the Hale fire had happened, we didn't know who was responsible until this came up." She hums. "Well. That certainly explains the rash of animal attack deaths. We'd thought it was...unusual."

She tilts her head. "And you're just going to ignore the question about Ms Argent?" (Jay hasn't quite elected herself bodyguard, but if this is going to be a problem, she's not going to let it fester.)

"I don't know what you need to hear to drop it, but I don't really want to get into the whole thing. The last month was kind of a mess."

Jay tilts her head slightly.

"Bad break-up?" she's only half-joking, but she settles back on one heel, waving away her own question. "Any of the Hales still in town? And would they be willing to talk to us?  They've been practically untraceable since the fire.  We are on their territory.  I'd prefer to let them know we mean no harm."

"It's not my story to tell. I don't know where Derek is staying, but maybe you can catch him around town. He's the new alpha."

Jay scrutinises him for a second, before deciding that if he's hiding anything, now really isn't the time to push it. "Alright. Here," she fishes out a piece of paper and scribbles down her phone number. "If you happen to run into him before I do, feel free to let him know I'm looking for him."

"You don't seem to like hunters or werewolves that much." 

"I don't particularly like anyone very much. Both sides are flawed. That Simon stopped Argent killing that omega should assure you we're not here to hunt you all down. Think of us as a neutral party."

Nod.

"It was nice to meet you, but we both have classes to get to." 

"Quite," Jay inclines her head. "See you round, I'm sure."

And she eats her apple on the way to chemistry.

Most of the other students are already seated, but she's there just before the bell rings.

The teacher glares at her, but doesn't comment, and takes his place at the front of the room. 

"Now, I know you're all looking forward to wasting time and getting wasted during spring break, but bear in mind that if you spend the next month thinking about that, you'll fail my class. To really drive this home, we'll be examining the formation of snowflakes, because it's not spring yet."

"Sorry, sir," Jay mutters as she hurries to find a seat.

She gets the immediate impression that she is not going to like this man. He seems too much like he enjoys tearing people down. Still, she's dealt with his kind before, and the easiest way to do that is to keep your head down and be invisible.

She does, however, glance around the room to figure out if she knows anyone else who shares this class with her.

There's only one other student she recognizes.

She can always pick someone new as a lab partner, though, since they're doing that first.

Jay is getting worn out with trying to be sociable to new people, so she gives Danny a hopeful smile, but doesn't impose herself on him if he would rather partner with someone else.

Danny will join her, then.

"Hey. You can get the ingredients and I'll set up our table."

Jay weighs up her option, discards asking the teacher, because  and instead follows the other students up collecting ingredients, and hopes she doesn't miss anything before returning to their table.

"Don't think I missed anything."

"No, that looks good."

Experiments ensue!

Danny helps her if she looks confused; it seems she lucked out in the lab partner department.

"Thanks so much," Jay says, leaning slightly towards Danny. "I would've been completely lost without you."

She looks sideways slightly. "Had to leave my last school in a hurry cause of- of Si's work. Might have left mid-term. If I can do anything for you, just let me know. Not sure what that would be, but..."

"Sit with me and my friends today. We need some fresh meat to play with. There were some pretty messed up things going on last month, and everyone is kind of recovering." 

"Fresh meat to play with, huh?" Jay keeps her tone light, even though she feels briefly frozen, then she relaxes, remembering that even if teenagers are cruel, most of them don't mean it the way her brain immediately translates it. "I can do that. Just be warned, I have a tendency to bite back." She sticks her tongue out teasingly and manages a grin.

"You might actually get Lydia to talk again. Could be interesting."

They finish up their lab, and turn it in.

"Now that's an almost evil smile," Jay smirks, tilting her head in consideration. "I am totally game to do this."

She falls silent as they turn their lab in and searches her memory for what she has next.

Spanish, apparently.

Jay rubs at her forehead as she makes her way into the class. She's not completely fluent in Spanish, but this class will at least not contain any ideas that she's never encountered before.

She's early enough that she can pick almost any seat.

There's only one other student already there.

Sitting right next to her would probably be strange. Given all the other empty seats. So Jay chooses a seat close by, but not so close that it would be weird, slightly behind the girl, nodding as she passes on the way to her seat.

She seems mildly bewildered by the nodding, but waves. 

The rest of the room begins to fill up.

One student rushes in just before the bell rings.

"Sorry I'm late, won't happen again today, promise."

He takes a seat near the front that's still open, which puts him in front of Jay.

And that means it's time for conjugation! 

Look at all this conjugation.

Jay leans forward enough to hopefully be overheard by the boy in front of her.

'Very specific promise that," she murmurs. "Guessing the teacher normally doesn't notice the 'today' in that sentence."

Then she sits back and gets down to conjugating.

Conjugation!

No comment from the boy in front of her!

And conjugation time ends after much dull, boring conjugation, and then she has history.

Yay! Learning about long dead people! Jay does her level best not to grimace, and probably looks like she's wicking a lemon.

The teacher expects this! 

No one comments, and then she's done for the day.

And not a moment too soon! Jay doesn't rush out, hoping to let the halls clear some of people. She isn't entirely sure how she's going to cope doing this day in, day out.

She pauses at her locker, pulling out the books she needs for homework. It feels weird. Then she's heading for the exit, and hopefully some investigative work to figure out what the hell is going on.

Investigation it is. 

Where will she begin?

After a quick run back to the house they're staying in - Tantalus isn't there, but that's not really a problem - to dump her backpack and acquire and conceal the weapons she figures were probably a really bad idea to have at school, it's out to the Preserve, and where a map suggests the old Hale house should be.

It's quiet out here, peaceful, and Jay relaxes; she's always done better away from people. This doesn't mean she's unaware, because she is still listening, and keeping watch, just in case she has company.

There is, as expected, a house.

Jay looks up at the half-ruined house, wondering how the hell it hadn't been torn down already - or blown down in a storm. It still smelt like ash, but that might just have been her nose providing a smell to match the appearance. She approaches it, not bothering to call out, if the person she wants to talk to is here, he already knows she's here, and if not, well, she can always pretend to be a lost hiker.

She walks up to the house, scanning the surroundings, and finally makes her way up the steps onto the porch.

The porch doesn't do anything exciting.

Someone walks out of the woods, though, towards her.

Jay turns to face him, one hand sliding under the back of her top, grasping the hilt of the knife concealed her.

"Evening," she greets pleasantly, discreetly widening her stance, although she somehow doubts her ability to take on an Alpha werewolf should it come to that. She's hoping it doesn't.

"Coming unarmed would have been pretty stupid, but grabbing your weapon when I'm this close wasn't smart, either. Makes you seem hostile. Just a general tip."

"True that, I suppose. But I wasn't sure you were who I was looking for. And we're out here, alone in the woods. Anything could happen."

She takes a deep breath and slides her hand off the knife, holding both hands out slightly.

"Derek Hale, I presume?"

"It's been a while since anyone recognized me. The Hales were famous, once. We're not anymore."

"Well, recent events in this town have people concerned. I'm not here to hunt anyone, just make sure that the town isn't going to explode in anyone's face. Which...I mean, what was going on with the Argents didn't look particularly friendly."

"It wasn't. Why do you think you'll be any help?"

"Whoever said anything about helping? I just said I was here to make sure the town didn't explode. And also figure out what the hell has been happening. But, honestly not here to hunt. Just...assure people bigger than ourselves that the area is stable. That isn't to say I can't be an ally if you need one." She's purposefully avoiding the plural. She's almost certain he's probably aware that she's not alone, but she's not about to advertise the fact.

"The situation isn't stable. Anything else you want to report to 'people bigger than ourselves'?"

"Well, an assurance that you're not going to end up going psychotic and turning or murdering all the town's teenagers would be nice."

"I won't murder any teenagers. And I won't turn anyone who doesn't want it." 

"Americans don't let people drink until they're twenty-one. Okay you can join the armed forces at eighteen, but... What makes you think teenagers are capable of thinking far enough ahead to make an informed decision about accepting the bite?"

"Not everyone has options, and I'm giving them one. I can help them." 

"Gods, I know that not everyone has options, I know," Jay gives a bitter laugh, "but there's a difference between giving them an option and waving something fantastical in their face that might seem at first glance to be a magical cure-all to everything that's wrong with their lives. And even if you give them warnings, if they don't have other options, they won't think it through properly. They'll cling onto it, because it's better than what they know."

She sighs, suddenly very tired. "But it's a hard call to make if you think you can help and you don't see any other options you can offer them. I didn't actually come here to berate you. Just...make sure you give anyone you're nibbling on the full disclaimer."

"I'll try my best."

"That includes the Argents. They've proven they're going to be hunting properly."

She pauses there, because really, she can't snoop around the house now. So, instead, she makes her way back down the steps. "Weird question. Any idea if there's a swimming pool anywhere?" For later reference, and because local knowledge is always better than maps.

"We have a public pool, and plenty of people have private ones. The school has one, last I checked."

"Cheers. I'm sure I'll see you around. Take care." She pauses as she walks away, turning and raising a finger. "And try not to rile up the Argents? I have neither the energy or the desire to have to marshal a war while keeping the civvies out of it. And yes, I would give the Argents the exact same warning if I didn't expect it would end in them assuming I'm some kind of supernatural myself." Then she turns and starts walking away again.

No response.

Presumably he took it to heart.

Jay pulls out her phone, and calls Tantalus. "Found Hale. Seems pretty amenable to not mauling everyone. Kinda worried about him biting teenagers though."

"You're paranoid," Tantalus said lightly. "But probably not entirely wrong. Not a murderer though?"

"If he was, I'd probably be dead. Think I'm gonna head for a swim. Provided the school's pool is empty. I'm borrowing the car."

"And if I say 'no'?"

"You're not going to,"Jay said confidently. "You're my partner not my keeper. Plus I cheat better than you do in a fight."

Tantalus doesn't argue, and in relatively short order Jay has her kit and is back at the school. She ducks into the pool area hoping to find it empty. Or at least with no-one paying enough attention to her.

The pool area looks empty.

Jay nods to herself and quickly goes to change.

She dives into the pool on her return, and quickly falls into a rhthym. Her turns could do with some work, but she manages them. Once she's settled she occasionally notes her length time, but doesn't seem all that inclined to take many breaks for now.

Someone enters, walking the length of the pool.

"Sorry to interrupt," he says dryly.

Jay ducks under the water, kicking off the wall she'd just come to. Her normally good awareness of her surroundings had been blunted by the sound of herself in the water, and the echo-y atmosphere of the pool. She surfaces, deciding to stay where she now is in the middle of pool rather than risk being in reaching distance. Especially when she didn't have a firm footing.

"Uh, sorry sir?" she offers. When in doubt: apologise, and be polite. "Am I not supposed to be here? No-one else was using it?"

"You're allowed. We usually keep it locked up in between official uses, and I was coming by to do that. You're reasonably good." 

"Sorry," she repeats, striking out for the edge. "I'll get sorted and let you get on with that." She pauses and she hauls herself out of the pool. "I like swimming. Always have. Good exercise and good time to think. Guess I got 'reasonably good' at it over the years." She kind of wishes she'd stayed in the water now.

"Ever thought about doing it competitively? We've got a team here."

"Can't say I'd ever considered it, sir. We've been moving around a bit and...I'd just never thought about it." She pauses. "I'd be willing to try if you thought I'd be good enough?"

"I'll have you officially try out, but I don't have any doubts. You're as good as on the team. Call me Coach Lahey."

Jay looks down, rubbing one shoulder with the opposite hand. "That'd be great, thanks, Coach. Oh- I'm Jay, well, Jennifer Carson." She dithers over offering a hand.

When she doesn't immediately offer her hand, he claps her on the back.

"Welcome to the team, Carson. Practice is Sunday afternoon."

Jay flinches slightly at the unexpected contact, but covers it with a bright smile and a nod. "I'll be there, Coach." And she hurries to get sorted to leave - pulling her clothes on over her still damp swimsuit and grabbing her bag from the side. "Thanks for the opportunity."

"Not a problem. I look forward to seeing you out there."

Jay salutes, and heads out into the parking lot. It's not really late, but she keeps an eye out in case there's anyone out and about.

Things seem quiet enough.

In which case, she'll head back to their house, announcing as she walks in the door: "I think I accidentally joined the swim team."

Tantalus looks up from where he's cleaning weapons. "How do you manage to accidentally join a swim team? Does Beacon Hills even have a swim team?"

Jay chuckles as she joins him, picking up the closest weapon to help out. She summarises her day, moaning about school - apparently unaware of just how much she sounds like a typical teenager - gives him the cliff-notes of her conversation with Hale, and then sums up her meeting with Coach Lahey ("Yes, they do have a swim team.").

Eventually, they run out of things to talk about, Tantalus insists on them having dinner - which actually consists of them leaning against the counters with boxes of take-out and chopsticks.

The question of whether they need to go out tonight - is it the full moon? - arises.

They have a few days yet. 

Jay still takes her homework out onto the roof (finding a perch where she's not immediately obvious from the street) and uses the frequent bouts of frustration born procrastination to spy on the neighbours.

Lucky for her the neighbors like to have loud arguments, then.