outfits

It had been a long week for the redhead. By the end, she was exhausted by Valerie and Casey's attempts at getting her to feel again. She'd even survived her first full moon thanks to Valerie. Now she just wanted to crawl back to bed and sleep for at least a week. Sadly, she wasn't allowed to just sleep, it was time to face Dahlia again and hear what she had to say about the contract she had with Casey.

In the week that had passed, Valerie had truly seen more sides to the redhead than she had before. After Casey had showed her the worst case scenario, she seemed to have realized she needed to change and it was obvious she had tried letting other feelings in. A moment of utter despair at the realization of what would happen if she didn't manage to change seemed to have kick-started something in the woman, making her more susceptible to whatever they threw at her next. Thanks to her mother, they'd even managed to get Amanda to spend some time with Kailah. It seemed for the first time like she actually managed to be happy, she didn't even worry about Casey being around her daughter as she just wanted to hear all about the little girl's toys and dreams. None of it made any sense to Valerie really. Especially not when she started babbling like everyone understood her. The only thing she understood was the word 'fishy' and that made no sense at all.

Now they had finally made their way to Dahlia's store, and Amanda knew she wasn't looking forward to hearing the final report on what the woman had to say. If she couldn't completely get out of Casey's contract, maybe they could at least adjust the terms of the contract slightly to give her more time to cool down if she did get angry again. On the bright side of it all, now that it was clear she had to shift during full moons at least, she'd finally become ready to learn how to handle her wolfish instincts.

"Dahlia?" she called out, sounding slightly nervous once they'd actually entered the shop. Amanda didn't know what to expect and she didn't know how the other witch would react to seeing her again after she'd been so rude the last time she was in the shop.

Dahlia had been a mess. She didn't eat much or keep. The shop running too much. Most work done in the shop was done by her assistants taking care of her. She was still torn up about the hell she put Vincent through, unable to erase the guilt that had been eating at her. She was being served tea by one of her assistants, the only real attempt they had to get her to consume something. She hadnt been bother with Casey since feeding him the stone containing the demon soul, not sure of what else to do. She was becoming worn with this, her mind clearly starting to slip some. She jumped at someone mentioning her name, making her pick her head up from her desk. Her assistants trailed behind her, the pink haired witch looking to be a complete mess. She looked at Casey, her stare killing his smirk. Even the dragon knew to tone it's smug behavior down when the witch was distressed. Dahlia looked to Amanda, her mind not knowing what on earth the woman was doing in her shop.
"Do you need something Amanda?"
She just stared for a moment before Casey spoke up.
"We had arranged I assess her change of heart and whether I can be released of my contract with her?"
Dahlia sighed before growing a bit frantic, making a motion with her arm towards her office.
"oh of course! This way this way, slipped my mind. Been busy busy busy."

See, Amanda wasn't aware of what had happened in the world around her while she was busy learning to feel again. No one had really bothered explaining to her what was going on either as she'd had to focus on herself rather than everyone else. Valerie had made sure she didn't know anything that wasn't relevant to what she was doing and it had worked in a way. She probably wouldn't have been able to focus if she knew exactly what was going on around her while she busy learning.

It was obvious Dahlia was distraught and it made Amanda even more nervous about the whole thing when she didn't seem to know why she was even there. Luckily Casey replied the older witch's question before Amanda could, that way she couldn't accidentally insult Dahlia before they'd even begun to reassess her situation.

When they were motioned towards the office, Amanda looked to Valerie, silently begging the werewolf not to leave her side. Valerie just shook her head though, this was one thing Amanda had to do on her own. She would just remain outside with Dahlia's assistants and not interfere in the matter between the two witches unless she was specifically asked for by Dahlia. It was none of her business really as her work was more or less complete for the week.

"Did something happen here?" Amanda finally asked as she was curious and couldn't hold back the question any longer anyway. It was obvious that it had and she knew it was none of her business.

Dahlia motioned for her assistants to stay outside of the office while Amanda and Casey followed her inside. She made sure the door shut, wanting to keep this somewhat private and quiet as she was trying to pull her mind back together. She didn't need to be frantic around the young woman before her, she needed to be more put together and not falling apart at the seams as she was currently. She cleaned up her eyes some on the back of her hand, hoping no one had noticed the tear tracks on her face as she sat down. She was going to start a series of questions for the assessment, but Amanda asked if something happened here. The dragon was fully aware of what had happened, it had been fed a demon soul as an end product due to it. Dahlia could only laugh it off, the sound near desperate to shake something that went deep into her bones.
"Nothing nothing! Everything is fine, just getting tired from all this work piling up. Let's get down to the assessment."
Casey could only groan, knowing when Dahlia was lying about being fine due to her manic looking eyes and her repetition of various words. None the less the dragon stepped forward, starting to clear its throat. It knew what it needed to say of Amanda at this point.
"The last week has been interesting to say the least. She was aggressive mostly in the beginning, but her little werewolf friend out there with the twins helped Amanda. She thought to show that there was more than one emotion, not just rage that she could feel. She started to progress fast then, showing better range but sadly not feeding me as much as i liked. Now i wouldn't say she's entirely ready, but she's made some kind of effort that might somehow impress you."

The dragon didn't state anything of showing Amanda what would happen if she had remained as she was or that he was able to help with the idea of getting Amanda to feel other emotions by enjoying simpler things, but at least he said something. Dahlia just stared at him for a moment, having taken in every word he spoke before looking to amanda.
"Anything you want to add Amanda?"

Even without her magic, Amanda could tell Dahlia wasn't being honest when she answered her question, but she decided not to pry. It was after all none of her concern. She only had herself to focus on to get well again. Better wasn't good enough for anyone, she needed to be well again. At least she didn't miss using magic at the moment and that was a good sign. Not missing it meant she wouldn't go on a rampage if she didn't get it back, so that was an improvement at least.

What had worried Amanda most about this whole ordeal was what exactly Casey had planned on saying about the week. She had to agree with Casey when it came to not being entirely ready, but she had gotten a lot better. "Casey isn't being entirely honest. It helped me just as much as Valerie did, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be completely free just yet. Maybe a longer leash instead?"

Amanda knew full well that sooner or later all ties with Casey had to be severed, but as it was she felt like she was only just beginning to realize her full potential for not just destroying everything. "I really don't mean to drag it out, I just don't want to hurt anyone again." In self defense, sure, but not for fun.

Dahlia listened to Amanda speak up, keeping her mind focused to the best of her abilities. She was still struggling to shake what happened with ther brother out of her mind, wishing it had never happened over and over again. Both Casey and Dahlia were a bit surprised that all Amanda was asking for was a longer leash. Both had thought the woman would want to be completely free of such chains. This was proving other wise. Dahlia was thinking it over, starting to believe that Amanda really was learning how to be more...human again and not depend on such a limited and destructive set of emotions. A soft smile came came to Dahlia's lips at Amanda not wanting to hurt anyone, starting to see there was change going on inside.
"if that isn't a sure sign that you're starting to learn, I don't know what is. Casey you no longer have to follow her around, but she keeps the bracelet for draining her emotions. If she keeps hold of one for a long duration of time and there is no attempt to calm down, you suck it right out of her. I want you to keep a record too. That sound fair Amanda?"
Normally it was more forced order with Amanda having no space to put any more input, but dahlia was still so out of it she was willing to place a few more tweaks to the plan to best fit Amanda's needs.

Amanda surprised even herself by not wanting to be completely free of Casey yet. She'd gone to Dahlia with only one wish and that was to be free again and here she was, just a week later and asking not to be let go just yet. The little she'd learned to feel that week had been enough for her to realize how far she still had to go before she was ready to be completely free again, but if they could make a compromise it would be worth the trouble.

It was a relief to hear Dahlia say exactly the same thing Amanda had been too afraid to truly ask for. She needed a chance to cool down on her own when she got angry, but it would also be nice to have the safety net for a little while longer in case she failed completely. After all, it was her pride and anger that led her to do so many stupid and dangerous things to begin with. Sure, she knew she would still dabble with the dark arts once she had her magic back, but it was more a curiosity than a desire to hurt anyone. She just wanted to know her limits really.

"That sounds more than fair, thank you," she replied with a slight smile. It was more than she could really have asked for considering the grief she had put Dahlia through at every turn. She was done fighting the other witch though as she finally seemed to realize that she'd been right all along. "It may not always seem like it, but I really do appreciate all you've done for me." That was the best she could do at the moment as far as a real apology and a proper sign of gratitude. She was never any good at either and who could blame her right now when she seemed to only just have lost her attitude towards the other witch.

Dahlia just nodded along with what Amanda was saying, her focus and nerve clearly starting to go out the window. Casey could see Dahlia was far worse than it had thought with this, feeling the guilt and self hate start to eat at the woman. It didn't let Dahlia even begin to dismiss them as the dragon was now at its primary contractor's side. A hand rested on her shoulder, seeming to snap her back to reality for a moment.
"oh yes. Well Casey won't take long to change things in the contract. You can go now."
Dahlia gave a snap of her fingers and the doors of her office opened up once more. Her assistants were quick to move in, one of them working to shoo Casey away from dahlia. It earned them a snarl from the dragon, but it backed off as it turned back to Amanda. It gave a grin, trying not to alert the woman too much.
"She's still got enough sense to make sure you get better, let's jet get you out of here, hm? I am allowed to escort you wherever you're needed next aren't I?"
The dragon wanted to explain why the pink haired witch was like this. In its eyes it wasn't fair to keep Amanda in the dark about it all.

It was obvious something was up, but Amanda wasn't going to pry. If the witch didn't want to tell her, Amanda had already inconvenienced her enough for one day anyway so she'd just accept whatever story Dahlia had told her for now and go home. Sure, she wouldn't have her magic back for a while, but there were plenty of other things she could do to busy herself. Like see her daughter for one.

So the redhead nodded at Casey when asked if it was allowed to escort her wherever she needed to go next. "Then let's go home, hmm?" she said with a slight chuckle. It had gone far better than she'd thought to just ask for more freedom rather than to be completely free. Amanda was still scared she'd lash out if something went wrong and she didn't want to end up doing that, so it was better to have a safety net a little while longer while she learned to really reign it in.

Valerie seemed just as eager to get out of there as Amanda felt, so maybe it was a good thing that they were getting out of there at last.

Casey nodded, looking back at dahlia for a moment being fussed over by her assistants before escorting both ladies home. As they made their way out of the shop, Casey sighed and pushed its hair out of its face, a near apologetic look to its eyes.
"I'm terribly sorry my primary contractor is in a bit of a terrible mess. Her brother was possessed up until a few days ago, the exorsim took a bit out of both of them. Only real bright side to it for me was I got to eat a demon soul."
A nearly smug grin seemed to cross the dragon's lips at the mention of the soul. It had been something rather dark and corrupted, the malice bleeding out of it as Casey was told to eat it. It knew it would never eat something so delightful for a long while, but it could hang onto the memory.

It didn't really phase Amanda much when she learned why Dahlia was being so much weirder than usual. Empathy was something she was still working on getting back and she was more interesting in how Casey got to eat a demon soul than how Dahlia's younger brother had been possessed. "That must have been a rare treat for you. A soul in general would be good I suppose, but I bet a demon soul was something else entirely."

Despite her dabbling with dark magic, Amanda had never been arrogant enough to try to deal with demons, nor had she been foolish enough to. Not that she'd needed to at her most powerful either since she'd had more than enough power to do whatever she wanted without the help of such foul creatures. Besides, if she had gone down that road there would have been no stopping her and she was glad she'd steered clear.

The reached the apartments a lot faster than she'd liked really, but maybe that was because the last time Casey had followed her home, Kailah had wanted to walk the whole way and that meant going almost painstakingly slow.