Toil and Trouble | Hailey & Saphron

[Hailey Nichols]

Getting off the hook that easily? Hailey blushed for a moment as she turned her head away and looked over at Saphron. A pile of clean clothes. Clean clothes sounded nice. Something she hadn't had in over a year. A sad thought really, but Hailey was more than ready to change that. She picked herself off of the ground as she stood shakily on her two feet. She was so used to hopping around on four legs that standing on two seemed to be a bit of a difficulty. She kept Theo's cloak wrapped around her as she made her way to Saphron's bed to pick up the clothes. She murmured her thanks before she went to the bathroom to change.

It took a few moments, since some of her clothes seemed to stick to her skin, but Hailey finally changed into Saphron's clothes. They were baggy, just as she promised, but it felt like Hailey shed a part of her old life. An old life that was currently residing in the trashcan. She walked outside still wearing Theo's cloak before she paused at the door. She crossed her arms over her chest as she smiled sheepishly at the two Hecate kids. "So..." she said softly. "Where do you want me to sleep?"

[Theo Dean]

Hailey seemed to be interested in the clothes Saph was able to find and that was good. He hated to leave the girl with just some hunter rags to get her through and a cloak could only go so far. Any clothes, even if they didn't fit just right, would be better than nothing and Theo was glad to see that Hailey wasn't picky. He waited as she went to change making small talk with his sister about the successful spell and cleaned up the destroyed teddy bear before she returned.

When she did come back into the room looking at least partly refreshed he glanced up from what he was doing to smile at her. "Well, well. You're looking better already and that cloak suits you. Keep dressing like that and people will start thinking you're a Hecate kid in no time." He continued watching her as she spoke and chuckled at the comment about where she was going to sleep finding in it another opportunity to tease her. "Now that's a dangerous question Hailey." He said with that playful tone in his voice. "But since my sister would probably take offense to my lecherous ways I guess we can clear you out one of the extra bunks and get you comfortable if that sounds alright. It's been a long day after all."

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey knew she was inviting more teasing from Theo, but she couldn't see herself going back to the Hephaestus cabin any time soon. How was she going to explain to them that she left their cabin years ago and now wanted to move back in. She didn't even know who the cabin leader was anymore. She smiled sheepishly at Theo before she looked over at Saphron. The look on the girl's face said everything before she looked back over at Theo.

"I don't think your sister wants to be third wheeling tonight," she said with a slight blush on her face. "But one of the spare bunks is fine with me... It's been a while since I actually slept in a bed."

[Theo Dean]

"You're probably right. She hasn't thrown any punches at me though so we may be in luck." Theo knew he was going to get it later. Saph had stayed remarkably silent as he had mercilessly teased Hailey. He could only guess what she had planned for later because he knew that she would try and get him back for making her suffer through this somehow. He could already tell that he was going to be sleeping with an extra layer of protection spells tonight just to be safe.

He did feel pretty sorry for the girl. Thanks to Artemis’ magic she had been humiliated, abandoned and now practically everything she had was gone. Granted Theo had never been one for attachments himself but she wasn’t even sure if she could go back to her own siblings. Theo didn’t really know if there was anything they could do about that or not but they could at least try do right by her now. Hopefully Saph and the other Hecate kids would agree. “Come on I’ll show you back to one of the rooms. You can get some rest and then tomorrow we can figure out something to do with you that doesn’t involve dramatically altering your existence.” With that Theo chuckled and motioned her to follow as he led her towards one of the rooms.

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey threw a glance over to Saphron and it did look like the girl was planning something later for Theo. She could only guess what the girl was planning and Hailey knew she didn't want to be around that whatever went down happened. Hailey nodded her head to Theo's suggestion. A bed and rest sounded really nice at the moment. Going from a jackalope to a human in one day was physically exhausting. She moved to cross her arms across her chest as she ducked her head as she followed Theo into the rooms. "Thank you for letting me stay," she said as she looked up at Theo and gave him a sheepish smile. "Actually, Thanks for everything. The turning back to human and stuff."

[Theo Dean]

As they got back to the room Hailey would be staying in the girl spoke up again this time sounding a little more sheepish and shy. Theo turned to and smiled at her not wanting her to feel bad about the circumstances she found herself in. "Hey, now none of that. It wasn't all me and we are happy we could help. Don't be so hard on yourself, that’s what Artemis would have wanted you to do while you were in your jackalope form. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

For once Theo sounded sincere and sympathetic with no hint of the laughing, sarcastic conman that he usually played himself up as. He really did care and if there had ever been any doubt of that his friendly tone did away with it now. Unfortunately, that seriousness was short lived as hardly a moment had past before he was back to his old self. "Besides, I would say that if all jackalopes turned out to be pretty girls then there would be a lot more guys making fools of themselves trying to turn them back so I can't really claim to have gone above and beyond there even if it did turn out pretty amazingly." Theo gave her a wink and then motioned at the room around him. "In any case this is where you'll be staying. You’ve got a lock on the door so you’ll have your privacy but I understand if you get lonely and need some company.”

[Hailey Nichols]

Theo, for once, wasn't relentlessly teasing her over whatever he could. She pressed her lips together and blushed slightly as he started saying she didn't need to thank him. She slowly nodded her head. She didn't have to worry. That was a nice thing to be freed of for a little bit. "But still," she said sheepishly as she looked at him. "Not a lot of people have gone out of their way to help me like you two have, so thank you." She directed her attention away from Theo as she looked around the room. It wasn't nothing fancy, but there was a bed that was looking quite comfortable at the moment.

But then the teasing started up again and Hailey's face really heated up. "Well..." she said with a weak smile as she tried not to squeak out. "Most Jackalopes are former hunters, but it would be like kissing a lot of frogs until you found a prince." Her face heated up more as she moved to comb her hair out of her face. "I think I won't need company. I kinda hog the bed just a bit."

[Theo Dean]

Theo thought about it when Hailey said that not a lot of people wouldn't have gone out of their way for her. “You may be right about that.” He said as he contemplated what might have happened if Hailey had shown up and he and his sister hadn’t been there. In his experience people were kind of sucky to each other and he supposed that a lot of them probably wouldn’t have helped either because they didn’t know how or they just didn’t want to get involved. Maybe Hailey was right and this was all working out just right for them. “Luckily I’m not most people. Neither is my sister so believe me when I say we were glad to help. Besides, it gave us the chance to get one over on Artemis which I’m sure our mom is happy about.”

He grinned at her as she turned down his offer. He found it very hard to believe that a girl who had spent the last year or so as a bunny would be able to hog the bed but he couldn’t blame her. She had just been turned back into a human girl after spending time as a jackalope for precisely what he had just made light of. In fact, he was probably lucky he wasn’t slapped. Then again the fact that he wasn’t might have said something. “Not a cuddler. Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.” He said sounding unfazed by her rejection. “But for now I'll leave you to get some rest. You let us know if you need anything Hailey." Still grinning he turned away from her and left her to be alone in the room. She probably needed some time to think after everything that happened anyways.

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey laughed weakly. “I’m sure a few gods or goddesses would like to get one up on my la… I mean Artemis.” She blushed harder when she almost slipped into an old habit. Artemis was almost always referred to as my lady, but she was no longer Hailey’s lady. Not since she got turned into a jackalope. That spell severed any connection the two of them had. But the fact that she was able to find the Hecate and they were able to truly help her? Hailey was eternally grateful for them.

She sheepishly smiled at Theo as he took her rejection like a champ. She was just turned back into a human after a year or so. She would’ve enjoyed the company, but not now. Not when she was still learning how to be a human again. It was a lot harder than she really truly remembered. “I will. Thanks,” she said as she waited for him to leave the room before she closed the door and locked it, just in case. She turned back to the bed and sighed softly before she moved to flop down on it and get comfy. She was curled up in Theo’s cape as she finally drifted off into dreamland.