Catching Up With Jasmine DuClare

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 3, Post Number 72

-Capital Crocus, early afternoon, outside Jasmine DuClare's house-

Wearing her casual outfit of purple long-sleeved t-shirt, black skirt with pockets, black thigh-high stockings, and black tennis shoes, Diana carried with her her iLac just in case Jasmine DuClare had an iLac as well and wanted to trade Lacrima Identification Codes. She strolled into Capital Crocus at the invitation of her old acquaintance, who was wanting to speak to her again after a year or so of no contact. Since Diana could not find any other work to do at the moment, she decided to go pay Jasmine DuClare a visit and see how one of her former clients was doing. She wondered if Francesca Corlone was still trying to have her and her older sister killed or not.

Diana walked up to the door to the DuClare home on 421 Croesus Street and knocked on the door. The door opened almost immediately to show Jasmine standing on the other side. Jasmine was wearing a decidedly casual outfit of a pink tank top that looked a bit tight and black miniskirt that looked rather short.

"Oh hey Diana! It's so good to see you!" Jasmine greeted Diana with a tight hug. Diana ignored the sensation of her skin crawling from being touched and put on a smile.

"I am glad to see you as well, Jasmine." Diana calmly replied to the brunette. Jasmine soon released the hug and stepped back, then motioned for Diana to come inside.

"Don't just stand there, Diana! Come on in!" She urged the blonde. Diana wordlessly complied and walked past the brunette and into the DuClare house.

-Inside the DuClare house-

"I have so much to tell you, Diana!" Jasmine said as Diana took a few steps into the house. Not bothering to wait for Diana's response, the brunette excitedly began talking about what all had happened since the two had last met.

"My sister Kathleen got a promotion at work three months ago! She's making better money than she was in her previous job, so we can afford to stay here in this nice neighborhood without having to worry too much about money!" Jasmine began telling Diana about how she and Kathleen were doing. Apparently Kathleen had won a promotion that came with a larger paycheck, one that let them easily afford the rent in this neighborhood. Jasmine did not elaborate too much on that topic because she immediately launched into the next subject, which was concerning her personal life.

"I also got admitted to Crocus Magicka University just last week! I'm so excited to go to that school because a lot of my friends from high school are going there! I don't have to pay for a dorm since I live in Capital Crocus, which makes going there so affordable! I just have to pay for tuition and books!" Jasmine continued to talk excitedly without giving Diana any chance to speak. Diana was not upset, though. She did not have a whole lot to say right now anyway, so the brunette talking nonstop was not an issue for her.

"Oh, and get this! I got a job at a coffee shop called Capital Coffee so that I can save up for a car of my own!" Jasmine finished. Diana gave a small smile when she heard the name of the coffee shop.

"I have been to Capital Coffee a few times before. It is a nice place with a pleasant atmosphere." Diana commented on Capital Coffee after finally getting a chance to speak. Jasmine smiled back.

"So I might get to see you there some time?" Jasmine asked Diana.

"Probably. Are you working the night shift?" Diana asked the brunette a question of her own. Jasmine nodded.

"Yeah. The night shift was the only time open, but since all my classes are in the day it's no big deal." Jasmine replied. It seemed like the DuClares had done well for themselves since Diana had last met with them. The huntress was glad to hear and see that they were doing well for a change. Maybe Francesca Corlone had decided to leave them alone, but that was of little comfort to Diana.

If Francesca had left the DuClares alone, then there was someone else who was suffering from Francesca's attention in their place.

"Say Diana, did you wanna go to the mall today?" Jasmine asked Diana. Diana nodded. It had been awhile since she had went, so she was up for a trip to the mall.

"Great! We'll go in just a few minutes!" Jasmine said to Diana as the former went to her room, presumably to change into an outfit better suited for a trip to the mall.

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-Capital Crocus Mall, one hour later-

After Jasmine changed to a slightly more conservative outfit of a yellow short-sleeved t-shirt while keeping the short black skirt, Jasmine and Diana stepped into Capital Crocus Mall to find it as busy as ever. There were people all over the place and going in and out of stores in a constant flow. The pair walked through the entrance area and into the food court, which was so full of people that the lines snaked to where they were standing. The pair stopped just short of the lines and took a moment to assess their chances of getting food from the food court.

"Um, Diana... it looks like we're not getting anything to eat from here any time soon." Jasmine informed Diana. The huntress looked at the lengthy lines and then looked back at Jasmine.

"You are right." Diana commented laconically. There was an average of at least forty people in each line. The seating area of the food court was also packed full of people. Diana looked back at Jasmine and Jasmine looked back at her.

"Well, unless you wanna hang around and wait in line for a couple hours or so we're not going to get a meal from here." Jasmine summed things up. Diana agreed.

"Which store would you like to go to first?" Diana asked Jasmine.

"It's hard to pick which one I want to go to first, Diana. I want to go to The Music Vault, Intimate Secrets, Earthland Eagle, Resin Monuments..." Jasmine began listing the names of individual stores she wanted to go to. Diana quietly listened to each store listed and felt a sense of dread when Intimate Secrets came up. She dreaded dealing with the pushy saleswomen of Intimate Secrets because no matter how many time Diana politely declined push-up bras or other undergarments they just would not take no for an answer.

"I'd like to go to Earthland Eagle first. Since we're already on the first floor it'd make sense to go there first." Jasmine finally made a decision. Diana nodded. The pair then turned right, walked past the food court, and located Earthland Eagle.

-Inside Earthland Eagle-

"Hello ladies! Welcome to Earthland Eagle!" A cheerful young woman in a pink t-shirt and blue jeans standing behind the counter greeted them. on the right side of her shirt was a name tag with the name "Jolene." Jasmine and Diana waved in reply and the brunette made a beeline for the short shorts. Diana hung back near a rack of pink t-shirts much like the one the employee who greeted them was wearing, only these had the store's name in white letters printed on the front. Diana turned around and looked at them... she noticed that they were rather thin, which was good for summer but not-so-good for winter or for rainy days. Knowing that she was not going to buy any of the t-shirts, Diana turned back around and kept an eye on Jasmine as the latter browsed through a rack of blue jean short shorts exactly like the ones Angela Helton had browsed through months ago and had bought for herself and for Diana.

Diana waited patiently for Jasmine until the latter had found a part of short shorts that had caught her interest. She took them to the dressing room while Diana remained right where she was. The blonde listened to the upbeat pop music playing overhead as her client tried on the shorts in the dressing room. The song sounded familiar... it sounded like the one she had heard in Capital Coffee a little over a week ago, the song about time moving as fast as a sports car or something like that.

About ten minutes later Jasmine came out with the shorts on the hanger and tapped the waiting huntress on the left shoulder.

"Hey Diana, I'm going to look at the t-shirts before I buy anything. Could you hang onto these shorts for me?" Jasmine informed Diana of what the former was going to do next. Diana nodded and turned around to face the brunette, then obligingly took the hanger with the shorts on them from her so that she could peruse the t-shirts without having to hang onto the shorts. Jasmine wordlessly took off towards a rack of t-shirts on the right wall, leaving Diana to watch her from afar.

Diana settled back in to listen to the pop music, which had now changed to an upbeat synthesizer tune backing a female vocalist singing about the value of friendship. It sounded like a song from a teen "coming of age" movie with the synthesizer, the fast tempo, and the high-pitched lyrics. Hopefully Jasmine would hurry up and find a t-shirt that was to her liking before the blonde's ears began to bleed from the high-pitched lyrics and the inclusion of electric guitars out of left field. Diana could understand trying to build energy for the high point of a song, but she felt that if the electric guitars had been included at the start instead of in the middle their inclusion would have felt slightly more natural.

As it stood they were jarring to her, but a glance around the store soon told Diana that it was just her. Other young women in the shop seemed to actually like the song. As far as Diana was concerned they were welcome to it. She just wanted to get away from it some time soon.

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-Outside Earthland Eagle, twenty minutes later-

Jasmine and Diana exited Earthland Eagle with a few new outfits for the brunette. Jasmine had bought two pairs of blue jean short shorts, a pink short skirt and a white short skirt, and two t-shirts with the store name printed in white letters on the front. One of the shirts was pink and the other was baby blue. Diana was tasked with holding the shopping bags while Jasmine chatted on her iLac with someone who had called her the moment the pair had stepped outside of Earthland Eagle. The pair walked off to the side in front of the display window with some mannequins modeling outfits and Jasmine greeted the person on the other end.

"Hey Kathleen! I'm at Capital Crocus Mall with my pal Diana!" Jasmine said to a person who Diana recognized as the brunette's older sister. Jasmine had mentioned her a little over a year ago, but she and Kathleen had never met. The huntress calmly listened to her client talk to her older sister about some sudden charges on the older DuClare's card.

"Yeah, I just bought a few new outfits to wear for when I start going to Crocus Magicka University!" Jasmine explained to her sister. That explained why Jasmine had wanted to go to Earthland Eagle. Diana listened to them talk and wondered what having an older sister to talk to on the iLac would feel like.

"We're doing just fine, Kathleen. Diana and I just left Earthland Eagle and there are a few more shops that I wanna go to before we go home." Jasmine said. The brunette heard something and Diana watched her laugh a little.

"Don't worry, sister. I won't spend too much at the mall! I promise!" Jasmine assured her sister and laughed again. Diana remained quiet and looked behind her to make sure that she was not blocking the entrance to Earthland Eagle. Once she was certain that she was not the blonde faced forward again and waited for Jasmine to finish her conversation with her sister.

"Well, we'd better get going. We still have a few stores that I want to cover. I'll call you the moment we're finished at the mall!" Jasmine assured her older sister. The two exchanged parting words and Jasmine ended the call, then placed the iLac in her right skirt pocket. She then faced Diana.

"Sorry about that, Diana. Now, where would you like to go next? The Modern Woman? Intimate Secrets? The Music Vault?" Jasmine asked Diana. The blonde faced Jasmine.

"I have no preference." Diana replied. She was here to hold the shopping bags and make sure that nothing bad happened to Jasmine while they were out shopping. She did not care in what order they visited stores just as long as Jasmine was alive and in good health at the end of the day. Jasmine smiled.

"OK then! I say that we visit The Modern Woman before we go to Intimate Secrets!" Jasmine laid out her plan for Diana. Diana had no real problem with that. While she was not looking forward to visiting Intimate Secrets, this was Jasmine's shopping trip, not the huntress'. Diana went where the job took her.

"We'll have to go to the second floor to get to those stores. I hope you don't mind taking the stairs!" Jasmine said to Diana as the former took off walking towards the food court, leaving the blonde to scramble to catch up with the brunette. Diana walked briskly and managed to catch up to Jasmine without too much trouble. The real trouble would be getting up the stairs with so many bags in her hands.

-On the second floor, twelve minutes later-

Jasmine and Diana exited the stairwell and began to look for the next clothing shop Jasmine wanted to go to. They spotted it on the other side of the railing from them and walked briskly towards it, carefully maneuvering through a thick crowd of shoppers and somehow avoiding running into anyone. After some swift walking and deft maneuvers the pair finally stood outside The Modern Woman, a clothing shop that was packed with young adult women perusing the wares and picking out clothes to try.

"Well, we made it, but there's a slight problem. Looks like we're not the only ones who wanna shop here today." Jasmine commented on the crowds inside the clothing store. Diana nodded. She could tell that the brunette was not thrilled to be fighting a crowd to get what she wanted, but that hesitance soon disappeared.

"Oh well. We're going in there too, Diana. Just try to stay out of the way of other people the best you can." Jasmine said to Diana before going into the store. Diana took a deep breath and followed Jasmine into The Modern Woman.

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-Inside The Modern Woman-

Diana walked through the doorway moments after Jasmine did and had cause to regret it. There were young women swarming everywhere and picking over the clothing racks of shorts, skirts, t-shirts, anything that could be worn. Jasmine stood beside Diana and seemed to ponder the wisdom of her choice to press on before diving right into the crowd, leaving the blonde to hold her bags and stay out of the way the best she could. There was really nowhere to stand, so Diana thought about going outside and sitting on one of the benches to wait for Jasmine when she heard a scream coming from the other side of the shop.

Ignoring the weight of the bags in her hands, Diana hurried towards the source and dodged around numerous young women who were oblivious to her presence. She found Jasmine standing in front of a young brown-haired woman who was wearing a white long-sleeved Crocus Magicka University t-shirt, a blue skirt, and black-rimmed glasses. Jasmine noticed Diana standing there and pointed towards her.

"Emily, I'd like you to meet Diana Winchester. She's a friend of mine." Jasmine said to a young woman named Emily. Emily turned towards Diana and smiled.

"Hello Diana. I'm Emily Barton, a friend of Jasmine's since childhood. We've attended all the same schools together since kindergarten." Emily introduced herself to the huntress and explained how the two brunettes knew one another. Once Diana saw that there was no threat to Jasmine the huntress relaxed and gave a slight smile to the bespectacled brunette. Emily looked a lot like a brown-haired version of Lorelei... Emily had the same hair length, the same wavy hair, even the same eye color. The resemblance was odd, but Diana had seen plenty of odd things in her career.

"Hello Emily." Diana laconically greeted the bespectacled brunette and shifted shopping bags from her right hand to her left, then waved the free hand in greeting. Once that was done Diana shifted the excess bags back to her right hand.

"What are you doing here, Jasmine?" Emily asked Jasmine.

"I'm here getting some new outfits for school. I got into Crocus Magicka University and I'm going to need some new outfits for the upcoming semester." Jasmine answered. Emily laughed a little.

"Looks like everyone's got the same idea you did, Jasmine." Emily commented with a slightly sarcastic edge to her voice. Jasmine looked around and sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, Emily." Jasmine said. The store was packed with young women and it was not showing signs of emptying any time soon. Jasmine looked at Diana and then looked at Emily. Maybe the brunette would give up on the venture for the time being and return when The Modern Woman was less crowded.

"Since I doubt that we're gonna get anything from here today, let's just go somewhere else." Jasmine suggested to Diana. Diana nodded in agreement. Emily nodded too.

"Yeah. Let's just go." Emily agreed with her friend. She and Jasmine led the way out of the store and Diana followed behind them the best she could. The huntress was glad that they were leaving this store for the day because she could have sworn that at least one young woman looked at her with obvious romantic interest.

-Outside The Modern Woman, the second floor-

"Well, that was a bust." Jasmine commented on the visit to The Modern Woman. She was obviously disappointed by how she could not get to the clothing racks to browse the wares. Emily nodded.

"Yeah. I was kinda hoping to get a cute t-shirt or a pair of shorts, but no dice. I'll just have to wait until next time." Emily chimed in. Diana remained silent.

"Well, there's always another day to shop!" Jasmine happily commented, her disappointment soon forgotten. Emily nodded.

"Besides, I promised my sister that I wouldn't spend too much in the mall today. Maybe I should just call it quits." Jasmine said to Emily. Emily looked towards Diana, who was stoically holding the bags from Earthland Eagle and waiting for the brunettes to make a decision on whether they were going to continue shopping in another store or call it a day.

Jasmine's face suddenly lit up.

"Hey Emily, would you like to come hang out with me and Diana at my place?" Jasmine asked Emily. The bespectacled brunette did not take very long to make her decision.

"Sure, Jasmine! I'd be glad to!" Emily replied in the affirmative. The two brunettes smiled and walked away from Diana and towards the stairwell, leaving the blonde to hurry after them once again. At least Diana could take comfort in the fact that she would not have to go into Intimate Secrets and endure sales pitches for push-up bras. There was that small mercy.

-Inside the DuClare residence, thirty-five minutes later-

Jasmine and Emily went in the door first followed by Diana, whose arms were starting to get tired from holding the shopping bags for so long. At least she would finally get to put them down somewhere. Jasmine and Emily took seats in the living room while Diana stood in the foyer.

"Hey Diana, could you drop those bags off in my room for me?" Jasmine asked Diana. The blonde nodded. She would be happy to oblige Jasmine.

"Certainly." Diana replied before leaving the living room and heading for Jasmine's room so that she could drop off the shopping bags and finally let go of the burden she had been carrying for over an hour. She walked down the hallway to the open door and went inside the room as Jasmine and Emily began to talk about Crocus Magicka University.

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-The DuClare house, three hours later-

Jasmine, Emily, and Diana had been hanging out at the former's house ever since the trip to the mall turned out to be something of a bust because all of the clothing stores were crammed with shoppers and neither Jasmine nor Emily could get to what they wanted. Jasmine proposed that they go to her place to hang out and that was where the trio had been for almost four hours. The atmosphere was a lot more comfortable here than it was at the crowded mall and food was not an issue because there was no line to get into the kitchen.

Jasmine and Emily were sitting around the coffee table eating homemade salads while Diana had been busy listening to them talk about what they had wanted to study at Crocus Magicka University. Jasmine had wanted to go into accounting while Emily wanted to be an elementary school teacher. Diana had kept quiet and let the two brunettes talk because she had nothing to add to the conversation. She did not plan on attending a university right now and she had no idea what she wanted to study even if she did plan on attending a university. Diana had not really given much thought to her future because as far as she knew she did not really have one.

Her plan was to leave the shadows behind and go legitimate, but beyond that she had no idea of what she wanted to do with herself. She just wanted to buy a cabin in a remote area and live out the rest of her life in what peace she could find, but that was not going to happen as long as her enemies were still out there. Getting out of the shadows would be a lot harder than getting into them was, but she knew that when she chose to continue living a double life instead of walking away from it.

Diana wordlessly carried away the empty salad plates and listened to Jasmine and Emily continue to talk about their plans for the future. Those plans included getting a degree in their field of study, getting a job, and eventually marrying and having children. Diana did not see any of those in her future. All she saw in her future was a life of laying low and trying not to attract the wrong sort of attention.

Diana did her best to stay out of the conversation because she really had nothing to contribute to it, but she inevitably got drawn into it when Jasmine asked her a question.

"Hey Diana, what do you want to do with your life?" Jasmine asked Diana out of the blue. Diana paused in place.

"Well, I would like to retire from the life of a freelance mage one day. I would like to settle down somewhere and buy a house." Diana replied. The first answer was completely true, but the second answer was a half-truth. She did want to buy a house somewhere, but she was not planning to settle down in a city. She planned to retire somewhere like a small town in Bellum or a small town in Fiore. Once upon a time her ideal retirement place was somewhere really remote like a cave in the middle of Nowhere, Fiore, but the huntress had become too accustomed to city life to be able to live a rustic life now.

"So you're a freelance mage, huh?" Emily asked Diana. Diana nodded.

"Yes." Diana answered laconically. She did not want to give away too much about herself and hoped that the conversation would end soon. However, Emily's curiosity had been sparked.

"So, what is it that you do as a freelance mage?" Emily asked Diana.

"I do some search-and-rescue work when it comes up. I go into places that are way too dangerous for ordinary people and look for those who are lost. If you want examples, I have been to Silent Cemetery and Haunted Castle." Diana replied and gave two examples of places that were dangerous for most people to travel to. She left out details in the hope that giving the place names would be enough to satisfy the bespectacled brunette's curiosity, but instead it only served to make Emily even more curious.

"You've been to those places? What's it like?" Emily asked Diana.

"Silent Cemetery is what the name implies... a cemetery. There are usually zombies roaming the cemetery, but from time to time there are also zombie dogs patrolling the place. The dogs look like rotting Dobermans, but they are every bit as fast as they were in life." Diana answered the question regarding Silent Cemetery. She was not sure how to answer the question about Haunted Castle. After a few moments of thinking over her response Diana decided to go with the truth.

"Haunted Castle is a dangerous place full of werewolves and vampires, Emily. I do not go in there at all unless I absolutely have to." Diana replied truthfully. There were no half-truths in that statement. Even though Diana had two magics that could destroy the supernatural and an assault rifle that could fire Silver Bullets at ghosts and werewolves and Ultraviolet Rounds at vampires, she did not like to travel there unless she had to for a search-and-rescue mission.

"Oh. I see." Emily said calmly in response to what she had been told.

"I'm not a mage, so I won't be traveling to those places any time soon, if at all. I live in the suburbs of Capital Crocus and the mall's usually the most dangerous place I go to." Emily assured Diana that the former would not be trotting off to Silent Cemetery or Haunted Castle any time soon, if ever. Diana's ability to analyze body language told her that Emily was telling the truth when she claimed that she did not plan to go to either of those places. Once Emily had finished speaking Jasmine took the opportunity to make a comment of her own.

"Well, it sounds like you lead an interesting life, Diana. While your search-and-rescue work pays the bills, I bet you're glad to take the occasional job that involves going to the mall instead of wading through hordes of zombies or something like that!" Jasmine commented.

"You could say that." Diana commented in return. Her life was certainly an interesting one and she appreciated the occasional job where the toughest challenge was navigating crowds in the mall or in Boomslang. Diana could say that much about herself with absolute certainty.

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-Three hours later-

After the conversations about Crocus Magicka University and Diana's career had run their courses, The trio had gathered around the couch and started watching a talent show where a man was riding a unicycle and playing the ukulele before a panel of five judges. The man was singing an old song from many decades ago about riding across the countryside when the door to the DuClare residence opened and in walked a brown-haired young woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Jasmine, Emily, and Diana all stood up and faced the newcomer. The newcomer had waist-length brown hair and wore a black skirt and black jacket with blue blouse and black dress shoes.

"Hey Kathleen!" Jasmine greeted the newly arrived brunette. Kathleen waved her right hand at her younger sister. The blue-eyed brunette turned her attention to Emily and Diana.

"Hey there Emily." Kathleen wearily greeted Emily. Emily waved at the older DuClare. Kathleen then turned her attention to Diana.

"Hey there. You must be Diana Winchester. My sister told me a bit about you and how you helped her that time almost two years ago." Kathleen wearily greeted Diana. Once the blonde had been greeted Kathleen turned her attention back to Jasmine.

"I take it that you didn't spend too much at the mall today?" She asked her younger sister. Jasmine shook her head.

"Not at all. After buying a few things at Earthland Eagle, Diana and I went to The Modern Woman to find some cute t-shirts. We met Emily there and tried to go shopping but it was way too crowded in there to really move around, so we called it quits and came back here. We've been hanging out the past six hours." Jasmine answered with a recount of how her day had went after leaving Earthland Eagle. Kathleen seemed satisfied with that answer because the conversation did not go any further. Emily and Diana moved from in front of the couch and walked towards the door. It was probably time for them to go.

"Well, I'd better get back home, Jasmine. It's been nice hanging out with you. I'll see you at Crocus Magicka University or at Capital Coffee soon!" Emily said. Diana turned to the DuClares.

"If you do not need me for anything else, I will be going too." Diana said to them. Jasmine smiled.

"Later Emily! Later Diana! Thanks for going to the mall with me, Diana!" Jasmine thanked Diana for her help today. Diana nodded. Together she and Emily made for the front door and left the DuClares to their business. Kathleen probably wanted something to eat and she wanted to have a few hours to herself before she had to go to sleep.

-Outside the DuClare home-

It was starting to get dark outside when Emily and Diana left the DuClare home. Emily looked up at the sky, then turned to Diana and spoke to her.

"Hey Diana, I know that you want to get back home at a decent time and that this request is kinda sudden, but would you mind walking me to my house? It's only three blocks from here." Emily requested. Diana nodded.

"Certainly. I will walk with you to your home." Diana replied. She did not mind walking with the bespectacled brunette to make sure that the latter got home safely. Any time she lost on the unexpected detour could easily be made up with her teleport ability.

"Great! Thanks!" Emily thanked Diana for agreeing to walk with her. Together the pair began walking away from the DuClare house and started on the road to the Barton house. Once Diana was finished with the unexpected detour she would teleport home and sleep awhile, then get ready for another job search.

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