"And you aren't going to help her?" Cassandra asked, a bit suspicious. "She's your own coven-mate, after all." Then again, after the way she'd seen Holly act, maybe there was something going on within the coven that they didn't want outsiders to know?

Leo snorted when Aiden joked about feeling Holly to him.

Holly is poisonous, he said. In all of its forms. While it could be interperated as the plant being poisonous, it was obvious that that wasn't what Leo meant. He knew poison when he saw it.

[[Sorry this has taken so long! I had back to back soccer games this week >.<]]

Aiden snorted, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "She can figure it out on her own. We hate each other anyways." A wry, dark grin crossed his features. "Besides, she won't accept help from someone who isn't coven-born," he added, rubbing subconciously at his face where she had slapped him. "I don't know what it's like in your coven, but in mine the only thing that matters is the bloodline you come from." In Aiden's coven, to be from the Matron's bloodline was the highest honor. And, if you were from a low bloodline or if you didn't follow any of the bloodlines, such as Aiden, most of the coven members viewed you as lower then dirt. They especially hated Aiden- he was too much of a smartass for them, he figured. That, and he knew how to lighten up. They took their work way too seriously, always grumbling on and on about how their honor was stolen and they had to get it back.

Of course, he had no idea if her coven was the same, but he couldn't believe they were as harsh as his was if their zodiac creature was so... noble. That was the only way he could think to describe Leo.

He mock-saluted in Leo's direction. "Smart man... er, lion." His goofy grin came back as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, food, yeah?" He wanted to change the subject to anything- anything- else other then his coven and the venomous bitch who was at work a few levels below. It was easy to see how uncomfortable talking about his coven made him.

"Deeds and profession are everything in my coven," Cassandra replied after a moment. She had hesitated in even answering that, since she wasn't sure how much she wanted this outsider to know. It didn't matter that he was an outsider in his own coven, it mattered that he wasn't part of HERS. "I was sent on this assignment because I don't have a permanent place in the coven yet, and I don't have any accomplishments to my name."

Both of those were true, to a degree. She was a daughter of the coven, and as such always had a place to live, but she didn't have a place where she worked and benefited the others in the coven. She also didn't have any accomplishments to her name like many of the other adults did. Most of her covenmates had done at least SOMETHING by the time they became legal adults in the eyes of the elders, even if it was just developing their own spells, but Cassandra hadn't officially contributed anything. Part of it was that she hadn't submitted a finished spell to be evaluated, and part of it was that she didn't feel she could. Having a spell evaluated meant that everyone would be allowed to learn it, even though it would be credited to her, and she wasn't sure she wanted that. She had her stone circle that she'd created, and she liked having that spell to herself. Besides that, the elders didn't know she had any measure of earth magic. They thought she had only fire magic, like every 'proper' child of Leo.

It was selfish, but it gave her some measure of control. Her coven wasn't as cruel as Aiden's seemed to be, but it was very strict about accomplishments and communal benefit.

Cassie.

Leo's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she shook her head to get rid of them and nodded to Aiden.

"Finding food sounds like a good idea," she agreed, giving him a small smile.

"Ooh," Aiden said, a bit uncomfortably. What the hell was this thing they were going after? If it was something big enough for Cassie to earn her stripes, so to speak, something big enough for the Matron to send Holly in as his back-up, then what was it capable of? He almost asked her, but checked himself- if he admitted that he didn't know what this thing was, then maybe she'd see that as weakness. And while he was starting to get used to her, he was still wary. Not to mention, he had a bit of his male pride to retain. And he didn't want to admit any kind of weakness.

"Food it is," he said, almost cheerily. "Let's check the kitchen." He led the way, although he wasn't really sure he knew where he was going.

Cassandra nodded after a moment.

"I think the kitchen is upstairs," she said. "I think." She glanced at Leo, who gave her a look in return that said 'why are you asking me?' With a bit of a shrug, she gestured for Aiden to go first. That was force of habit more than anything, since she was of such low rank in her coven that everyone else except the children got to go ahead of her for everything. She'd just gotten so used to it that she didn't think about it anymore. Ranks in her coven were constantly shifting, since those born under Leo tended to be aggressively competitive, but Cassandra's tended to stay about the same.

Leo watched the two interact. He could see how Cassie was behaving towards Aiden, and it surprised him slightly. He hadn't expected her to relax quite so much around the boy so quickly. Leo would have to keep an eye on them...