Why So Jaded?

Chapter 12

"What did you sign?" Violet demanded of her brother, trying to keep her rage in check as she prayed her brother wouldn't be stupid enough to sign anything without having at least one lawyer.

"I didn't sign anything." Dash reassured her before she blew out a breath of relief.

"I have a healthy enough fear of you Ms. Parr to know that if I would even entertain the possibility of hiring any relation of yours that I would have several lawyers involved." Phillip offered with a charming smile as Violet smiled politely in return but she was ready to roast Phillip on an open spit for even entertaining the idea of hiring Dash as Violet simply crossed her arms over her chest and popped her hip. She had to get Dash out of this building before he did something everyone would regret. She would never forgive herself if something ever happened to Dash and that burden would be too much even for her to carry. She needed to get Dash out of this building and away from Phillip before Dash came to any more harm. Because Dash probably had at least one suicide seed planted in his head, who knew how many others Phillip had already planted there with just him being in this office.

"A private word Mr. Sebastian." Violet urged, she needed to intervene. She would pull the overbearing, controlling bitch card if she had to if it meant her brother could walk free.

"Oh come on, give me a chance before you shoot me down Vi." Dash argued.

"Mr. Parr had quite the convincing argument as to why I should hire him along with Mr. Traeger." Phillip explained.

"Then I have a counter argument which you should find even more convincing." Violet insisted. She hated to do it but she needed to make Dash out as the worst possible candidate for Phillip. It would be like opening up old wounds between herself and Dash and rubbing new salt in them but it would save his life and make sure that he in turn would be alive to at least watch his own children grow up. She didn't care how she would come across or who would hate her for this, it was for his own good.

"Come on Vi." Dash pleaded.

"Dash, this is your one opportunity to get up and walk out of this here and now. This is not the time or the place for you." Violet insisted as she gave him her own pleading look while doing her best to keep in control of her emotions, praying that Dash wasn't going to push this because she knew he was too stubborn yet alone, mentally weak enough to fight against anything Phillip was pumping into his head, she needed to fix this before it became a catastrophe. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to Dash because of her, the blood of other Supers was already a torment to her conscience. She couldn't have Dash's too.

"Well in the spirit of fairness, please, enlighten me as to why Mr. Parr wouldn't be a good fit. But don't do him the disservice of saying it behind his back." Phillip offered and Violet was never more furious for being pitted against her own brother especially by Phillip but if Phillip wanted an entertaining show, she was going to give it to him if it meant that Dash could walk away from this. She could deal with Dash being pissed at her for "ruining" his chances. But if she had to worry about not only keeping her own head and her own wits, she couldn't handle juggling Dash's too.

"First off, what exactly do you want to hire Mr. Parr for?" Violet asked, hoping that by some miracle, that it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe he wanted Dash as a PR man? Maybe?

"As an associate handler." Phillip answered and Violet was ready to curse, scream and cry because of course Phillip would want to keep his leverage against her as close to himself as possible.

"Does Mr. Parr have any handler experience?" Violet asked as she looked from Phillip to Dash pointedly.

"I handle myself just fine." Dash answered and Violet snorted a laugh as she pretended to pat her hips down.

"Are you missing something Ms. Parr?" Philip posed.

"Yes, Mr. Parr's microphone because he's obviously trying to do some stand up comedy." Violet answered as Leo snorted a laugh in turn as he simply sat in the chair and looked over at Violet fondly. Violet was always a special treat to be in the presence of, no matter the circumstances around their meetings.

"Mr. Parr, you have never, in your life, handled yourself well." Violet answered dismissively.

"How can you say that?" Dash demanded before Violet came over and perched herself on the corner of Phillip's desk between Phillip and her brother because there was no other chair for her to sit at at the desk and she didn't want to sit in Phillip's lap or actually bring another chair over from where the living room space of his office was.

"Mr. Parr, if you are even going to apply for that kind of position, for not only a fortune 500 company but for an asset worth billions who in all respects is a very high value asset, you need to have a minimum of 2-5 years experience of being a handler for other high value assets, have at least three to five, preferably seven, very glowing letters of recommendation and be vetted by at least two to four individual, independent and completely objective guarantors. Do you even know how to spell guarantors?" Violet put to Dash.

"G-u-a…." Dash tried to think.

"And have a body count of at least 10." Violet interrupted.

"Oh I got that in the bag." Dash scoffed.

"Really? You've killed more than 10 people in cold blood and buried all evidence that you were the one to kill them?" Violet asked and watched as Dash's face fell as he realized that she was asking for a kill count. Not a "body count" as in had sex with at least ten people.

"Mr. Sebastian, go on The Agency's data base and inform Mr. Parr what my body count is." Violet invited.

"I don't know if.." Phillip began as Leo simply raised his eyebrows and bit his lips to keep his face from splitting in half from a smile because he could sense this was about to get really ugly in the most entertaining way.

"Do it." Violet ordered as Phillip nodded and did as she asked.

"You have 3,744 confirmed kills and another 2,317 additional assumed kills," Phillip read off as both Leo and Dash's eyes got wide.

"So, Dash, what's your body count?" Violet repeated.

"Uh, well, we did kill like a dozen henchman when we stormed Syndrome's…" Dash began.

"No, you tipped off their flying hovercrafts so they could run into each other, how many people have you either shot, dismembered, strangled, poisoned, bombed, or just outright slaughtered?" Violet asked.

"Well how many have you…?" Dash asked.

"7,834." Violet answered.

"Damn." Leopold coughed like he got shot in the gut.

"And over a thousand of those were mid coitus." Violet grinned triumphantly.

"Fuck." Leo coughed again before he got his glass of water and drank it like it was whiskey, he knew Violet was lethal and one of the more dangerous Supers at the Agency, but that would put her in a league all her own as Violet seemed to appear a whole lot more sexier than she ever was in his eyes, no wonder Phillip adored her, he could see why.

"You've killed, over a thousand guys, while their dicks were.." Dash paled.

"845 men, the rest were women." Violet smiled like 'fuck you' was written on her teeth as Dash looked downright scandalized as Leo couldn't help but whistle lowly and mutter a 'wow' under his breath.

"But moving on from the body count. Dash, you don't fucking listen. You don't listen to anyone about anything, you don't listen to your own handler or your own manager or your own coaches for crying out loud or anyone else in any position of authority. If I tell you to duck, you ask why and argue with me along with everyone else. Your immediate and unquestioning obedience to orders given, no matter who gives them, means your life in this business. Even when you don't agree with it or don't see the sense in it at the time. You had a hard enough time being obedient to Dad, let alone Mom. And your sexist bullshit has no place here because you don't listen to women especially even when those women have earned that place of authority to tell you what to do. Not to mention you're a selfish, self absorbed asshole whose ego can practically touch the moon and you need a measure of humility in this job, of which you have none. You don't know how to walk into a room and not immediately want to be in the center of attention in it." Violet leveled and even Leo had to agree with her very valid points because Violet knew what she was talking about.

"You are a great Super and an awesome hero and you know exactly how to play to the media to make yourself the star of the show, which you get honestly from Dad. But it's because you are those things that disqualify you from this kind of position. Because in this job, you're not the star, you're not even supposed to be on the damn camera or even in the shot. You are offscreen supporting cast only and an asterisk in the credits. You don't get any limelight and when you do, it better be pointing it Mr. Sebastian because since he's the asset, he's the star of the show, he's the focus, he's the target, he's the focal point. And if you detract from that, you're not doing your job correctly. Also if you're working for Mr. Sebastian, that means that your life as White Lightning, not to mention Dash Parr the Olympian, gets put on hold and on the last back burner. Because you'll be working as yourself which means that White Lightning has to be completely separate from this. Which means you won't be able to do any stunts or any press or any media work for yourself. Which means your own popularity will wane and the focus at The Agency will focus away from you and find someone new to push onto the masses. Someone younger, prettier, bigger and better, faster and stronger. New Supers are found and practically made- every day and that eventuality is the given, it's the rule and the expectation which is why I never bought into it. Which means, that your time in the spotlight, your own fifteen minutes of fame- should you take this position, will be over. And when you're done being in this kind of position, mounting a comeback- isn't going to happen with any measure of success, because you will just be a hasbeen and old news and a passing fling for all your adoring fans. Also your training as an Olympian will also wane and fade. Which means you won't be an athlete anymore. At least one that won't and can't compete professionally. Which means your "real life" persona, will also fade. What brand wants to sponsor a hasbeen? Old news? Your ego already can't handle your rival's popularity if it overshadows yours, you'll implode on your own downward spiral and fall from grace and your current media darling status." VIolet warned, hoping and praying that Dash was listening to a word of this because she was pulling out every stop she could think of to make him see sense and make him see that this would not serve him well in the long run and knew that Dash held his own fame near and dear to his heart.

"Also, loose lips sink ships. And you can't keep a secret to save your life. For someone as selfish as you are, your own sense of self preservation is next to zero because you can't help but reveal your own secret or super identity because there's no difference between the two. I'll give you a fairly recent example. How much money, would it take for me to offer Bianca, the Victoria Secret model who you spent your weekend with to find out how many times you showed her your 'human vibrator' trick? A hundred dollars? A thousand dollars? Ten thousand maybe? You do it with almost every girl you sleep with. And it's the reason you can't keep a condom on that pecker of yours because you literally burn through them because you're a show-off. Because whoever you are fucking, her adoration and her being in a state of impressed is always like a drug to you because you're addicted to always being the best, no matter what you're doing. Because the only reason that Ashley and Amy get as much child support from you is because half of it is practically hush money which they abide by because you're a cash cow for them, and as long as they keep their mouths shut, they get to live comfortably and raise your kids in your absence because you can't be bothered to actually raise them half the time because if word got out that the reason you're the fastest man alive and the reason you're always a gold medal Olympian is because you're a Super, imagine the fallout. Every girl that you fuck, can put it together that you're really White Lightning. And everything will get taken away once that barely held secret comes out and then all your popularity, all your sponsorships on both sides, both for Dash Parr and White Lightning will be taken away and you'll go from most popular to most hated overnight because you're a cheater in every sense, you cheated on your highschool sweetheart with your first college crush for crying out loud and your two sons by two different women are only six months apart. Do you really think that speaks of your character in any kind of good light? Mr. Sebastian has enemies in both high and low places. Enemies that pay more money than you can comprehend to find any cracks or kinks in his armor. I would give it, maybe 12 hours at the soonest, 72 at the very latest, that the moment you are even rumored to be involved with Mr. Sebastian that every deep dark secret you possess would be offered up to them on a silver platter by all their moles and hunters and then that very dirt is used against Mr. Sebastian and yourself or because you're a greedy, selfish, two timing, cheating motherfucker, who is to say you won't go to them yourself? And not only tell all your own secrets but tell on mine, or tell on Mom or Dad or tell on everyone you know or you're associated with, let alone Mr. Sebastian's? And you'd do it for one thing, money. Because you blow money faster than you spend it and you're drowning in debt and yet the moment you make a hundred bucks, you're spending a hundred and fifty? You've fired every money manager I've gotten you because they told you things that you didn't want to hear like 'stop buying everything in sight'. Do you really think that I, let alone Mr. Sebastian of all people are going to bend over backwards to protect you when all you are to us is a liability, when you can't even perform the fucking job in the first place?! You are in way over your head and you have no business in this business." Violet plainly and yet strangely, honestly appraised and didn't know if it was Phillip urging her to be honest or her own will to finally let all this air out because she had been stamping all this down since she came back.

"And the word on the street may be that I'm a hateful, mean, domineering and controlling bitch. But you know what? I perform my job with a margin of error that is in the fractions of a single percent and I have earned every single person's loyalty and respect on my team to the point we take bullets for each other all the time on the regular. I not only have to deal with ransom situations and assassination attempts but also deal with corporate espionage that makes just regular governmental espionage look like child's play and you wouldn't even know what any of that looks like because you'd again, hand over everything for a pretty face with a smile and short tight skirt." Violet accused evenly as Dash simply sat there and pouted like a child being told no while Leo sat there as realization hit him over the head how much sense she was making because while Dash was his bro. Violet was speaking nothing but truth and if Leo really had to be in this job himself, he didn't know if he'd be willing to have Dash's back when Dash was so clearly ill equipped to have his.

"And I can see it written all over your face because you have a shit poker face, that I'm just being mean right? I'm just out to ruin everything for you? That this is a personal attack on you and I've taken this all too far? Well I got news for you. I'm literally just being honest. I'm not a bossy bitch, I am the big boss bitch. I have dozens of others coming to me for mentorship and advice on how to do this job the right way and the most successfully viable way because I've been there and done that with everything that can happen. Because I have set the precedent and the standard. And it is the gold standard in this industry for very good and valid reasons. All that money that I make that you're so jealous of, because all this really is to you- is about the fucking money and nothing else. Guess what, I've earned and payed for every cent of it with my own blood and every drop of my enemies blood as well because Mr. Sebastian's enemies which in turn are my own by principle alone. Because that's what a shield does. And while on paper I'm a handler, what I really am is a shield and a deterrent and every other Super in my position, is a shield for their assets in turn and the reason Mr. Sebastian is safe is because who is left of his enemies knows that they can not strike at him without me giving a counter strike and when I strike, they stay down and they never get back up. I'm a hunter and I always hunt to kill and I'm always successful because my life depends on it and my life is spent serving others. And that's what's the biggest disqualifier for you, you only know how to serve yourself. You don't know how to best serve others because you've never cared enough to learn how to do it. And the reason all of this has worked so well is because I hold myself to a standard of perfection that you can't even dream of holding yourself to. I operate with surgical precision because I have to because not only does my life hang in the balance, but so does my asset, and his family and everyone he cares about and everyone who works for SEB and all of Mr. Sebastian's companies depend on my to protect the man who signs their checks and gives them their means of living along with every single person on my team and all of their families and loved ones, not to mention my own." Violet specified.

"Tell me Dash, how many back up plans do you have? If a swat team decides to storm this building, which has actually happened more times than I can count, and if they decide to blow out these windows again and open fire from a helicopter that is hovering just outside this office right this second. What would you do? How do you protect yourself? Are you even carrying a gun or any kind of weapon or is your plan always to just 'duck' and use your powers to move faster than the bullets themselves? Do you protect yourself or do you protect Mr. Sebastian first? How do you counter attack? How do you get to safe spaces? Where are the safe spaces even located? And what happens when you get shot dead? What plans do you have in place for Dash Jr and Dillon and Ashley and Amy? So they don't raise those boys all on their own or are you going to leave it to chance and the universe to take care of them when you're not around to? Do you just get to hope and pray that whoever will marry those girls will treat their future step sons ok? Or will they be the proverbial redheaded step children who get left out in the cold? Do you even have life insurance? Who gets to bury you? And where do you want your body to be laid to rest? What kind of funeral do you want to have? You're a 'take it as it comes, I'll figure it out when I get to it' kind of person. You can not be that kind of person in this job, you need to not only have your day planned out, your week, your month, your year. But you also need to have plans, structure, protocols and contingencies in place for whatever happens and be ready to react however you need to and not always how you want to and you need to have all that memorized and your body to be ready to go into action and evasive maneuvers in the blink of an eye and do you have any idea how exhausting it is not just physically but mentally because that can happen at any moment without warning, whether you're on the clock or not. Because if you are not in complete control of every situation in every moment, accidents and chaos will happen and will always surprise you and do it's utmost to catch you with your pants down when you're not ready and recovering from the damage inflicted in those moments will take the rest of your life. However long or short that will be. You have dealt with some pressures in your life, but these pressures here, are too much for you. It will take at least a year or two or maybe three, to get you properly trained in all the disciplines you'll need to know to even attempt to hack at this job and all that time is going to cost at least seventy five to a hundred and fifty grand per year. And your value as a person and your value as a production entity, and what you produce is protection and safety- needs to outweigh your liability and your investment. And from where I sit, you're a bad fit who needs too much work to be made viable who's own liabilities are too high risk and whose value of protection will never pay out in any meaningful way. And your connection to me is a hindrance, not a help. Nepotism kills in this industry. Everyone has a 'I tried to get my nephew or my brother or someone else I know into this and they're dead now and we've had a fall out in the family since and we don't talk anymore' story. And I don't want to have one of my own, and neither should you." Violet insisted.

"With all due respect Mr. Sebastian, with respect to everything that Ms. Parr has brought to light. I will not be signing on if Mr. Parr does. Because I am in agreement with Ms. Parr on this 100%. Mr. Parr isn't right for this. The closest I would want Mr. Parr is just a friend and not a close one at that in light of all those liabilities, and frankly, I'm underqualified for this, the fact that Ms. Parr even mentioned my name is very high praise that I'm not worthy of and I'm frankly honored to bear witness that Ms. Parr lives up to her reputation of being the best in the business for every good reasons to the point that she is so professional that she won't let familial ties cloud her judgement." Leo formally answered Phillip who frowned. Not thinking that Leo would rather side with Violet instead of Dash, here he thought he would have it easy to have a three against one but right now it was two against one and if he wasn't so hell bent on his own objectives, he would immediately dismiss Dash. He had to find a way to make everyone happy while still serving his purpose.

"But..." Dash began to argue before Leo reached over and clasped his shoulder to stop him from making a fool of himself.

"Dash, Violet has you dead to rights, to sign on with this is signing your own death warrant and you have too much to lose if anything goes sideways and you're just plain, not cut out for it, it's not gonna work out man. No amount of money in the world should make you want to risk not watching your kids grow up. And you may be pissed at your sister and your pride and ego might be bruised right now but she just saved your life and you're an idiot if you don't see that. I wish I had a badass sister like you who looked out for me the way she just did for you. And she honestly did you a favor and every word out of her mouth rang true and she just gave you a priceless service of pointing out, in less than, say 20 minutes, where your weaknesses are and what you need to work on as a human being to be better. She did her job right. And she did right by you by making sure you stay out of harms way which this job has more than it's fair share of. You can't ask anything more from her. Now, let's get out of here, I'll buy you a drink." Leo offered.

"Mr. Sebastian, thank you for your time, we'll be in touch and I'll give you my answer when I have a chance to think it over and sleep on it. Ms. Parr always a pleasure to see you." Leo offered as he stood and shook Phillip's hand. then Violet's hand

"Thanks for at least hearing me out." Dash offered to Phillip as he shook his hand but still offered Violet a dirty glare as he passed her to leave with Leo.

But Violet could handle Dash's hurt feelings more than his innocent blood, she did it, she saved him. And what's more is she at least had Leo to back her up before she swiveled in her spot on the desk and turned around and faced Phillip, ready to take on whatever bullshit he would come up with to excuse himself.

"You were too hard on him." Phillip offered to Violet.

"No. I'm the only one who can see through bullshit apparently. What is wrong with you? Did you think that just because he shares some of my blood that he'd be anything like me? How many times have I told you about how he needs reminders to pay his own child support and bills, how he can't even function as an adult. He can't even cook or take care of himself properly and how the only thing he knows how to keep clean is his shoes, his car and his super-suit. The guy buys paper plates and bowls and plastic cutlery because he can't even bring himself to actually wash his own dishes. If he can't take care of himself, how in the fuck is he supposed to take care of you? What kind of sob story did he try to ply you with?" Violet posed because she knew outright accusing him of trying to hire Dash to use as leverage against her wasn't going to work. But if she could shift the blame to Dash, it would effectively make it look like she was letting him off the hook.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't take any of that into consideration and as always, you did bring up some very valid points, so I conceded, I will not be hiring Mr. Parr as my handler and anyone who hires him in any position where his own liabilities endanger others is foolish." Phillip cooed to sooth her anger because her rage was palpable even without his powers before her anger seemed to abate as his own spark of genius thought of ways he could get around this.

"Before you sign anyone else, at least run it by me. I appreciate you doing everything to keep things from off my plate, but Dash was the worst candidate for that job. Or really any job that doesn't involve his own ego and his own popularity and fame, because he is shallow, like a puddle, or maybe the Habsburg gene pool." Violet teased with a laugh as Phillip simply chuckled with her.

"Anyway, do we have anything new for Mr. Pine this evening?" Violet asked.

"Nope, nothing new, good night Ms. Parr." Phillip bid her.

"Goodnight." Violet grinned as she nodded and hopped off the desk and walked down to Buddy's floor.

"Good evening Mr. Pine." Violet greeted.

"Good evening Ms. Parr." Barret greeted.

"Any new business?" Barret asked before Violet started laughing that laugh that portrayed how close she was to losing her goddamn mind.

"What happened?" Barret asked.

"Some damn foolishness, that's for sure." Violet answered as she pulled up the feed from Phillip's office from about an hour ago on her tablet.
"Not to be an imposing guest, but could I trouble you for about an hour of your time and a glass or two of wine?" Violet asked with a giddy smile because she wanted Barret to see what had happened.

"You're never imposing." Barret immediately reassured her as he immediately put down what he was working on as Violet happily pressed a button on her sleeve and her outfit changed into one of just a casual outfit of a nice blouse and leggings with flats as she followed him into his apartment and took a seat on his breakfast bar as Barret went through what he had before he threw together the leftovers from the weekend as an offering for her before he got up on the other barstool next to her as Violet felt cameras and listening devices power down now that she was on this side of his space before she pulled up the video for Barret to see.

"Who's this?" Barret asked.

"That's Dash, as I'm sure you've figured out, is really White Lightning and that, is Leopold Traeger, aka Mysterio, but obviously, don't tell, anyway it's Leo who I suggested to Phil because Mysterio has a decent head count and has his own fair share of scandal and cover ups who's been around the block a few times and wouldn't judge Phill for his vices and would be flexible to work the schedule and wouldn't mind the cage too badly. He's not the greatest but he'll do for now until someone awesome becomes available because obviously I've been reassigned to you." Violet murmured quietly with a happy smile before she pulled up the video as Barret opened the bottle of wine and started to pour two wine glasses full before Violet put the tablet on the counter between them as they watched Dash try to spit his best game trying to get whatever job Phillip could use him for.

"Desperate much?" Barret muttered with a frown.

"That's Phill." Violet breathed in Barret's ear.

"What?" Barret asked as he moved his arm to rest on the back of Violet's backrest of the stool as Violet happily cuddled into his side as she put her mouth over his ear, her other hand cupping between her lips and his ear.

"That's Phillip. It's not that he can read thoughts per-say, he can read emotions, and he manipulate your emotions, even if all Dash did was look at him and go 'damn I wish he was my boss so I could make as much money' he takes that and turns it up to 11. He can make anyone feel desperate, desperate for him or what he could give them. Which in this case- is money. Phillip probably made Dash feel like if he didn't get a job from Phillip today- that he would starve to death before he would get evicted tomorrow. That kind of desperate." Violet revealed into Barret's ear as he fought not to shudder in delight, having her that close to him as his fingertips curled around her arm once the inside of his forearm made contact with her back and shoulders as her warmth seeped into his soul.

He knew it was going to be her job to "seduce" him, thankfully slowly. But he'd be lying if he tried to deny that he hadn't already fallen for her. But he also knew, the "harder" he made it for her to get close to him, the better for her in the long run because that would buy them both time to figure stuff out with Phillip, but in these moments, it was hard not to give in because his heart was ready to turn itself into an airplane runway and start waving her in.

"I see." Barret nodded in understanding before they watched the rest of the video as Barret watched on in awed amazement to see Violet do her best to try to counter all of that as he thought Leo's reactions were hilarious if not incredibly appropriate as he found himself mirroring the same reactions to everything Violet said.

"So I take it had you not been there to intervene and interfere, Dash would have been the real take." Barret realized.

"Yup. Now if Phillip goes to my father to try to do the same thing to him, I'll end him. So my question would be, should that happen, do you want me to take you with- after I do?" Violet asked.

"Please." Barret found himself saying before he could stop himself.

"Awesome, well, until then and while I'm here and while the spiders are sleeping, you and I should really talk about how we're going to proceed with 'the give'. Because I feel like the moment Philip is sure that you've fallen for me, he's going to order me to undo you. And I don't want to do that, for real at least. But even if we have to play this up for the camera so to speak ,I think there's a way we can do it without hating each other's guts by the end of it. So I have an idea." Violet began.

"Ok," Barred prompted.

"I know we agreed about the Mr. Pine, Bartholomew, Buddy, Barret thing. As much as this hurts to say and I feel sick to my stomach just saying this out loud but, when the time comes for when Phillip orders for me to undo you. If I absolutely have to and have no other choice, I would prefer to undo Tully, not Barret and just in case you need to undo me for any reason, undo Eloise, Ellie for short, not Violet. Eloise is my real middle name and it's a nickname that very, very few people use or would even know to use and it'll be something that can also get by the sensors and it'll give Phillip something somewhat tangible for when we have to put on a show in here and that way I can "hurt you" without actually hurting you, or at least, the real you." Violet suggested and Barret was ready to kiss her because his love and adoration for her just about overpowered him.

"Violet and Barret, Ellie and Tully." Barret nodded in agreement.

"So tell me about Ellie then." Barret invited as Violet smiled happily.

"Well, Ellie…" Violet began giddily as she settled in and took advantage of the fact that they could talk for now without anyone overhearing them.