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The Collins home was in absolute upheaval. Shelley had been baking for two days, meat was marinating in the fridge and on the counter, and the entire house almost glowed with the effects of Pine-Sol. Her daughter was not pleased. It had taken her three days to barrel through the pile of things that her mother had imperiously shoved into the center of the teen's bedroom floor, and she was consummately cranky because of it. Audrey was, in general, a fairly clean person. It was just so irritating to have to pick up clothes from the floor and daybed when you could just easily scoop them up from where they lay on the floor and wear them!

But now everything was carefully hung in her closet, and what didn't fit in the closet was folded and stashed in bins beneath both beds. Every inch of the medium-sized bedroom was vacuumed and even the massive desk dominating one wall had been cleaned. Sylvanas had always been gleaming beautifully, Audrey worked hard to keep her clean. All in all, she felt it was a bit much effort for one of her cousins. Not that she wasn't excited, oh no! In a time when she'd had no friends, Victora had been possibly the only person who would sit and talk with her like a human being. Vicky was cool, for a Kansas girl.

It was because of this that she'd taken a great care with her appearance that day, with a burgundy and mauve lightly plaid dress, ruffles at the hem. It was a bit low-cut for her normal out of the house wear, but she and Fallon had both agreed on it as an acceptable outfit. The Crystal girl had even taken Audrey to get a manicure and her nails were lightly French tipped as Jada's always were, and there was some light pink gloss on her lips. Of course there was a large and prominent bow on the back of her head, and deep wine-colored stockings hugged her legs, even in the warm spring weather. It was quintessentially Audrey all over again, with some Fallon Novette-Naim influences. Fallon hated the bow.

She'd been sitting impatiently in the front living room, staring out the window through the sheer curtains, subtly, when the taxi pulled up and deposited her cousin's things. Yup, that was absolutely Vicky! The bell had barely rung before the door was wrenched open, and the Collins cousin was enveloped in a huge hug. "You're here! I am so excited! I didn't believe it when they said you were coming to Destiny City for your senior year! I'm so happy you're here, Vic!" Oops. She'd meant to be mature and reasonable and sophisticated. Instead, she was ten years old and back in Courtland, where there was no city bullshit to worry about. Oh well! Family understood, right?

Audrey rolled her eyes at the typically Victoria statement and reached up to flick a finger over the cowboy hat adorning her cousin's head. "You're not in the country anymore, Vicky girl, we're going to have to get you some city girl clothes and soon! I'll have to call in the cavalry and introduce you to the girls I know up at Crystal for shopping, they'll be thrilled." Jada was always up for a good shopping spree, and Fallon's advice was invaluable. Besides, she was needing to talk to Eve anyway about Elzo, things there were moving a little fast again and were unsettling. Plus, they were good starter friends for Vic. You didn't get much prettier than Jada Chamberlyn, after all.

Hauling both cousin and luggage into the house, she called out. "Moooom, Vic's here. Get your hands outta the oven and give her a hug!" The clatter of metal on metal was heard in the kitchen and an aside was made. "Dad's working like he always does today, but he'll be home early for dinner. He's excited you're coming too, he loves when people get outta ********. He would adopt you if he could right now." Jason was like that, having experienced the joys of City Life for himself.

Shelley, of course, was almost as exuberant as her daughter, wrapping slim arms around the paler bluenette with motherly aplomb. "Oh Victoria, you've grown so pretty since I last saw you! It's only been a year, but gracious you're tall!" They were the same comments made by well-meaning relatives every time they saw you, but the pretty and perky blond aunt was so truly sincere that it was hard to get annoyed with her for it - most times. "Audrey, sweetie, take those things upstairs and put them away, and I'll call you down for dinner later. I know you girls have a lot to talk about, and I'll just monopolize you at dinner sweetheart." A light pat on Victoria's cheek, and they were alone and headed upstairs.

"I'm so happy you're here! It'll be like a long sleepover, only with some school involved. Unfortunately I still gotta go, but you should be up at Crystal soon and I can just sneak in there. I have connections." She also had the ability to teleport and leap three stories into the air, but that was not really a concern. Hopefully, Victoria was a heavy sleeper, otherwise things were going to be incredibly awkward for the next week or so. With any luck she could get out, snatch some seeds, and get back without senshi interference. Sadly, she hadn't been having much of that lately.

Dropping the suitcases onto the floor, she pointed at the daybed. "That's yours, we can put whatever you want on it blanket and pillow-wise, we've got tons." Audrey flopped down on it, beaming at her cousin and crossing her legs almost elegantly. It was ruined by the fact that she was somewhat sprawled in a rather short set of skirts. "So, did you see anything good on your way through town? Anything you wanna do? I mean, we can probably get out tonight with no school tomorrow, and I might even be able to get Elzo wrangle a guy or two from Hillworth if you're that sorta girl these days." Secretly, she hoped not. But hey, who was she to judge?

There was an image blooming in Audrey's head of Marlo Xanis and her spunky country cousin out on a date together with her and Elzo. First was some mild worry that perhaps the older of the boys might take a liking to the more forward of the Collins girls. But prevailing was the absolute need to giggle like the bluenette had just heard the best joke ever in the world, and she rolled back against the pillows to shake with it. "Oh yeah, absolutely, you and Marlo Xanis?" Giggles abound. "No, I think you'd make each other miserable! Not at all a way for you to spend your time here in the biiiiiiig citeh." The laughter faded to an exaggerated country drawl that most of her Courtland family was characteristic of.

At talk of Elzo being 'good enough' for her, Audrey did fidget a little and shook her head. There'd already been hints dropped from both Fallon and Jada that they weren't quite fond of Elzo, and didn't approve. Eve, however, was encouraging and ecstatic. She hadn't bothered to ask Andrew what he thought. Shifting back into teasing, amber eyes glittered. "'Sides, I doubt you know anything about real boys. Are there actually any in Cowtipping Hell that we're not related to Rosie? Or did you have to go the next county over to get a little action?" A braid was tweaked and a nickname fired to life from childhood. Being so close in age, they'd always run together on family retreats - Rosie the Ringleader and Jojo the Shadow, where one went, the other followed.

Now it was Audrey's turn to lead, and she was more than happy to. A text was fired off to her romantic interest at Hillworth, and with a flop the well-tied bow was crushed against the bed. "I think you'll really like it, on a serious note. I don't know if you've heard on the news about weird terrorists here, but it's not a big deal if you stay in groups after dark. Avoid alleys. Guys are more dangerous than weird girls in skirts." Certainly she wouldn't be sending youma after her cousin. Nor would any of her lieutenants harass Victoria. Linarite would take very long strides to make sure that this was very clear.

"You'll fit in perfectly though. I give that poor allowance two days in our hands, if we get anywhere near the mall with any Crystal girl. I swear, green is water to those girls!" Jealousy was light in her voice, and fingers went lightly to rub the two-thousand dollar diamonds in her ears. Truth be told, she was mildly worried about her countrified cousin, and tried to not let it show.

After all, Vicky was a Collins!

Girls in skirts weren't nearly so dangerous as boys in shorts, but even as Audrey's thoughts strayed to how dangerous things had really been for them all lately, she played it off casually. Or tried to. "Oh absolutely. One granny panty shot from those girls and I hear you die on the spot. They're corrupting our yoooooouth oh no! Obviously nobody's ever been on the internet at City Hall, though I guess that's a good thing." After all, she'd been on the chans since she was thirteen. There wasn't anything left to corrupt her! Or so she'd thought.

Vicky shoving her leg snapped Audrey from the reveries she fell into more and more often lately, causing a wide grin to split her face. "Sugar momma, Vicky, that's the key. My friend, Jada? Her family owns like a square mile of prime land right outside the city and slapped a mega mansion right on top of it. We're talking a cool 20 mil estate. We had a sleepover before her, get this, debutante ball and she and my friend Fallon decided to pierce my ears. These were the smallest diamonds she had just lying around. It's absolutely incredible!" A blush rose to her cheeks at the idea of being so generously gifted, and that was without mention of the rather expensive star diamond necklace that Jada had pressed on her for graduation!

Pasha had seen that one, and spent a good while simply staring, before commenting that the rainbows they made were perfect. She loved that kid to bits. "As for a cell, don't worry. We'll just toss you on our plan, I know your parents are sending us some money for it every month plus your allowance which is whatever you guys worked out. It's something like twenty bucks for unlimited everything, and the phone comes with the contract. It'll be aces. I told them as soon as I found out you were coming. You just can't not have a cell phone. They'd laugh you outta school, even if you went to Hillworth." A sage nod from the street-smart, there were just things you had to have. "I can't help you on laptop..yet. Did your folks help you chip in there?"

Yet another thing you couldn't do without, and Audrey would rather go naked than be without a computer ever.

Jojo leered at her cousin before poking her lightly in the ribs with a stockinged foot, her tone decidedly what would be called 'bedroom voice'. "Oh baby, don't you wish you knew about how I swung?" It had been only boys so far, but it wasn't due to preference. Audrey was the lonely sort of person that didn't care a whole lot about sex, she just wanted someone to do for her what Elzo did. Stargazing, snuggling, having picnics, dates to moves, the whole nine yards. Aree also sprung to mind in a strange way, before another, more disturbing thought came to mind.

There was one way to corrupt her cousin more than before. And this way, Audrey wouldn't have to worry about Rosie because she'd be easier to keep an eye on. Would be able to defend herself. When the time came, she could revel in the glory herself. Wasn't that was family was for? Amber eyes considered her for a moment, and the long and searching look was disguised with another purpose.

"Well you know me. Technological guru. I helped the Hillworth secretary buy a computer for her hubby by selling her damn shoes on Ebay, I'm sure I can find my own cous a deal!" Energetic and loving suddenly, Audrey flopped over onto Victoria and hugged her with a victory yell. "I'm really happy you're here. You have no idea!"

"Oh yeah, like I'm totally going to tell everyone who showed me how to jump that damn fence in the first place!" 'Showed' was perhaps strong a word for what exactly Victoria had told Audrey about her escapades, but it was a close enough synonym for the metaphor they were using. Really, it was more like Audrey was crawling under the fence on her belly, through the brush and pretending that nobody could see her. It was a very secret thing, the way she sometimes thought about girls as prettier than she ought to. But she wasn't ashamed of it.

Just personal.

Picking the hat up off the floor, Audrey sat it on her head just in time for Shelley to peek into the room. "You girls are so noisy! Come on down, it's time for dinner." Whirling, her daughter blinked several times at the clock, then back at her mother. "Already? Wow. Time flies!" Snagging Vicky's wrist, the taller girl was dragged out of the room and down the stairs into family dinner.

Welcome to Destiny City, indeed!