Adrian Ivashkov 🧛🏼 (ivashkinator) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-01-06 16:12:00 |
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Entry tags: | !narrative, * emily, c: connor reed |
Who: Connor Reed --> Adrian Ivashkov
When: January 6 --> August 3
Where: His bedroom --> The Moroi Royal Court
What: Adrian has a really shitty 21st birthday.
Rating: Blood, murder, death, etc.
Sunbathing in the Sahara Desert, Adrian thought, adding it to the list of things he would rather do than have dinner with Rose, Dimitri, Lissa, Christian, and god knows how many other guardians and officials. He’d been avoiding people in general for the past few weeks, but he’d been avoiding these people in particular. This dinner would put him under their full scrutiny, but if he didn’t go, then it would be Jill who would be the subject of it, and that didn’t seem fair. Glancing down and meeting her eye, Jill flashed him a smile that was a mix of nervousness and gratitude. He understood better now why she’d invited him; it hadn’t been out of pity, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone. She was uncomfortable, and she didn’t want to go into this alone. And so, he pushed down his own apprehension and flashed her a grin. “After you, princess,” he teased, opening the door for her. Jill rolled her eyes. "Please don't call me that," she insisted. "Your wish is my command," he winked. She pushed him, but smiled. Following her into the room, all eyes turned in their direction, and Lissa looked at least half as uncomfortable as Jill did. Though he tried to avoid looking at them by focusing on Lissa, Adrian could see Rose out of the corner of his eye, her arm wrapped loosely around Dimitri’s waist, an amused smile fading into a somber look as Jill entered. “Jill, thank you for coming,” Lissa said warmly, Christian at her side. Her eyes shifted to Adrian, brow furrowing, “And Adrian?” she said with uncertainty, clearly not expecting him. “I invited him,” Jill said quickly, offering no further explanation--likely because that would entail divulging how neither of them really wanted to be here tonight and were commiserating. Rose’s eyebrows raised. Adrian dodged her entirely, making a beeline to the bar as Lissa made small talk with her new half-sister. Rose followed him, however. “Hey,” she said, arms folded. “Hi,” Adrian greeted stiffly after a healthy dose of vodka. “What’s up with that?” she asked pointedly, cocking her head back in Jill’s direction. “You and Jill?” Meeting her eyes reluctantly, Adrian raised a questioning brow. “Are you her date?” she asked, the word loaded with implication. Adrian’s face broke into incredulity, “Rose. She’s fifteen.” She waited, her expression demanding further explanation. “Of course we’re not on a fucking date. Jesus,” he scowled, hurt that after all they’d been through she could think so little of him. “She just asked me to come. I don’t know. She seemed nervous and wanted a friend here, and I guess I was the first one she ran into.” Rose seemed genuinely perplexed, “Why would she be nervous?” she asked. Adrian gave a stiff laugh, then gestured his hands around the grand, formal dining room of the Moroi Queen. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because she’s lived her whole life as a normal kid and has never been summoned for a dinner date with the queen before.” “But Lissa’s her sister,” Rose said, still confused. “As of, like, five minutes ago, so I think that fact only compounds the discomfort.” Rose frowned, as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her. Just as Adrian tried to sneak away from Rose, they were all called to be seated for dinner. Resigning himself to the next two hours of stilted, awkward conversation, Adrian slunk into the seat beside Jill. As he looked around the table and the familiar dining hall, Adrian thought of all the times he’d had dinner in here with his aunt and family. Those weren’t always the most enjoyable of occasions either, at least not when his dad was in attendance, and he rarely missed an opportunity to dine in all of this regalia. But still, Adrian had always appreciated spending time with his Aunt Tatiana; even if his dad was being a giant ass, Adrian almost relished it, because he knew Tatiana would put him in his place so fast that he'd have whiplash. Adrian had always gotten a kick out of that. Looking across the room now at the new queen--his friend, Lissa--sitting where his aunt had once sat, it amazed him how quickly the world had moved on in the wake of his aunt’s assassination. It felt like everyone was moving forward, and he was the only one stuck in his grief. When they served the wine to everyone seated except for Jill, Adrian took a liberal swing of it, washing down the vodka from earlier with more alcohol. “So, Jill, how has your summer been so far?” Lissa asked pleasantly. Jill tucked some of her curly hair behind her ears, “It’s been good!” she said, “I’ve been spending a lot of time at the pool and the beach once the sun goes down, and that’s been relaxing. I also got a summer job working at the movie theaters, which is perfect because it’s out of the sun and the heat and I get free admission--” she stopped abruptly, blushing slightly, as if it occurred to her that none of these people probably had to take a summer job. Adrian noticed that Eddie seemed to be hanging on to her every word, and she probably needn’t have worried that she was being a bore in his case, but she didn’t seem to notice him. “Anyway. I guess it hasn’t been all that interesting, but it’s been relaxing and nice to have a break from school.” Lissa smiled politely, then turned to Adrian, her smile dimming into a look of concern, “And how have you been, Adrian?” “Oh, you know…” he began, spinning his wine in his glass before he took another swing of it to avoid answering the question. How was he? His aunt was dead, his mom was faching criminal charges, his girlfriend had cheated on him and now here he was eating dinner with her and her new/old boyfriend, and all of his friends that he actually liked were really more her friends than his, and he hadn’t seen much of them in weeks either. He was depressed and lonely and mourning, but no one wanted to hear that. “It’s Adrian’s birthday!” Jill said brightly. “I’m sure you have fun plans afterwards,” she said in an earnest attempt to lighten the mood, but Rose, Dimitri, Christian, and Lissa who had all simply been frowning before now looked guilty. “Oh, Adrian, I’m sorry, we should have--” Lissa began, but Adrian waved her off. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t want to make a thing out of it, anyway. It’s a...weird time.” Still, the guilt and remorse lingered across the table, and it only served to darken Adrian’s mood. Really, it wasn’t that big of a fucking deal, he thought. “Anyway,” Rose interjected, “Perhaps we should…?” she started, giving Lissa a meaningful look. As Adrian suspected, they probably had whatever future they had in mind for Jill neatly planned out. Sensing it, too, Jill sat up straighter in her seat. “Right, Jill…” Lissa began, a hint of nervousness in her own voice. “We were discussing your returning to Saint Vladimir’s next term, and we’ve decided that it would be too much of a security threat. Surrounded by so many Moroi and dhampirs with varying…opinions on my reign and our...our family,” she stumbled on that one, “It would be too difficult to guarantee your safety, when we’re not even sure where the subterfuge is coming from. We can’t even really vouch for the sympathies of the teachers there…” she explained. Jill’s brow furrowed, “You don’t want me to go back to school…?” she asked. “We only want you to stay away from Saint Vladimir’s until the political situation has stabilized,” she explained, "It wouldn't be permanent." Jill looked perplexed, “But I don’t...what does the political situation really have to do with me?” she asked. “Well…” Lissa said gently, “Since I’m the queen, and you’re the only other descendant of the Dragomir line, that makes you one of the youngest princesses among the royal families, and that’s a political role. We’ve never had a prince or princess who was still in school. And...your title is, well, contentious. Not everyone is happy about it.” Adrian could see that Jill was still confused, but maybe too embarrassed to let on that she was, “Okay….” she continued, “Then where am I supposed to go?” she asked. “We were thinking Palm Springs, California,” Lissa said, "There's a good school there--" Lissa began, but was cut off by Adrian who nearly choked on his second glass of wine. Everyone's attention shifted from Jill to him now. “Sorry, but isn’t that...like...a desert?” “Well, yes….we thought, perhaps, it would be better for you to be somewhat...removed from the Moroi world until some of the turmoil dies down.” Jill was speechless. “So you’re sending her to a human school?” Adrian asked. Lissa nodded. Adrian laughed, “Un-fucking-believable.” “Do you have a better idea?” Christian asked indignantly. “Yeah, how about not punishing her for shit that doesn’t involve her?” “This isn’t a punishment,” Lissa insisted. “Really? What teenaged Moroi would consider being forced to go to a school with all humans in a fucking desert not a punishment?” Jill looked nervous, “Adrian, please, it’s….” she began faintly, but couldn’t really get the word “fine” out, because honestly it kind of wasn’t, and he was kind of right. “Can I...talk to my parents about this first?” she asked. “We already have,” Lissa assured her. “They said it’s up to you.” Adrian scoffed, “And is it?” he asked. Before they could finish arguing, there was a loud bang as three masked figures barged into the room. Everything happened so fast that Adrian barely had time to process what was happening. Rose and Dimitri pulled Lissa and Christian down, but the intruders blew right past her and charged at Jill instead. Eddie dove wildly in an attempt to tackle them, but it was too late-- The assassin ran Jill through with a knife. She toppled over in her chair from the impact as Eddie, Rose, and Dimitri began to fight the assassins. Feeling bile rise in his throat, Adrian collapsed onto the ground next to Jill, the knife still lodged in her chest. It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but there was already so much blood, and she was still so pale and still. Adrian put a hand over the wound, extricating the knife, and summoned his magic from somewhere deep inside of him, trying desperately to push past the alcohol-induced fog that dulled his powers, and yet, amazingly, they obliged and surged inside of him. Slowly, the wound began to close and heal, but Adrian could sense that he was only healing the flesh, he couldn’t sense her spirit at all--when he touched his fingers to her throat, there was no pulse. “Come on,” Adrian urged her, tears rolling down his face now. She was too young and too kind to die like this. He squeezed her hand, willing her to live..barely even realizing it, these weren’t mere thoughts. The magic, still active in his mind, obeyed his command, and Adrian’s spirit reached for what was left of hers. He felt his magic entwine itself around her life force, which at first was all but extinguished, but the longer Adrian held on, the more strength began to return to Jill’s spirit. He could feel his energy drain out of himself and into her, until with a gasp, Jill’s eyes opened once more. Even as Adrian tried to let go, he could feel that his spirit was still wrapped up in hers. Jill gazed up into Adrian’s eyes, amazed, “Did I--?” she asked quietly. Adrian nodded. “And you…?” she asked, but Adrian knew she must already know the answer to that; she could feel him now, she could see into his mind, and though he couldn’t see into hers, from the searching way she looked up at him and the understanding that dawned on her face, Adrian knew she was finding the answer to her own questions inside his thoughts and memories--he had brought her back to life. Connor awoke with a sudden gasp of his own. It was still dark out; glancing at the clock which read five in the morning, Connor could have only fallen asleep himself a few hours ago. Pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, Connor tried to process all that he had just seen and felt. It had only been a dream, right? It had to be...and yet, he didn’t usually feel dreams after they passed, but this one--Connor thought he could still feel that buzz of a connection that had bound his spirit to the girl’s. He thought he could still feel her sticky blood on his hands, which made him jump up and run to the bathroom in an attempt to wash something off that wasn’t there. His breath still came in frantic gasps as he stared at his own bloodshot eyes in the mirror. His eyes. His hair. His face--not this other guy’s. Pressing his shaking hands to his face, Connor tried to reassure himself that it had only been a dream. Though he could think of nothing or no one that could have possibly summoned a dream like this, he tried to let reality reorient around himself. There were no assassins. There were no dead girl. There was no….resurrection. There was only his bathroom in his house. Releasing a shaky breath, Connor let the water run and splashed it on his face several times. As long as it had taken him to get to sleep in the first place, he knew he wouldn’t be falling back to sleep tonight. Returning to his room, Connor opened a window and lit a cigarette. He stared out into the quiet street below him, but no matter how hard he tried to focus on all the familiar details of his neighborhood, Connor couldn’t stop the images from that dream from replaying through his mind, and feeling, peculiarly, that they weren’t just a dream at all. |