Rose Hathaway :: Vampire Academy (lildampeer) wrote in kirkrose, @ 2015-11-07 12:09:00 |
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It had been a really long day. About 18 hours ago, she'd first felt the tremors from what she knew now to be a massive earthquake caused by some kind of apocalypse inducing ritual that had, at least, been stopped. They'd been too late getting back to help with that. Too late to do anything but look around at the devastation that had happened to their home. It was funny, Rose hadn't ever consciously thought of Lawrence as home before. But seeing the places she'd become so familiar with leveled like this had brought tears to her eyes. People were hurt. People were dead. And the worst of it all was this feeling of powerlessness. She hadn't been able to stop any of it and even now there was still a limit to what she could do. One thing she could do, though, was offer some of her friends a place to stay. The cabin was small, only one room, but magic had been able to make it a little bigger. Rose had spent the last few hours entertaining Roland and the baby while the magic users saw to their accommodations. It was nice therapy, playing with the kids, Roland especially. Rose had never thought she was good with kids, but that had changed recently. She’d had to help out with the baby when she and Regina took off for the Caribbean and could change a diaper like a pro now. More recently, she and Roland had gotten to know each other a lot better when she had been the only person in the house who could actually see him. "Again", the little boy had demanded and Rose laughed, picking him up and spinning him around in the air like a boy-shaped airplane. Roland squealed and giggled, as delighted with the game as ever. “Sorry, little pirate,” Rose teased him, then. “I think it’s your bedtime.” She gave him an indulgent smile before handing him over to a grinning Robin. Still laughing, Rose went in search of her tent-mate for the night. There was only so much Regina could do with the cabin and when she’d mentioned having to put something together outside, Rose had insisted she would take it. It was selfish, but she’d also insisted on him joining her out there. It didn’t take her long to find him. “Hey,” she said, having to force her grin a little more now. She’d had fun with Roland, but now the reason they were all here came back to her. She thought about how much people had lost, especially these friends she was gathered here with tonight, and her heart ached for them. “Are you ready to see our deluxe accommodations?” Her voice was cheerful, although she laid a comforting hand on his arm and she couldn’t mask the sympathy or concern in her eyes. A part of her wanted to ask if he was okay, but she knew that was a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t. How could he be? It had been a rough day. Greaves House, the Youth Center...basically his entire life here in Lawrence was gone, all in one day. He should have expected it to happen; nothing good stayed long in this town, not with the Seal and the assholes like those involved in the ritual today. It should be easier to deal with now, after nearly two years of this, but it wasn’t. It still hurt like hell. This was just like when the complex blew only worse, because this time he’d had things from home in San Francisco in the apartment. If he got another wish bauble he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get them back a second time. But he wasn’t going to run away this time. He wasn’t going to get the hell out of town. If he’d learned anything over the last year, it’s that Lawrence was home, at least until the Seal took him back to the planet he’d been exploring when it had plucked him up for the fight. And he was going to get it set back to rights. He’d managed to get a large chunk of the displaced hotel rooms for a week, and he’d extend it until they could figure out housing. He’d rebuild Greaves House and he’d rebuild the Youth Center, make them better than before. He’d stick it out and he’d make it work. He saw Rose coming and he felt a little bit of the sadness ease. Most of his friends were okay. Banged up badly in a few cases, but they were okay. Everyone except Zane that he knew of. That had hurt a lot. But Rose was okay. He was glad that nothing had happened to her since they got back into Lawrence. He gave her a small grin and stood up. “ Yeah. I don’t think I’ve seen a magicked tent before,” he said. Rose wasn’t even sure who all they’d lost. She knew Lydia was in bad shape. She knew Zane and a handful of others were dead. It wasn’t the highest body count she’d ever seen, but that wasn’t really a consolation. These losses were harder to come to terms with than any battle she’d been in. She hadn’t been helpless in those situations. People fell in battle, but at least you could look at all the lives saved when the battlefield was littered with the enemy’s corpses. Maybe the same could be said about whatever ritual had been stopped in the nearby graveyard earlier today, but it was harder to quantify. It was harder to call it a win, when the resulting devastation was still all around them. She felt that sense of helplessness returning to her now when she looked at her friend. He was more than her friend if she wanted to be honest about it, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that she felt completely and utterly unable to help him right now. He’d lost everything he had here. Rose had, too, but she had very few belongings that meant anything to her here. She hadn’t spent the last two years building a life here. It hadn’t even been a year for her. She could only imagine what he was going through and the only thing she could really do was hug him, which she’d done at least half a dozen times already since this afternoon. It didn’t feel like enough, but she didn’t know what else to do. “Me either,” she said out loud, because honestly when she tried to give voice to anything else she was thinking or feeling, she couldn’t find the words. It felt like a copout, but talking about their magical tent was easier right now. “Knowing Regina, we’ve probably got a jacuzzi in there. Possibly a swimming pool.” She tried to smile again, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Joking was kind of her standard when things were hard or uncomfortable, but her heart wasn’t quite in it tonight. “A jacuzzi could be nice,” he said with a nod. He ran a hand down his face after a moment. God, he felt tired. He felt like every bone ached, like he’d aged a million years. He felt just like he had after the apocalypse and this time he hadn’t even been fighting. He just felt spent, he realized as he moved closer to Rose. When he was close enough he pulled her into an embrace. There was nothing romantic about it, nothing like that at all. It just felt nice to draw strength from someone else, know that there was someone there who would listen and be there while they all worked to put Lawrence back together. “I’m really glad nothing happened to you,” he said, voicing what he hadn’t said since they’d met up again. "Well, who doesn't like a nice jacuzzi." Some part of Rose thought that wasn't a good idea for them, but she pushed those thoughts aside for now. She'd been joking, anyway, hoping to make him smile, if only for a moment. When he reached for her, Rose didn't hesitate in wrapping her arms around him and hugging him back tightly. If he needed her strength, she would gladly lend it. It didn't feel like enough, but it was the only thing she could do and at least it was something. "I guess we're lucky that asshole hit your bike," she said, nodding her head in agreement at his words. The thought that he could have ended up as one of the dead or seriously hurt today made her eyes burn and her throat tighten. Had it been only a week ago that they'd been joking about how neither of them was allowed to die in the next apocalypse. Hell, Rose had joked just a few days ago about how they shouldn't have one without them. That joke seemed a lot less funny now. "I told you," she added, giving him a kind of half smile, "you're not getting rid of me that easily." “I never thought I’d actually be happy to have it wrecked,” he said. “I know us. Both of us would have been at that graveyard if we could have been. Or I’d have been at the Center for the day or...” He shut his eyes. “I don’t want to think about it. But good. I don’t want to lose you.” When he felt better he let her go but reached over for her hand. It felt nice to just stay close to someone. “Okay. I guess we get to see if this tent puts the Weasley’s tent to shame,” he said, giving her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He’d had some experience with magic in Lawrence before, but not much. It would be interesting to see what was done to the tent to make it better for them. "I know." He didn't have to finish what he'd been about to say, because Rose's thoughts had already been there more than once today. It was a given that he would have been at the Center or at Graeves House. If they hadn't been out of town when this had hit, they probably wouldn't have made it out so lucky. Lucky hardly seemed an appropriate word for the situation, but it was true. They were both alive. That was what she needed to hold onto. "I'm glad Lissa wasn't here, too," she added. Regina had told her earlier that Lissa and Allison had gotten out of Lawrence for awhile, too. It hurt to know that Lissa hasn't even told her she was leaving, but right now Rose was just grateful she hadn't been here, that she hadn't been hurt. None of the people Rose couldn't stand to lose had been. It felt selfish to think of it that way, but she was still grateful. She was grateful, too, when his hand found hers after he pulled out of the embrace. She needed that touch to ground her right now. It reminded her that no matter how bad things were, they could be so much worse. She squeezed his hand in a silent show of love and support before nodding her head. "It will," she promised him. "The Weasleys have nothing on Regina Mills." She managed another smile as she tugged gently at his hand, pulling him around to the back of the cabin where a deceptively simple looking tent sat. Moments later, when they entered through the opening, even Rose was impressed. Opulent was the only way to describe it. There was, indeed, a jacuzzi. There was also a large, four poster bed outfitted with silk sheets, a full kitchen and bath and a large flat screen tv. She also didn't miss the "mood" lighting and she couldn't help shaking her head at that not so subtle hint. "Holy shit," was all Rose could say as she stared around at everything. She'd expected it to be impressive, but this exceeded even her expectations. He let her pull him along to the tent. He just needed to focus on the fact that there was work to do, and if they were really lucky this would be another one of those “all deaths are temporary” situations he’d gotten used to over the last few years. He hoped it was, at any rate. It’s when the deaths were permanent that things began to really suck for the people left in Lawrence. His eyes widened when they got into the tent. He was expecting nice, but he wasn’t expecting this nice. “Okay, Regina wins for most impressive magic user I’ve ever met,” Kirk said, grinning despite himself. He had to admit, he was glad for this. It was nice to have something to look forward to at the end of a long day of trying to figure out what steps needed to be taken to rebuild. “I’m going to have to find a way to thank her properly.” "You should see her island," Rose countered, shaking her head. "That place is amazing. The view from here isn't as nice, but even I'm kind of impressed. I think Scorpius might have helped, but she's really outdone herself." She already felt like she owed Regina a thousand times over, so this was just something to add to the list. The older woman had taken a kind of mix of a motherly and a big sisterly attitude towards Rose and it was one she appreciated more than she bristled under. She'd given her a place to stay when she couldn't face going back to her old apartment, she'd forced her to talk even when she didn't want to. Regina was the one person Rose had actually explicitly told about what had happened between her and Kirk. She supposed it was because she knew she could trust her not to judge her. She used to feel the same way about Lissa, up until recently. Despite the tension between her and her best friend right now, though, all Rose wanted to do was hug her. "It's nice. I feel kind of bad about enjoying anything after everything that's happened today, but it's still nice." Not everyone would have a place as nice as this to stay, despite the fact that they were standing inside of a tent. The motel rooms would be okay, she knew, but nothing like this. It made her feel guilty, knowing her own accommodations were so much nice that those of so many others. After hours of helping to move around debris and digging out people - both the injured and the ones no one could do anything for - the idea of getting in the jacuzzi was extremely appealing. Probably not the best idea if she was going to continue exercising her self control where he was concerned, but it was appealing all the same. “One day I might just ask if that’s all right,” he said, looking around. He took in the lighting - there was definitely something to be said that it was setting a mood - and then looked over at the bed. Part of him wanted to just lay down and try to sleep, but he knew his whole body would ache from the hard work he’d done making sure everyone was okay when he was finally able to get close enough to see if anything was salvageable from Greaves House. Nothing really was, unfortunately, and he wasn’t allowed anywhere near his apartment due to structural damage. The jacuzzi was very tempting. “I do too, but you know that some of the other magic users are going to help as much as they can,” he said. “I mean, not everyone will get something this nice, but I’m sure more comfortable sheets and blankets can be found or magicked up, and maybe if we’re lucky we can recover a few things that are important whenever we can actually get all the way into the buildings.” He stopped looking around after a moment. “I don’t suppose there’s swim trunks around here?” he asked, eyeing the jacuzzi. If he sat in it for a while before trying to get some sleep he probably would be able to do more the next day with helping out. "I wouldn't mind going back, myself," she admitted. Regina had dragged her along when Robin had first come back, before the Seal giving her those memories had brought them running back. "It's beautiful there, peaceful. Being there made me feel differently about a lot of things." It occurred to her that maybe she could show him someday, when things were a little less intense around here. A part of her wished they could just go there now, but she knew without even asking that it wasn't an option. Neither of them could just run away when others needed their help. His comment about swimsuits made him laugh, in spite of the feeling that she shouldn't be finding any kind of joy in the midst of such tragedy. It felt good to laugh, though. It felt good to, for just a moment, forget about everything but the world inside this tent. "Who needs swimsuits?" she asked. A devious smirk crossed her face and without really thinking about what she was doing, she pulled her shirt swiftly over her head. A second later, she was kicking off her shoes and her shorts before she started for the jacuzzi. True, the only pair of underthings she had now were the ones she wore, but they would dry easily enough when they were done and she really wanted to test out the water. He shook his head as he watched her strip down. He swore, she was going to be the death of him, but at this point he was kind of okay with that. He didn’t want to not be around her, even if he was keeping some distance while she got her own thoughts and feelings straight. He ended up doing the same, peeling off his shirt before taking off his socks and shoes and then undoing his jeans, leaving him in his boxers. Truth be told, his life had been kind of boring up until recently. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have something interesting happen in it. He got into the jacuzzi next to Rose and found it was the exact perfect temperature. This was exactly what he needed, he decided. “I owe Regina,” he said, sinking down until his shoulder were submerged. “But I have a question. Is it just me or is there mood lighting in this tent?” For a second, Rose wasn't really sure she should answer his question. She couldn't help laughing, though, which probably meant that giving him an answer was unavoidable. So she shook her head. "Oh, it's not you," she admitted. "She, um, knows about what happened..." Hopefully the pointed look she gave him would be enough to tell him what she meant. "This is her very not subtle way of encouraging a, uh, repeat performance." That was kind of a understatement. Regina had been very vocal in her insistence that Rose should move on and let herself be happy. She appreciated the sentiment, even if following her friend's advice was easier said than done. “Ah,” he said, leaning his head back. So he wasn’t just imagining things. “Well, I would be more than happy to have one when you’ve figure out exactly how you feel about everything, if you decide you want to give me a chance. If not....well, I’m sure Regina hasn’t gotten her way before. She should cope well enough without cursing me, right?” he asked with a grin. He would have to remember that so far there was a grand total of two people who knew exactly what happened. He was fairly sure other people would guess eventually, what with going to Kansas City and staying in the tent together, coupled with the fact he was pretty reluctant to stray too far away from her at the moment, but that could keep for now. But at least he knew Regina was on his side, if it came down to actually having to convince Rose one way or the other. “I think she knows where to put the blame if it doesn’t happen.” Her smile slipped a little and she looked down at that. The truth was that there was a part of her that did want exactly that. And some part of her worried that she was hurting him by not being ready, which she hated, but she was almost positive she’d hurt him worse if she rushed into something with him. Holding back wasn’t in her nature. She was almost impressed with how much self control she was showing at the moment, especially given the kind of day they’d had. There was part of her that would give anything to just forget about the consequences and give in, but she knew this wasn’t something she could change her mind on again, not until she was sure it wouldn’t end badly. “Not a matter of blame, though. I mean, I wouldn’t blame you, and that’s more important than Regina blaming you, right?” he said, turning to look at her. “Unless, of course, Regina decided to use magic on you. Then it might be a little more important.” Truth be told he wasn’t entirely sure if what he said made sense, but he just wanted to get her to smile. Neither of them needed to be dragged down with any depressing thoughts right now. After a moment he moved his head back, shutting his eyes. “I kind of just want to hide out here for a while and ignore everything outside. I know it’s not going to get better or easier, but it would be nice to just have some time where we don’t have to consider it’s the end of the world all over again.” And apparently he couldn’t keep the maudlin thoughts away, damn it. Rose laughed at the idea of Regina actually using magic on her. "No, I don't think she would. I think she just... over identifies with the situation, which means she's pretty, uh, liberal with the advice." She actually didn't mind that much. It was nice to know that someone cared so much about her happiness. She just wished it was as easy as following Regina's advice. Even if she was right - and Rose wasn't sure that she was - moving on wasn't that simple. She had more than just herself to consider. The impulse to just hide out and forget about the bad was one she understood well. Here, inside the tent, it was easy to shut out the world. She leaned back and closed her eyes, too, imagining for a moment she was anywhere but Lawrence. "Well," she said after a moment, "the way I see it, the world didn't actually end. We're alive and not stuck in some kind of hell dimension or fighting an army of zombies or anything. Technically, the good guys won today, even if it really doesn't feel like it right now." “Do I want to know how liberal she was?” he asked with a smirk. It could be an interesting conversation at some point, if Rose felt like sharing. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know if Regina was giving out advice on techniques or anything. That might make it weird if he ended up sharing a meal with her at some point. He thought about what she said. “I guess we did,” he said. “It just feels like the apocalypse all over again. The whole freaking month has felt like a lead-up to it, and then…” He sighed. “I just hate the whole situation at the moment. Yeah, technically we won, but we lost a whole lot. And not just us. The whole damn town lost a lot.” Laughing again, Rose shook her head. "Maybe liberal wasn't the right word. She was just pretty outspoken about her opinion. Which I'm pretty sure you would approve of." Actually, she was positive he would approve, but she wasn't sure she should elaborate, even if talking about their non-relationship was less depressing than talking about the other shit that had happened today. "It's definitely bad," she agreed, moving so that she was sitting next to him rather than across from in him the jacuzzi. "But it could be worse. We could have lost more than we did. We could still be fighting. We could be staying someplace without this kick ass jacuzzi. We'll grieve for the people and the things we lost, but we'll pick up and keep going. We'll rebuild. And we'll all do it together." It felt an awful lot like something Dimitri would have said, but instead of making her sad, the thought made her smile. What's more, the knew she was right. They could take their moment to grieve for their losses, but they couldn't dwell on them. They had to focus on the good and move on with life. “I probably would,” he said with a nod and a grin. “Of course, considering how few people are left who have opinions on my personal life who were around to see the spectacular fallout of my first relationship, if she likes me then I must have changed quite a bit in two years.” It was still kind of strange to think he’d been there two years. He’d actually outlasted Khan, much to his surprise. He’d thought the two of them would be stuck there together forever. Funny how things worked out. “Yeah, but what if this is just the beginning?” he asked, turning to her. “I mean, we lost people before when the original complex blew, and then a little while later there was the apocalypse. What if this is just the precursor like the explosion and we have something worse down the pipeline? I don’t really want to go through it again. Once was enough.” "I don't want to go through anything like that either, but if it happens, we'll deal. We'll fight, we'll do what we have to do to protect our home and the people we love." She probably sounded a little more confident than she felt, but it was second nature for her to put the needs of others above her own and she recognized that in this moment, her strength was needed. "We can't dwell on what might happen," she insisted. "All we can do is deal with what's in front of us now. The rest, we'll take as it comes. I mean, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, but that's no reason to stop living. If anything, it's a reason to enjoy life now, while we can. Because we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. All we can do is deal with right now and hope tomorrow ends up okay." He knew she was right. They would press on, they would persevere. It’s what they did. But damn it, did they have to this and then have to do it all over again in a few months, and then maybe do it again a year down the line? Was there ever going to be an actual end to all of this? “Yeah, I know,” he said with a sigh. “But it was supposed to be done. Over. We were all supposed to have gone home a year and a half ago. We fought the war, we won, that was what was supposed to happen.” He shut his eyes. “I’m just tired of losing the things I care about and the people I care about. “ "Believe it or not, I've done a lot less fighting here than at home. Even with everything, well, I can't say it's any worse here. There are people back there I miss, but there are people here I'd miss too if I went back. I guess I'm just used to the fact that evil's gonna keep coming. Sometimes it'll be months without and attack, some guardians go their whole lives without ever having to fight. But I'm a member of the royal guard and Lissa's the last of her line. Peace and quiet was never going to be my life. I'd probably be bored if it was." Rose moved again, this time so she was standing in front of him. She was so close that their bodies were almost - but not quite - touching, except for where she reached down and took his hand in hers. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together,” she assured him. She wanted to promise that she wasn’t going anywhere, that he would never lose her, but she knew that wasn’t a promise she could really keep. It wasn’t like the seal actually gave them a choice when it came to these things. He grasped her hand, playing with her fingers slightly. He was used to it here. Back home, he would probably have to get used to it, if he didn’t remember Lawrence; there wasn’t going to be peace if everything went the way Marcus had thought it would, if what he was making preparations for came to pass. But he’d hoped here, he could get some peace, and that seemed to not be the case. But at least he wasn’t alone. “You promise? I mean, I know you can’t say 100%, but...to the best of your ability?” he asked, looking up at her. “Because I don’t want to have to deal with whatever the hell is coming next without the people I care about around, and I care about you a lot more than most. I just...whatever happens, I just want to make sure that I don’t lose you.” “You won’t,” she promised, even though she had no business making that claim. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” That, at least, was something she actually could hold to. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s coming next at all, but for as long as I have a choice, I’m going to be right here.” It was still a dangerous promise to make. There were so many people Rose felt a duty to look out for. To protect and keep safe. To just be there for. That didn’t matter, though. It was in her nature to do that. Lawrence had been her home and she knew she’d do what she had to in order to defend it and the people who lived here, but she’d also do everything she could to support her loved ones in other ways and right now? Well, he was near the top of the list of people she wanted to protect. “Just try not to get yourself killed or anything, okay?” she half-joked. It probably wasn’t funny, but she was trying to lighten the mood, “because I don’t want to lose you, either.” “Good,” he said, giving her a small smile and tightening his grip on her hand. “And I promise the same thing. I mean, as much as I can. The Seal’s going to do what the Seal’s going to do, no matter what we want. But anything I can do to stay here, I’ll do.” His grin got wider. “Remind me never to let you watch my movies. You thought the other me could be reckless. I do not think you’d be impressed with the crap I did when I was in the academy or when Nero was involved.” He was also fairly sure she wasn’t going to be fond of seeing him get his ass beat by Nero’s minion, Klingons and Khan, but that was to be expected. She was rather protective. “Please, like you could even touch the Rose Hathaway standards for recklessness,” she returned. The sad thing was, she was half serious. As reckless as she still was, she’d actually grown up a lot in the last few years. She’d learned to temper her need to rush in with a little more caution and planning. “You think that bar fight was stupid? That’s nothing compared to some of the other stuff I’ve done. My self-control is actually a lot better than it used to be and, honestly, it still kind of sucks.” Well, maybe that wasn’t completely true. If it really sucked, she would have said screw the consequences and started kissing him by now. She was seriously tempted. It was actually kind of amazing she hadn’t given in, yet. She kept telling herself it would be a bad idea, though. No matter how much today had sucked, no matter how nice it would be to lose themselves in a little pleasurable physical activity tonight, she knew in the long run it could lead to someone getting hurt. Probably him, considering her track record. At least they were in a lighter mood. They could joke a little, laugh a little. Boasting about who had made the stupider decisions was good. If they kept this up and didn’t bring up what had happened between them this could probably get his mind off things for a while. He needed that. “Try picking a fight with a half human/half-Vulcan temporary Captain to test a theory because the older alternate version of him said you guys are supposed to be these great partners who make history,” he said with a grin. “Or basically any fight I’ve ever picked. I’m just glad Khan’s not still here because he’d go into all the details that make him look great about what a bad idea it was for me to try and take him alive. It’s really hard to fool a bunch of Klingons.” “Try deciding you had to run off to Russia alone to track and kill a man you could barely land a hit on when he was a dhampir after he’s been turned into something a dozen times more powerful,” Rose countered, shaking her head. That was kind of a dangerous topic, but she didn’t linger on it. “Or sneaking your best friend out of the well-guarded academy and escaping out into the world when you were 15, bases on a feeling that she wasn’t safe there. I might have kept her safe for two years, but I just got lucky. I got lucky a lot of times when I probably should have been killed for my stupidity. That doesn’t even touch on all the fights I’ve started, although-” Rose started laughing as a better memory came to her, one that she hoped would help distract him further from the day’s events. “Did I tell you about the time I started a fight between a hamster and a hermit crab in class?” “Luck is our shared middle name, apparently,” he said with a laugh, imagining in his head Rose doing exactly those things. It was good to find something to actually not be depressed about. It probably shouldn’t be, but it felt good not to have this huge aching weight on his shoulders. “No, I don’t think you’ve told me that story.” "Well, animals don't like dhampirs. No one really knows why, because they're totally fine with Moroi. I guess it's something about our mixed biology or something, I don't know, but we were in our biology class and they'd just cleaned the cages. I dropped the crab into the hamster's cage and they were both so worked up from being close time that they just started going at it." She paused and laughed in appreciation of her own story. "I can't ever remember who won, but the other novices found it hilarious. I'm pretty sure the story is still being told on campus." He grinned at that. “Yeah, that sounds like that’s a story to tell,” he said. “I have a few like that, but most of mine involve trying to get around the jerk who was the principal of my high school. Senior prank day was a day to remember though. He had a classic car like my dad’s, and we turned it into a swimming pool on the roof of the gym. He knew we did it, too, but he couldn’t prove it.” "Well, my disciplinary file was so large I think it broke school records," she offered, "so there are a lot of other stories being told about me, I'm sure. Most of the others involve broken bones, destruction of property, threats of expulsion. If Lissa hadn't been elected queen, I probably would have ended up on permanent desk duty, even though I had the best scores in my class." Rose actually felt a pang of nostalgia for the old days at St. Vladimir's when some of her biggest challenges involved sneaking back into the dorm after curfew. The real world had turned out to be a lot more complicated. “If my friend Bones ever shows up don’t ask him about our Academy days. Just...don’t. He’ll talk your ear off about how much crap I used to get away with and all the trouble I used to get him into,” he said. He shook his head. “We honestly have a lot more in common than people give us credit for, I’ve noticed. It’s probably why we’re such good friends.” Rose smiled at that. "Yeah, I think we do." That was actually one of the things she liked about him. Yeah, they both had a history for doing some pretty dumb things, but they shared that need to be out there, helping and protecting others. He understood those impulses in her, because he shared them. Those qualities were also a big part of why she admired him so much. She fell silent for a moment after that, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him. It was nice just to be close to him and, honestly, she didn't really feel like she needed to say anything else. She wasn't sure she could find the words to express what was going on inside her right now, anyway, but she had a feeling he understood all the same. |