Rose Hathaway :: Vampire Academy (lildampeer) wrote in kirkrose, @ 2015-11-07 11:51:00 |
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Rose wasn’t sure why, but she was in an epicly bad mood. It could be that things were still pretty awkward with Lissa or it could be because of the seal apparently sending Dimitri home just when they’d gotten back together. She could be pissed at the way it had made everyone left from home seem to disappear or a lack of sleep or any number of other things. Whatever it was, she found her temper sparking even more easily than usual and she felt driven by the urge to do something reckless. That need drove her out tonight, into one of the local bars. Not one of the displaced-run ones, because they all knew she was under 21. Here in this dive, she could flash her fake id and order a drink. Probably not a good idea, but she wasn’t in the mood to care about what she should be doing tonight. A few drinks in, Rose was feeling pretty good, but her body was still tense, aching for a fight. She could still feel her blood burning hot, as if she needed a good fight or maybe a good makeout session. Maybe both. Rose tried to push the feeling aside, but a moment later as one of the other patrons in the bar brushed against her by accident, Rose found that spark of temper exploding inside her. In an instant, she spun and punched the guy in the face. That might not have been such a stupid idea if the guy hadn’t had a couple of friends. One of them pulled Rose off of him and hit her. So much for chivalry not being dead. Rose shrugged him off and nailed him in the face with her elbow, which really only pissed him off. She was still holding her own until a few more guys joined the fray. They were only human, but 6 burly guys against a 5’7 dhampir wasn’t great odds. They got even worse when one of them pulled a knife. Rose was also drunk and before long, she was fighting a losing battle. She danced not too gracefully out of the reach of the knife a few times before the blade connected, slicing into her arm. It was far from a fatal wound, but damn if it didn’t hurt. Kind of pissed her off, too, but the angrier Rose got, the less precise her fighting got. That wasn’t helping her in the slightest here. - Kirk had woken up in a mood a few days back. The kind of mood he’d woken up in when he was in Iowa, prior to the education at Starfleet Academy. The kind of mood he woke up in at the Academy, truth be told. It really hadn’t been that long since he’d stopped waking up in that mood. He’d done it a lot less after all the crap with Marcus and Khan back home, but it had popped up on occasion when he’d gotten here in Lawrence. But then there had been actually falling for Ginger, and then the Apocalypse and his time going across Europe and by the time he’d come back he’d...well, there was no better term than “grown the fuck up.” More than he had at home, at any rate, But this week he’d woken up just wanting to cut loose and go back to how he had been. Going out drinking before had been fun. More than fun, if he wanted to admit it. It might cause problems later but hey, he was James Tiberius Kirk. He could talk his way out of anything. It was his God given talent. Tonight he’d settled on a dive he went to sometimes. He’d kept mostly to himself, flirting with the female bar staff. One of them was interested and he was almost ready to seal the deal, maybe for a quickie in the alley, when a fight broke out. Normally he’d have been all for getting the hell out of there until he saw who was in the middle of it. Damn it, he thought to himself, getting out of his seat and heading over. He went to the guy with the knife and grabbed his arm, twisting it. “Anyone ever told you it’s not a good idea to start a bar fight with someone who has a knife, Rose?” he said as the man winced in pain and dropped the knife before he got out of Kirk’s grip and tried awkwardly to punch him in the face, missing and hitting the shoulder. For as gracefully as he moved with the knife he sure didn’t seem to move as gracefully without it. Kirk hauled off and punched him once and he dropped to the ground, but then one of his friends got him from behind. - Rose was holding her own, sort of. Okay, maybe not really, but that didn’t stop her smart ass comment when she heard that familiar voice teasing her. “Well, I didn’t know he had a knife, obviously,” she called back, “and he’s not even the guy I started the fight with.” She was grateful for the assist, even though she didn’t necessarily show it at the moment. She saw one of the guys grab her friend from behind and she rushed forward to grab him and pull him off. It was a clumsy move, hampered by her intoxication. Rose would be embarrassed about that performance later. Clumsy or not, though, she managed to get the guy into a strong enough choke hold that he couldn’t break free. Part of guardian training had focused on how to render an opponent unconscious to disable without killing and she put that skill to work now, tightening her hold to cut off the guy’s air. Her dhampir strength helped, but just as the guy was slipping into unconsciousness, Rose was being pulled off of him by a guy who then punched her in the face hard enough to make her see stars. - “Damn it,” he muttered, and then he moved away from the guy he’d punched and went over to Rose. The priority now was to get her out of there, which was going to be easier since more people were being drug into this bar fight. He ended up grabbing a beer bottle and hitting the guy who hit Rose in the back of the head. The bottle broke, and he kept a hold of it in case someone got the bright idea to pick up the other guy’s knife. He didn’t really want to hurt anyone, but he’d be damned if he or Rose were getting seriously injured because of this fight. He made his way over and helped steady her. “The cops are probably going to be here in a few minutes. Best bet is to get out the back. Fortunately I know where that is. You steady enough on your feet to haul ass quickly towards the restrooms?” He didn’t give her too much time to answer before he moved her out of the way of a flying bar stool. Better to have her stumble than be hit in the face with the wooden seat. - The bar stool missed her head by inches and Rose flashed a grateful look at Jim. She’d stumbled a little, but she quickly recovered. “Yeah, I can make it,” she assured him. The fight had done a lot to sober her up and Rose had honestly run under worse conditions. The last thing she wanted was to get busted by the cops, considering she was actually underage on top of having been the one to start the fight. “Let’s go,” she muttered, moving quickly in the direction he’d indicated while still staying close enough to him to follow him to the exit. - He managed to maneuver both of them around the increasingly violent fight, only getting pulled away from Rose once. He punched the guy in the face and then kneed him in the groin for good measure, but he’d gotten a good shot at his face and he knew there was going to be a black eye in the morning. It didn’t matter at the moment, though; he needed to get Rose the hell out of there as quickly as possible. He managed to get them to the restrooms and he spotted the employee exit. It was indeed unlocked like the barmaid had said, and he opened it up and got them out into the alley. The door shut just as a glass bottle hit it and shattered. He took the bottle in his hand and tossed it in a dumpster before turning to Rose. He knew he needed to make sure she was okay at some point, but damn it, what the everloving fuck had she been thinking starting a bar fight? Yeah, she could hold her own in a fight against two or three people, but he knew from experience bar fights tended to get big fast. “What were you doing in there?” he asked in a tight voice, looking over at her and shoving his hands in his jean pockets so he didn’t wave them around all crazy like. - Rose had to duck flying fists, elbows, objects, and she took a few hits, herself, on the way, but she’d had worse. Eventually, she and Jim managed to make it to the restrooms and the door that led outside. Awesome. She ducked out into the alley with him just in time to avoid being smacked by a flying bottle. Instead, it smashed onto the door just as it closed. That was lucky. Her adrenaline was running high and after they made it outside and it took her a moment to get her heart rate and breathing back to normal. She took a quick mental inventory of her injuries, but it was mostly cuts and bruises. Nothing that wouldn’t heal. Nothing worse than she’d gotten over and over in group practices. The expression on Jim’s face as he stood there looking at him reminded her so much of Dimitri that she almost laughed. “What else do people do in a bar?” she answered with a shrug. “I was having a few drinks. Things got out of hand, but I was dealing with it. Not that I don’t appreciate the assist, but I would have been fine.” - He didn’t know whether he wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her for being so flippant about things or what. He knew she could take care of herself. He’d sparred with her enough times, talked to her enough times to get an idea of the things she’d been through. She was tough on a level most women he knew weren’t. It was always something he’d liked about her to be honest. But it was pretty idiotic for her to go someone while underage and start a bar fight. Even he hadn’t been that dumb when he was young. He raised an eyebrow when she finished and pulled his hands out of his pockets so he could cross his arms. “Yeah. So the guy with the knife. You’d have been okay if he’d gone at you for round two? I mean, how badly did he fuck up your arm in the first place?” he asked, moving over towards her. The light in the alley sucked, but he was pretty sure he’d get a decent enough look. He reached over and pulled her arm closer, keeping a fairly gentle hold on it just in case it was bad. He doubted it was, but until he was sure it was better to be safe than sorry. - “I’ve had worse,” Rose said stubbornly. The truth was, she didn’t know what she’d been thinking. She’d been driven out tonight by an uncontrollable urge. Even now, that drive to do something reckless burned within her. The fight had been driven by those same instincts. She had a short temper on her best days, but tonight hell, the last few days it had been a lot worse. She was sure that one guy had done something to set her off, but right now she couldn’t remember what it was. It was almost like when she’d been taken over by spirit in the past. That thought scared her way more than the fact that she’d nearly had her ass handed to her or the fact that she could have gotten in a lot of trouble. She wouldn’t let her fear or doubt show on her face, though. Some part of Rose recognized that this was her friend, that he just wanted to help her, but she had to fight even now to keep her temper in check. What the hell was wrong with her tonight? Despite her claims that she was fine, Rose winced when he touched her arm. The cut was actually fairly deep. It would heal, but it would probably leave a scar. She was pretty sure it wasn’t actually life-threatening, though, and she really had had worse. That just wasn’t actually saying much. - “Okay, I’ve seen a room full of worse and that? That’s not horrible, but it’s bad,” he said, peeling off his outer shirt. He’d worn layers since he hadn’t felt like wearing a jacket or a hoodie tonight, and he could see somehow his shirt had already gotten torn, so getting blood on it was no big deal. It was warm enough that he wasn’t going to freeze while he got the two of them back to Greaves House, at any rate. “I’m not even going to suggest going to the medbay for this. You’re coming back to my place and I’ll take care of it.” He wrapped the shirt around the wound and then tied it off in a knot that would have made Bones proud. That should stop the bleeding well enough by the time they got back there. He was going to say something else when the door to the alley crashed open and two rather big guys came through it. “We need to get the hell out of this alley,” he said, reaching over for Rose’s good arm, ready to pull to keep the two of them from getting any more involved in this bar fight then they needed to be. - “It’s just a cut. I’m still conscious, so I call that a win.” Yeah, okay, so worse for Rose was pretty much getting shot and almost dying or getting the crap beaten out of her by Strigoi and, again, almost dying. That was beside the point, though. The cut might be deep and it kind of hurt like a bitch, but she’d live. It wasn’t really anything to worry about, as far as she was concerned. She didn’t argue when he insisted on taking her back to his place to get her patched up. She probably didn’t even need stitches and she was glad he wasn’t trying to drag her to an actual doctor. She nodded once, keeping her face neutral as he wrapped his shirt around her wound like a bandage. The pressure made it hurt a little less and she actually smiled. “Thanks.” Before either of them could say anything else, there were two more guys headed their way. A big part of Rose wanted to stay and fight them, even though she knew that was stupid. It had been a long time since she’d felt that darkness, that blood lust within her. It was almost irresistible and it was only the grip on her uninjured arm that kept her from leaping toward them. “Yeah, really gotta get out of here,” she managed before she let him drag her away. - He managed to get them partway down the alley without them being seen before more people spilled out the back. The cops must be here, he thought to himself as he tried to figure out where to go. If the cops were around there were probably not going to be any cabs for at least a few blocks. No one was going to think about picking up a fare outside a bar where people were fighting. So the best bet was to walk about a block away to another bar and catch a cab there. He figured if they went left they should avoid the cops altogether. “When we get out to the street, go left,” he said. “There’s a bar and an all night diner two blocks over, and we can get a cab there. If you’re still in the mood to start a fight with someone, don’t. Just because I have the money to pay our bail if we end up in jail doesn’t mean I want to spend the night in jail, and I don’t know if Zane could make the problem go away anyway, at least for you.” After a moment he reached over and took the hand of her injured arm, pressing her arm against his side to hide the shirt better. “Just in case,” he said. - “Shit,” Rose swore when she noticed people pouring out of the bar in the international sign for “the cops are here.” That was the last thing they needed. Rose didn’t really have any strong desire to spend the night in jail, either, whether they could make bail or night. She also recognized that she would probably be in some deep shit if she happened to be arrested. Especially considering the week she’d spent as a Strigoi. The cops might not know exactly what she’d been, but if they found out she’d killed people, things could go from bad to worse. Besides, she’d spent enough time in a jail cell to know that there was almost nothing she hated more. She nodded at his instructions, reinforcing her control on the emotions that threatened to run away with her. Seriously, what the hell was up with her lately? She did still have the urge to start a fight. She didn’t like that dark, angry feeling, but she didn’t know how to make it go away. It made her grateful for his hold on her and she didn’t resist as he pulled her against him so that the makeshift bandage was hidden against his side. “And here I thought you were just trying to cop a feel,” she teased him, despite the seriousness of the situation. - He had to admit, the attempt at humor wasn’t a bad thing. “If I wanted to cop a feel I’d be a lot more charming about it,” he said. He guided them towards the mouth of the alley, making sure they stayed ahead of the crowd but not so quickly that they looked suspicious. Fastest way to get the cops to notice them was to be in a stampede of people leaving from the back alley. Second fastest way to get noticed was to run the hell out of that alley. They’d almost made it to the entrance when he saw a cop turn in their direction. There was a doorway that was shadowed and he moved the two of them into it, positioning himself so Rose was more in the shadows and, if he was lucky, the cop would think he was just taking a leak. It was a tight fit to keep her in the shadows, but there was no way in hell they could risk it. “Not overcrowding you, am I?” he asked quietly, trying to keep his voice low enough that if the cop came by he wouldn’t hear him speaking. - "Oh, yeah?" Rose grinned at that. "I might like to see that charm in action, you know. I'm starting to suspect the stories are all exaggerated." Making jokes in serious situations was kind of her thing. It made things feel a lot less dire well, it did when she was the one cracking the jokes, anyway. Moving slowly wasn't easy when she kind of wanted to get the hell out of there, but she reminded herself it was necessary. She'd been repeating this to herself yet again when suddenly she found herself sandwiched between him and a door. It was a tight fit, one that had him pressed pretty close to her, but she decided she didn't mind it. "Nah, I'm good," she murmured back, keeping her voice low, too. Her hearing was better than his, but she trusted he would be able to hear her and that the cop passing by them wouldn't. And hopefully wouldn't decide to stop and question him. - He nodded slightly, keeping his attention partly on her and partly on the cop walking behind them. After a moment two more joined him because it seemed like the group that spilled out the back had continued the fight and it was getting rough. He was never more glad to have gotten her out of there, even if he would have loved to have been in the thick of all of it too. The mood he’d woken up in might have been sated if he’d stayed, but the tiny bit of cool headed logic in him told him it was best to get out of there. Though he found he wouldn’t mind staying right there, either. He never really flirted with Rose. The age difference was a thing, mostly because he’d had that with Anna and it had been something that made people uncomfortable. And she was a friend, one of his few friends left, and he wasn’t about to fuck that all to hell. But right now? The thoughts flitting across his mind were decidedly more then friendly, and he’d have to get a rein on them before anything he might regret happened. When the coast was clear he stepped away from her, and then took her hand again and got them out of the alley and to the left. They were half a block away when he finally began to relax a bit more. No cop seemed to be following them, so it appeared no one cared about the girl who started the fight or the guy who came to her aid. So far, so good. “I think we’re good,” he said as they kept walking. - Rose had never really looked at him that way, either, but it was mainly because of, well, Dimitri. Age differences obviously weren’t a big deal to her. She’d fallen for her mentor who was seven years older than her, and even Adrian had been a few years older, so it wasn’t like she’d never been with an older guy, before. But despite Rose’s whatever that had been with Grantaire when he’d still been here, before Dimitri had showed up, her heart had only really ever belonged to one person. Even when it had been months since she’d seen him and she’d started to give up hope that he would ever be brought to Lawrence, Rose had felt like she was doing something wrong in even considering getting cozy like that with someone else. Now, he’d only been gone a couple of weeks. It might have been different if they hadn’t gotten back together before he left, but she wasn’t really sure how that worked. She only knew that when she tried to use others to get over him, people tended to get hurt and that wasn’t something she was willing to risk this friendship on. At least, not normally. Pressed against him in the alley, though, Rose couldn’t help thinking about what it might be like to kiss Jim Kirk. She’d never really thought about it before, even though she could appreciate why so many women found him attractive. The lust for battle within her shifted into another kind altogether and she was surprised to find how badly she actually wanted to find out what it would be like with him. Being a dhampir meant she could see well in very little light and as she looked up at him, she was even more surprised to find some of those emotions mirrored in his eyes. Their necessary closeness in the doorway wasn’t just affecting her, she realized, and she was seriously contemplating actually doing something about it when he stepped away from her. The coast was seemingly clear and and let him pull her down the alley, further away from the action. Her arm was aching from the cut, as were various other places where she’d taken hits. Rose hadn’t felt them in the heat of battle or even much when her mind had been focused on getting away, but now that they seemed to be safe, she was able to feel just how banged up she really was. She’d live, but she was going to be sore in the morning. “Good,” she said, glad they seemed to be out of danger of spending the night in a cell. “So, we’re going to your place?” - He had to focus on getting them back in one piece. Lawrence wasn’t a really dangerous place, but it wasn’t exactly like it was a perfect crime free suburb, either. Though he was kicking himself for not actually doing anything while he was with her. He must have gotten soft here in Lawrence, apparently. He’d settled. And most of the time it didn’t bother him but right now it was annoying the ever loving hell out of him. He didn’t even want to think what friends back home would say about James Kirk being in that situation and not actually making a move. It took him a minute to realize she’d said something but then he nodded as he caught the rest. “Yeah. I have a pretty well stocked first aid kit, and if we go up to my place hopefully none of your friends who are still there will get worried if we end up stumbling in or something,” he said. “Not that I had all that much to drink, but I got hit in the ribs a couple times and it hurts.” - They might not be standing as close to each other anymore, but Rose was still thinking about the feelings that had come over her in that doorway. She’d always thought that the instincts that powered fighting and sex weren’t that different and it seems like her body was agreeing with that. Or maybe it was just another kind of reckless to consider giving in. Either way, there was a big part of her that just suddenly didn’t care if it was a bad idea or if it was something she’d regret later. That part of her wanted to act and it took all of her self-control to keep walking instead. Being outside at night wasn’t the most awesome plan in a place where monsters were real, nevermind the human crime the could be going on around them. It was definitely smarter to get inside behind the safety of the wards. “Lissa’s at the bunker now,” Rose said, shrugging and trying to ignore the way the movement just made her arm hurt more. “Sydney and Adrian are the only others left.” Everyone else was gone, even Dimitri. Things between her and Lissa were still tense and she could count the number of times Sydney had spoken to her in the last couple of months on one hand, so she didn’t really expect anyone to be that bothered by her stumbling in drunk and bruised. It was an excellent argument for not going back to Regina’s just yet, though. She’d been staying there since her restoration, unable to face her friends, although the apartment at Graeves House was technically still hers, too, but she knew Regina would probably freak if she saw her right now. The older woman had grown protective of Rose through their friendship and she didn’t want to worry her. Her expression shifted to one of concern when he mentioned his ribs. “I can take a look when we get back. You don’t think you cracked them or anything, do you?” She could see a few other spots on what she could see of his body that would be bruises in the morning and a part of her felt bad that he’d earned those in helping her. She was also grateful. Now that the lust of battle had worn off, she could appreciate how stupid she’d been. - “I didn’t know,” he said, and it was true. He’d been kind of behind on all the things that normally he’d be on top of with everyone leaving again. He had to remember it wasn’t just him hurting, it was all sort of people, the people he cared about who were still left. He had to keep that in mind and stop focusing just on himself. “You holding up okay with all that, or is that why you were out slumming it tonight?” he asked. They made it to the street and he nodded slowly. “I don’t think I did, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to wrap them up,” he said. “I mean, even if they’re just bruised it’ll help.” They moved away from the group of cops gathered outside the bar, closer to the diner and the other bars. “Any other injuries I should know about other than your arm?” - There weren’t many people who would get an honest answer to that question. With most, Rose would simply shrug and say she was fine. This was one of her closest friends, though, and someone she had come to trust completely. For some reason, she had trouble lying to him. “Things are getting better with Lissa, but they’re still awkward. I really screwed up with her after-” She couldn’t finish that sentence, and she did shrug, then, not really wanting to talk about how she’d completely fucked up her friendship with Lissa or how much it sucked to have lost Dimitri just when they’d been figuring things out between them again. “I don’t really know why I was out tonight. I guess I just felt this overwhelming urge to get out and do something, you know? I think I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t really stop myself.” That was an understatement. She couldn’t figure out what had brought that mood on, if it was connected to all the things that had been screwed up in her life lately or not. It had been a long time since she’d felt so reckless and out of control. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought she was somehow taking the darkness from Lissa again, but that was impossible. The bond had been gone for over a year. Rose nodded as he mentioned wrapping up his probably just bruised ribs. “I guess we’re playing doctor when we get back to your place, then,” she joked, giving him a slight smirk. She hadn’t actually meant anything by it in that moment, even if those lustful feelings that had consumed her earlier hadn’t completely vanished. Mentally going over her own injuries again, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. A few minor cuts and bruises, but I think my arm’s the worst of it.” - “After Dimitri?” he asked quietly as they walked. That had to be hard to talk about, and if she wanted to drop it he’d drop it right then and there. He’d been lucky enough that nothing like that had happened with him here. Nero hadn’t shown up, Marcus hadn’t shown up, and Khan had ended up with a personality transplant when he had to admit he wasn’t really Sherlock. To have something like what happened to her happen to him...he’d probably have handled it the same way. “I get it. I used to do that a lot back home, up until the whole thing with Khan and Marcus and all that. You just get an urge and you have to go do something, even if it’s stupid as hell, and just deal with the consequences later.” “Well, there are worse things than playing doctor,” he said with a grin, trying to inject some levity back into the situation. “Having my friend Bones inject you with various alien illnesses and antidotes really sucks. At least if you’re playing doctor there’s less chance of getting hurt.” When she said she was fine he nodded. “Good. Mostly I’m worried about the arm, so not having to worry about anything else will be a relief.” - “After everything.” Rose didn’t really want to talk about it. It was easier if she didn’t have to think about what had happened. “After what I did.. to Christian, especially, I couldn’t face her. I couldn’t face anyone. I abandoned her when she needed me and things have been... I’m not sure she’s forgiven me for that, yet. I can’t really blame her.” It was the most she’d ever talked about any of this with anyone, save maybe Regina who had pretty much forced it out of her. Even she and Dimitri hadn’t really talked about that time. It was too painful for either of them. She nodded, glad he understood that impulse towards reckless stupidity, even if she didn’t understand why she’d been having such a problem with it this week. “The weird thing is that I haven’t felt like that in a long time,” she said. “I mean, I’ve gotten a lot better at controlling myself and not just rushing out and doing something insane without thinking it through. This week, though, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just Dimitri getting sent back and everything else that’s happened lately, but it’s like I’m 17 again, still dealing with all the darkness I used to get from the bond with Lissa.” She was still feeling that, even if it wasn’t pushing her to go get in a fight at the moment. Rose supposed she should be grateful for that one. When he mentioned his friend injecting him with a bunch of crap, Rose laughed again. “Wow, you have some awesome friends,” she said, shaking her head. It was probably one of those things that was less funny when it was happening to you, but she found it pretty amusing and clearly he’d learned to joke about it. “Hey, at least I didn’t get shot this time,” she pointed out jokingly. “There’s almost no chance of me actually dying or anything and my awesome dhampir biology means it’s not even likely to get infected. I’ll be good as new in a few days.” “I think, with some time and some luck that no one else you care about gets sent home, things will work themselves out eventually,” he said. “Some of it was beyond your control, and even if you want to blame yourself for it not all of us do. And the ones who do? If they don’t ever come around, screw them. I mean, give Lissa time, obviously, but if she can’t come around then…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, Part of the good thing about being here is the chance to start over if you have to, have a life here you might not have at home. Meet people you’d never meet, do things you’d never do. And you have other friends. I mean, you’ve got me, at least.” “Yeah, I understand that,” he said. “This week has just been outright weird. I haven’t felt like this since I was in my twenties. I think the last time I got this urge was maybe before the five year mission, before all the crap that everyone here saw in the second movie. It’s like...you need to do something no matter what the consequences are to just cut loose. Or at least that’s how it is for me. I started to think I was playing things too safe. Like I became a stick in the mud.” He chuckled at that. “Bones has a warped sense of humor,” he said. “But I do actually have good friends. I just wish they’d end up here sometimes, and then other times I’m glad they’re not here. They’d never let me live down my life choices here. The fact I dated a Disney princess would be ammunition for months.” “That is true,” he said thoughtfully. “I will say, I fully started freaking out when that happened. I mean, I know you can heal well, but seriously, I kind of panicked. You’re one of my favorite people here. I wasn’t in the mood to lose you.” - “It’s not about the stuff I did when I was- not really me, I guess. After she restored me, that stuff was definitely my fault. I can’t blame that on anyone but me and I can’t blame her for not trusting me or really being that quick to forgive me for the way I acted. I’m actually kind of surprise more people aren’t pissed at me for pushing them away.” Rose sighed, looking down at the ground for a moment. “Not that I’m not grateful,” she added, looking back over at him. She was so grateful, for his friendship, in particular. No matter how many times she’d blown him off, he was still there when she was ready to be around people again. “On second thought,” she laughed as he brought up having dated a Disney Princess, “I’m not sure we can be friends anymore. I mean, I’m pretty sure hooking up with a Disney Princess is a deal breaker.” She was grinning, clearly not serious. Rose might not come out and say so aloud, but he’d become one of her best friends here. It would take a hell of a lot to screw that up, at least on her end. That humor faded and she found she couldn’t keep cracking jokes when he admitted her getting shot had scared him. She squeezed his hand reassuringly and regarded him with complete seriousness for a moment. “I promise, I’m not going anywhere. I mean, I’ve already died twice three times now, I guess, technically, so I’m not that easy to get rid of. You’re going to be stuck with me for a long time.” - “You’d be surprised what people here can forgive,” he said. “It’s one of the good things about this place. I mean, hell, if people like Khan and Jacen can have decent lives here and be accepted by the people here and not, you know, go for world domination, there’s got to be some merit to the whole second chances thing,” he said thoughtfully. He was not about to mention the Marvel guy or his boss who had shot Rose. He wasn’t sure either of them really deserved a second chance, though he’d grudgingly say Ward had probably earned it by now. Once he got over the fact he knew that the superpowered boss of his was on the loose and hurting people and Rose got caught in the crossfire. It was going to take a while to get past that. “Hey, at least she was a spunky Disney princess,” he said in Anna’s defense. “It could have been Snow White. I mean, not the one here now. The actual cartoon one.” He shook his head. “I swear to God, the whole Disney princess thing is so confusing now that that one show is on the air.” He gave her a grin. “Besides, technically my facetwin is a Disney Prince Charming. And nobility in ‘The Princess Diaries,’ too. So it’s kind of expected.” He stopped moving and looked over at her. “You know I’m going to hold you to that, right?” he said. “You break that promise and I’m rounding up every magic user we have left in this town and I’m going to make damn sure we bring you back. I have friends here, people I care about, but I mean...you’re important.” He knew it sounded sappy but he didn’t care. It was the truth, and he didn’t think he’d actually told her that before. Rose just nodded. She knew second chances worked here, but the thing was that it was Lissa she cared about. She couldn’t expect her to just forgive her and Rose knew she was going to have to work to earn her trust back. It wasn’t easy, but she took it as a good sign that they were talking. They’d even met for coffee last weekend. It was awkward, but it was better than the pure anger she’d gotten from her when she’d first tried to reach out again. She hoped that meant it wasn’t too late to make things right between them. “The face twin thing is so weird,” she agreed, shaking her head slightly. “I look like a couple of vampires and a witch from Harry Potter. Sometimes I still can’t believe it’s all real.” Rose had never seen his face twins. She’d never watched The Princess Diaries or anything else his face twin had been in and as far as she was concerned, this face would always just be his. It was one she couldn’t help regarding with affection as she looked at him now. There was a reason Dimitri using him to lure her outside the wards that night had worked. He was one of the most important people in her life here. She would have done anything to save him. Rose stopped walking when he did. “You know the same goes for you, right?” she asked in return. A more modest person might have objected to being called important, but the thing was that Rose knew she was. She knew that he cared for her the same way she did for him. She’d lost a lot of people since arriving here and some of those losses had really hurt, but the thought of him ever not being here she wasn’t sure how she would deal with that and she really didn’t want to find out. Damn, this was kind of a depressing conversation. Just like she often did when things got too serious, she cracked a joke. “And then when I did get you back, I’d kick your ass for leaving me,” she said a little more teasingly. “Best to just stick around and save yourself the beating.” - "If Prince Charming ever shows up, I'm leaving town. I may take all the single women who are my friends with me, too," he said with a laugh. "Seriously, though. He's a creep. The other royal facetwin is much nicer. Maybe one day I'll show you the movies. I'm pretty sure someone around here has a copy of 'The Princess Diaries' I can borrow, and I actually own 'Into The Woods.' But only if you actually want to see the Disneyfied facetwin stuff." He nodded when she spoke and then stepped closer to her after a moment. "Good. Because I wouldn't expect anything less than the worst asskicking of my life if I let something that bad happen," he said. Then he grinned. "Or would it be afterlife at that point? Because technically I already died once, so I this is my round two. If I die again, I may have to consider that an afterlife." - “That should be our next movie marathon. A whole day of watching your facetwin act like a royal douche.” It had actually been a while since they’d done that, just sat around his place watching movies and eating a ton of horrible food together. Lissa wasn’t the only one Rose had neglected in the wake of her restoration, after all the terrible things she’d done. “I say we watch it all. There has to be enough booze in Lawrence to make that shit funny, right?” Rose considered his question about life and afterlife. “I don’t know,” she answered, laughing. “I’ve died 3 times, so what does that make this for me? The after-after-afterlife?” It was easier to just joke about it than to think about either of them actually dying. “Maybe you should just stay alive so we don’t have to figure it out,” she suggested half-seriously. It didn’t escape her attention that he’d moved closer to her. Ever since that moment in the alley, Rose had felt this kind of charge between them. She didn’t know if he was still feeling it, too, but it intensified as he stood a little closer. Some part of her knew it wasn’t something she should act on. Some part of her didn’t care. She wasn’t sure which part would win out, but for now she was doing her best to act normal. If she did decide to do something about the way she was feeling, it shouldn’t be on the streets of Lawrence at this time of night. - “Oh yeah. Though I regret to say I’m out of the Russian vodka, and I don’t think I can get more unless Kenzi can smuggle me some,” he said. “But we should do that. Start with ‘Into The Woods’ because the royal facetwin is a bigger douchebag in that one and the ending is pretty depressing, then do ‘The Princess Diaries’ because if there’s one thing I know is that you can’t stay mad while watching a Julie Andrews movie. It’s scientifically impossible.” “That sounds like a plan,” he said with a nod. He was going to say more when he heard the sound of an engine to their side and saw a cab coming. He moved away from her and then reached over to hail it, putting his fingers in his mouth and issuing a shrill whistle when it looked like it was going to drive by. It pulled over to the side and he opened the door for her. “Ladies first,” he said, waiting for her to get in. The quicker they got out of this part of Lawrence and away from the cops, the better. - Rose grinned, already looking forward to whenever they did this. Even without the Russian vodka, she knew it would be fun. If nothing else, it would be a nice little bit of normalcy and a reminder that, as he’d pointed out, she did have plenty of friends here. Maybe it couldn’t ever make up for the ones she’d lost or the friendships she’d screwed up, but it told her that her life wasn’t in complete shambles. It gave her hope for the future, which was something she’d been in short supply of recently. She wasted no time in climbing into the cab once she hailed it, glad for not having to walk the whole way back to his place. Soon enough, they were on their way and it wasn’t much longer before the cab was letting them out in front of Graeves House. It surprised her to realize how much she’d missed it as she stepped out of the cab and just stood there drinking in the view. She’d avoided it since her restoration, unable to face the memories of what she’d done right here at the entrance, outside where the warding started. That feeling of guilt still gripped her, but there was a sense of nostalgia, too. Almost like coming home, even though Regina’s house was home to her now. She’d been here once or twice since then, to see Kirk, mostly, but somehow it was like seeing it again for the first time, now. The emotion that swelled within her made her pause for just a moment before she’d keep walking in the direction that would take them to his apartment. - He glanced at her and gave her a grin. He recognized that look. He was fairly sure he’d had the same look when he came back from Russia the first time, when he’d buckled down and stopped running away from Lawrence. As long as he was in this world, as long as he was stuck in Lawrence, Greaves House was home. It was going to be the place he felt most at ease, with maybe the exception of the Youth Center. Offering to help manage it was probably one of the things he was most proud of doing since he’d gotten here, because as he looked at Rose’s face he could see it was her home as well. “You know, I’m really glad I didn’t have a whole lot to drink because the elevator is broken again,” he said as they made their way back to the newest building in the complex. “That’s okay for everyone in building three except me, since I had to be stupid and take a triple on the third floor.” He gave her a grin, wanting to lighten the mood with a bit of teasing. “I really hope you’re up to three flights of stairs tonight. I mean, if you have to lean into me I suppose that’s fine, but I’m not up to carrying you up the stairs.” - “Again?” Rose’s lips quirked into a smile. “Does that elevator ever actually work?” She was pretty sure it was just always out of order, but she was usually too impatient for the elevator, anyway. Most of the time, she took the stairs even if the elevator was a viable option, so having to do it now didn’t bother her. “I bet I can take those stairs faster than you, grandpa,” she teased him. Racing up the stairs at this hour probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. She was pretty sure people still lived in this building. Probably people who wouldn’t be too thrilled by being woken up at this time of night. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try it. “I’ll even give you a head start,” she offered generously, “but I’ll still beat you.” - “It doesn’t,” he said. “I don’t think Harry and I did a good job picking who we had install it. I think I’m going to have to take it out completely and have a new one put in. But since I’m the only one who uses it, Miss ‘I Always Take The Stairs,’ maybe I can upgrade it.” “Grandpa? I’m offended by that,” he said, but even then he began calculating how fast he could get to the door and up the stairs. She’d probably beat him even with the head start, sadly, but she had enhanced abilities. “I am not that much older than you. And I’ll have you know--” He gave her a grin and sprinted to the building door, leaving her behind and heading to the stairs. He’d maybe make it up a flight before she caught up. Maybe. It all depended on how messed up his ribs were. He got to the stairs and started taking them up two at a time, hoping he could at least make it a few steps up to the second floor before she passed him. - “Just calling it like I see it.” Rose was enjoying the teasing banter between them, so she hadn’t really expected him to just take off. She should have, she realized in hindsight, because it was what she would have done in his place. It didn’t matter, though. Rose caught up to him effortlessly, passing him about 30 seconds later. She had enhanced abilities and she went running every day. It honestly wasn’t even a fair race. When she reached the third floor a minute or two later, she was barely even out of breath. She was waiting there for him when he made it up behind her and she stood with her arms folded across her chest and a smirk on her lips. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that cheaters never prosper?” she teased him. Unfair race or not, she couldn’t help giving him a hard time. - “Yeah, well, I have two words for you: Kobiyashi Maru,” he said with a grin, knowing she’d get the reference to the test he’d cheated on back home, the one that led to him getting in trouble and Bones having to drug him to getting on the Enterprise. “I had to at least try.” He took a deep breath and regretted it a minute later, wincing as his ribs ached. “Okay, so maybe I’m going to pay for that later.” He made his way to his door and fished his keys out of his pocket, letting the two of them in. He turned on the light, fully expecting Spock and Chekov to perk up and come to the door, but his dogs stayed quiet. “Looks as though we have the place to ourself for the moment,” he said, tossing his keys on the bookshelf next to his door. “I’ll head into the bathroom and get the first aid kit. Go ahead and get comfortable.” - "Oh, yeah? I can't wait to see how you're planning to do that." Rose just laughed. She knew what he was referring to. He didn't believe in hopeless anymore than she did. It was a trait they shared and probably one of the things she liked about him. She might have even felt a little bad for beating him, but she was pretty sure he would have been annoyed if she'd held back for the sake of his male pride. Not that holding back was really in her nature, either. While he went to retrieve the first aid supplies, Rose decided to examine the cut on her arm. She untied the shirt that had been serving as a bandage and unwrapped it, but her shirt was in the way and she couldn't really get a good look at the wound. Without really thinking it through, she pulled her shirt off so that she could get a better look. She'd need to do that, anyway, if they were going to dress the cut properly. She just didn't really think about the fact that when he came back into the room, he'd find her standing there topless, aside from the bra she she still wore. She wasn't even thinking about that, honestly, as she examined the deep gash. It wasn't gushing blood or anything, but it was definitely going to leave a scar, even after it healed, unless she got Lissa to heal it for her. That wasn't something she was likely to ask, though. It wasn't worth the toll it took on her and she'd been selfish enough with Lissa lately. - “Well, I’m just glad you didn’t let me win,” he said with a grin. “That would have wounded my ego far more than losing. I mean, I did cheat, after all.” He took a not as deep breath. “I am definitely going to feel the hits to the ribs in the morning, I can tell that much. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be back.” He got the kit from the bathroom and started to head back out to the living room when he caught sight of her and stopped. It wasn’t as though he’d never had a half-naked woman in his home before. He’d had fully naked female humanoid aliens in his home, so seeing Rose without a shirt on wasn’t anything he hadn’t actually seen before. But he was still kind of transfixed. He had to admit, he’d thought about the idea of him and her before. Not often, not in hugely graphic detail, but he’d thought about it. And he hated to say it but his imagination had done a really poor job of coming close to reality. He shook his head and cleared his throat before coming out more. “Does it look any better under more light?” he asked, setting the kit down on his coffee table. If it involved stitches he’d probably have to take her to the medbay, but if it could be closed with butterfly sutures he could handle that himself. - “You should know me well enough by now to know I don’t ever hold back,” she returned. Letting him win was never an option, no matter how unfair the race had been. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you have a rematch when your ribs are back to normal, though. I’d rather kick your ass fair and square any day.” She heard him before he spoke, but didn’t look up at him until he questioned her. “It’s not bleeding that much, anymore,” she said, moving towards him and adjusting her stance so he could easily take a look at the cut. It was deep, but not so deep that she really needed stitches, especially with how quickly dhampir’s healed. Infection wasn’t a huge concern, either, but it would probably be a good idea to clean it out good. - He nodded and then sat on the edge of the table. He was not the type of person back home who had gone for the whole art deco thing. His love of all things twenty and twenty-first century meant he had actual solid pieces of furniture in this apartment, so he wasn’t worried about anything getting flipped over with weight being put on it. He thought about it a moment, then reached over and put his hands on her hips to move her to the side slightly so her arm was in the light better. “Figured it would just be easier to move you myself,” he said as he took her arm. He got out the hydrogen peroxide and began to clean out the wound, and then put an antibiotic ointment on it before doing the butterfly bandages. He was careful not to do them where they pulled the skin too tightly, but they would still keep the wound closed. “Are you going to have Lissa take a look at it later?” he asked as he worked. - Rose forced herself not to flinch as he cleaned out the cut. The peroxide hurt, but it was far from being the worst pain she had ever experienced. Her tattoos had probably hurt more, not to mention the things she put her body through on a regular basis, both as a guardian and just the act of staying in shape. This was nothing by comparison. She looked at him again as he asked about Lissa. “Definitely not,” she answered without hesitation. “She’s already wasted too much of her magic on me.” It was a poor choice of words, but the sentiment held true. Lissa was someone who couldn’t stand seeing anyone hurt. It could be something as small as a papercut and the need to make it better would probably overpower her. Rose refused to let her use that magic on something that would heal on its own, especially when she knew the consequences. It wasn’t worth the risk to her sanity, especially after everything she’d already done. - He grinned just a tiny bit when he saw her flinch. Rose was tough; hell, she was probably one of the toughest people he’d ever met. But it was nice to see even a tiny acknowledgment that she felt that tiny twinge of pain when you had a cut cleaned out. “It’s probably going to leave a scar, then,” he said as he finished up. “You get to add it to the collection, with the really cool story of how a Starfleet captain saved your ass in a bar fight.” He grinned up at her for a minute before putting the cap on the hydrogen peroxide. “And if you want to make me even more dashing and heroic, by all means, I’ll totally go along with it.” - “That’ll just make me look more dangerous,” she said, grinning. “Besides, I think most of my old scars healed when Lissa restored me. Everything from that fight did, anyway.” It had been the same way in her own world with Dimitri. All his burns and everything else had disappeared when Lissa healed him. “And I’d rather have a million scars than have her hearing voices like Adrian was.” The memory sent a shiver up her spine. She’d had no idea how bad Adrian was until that moment when he’d mentioned hearing his aunt. The thought that something like that could happen to Lissa or that she’d start getting depressed again, that she’d start hurting herself. That was something that scared her enough without contributing to it any more. She pushed that fear away, trying to banish those more serious thoughts and laughed at his suggestion. “Should I tell people you rode in on a white horse and carried me off to safety, then? Like a real Prince Charming?” Already, that more solemn mood was fading as she shifted her focus to teasing him. “Your turn, Prince Charming,” she continued, gesturing at his shirt. “Strip, I want to see those ribs.” - “You looking dangerous can be a very good thing,” he said with a nod. He watched the brief flicker of worried emotions on her face when she talked about Lissa and the voices. He still didn’t know exactly what Lissa did and how she did it, though he’d talked with Adrian about it a bit, but he knew when they healed people it affected him. He was bound and determined to keep the mood light, though. Neither of them needed to sink into a really depressed state. “White motorcycle would be more me,” he said, standing up and reaching for the bottom hem of his shirt. “I mean, who the hell has horses in the actual city part of Lawrence?” he asked. He lifted up his shirt, though it was rather gingerly as he felt really sore. He honestly didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable being half undressed at this point, either. There was no way she’d get a good look at what he’d assume were going to be bruised ribs if he’d kept his shirt on. “And why do I get the feeling Prince Charming is going to be my new nickname?” he asked in a slightly rueful voice. - “Motorcycle sounds more fun, anyway,” she agreed. “I could go with riding off on one of those.” It probably would have gotten them out of there faster, too, so it was a real shame he hadn’t really ridden in one one. Then again, they’d gotten out of there in one piece and neither of them was sitting in jail, so she chose to call that a win. When she noticed how carefully he was pulling up his shirt, she moved to help him. At the moment, she wasn’t thinking about how she was technically helping him undress or about the fact that she hadn’t actually put her own shirt back on, yet. Seeing to his injuries was more important than any kind of modesty. “Well, I have a few other nicknames I could call you, ‘Cheats at Races,’ she teased him even as she shifted to get a good look at his ribs. “Damn,” she swore a minute later. “No wonder that hurts.” There was some definite bruising and she started to gently feel around the area to make sure nothing felt broken. “Did you bring out some tape?” she asked him, all business for the moment. Those ribs would definitely need to be wrapped up good. Luckily, she’d had plenty of practice at that kind of thing. - “I don’t ever drive when I go out drinking,” he said. “It’s cabs or walking. I already had one bike wrecked this year. If Damien hadn’t replaced it I probably wouldn’t have one now.” He paused. “But I’ll take you somewhere later, if you want.” Come to think of it, he didn’t think he’d actually taken Rose anywhere on his bike. He’d have to rectify that when he felt better. He let her help him, listening to the nickname, but he saw her eyes widen. “That bad?” he managed to get out before she asked for the tape. He nodded and pointed to the first aid kit. “There’s actual tape and plenty of ace bandage, so whatever you need I should have enough of,” he said. “Do you want me to sit down or stand up?” - “I like this plan.” Rose couldn’t help grinning at the thought of that. Going somewhere on his bike sounded like a lot of fun. Until recently, she hadn’t though fun was a part of her life anymore, but maybe this was another sign she was healing. Or at least that she was done punishing herself for what had happened. She didn’t sugarcoat it when it came to his injuries. “I don’t think you cracked them, but it looks pretty bad,” she admitted. “You’re probably lucky nothing’s broken.” She considered the options for a moment, but decided standing was probably a better option. “Stand up, I think,” she said. She’d be able to work more efficiently with him standing. She moved away, then, reaching for an ace bandage and some tape and waited for him to stand before she got to work. “Tell me is this is too tight,” she said as she started to wrap the more elastic bandage firmly around his torso. It needed to give him enough support, but she didn’t want to cut off his breathing, so she watched him as she went, trying to gauge whether she needed to ease up at all. - “Good. Next weekend, you and me, we can head to Kansas City or something unless the Seal decides otherwise,” he said with a nod. “We can probably make a whole day of it, do anything you feel like doing, if you want.” “Great,” he said with a sigh. “Work is going to be fun this week. Maybe I can just call in sick on Monday.” Though, now that he thought about it, that might not be the best idea, considering what had happened earlier in the week between him and Georgina. How that situation was going to play out, he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t really want to think about it right now. He had to admit, she knew what she was doing. It only got too tight once, and he hissed slightly and winced at the same time when he tried to take a breath. But damn, she was good at this. Better than most people he knew. “You definitely have skills in this department,” he said as he looked down at her. - “That sounds great. Kind of dangerous to say we can do anything I want, though,” she teased him a little. Really, though, it sounded great, the idea of just getting away for a whole day, away from the craziness of Lawrence and just spending time with a good friend. She’d been keeping too much to herself since Dimitri vanished again, especially, and hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the company of others. “See that’s why I don’t have a job,” she joked. “Makes it easier to just hibernate in bed all day if that’s what I want.” She probably should have a job, actually, but she didn’t need it for money. Maybe it would be nice to find something to occupy her, though. It would give her less time to think about things. Rose did know what she was doing when it came to patching up injuries. She’d had plenty of practice with how often she and her fellow guardians got hurt. She couldn’t help smirking at his comment, though, and there was a definite flirtatious edge to her voice as she said, “I’ve got skills in a lot of departments. You haven’t seen the half of it.” She finished with the bandage and reached for the tape, next, using it to reinforce her earlier work. This time, she couldn’t help noticing that he definitely looked good without his shirt on. She had to stand pretty close to him to wind the tape around his body and she noticed that he smelled pretty good, too. Once again, she tried to push those thoughts away to focus on the task at hand. - “Well, right now I seem to want to live on the edge,” he said. “Just remember that while I have enough money to cover anything we might want to do I do still have to take care of this complex so it would be a good idea not to bankrupt me.” He was fairly sure she wouldn’t, but it didn’t hurt to put it out there. But if he ended up spending a lot it was okay; she’d had a rough time of it lately and if he could cheer her up a bit then it would be worth the cost. “I like having something to do,” he said. “But yeah, I honestly wish I could just call in. But after I jetted out of town earlier this month, it probably isn’t a good idea. Even with this kind of reckless mood settling over me, the whole ‘taking care of responsibility’ side of my nature is still shining through. I mean, I could be a flirty woman crazy playboy back home, but when it came to work, when it came to my crew and doing what I needed to do for them, then I was all business. Guess that was ingrained pretty deep in my personality.” He watched her work, giving her a grin. He caught the tone in her voice; he’d been especially flirty himself with quite a few women in town, and been flirted with back, but it was rather nice hearing Rose’s voice take on that tone. “I wonder just how much I’ll get to see of your various skills while you’re here,” he said, keeping his own voice on the flirtatious side. Nothing would probably happen, because that seemed to be the way his luck had been running before this week, but it was fun and it was keeping things from getting too serious and depressing, and neither of them needed that tonight. - Rose considered what he'd said for a moment. She knew their flirting didn't have to mean anything, but the thing was that she kind of wanted it to. Normally, she would push those thoughts aside, because there were a dozen reasons why she shouldn't be entertaining the thought of starting something with him. Right now, though, in her current mood, none of those reasons seemed to matter. Being responsible was that last thing she wanted right now. Doing the right thing was barely a consideration. She'd finished taping his ribs, but she didn't take her hands off of him. Instead, she started to move her fingers over his skin in a much more sensual way. That same feeling that had overcome her in the bar took over her again and she shifted closer to him, so close she could actually feel his breath on her skin. Her face was turned up toward his and she could have easily kissed him, then, but she didn't. Not yet. "I'd say you'll get to see as much as you want," she whispered, completely serious now. There was still a flirtatious edge to her voice, but there was a look in her eyes that said she meant every word, that this time it wasn't just flirtatious banter between good friends. |