Brennybear (upinflames) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-02-15 03:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-07-04, dagmar |
No good, you're up to no good...
Who: Bren and Dagmar
When: Starting around 8pm
Where: A random party, then Dagmar's house
Dagmar hadn't had a normal day by any stretch of the imagination. She'd woken up way earlier than she liked to on any day of the week, much less a holiday when she had a party to go to later, but then she'd remembered why her alarm was going off. She'd had a little appointment with a vampire and it'd taken all day for her to recover as much as she had. Nikita had taken a little bit more than a normal blood donation, to say nothing of the giggling and rolling around because Dagmar had been high and it apparently transferred. At least now she understood why her father had been so insistent on it... but she didn't need to worry about it because she was leaving. And not coming back for... a few days? She wasn't saying goodbye, she knew that - she was already nice and dressed and didn't want that ruined.
Flinging the door open, Dagmar slipped through before Bren could try to go inside to say hello or something, hoping that her friend's lack of noticing most things about her would continue onto the bandaid on her neck. "So, we ready to go? You're totally driving, I'm woozy."
"Yeah, we're good," Bren said, managing a cheerful smile, although she dropped it just a little too quickly. The events of earlier that afternoon had rocked her badly, and her outfit was a lot more simple and conservative than she'd usually wear to a party, than she usually wore every day. Her hair was basically slapped into a little ponytail and she had no apparent makeup, but she was hopefully still cute enough not to draw attention. Or rather, to draw the attention she wanted, which was not in any way directed at her state of mind. Hiding her real feelings was comfortable. Hiding her real feelings was safe.
She took the keys from Dagmar, after making sure she had her wallet with her license in it, and headed out to Dagmar's car, sliding in the driver's seat. She had to move the seat up, because Dagmar was unreasonable and unfair amounts taller than her, but she got settled, pulling her seatbelt on. "So like, whose house is this anyway, where did I just pick you up from?" she asked, waiting for Dagmar to get buckled in too, then pulling out of the driveway, body twisting in the seat to look behind.
Woozy she might have been, but Dagmar wasn't slow and she caught how quick Bren's smile dropped and then there was her outfit. Cute, yeah, but definitely not up to her typical party-going standard. Or even just her normal standard for that matter. She didn't really smile back as she surrendered her keys and slid into the passenger's seat before buckling up. It was always a little odd to ride shotgun in her car, but she'd said it so she needed to suck it up. At least it wasn't Valterri this time. god that boy had driving issues.
"Oh... it's Karen's house," Dagmar shrugged, waving a hand flippantly as she stared out the window. "She's... uhh... a friend of the family." If you could count someone who typically just supplemented the Niemi's with iron pills after they had to have their blood taken a friend. Though Nikita had been a lot nicer than Dagmar'd expected, not to mention actually pretty and somewhat affectionate. Karen, on the other hand, had been a bit judging. "Owed her a favor for something my father wanted." It was really hard to not just say 'yeah I got bit by a vampire who then had a giggling, rolling, tickling fit with me because we were both high as hell' but Dagmar refrained. She didn't think she'd do anyone any good by blurting that tidbit out. Probably not even a little bit. Bren already looked sort of rough around the edges.
Bren just nodded, distracted with her own thoughts. What did he want? Why was he in Ann Arbor? What was he planning? HOW HAD HE GOTTEN SO FUCKING CREEPY. Why would he seek her out? Had a year of separation changed any attitudes? And before Bren knew it, Bren's mind was running away with her mouth, and she bit her lip briefly before blurting out "Mosiah's in town."
There was a pause, and she glanced over at Dagmar to gauge her reaction. She squirmed in her seat a little, glancing in the rearview, twitchy and fidgety in a way that was more than just a bad day for the hyperactivity. She was desperately nervous and very paranoid about something. Could anyone blame her?
Dagmar blinked slowly, turning away from the window to look at Bren. "I really think that statement should be 'was' in town because he needs to be gone." She remembered when Bren'd woken her up by lighting fires in their dorm and the reasons behind it. The confession of what'd happened, how it'd hurt her how her family hadn't believed her... Dagmar's temper was a fickle thing, usually only stirred when she was pressed too much or one of her moods was on her and she was too woozy for one of those. But she felt the slow burn starting deep in her stomach anyhow. How dare he be anywhere near Bren after what he'd done? The water element didn't think anything but poorly of him and inspiring this sort of reaction in her friend wasn't helping things. "Oh my god, he didn't touch you, did he?!" She would kill him. She'd kill him herself and feel no remorse at all. If anything a little part of her cheered the idea.
"No!" Bren said quickly. "No no. Well. Yes, he put a hand on my shoulder, but, no. We were in public and Bogart was there. He wouldn't even let Mosiah get close, it was kinda cute, actually." Bren laughed, but it was high and nervous, strained. She ran a hand over her hair, chewing on her lower lip again. "He wouldn't tell me why he's here. And he didn't seem like he was gonna leave town though. I told him, though, if he pulls any bullshit he will burn and drown at the same time and it will suck. Can you drown him at the same time as I burn him? I hope so. But the really fucking weird thing is...he had a glamour on. Like, he's got burn scars down his arm and on some of his shoulder and back from me, and he had them glamoured over. I grabbed him and touched it and I could still feel them there but..." She looked helpless, shrugging. "I just realized last night I might have...that in my family, or whatever. What's the word for it?"
Mental note - buy Bogart a really big bone for the next time I see him. Dagmar really wasn't liking any of this. She hadn't met Mosiah and she'd intended on keeping it that way just like she'd wanted him to stay the hell away from Bren for the rest of forever, preferably. She didn't have to know much about him to know that she didn't, in any way shape or form, trust him or his reasons for tracking Bren down. "Yeah, I'd just force the water down his throat into his lungs and he'd drown faster than anyone." Dagmar's voice was grim, her eyes flat as she looked back out the window. That part of her was way too delighted with the idea. "And that... that's fae-blood?" Glamour was a fae-blood thing, wasn't it? Dagmar couldn't be one hundred percent clear because she didn't have it but she was pretty sure her father'd mentioned it more than once when he was trying to get her into blood magic. "Mom would know. You still up for the party? I mean, you seem shaky and if you're not we can always go chill and... uh... watch the fireworks." Elemental didn't even like the things. Like she would! Bursts of colored flame, yeah right.
"Fae blood, yes." Once reminded of the term she remembered it. "He just seemed...off. Like, I've done my best not to interact with him alone since I was fifteen but he did not seem like normal. I mean, what qualifies for him as normal. I don't even know, something is up."
She let Dagmar talk, and was shaking her head before her friend even finished the sentence. "No. No, we are going to this party. I just...I need to be around people, and I'll feel a little better. That's a fire thing, your mom said, we need people. I need people right now. Plus Maria's gonna be there, I texted her and I promised I'd go and we'd dance and yeah, so, yeah." She cleared her throat a little and nodded. "Goddamn Mosiah. He shows up now, when I'm doing really well, and he's still telling me that he was just fucking putting me in my place and that God will forgive both of us, except now he's not telling me I'm a freak anymore, and now he's showing magic too?" Bren shook her head again and muttered something that sounded like "fucking fairy powers."
"If you want him put in his place I'll take care of that." Dagmar was just putting it out there. That and she actually meant it too. She didn't want someone around who was going to mess Bren up. Oh great, that's one of her crushes isn't it? Don't even care. Remembering the names was beyond her by now and she didn't even try. "Alright, we'll go and you can have your people and your good time." Why had she agreed to go to this again? It was just like every other party during the school year only now it was summer so it was hotter outside, other than that there weren't any differences she could find. Okay, and Bren was freaked about her brother and she herself was woozy from giving up her blood. Oh yeah, this was going to be such a fun night. "But I'm not staying all night, just telling you now. So when you figure out if you're getting in your girl's pants let me know so I can jet." What? She wasn't going to try and sugarcoat everything just because Bren's brother was around.
Bren just nodded, unaffected by the bluntness. "Okay." She squirmed in her seat and ran a hand over her hair, biting her lip again. Maybe it was good that she hadn't worn makeup, because she surely would have chewed all her lipstick off. "Oh, did I leave my red lipgloss in here? I can't find it. Like, my bright bright red stuff." She waited until they were at a red light and flipped the visor down with the mirror in it, making sure her hair wasn't flying everywhere. "Ugh, I look like a...I don't even know. Like a preppy hobo. Maria's gonna see me and think I'm her, like, little sister or something and not wanna date me ever." There was a bitter laugh as she flipped the visor up. "But then, I guess we all know that's not really a disqualifier around me!"
Don't snap, she's had a bad day already. That was the mantra running inside of Dagmar's head. At first she'd been fine, except for knowing that there was no red lipgloss in her car, and would've commented on the fact that yeah, that was exactly what Bren looked like. But dear god the girl wasn't able to say anything once Maria was brought up. Why was she even going again? Because clearly I'm masochistic and love torturing myself. Should have just gone back to Nikita and told her to have another bite because that'd be more fun than watching Bren do her thing. Or standing around and shooting down everyone who asked for a dance. She'd gotten pretty good at coming up with creative ways to do that. "Your lipgloss isn't in here and don't play with your hair when you're driving or I'm taking over." Ignore all of those things she didn't want to respond to? Yep, that was Dagmar's style.
"We were at a red light!" Bren protested, rubbing at her forehead agitatedly. At least she had put her contacts in before all of this had happened, so she didn't look like a hobo and a geek.
For once, Bren did not break eight different traffic laws getting them there, and maybe twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of the building the party was in. Bren climbed out after an epic (read: completely fail) battle with the seatbelt and gave Dagmar her keys back, still messing with her hair and generally fidgeting as they went inside and headed for the elevator, unable to settle even a little bit.
"Don't care," Dagmar shot back, propping her chin on her hand and watching out the window rather than looking next to her. It was probably one of the quietest rides they ever went on, but she wasn't going to go prodding for details about what Bren wanted to do, how she was feeling or any of that. Sure, water elementals were emotional and Dagmar was no exception, usually when it came to herself. She'd had a weird and wouldn't have minded sharing for once, but Bren was distracted. So she'd let her be. Even when they got out and walked to the elevator Dagmar remained silent, though she almost wanted to fix Bren's hair herself. And help her impress someone? No way! So she kept her hands to herself.
"Fidget like that all night and no one will want to dance with you." Dagmar shook her head, brushing her own straightened and serumed and gleaming hair back over her shoulder as they exited and went to the door, knocking. "Just calm down a bit, you look fine." Okay, so she couldn't be a total bitch all the time.
"Well, you can talk, not all of us can roll out of bed looking like models!" Bren said, stepping into the elevator as it arrived. She felt her pockets, then tried the ones down near her knees, looking surprised. "Oh!" She was holding up her red lipgloss. The tube appeared to have gone through the washer, but was largely undamaged, and when she opened it, the makeup inside looked right. "Awesome," she said, applying a quick coat without even having to look in a mirror, managing to get near-perfect red lips, only a few slight flaws and not enough for anyone to really notice. "Okay promise not to be bitchy to Maria pleeeease? I seriously, like, do not even need anything else to go wrong tonight, okay?"
Dagmar smirked, proud of herself for being able to pull off that perfect princess look even if it went to total waste. No one who mattered was going to notice anyhow. Like always. The water elemental was starting to feel the all-too familiar tug of one of her low moods. It was definitely shaping up to be one of those nights. And the words 'promise not to be bitchy to Maria' didn't help. Dagmar's jaw firmed and her eyes chilled. Luckily she had enough control over herself to not suddenly rain down a storm of ice shards but that didn't mean she didn't want to. Did it even matter that her day had sucked too and she'd had a good portion of her blood sucked out because of her father's deals and worse, enjoyed it a bit? Nope, not at all and it was doing dangerous things to her mood. "I'll do you one better. Once we're inside you won't even know I'm here. I'll let one of the boys who never stops trying have fun." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she'd do it. Because anything else would lead her to doing what she really wanted to - and that involved being bitchy to Maria.
Bren had a feeling she was doing something wrong, but damn if she knew what. Dagmar hadn't really given her any indication of what had happened (at least, not that she remembered), and in truth it would have been a distraction from her own problems if she had, but Bren was oblivious to more subtle cues when she got like this. The host of the party opened the door for them. Bren was instantly stoic, or at least her version of it, grinning and kissing the boy on the cheek in greeting before heading inside, the facade of nothing being wrong pretty much flawless to someone who didn't know her, even if the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
Then the door was open and the music washed over them. Loud music just like every party, go figure. Dagmar nodded to the host and stepped inside, eyes scanning the crowd. Some people she knew, some she didn't, a nice little mix. She knew that she'd said once they were inside she'd just go off and leave Bren alone but that was easier said than done. "So where's your girl?" At least had to make sure she had someone around her. Whatever mood she was in, Dagmar didn't like leaving her friend any sort of alone.
Bren looked around, biting her lip. "I don't know, I don't see her," she said. She ran a hand nervously over her hair. If Maria wasn't here she didn't think she was up to dancing with random strangers. She pulled out her phone, wondering if she'd have a text informing her Maria wouldn't be there, but the girl in question had spotted them and was coming through the crowd at them. She greeted Dagmar with a smile, then looked at Bren. "Who are you, and what have you done with Bren Wilson? Sweetie, I don't think I've ever seen you with less than eight inches of thigh showing."
Bren looked up, then grinned. "Hey!" she said, hugging Maria close, but judging from the lack of bouncing and squeaking and forgetting how to speak, her heart was not in it. "Let's go dance. I'll find you later, okay?" she said to Dagmar, letting the taller girl drag her off.
Dagmar didn't even bother replying because Bren wasn't listening. She had her flirt of the night and that was what mattered. Shrugging, the water elemental turned and went in search of the refreshments table. Drinking wasn't really her thing but she felt a severe need for some alcohol right then. Accepting a drink from whoever was behind the table she slipped into a chair by the television, sipping at the impressively strong thing while pretending to be interested in whatever was one. It was hard but she even managed to ignore turning and looking towards where everyone was dancing. That was made easier when someone slid onto the arm of her chair. "Wasn't sure you'd be here tonight," Ken said with a grin.
"Why not?" Dagmar shrugged, not even looking up. She knew him, he was one of those guys on the swim team she'd hooked up with during the last year when she was bored. "Better than spending it at home with my mom and the siblings. So how've you been?" He wanted to talk, she could tell, and she could handle listening for awhile. Better than sulking.
Bren danced with Maria, but Maria had sprained her knee and kept having to sit down, and Bren's head was obviously somewhere else. After awhile, Maria just gave her a (devastatingly unfulfilling) kiss on the cheek and sent her to go find someone else to have fun with, and with some other departing words not nearly as fit to repeat, the Latina girl left and Bren came to find Dagmar, hoping she hadn't snuck off to a bedroom yet. She found the watery girl and sat down on the floor next to her chair, leaning slightly against Dagmar's knees. She'd had a little to drink but, frankly, not nearly enough, and just looked sort of miserable.
Ken talked and talked and talked and Dagmar started to wonder if he'd be able to talk so much if she filled his mouth with water and made him breathe through his nose. Of course she wouldn't actually do that - would she? - but it was appealing until finally he had stopped talking and just played with her hair. The drink helped her lean into that and she was toying with ideas of letting him pull her out of her chair after he'd whispered a few things. But those vanished when suddenly Bren was there, leaning against her knees and looking miserable. "Guess that's a no," Ken scoffed, removing his hand and moving off when Dagmar leaned forward to peer at her friend, concerned. She even forgot that she'd been irritated with her.
"Hey," Dagmar murmured, setting her second or third empty cup down and reaching down to stroke her dark hair. "Something not go right?" She wouldn't let her delight at that possibility show, not when Bren looked like that. Couldn't be downright cruel to her friend.
Bren shook her head, the leaning against Dagmar's leg causing her whole body to move with it. "Maria sprained her knee earlier so she went home," Bren said, with this great miserable pout that possessed her whole body. "And I haven't drunk nearly enough to dance with anyone else after...the morning I had. With...you know." She'd gotten to a state of not even wanting to say his name, like it might summon him into being. "Oh god, it would totally be my luck if he showed up here."
Okay, so Bren's pouting wasn't a good thing, but Dagmar wasn't going to deny that she wasn't upset at all with how that had worked out. Kept her from doing something with Ken and just instigating that whole mess all over again. Had she been sober and in her normal frame of mind she wouldn't have even thought about it. But neither of the above were true and so... yeah. "If you really want to dance I'll dance with you. Don't think Ken's going to be asking again... and he won't show up and if he did we'd be gone and he'd be learning what it was like to drown on dry land." The water elemental shrugged, toying with the edges of Bren's hair. "Or we could go catch the fireworks, isn't fire in the sky the sort of thing to cheer you up a bit?"
Bren considered the offer, and decided her heart really wasn't in the dancing plan, shaking her head. "No, let's go watch the fireworks." She dragged herself to her feet, then took Dagmar's hand to pull her up too, noticing the cups. "How much have you drank? Should I drive?" she asked. Maybe in hindsight it was better that she hadn't really drank heavily. "I'm pretty over this right now. Are we close enough to walk somewhere?"
Allowing herself to be pulled up, Dagmar only stumbled a little before brushing her shirt out. "Two? Three? Not sure, I just kept drinking while Ken was talking so that he didn't irritate me to the point that I wanted to leave." And because it helped to not think about what she had... damnit, now it was back. Frowning she fished her keys out of her pocket and held them out to Bren. "I've never seen the Ann Arbor displays but Scarlet Oak's are awesome. Could go to the Berry Bucket like everyone else or watch from my house. Really good view from the backyard. Then you don't have to think anymore and can just relax."
"Let's go to your place," Bren said, taking the keys and leading the way out, fiddling with her hair again. "Ugh, chances of me thinking about anything that is not this for the next week? Slim," she said, opening the door for Dagmar and letting her walk ahead down the hall, scratching at the bandaid on her chin. "Ugh, why am I such a spaz? I told you what happened here, right? After I left yours yesterday I was running in the park with Bogart and tripped on the edge of a sidewalk. Went flying."
Her place, now that sounded nice. Dagmar smiled, it was much easier when she was past tipsy and verging on drunk, and led the way down the hall to the elevator. She pressed the button and leaned back to wait, blinking at the band-aid on Bren's chin and reaching out to touch it lightly. "Oh, sorry that you hurt yourself, you really need to be more careful when you're running around." And, more because of the drinks than because she genuinely felt like sharing, Dagmar tilted her head and brushed her hair aside to reveal the band-aid on her neck covering the fang-marks that Nikita had left. "I got a little bite this morning. Weird huh? Both of us have band-aids on, how often does that happen."
Bren's eyes widened almost comically. "Oh my god, what happened? Also mine are cooler." She held up her hand, showing the band-aid on her palm, because they were Hello Kitty patterned. Because Bren only buys band-aids meant for two year olds. "Really though, how did you come to require a bandaid on the side of your neck? At least mine make sense." Bren knew well about the existence of vampires, had met one once, but she hadn't put it together yet.
Hello Kitty band-aids. Only Bren would go and do something like that. Well, out of all the college and up people that Dagmar knew, Bren was the only one who would. "Yeah sure, yours are cooler." The elevator dinged it's arrival and Dagmar slid in, leaning back against the wall because just standing wasn't working out all that well for her. "And wanna see? Bet you'll figure out why if you do." Without waiting for a response, Dagmar gripped the band-aid and peeled it off to show the two slightly scabbed fang-marks. Little holes. "Makes perfect sense to cover them up, don't you think? Don't want people staring and think I went asking for it." Which she hadn't. She might but she hadn't yet and Bren didn't have to know she'd almost liked it.
Bren's eyes widened when she saw, mouth dropping open. "A vampire?" she asked, voice hushed so no one would hear, although they were in the elevator now so chances there were slim. "What was...why? You didn't ask for it? Was it just like, random dude on the street or something? Holy crap, what happened?" Her own problems had apparently been forgotten, and that was mostly how Bren liked it, more than willing to focus on her best friend for awhile.
Why was a very good question. How to answer it? Because Bren didn't know about Dagmar's father and the way that the Niemi family really worked. Oh, she knew that they weren't as much of a happy family as most people thought, but she didn't know why. Sharing that your father was a blood witch who was more than happy to sell off his wife and daughters was a little... complex. "First it wasn't a dude, it was this really hot Russian vampire, would you believe that? Russian vampires." Dagmar shook her head then regretted it because the elevator spun. "She was nice about it, made sure I was comfortable with a lot of touching." Hadn't been bad at all. "Why's a complicated question. Might not want to know it."
Bren just looked mildly baffled for all this, watching Dagmar. "Maybe it's good that I'm driving," she eventually said, stepping out of the elevator when it arrived and watching to see that Dagmar didn't fall or something. She let Dagmar lead the way out to the car. "So, like...is this a weird thing for you? I mean..." She didn't really know what she meant, just trying to figure out how to react to this. Bren tended towards a bull-in-a-china-shop approach in situations that were awkward or she didn't understand, but she usually avoided this with Dagmar.
Dagmar hadn't had the intention of driving in the first place, knowing better. Getting into an accident and winding up in the hospital wasn't a good idea. Her mother'd be a little angry. "I've never been bitten by a vampire if that's what you mean." Bren didn't seem to know what to say and again, that was odd for her. Her fiery friend tended towards the blunter side of everything. "And I didn't go 'hey bite my neck!' Father made me go." She shrugged as she slid into the car, leaning her forehead against the window. "Business deal I guess and I was the right price this time. Usually it's mom but I'm enough like her."
Bren was getting uncomfortable with this part of the conversation, getting in the driver's side. "Okay, I'm not sure about how to get to your house from here, so like, give me directions," she said. Bren definitely did not have a good sense of direction, and it took her several times of navigating her way between places to really remember, unless the route was pretty much a straight line. She was still distracted, had not in fact stopped being distracted, the events of the day always hovering at the back of her mind, like a fever she couldn't shake. She dragged a hand through her hair again, still looking stressed and causing pieces to fall from the ponytail, some of it close but not quite long enough.
So she was drunk, but even drunk Dagmar could tell when she was getting brushed off. So that's how it works. I listen to everything she spills about what happens to her and her family and she can't even handle this. Wow. "Fine, go that way and take a left at the second light and it'll get us back into SO. From there you should be fine, right?" Pulling her knees up to her chest, Dagmar laid her cheek on them and looked out the window. Normally she'd worry about the fact that Bren was looking stressed and upset but right then it was easy to not really care. Because at least she made the effort to care and it stung to not have that returned. Normally it might've even stirred up one of her episodes but the alcohol dulled that part of her mind rather nicely.
"I think so." Bren drove until she knew where she was again, then spoke, confident she wouldn't get lost trying to concentrate on too many things. "Who was the dude you were talking to? I recognized him I think, I can't place him though. Also that guy you dated for like ten minutes around midterms was there but you didn't seem to spot each other, so I was like whatever, I'll let them be. Since like, didn't y'all part on like, bad terms? Also those jeans look good but the shoes are ridiculous."
Dagmar didn't want to talk about Ken. Actually, right then she was losing all desire to talking to the fire elemental. Why would she want to? She'd tried telling her something important and Bren hadn't even cared. At all. Cared more about the fact that she'd been talking to Ken. "First, I like my shoes. Second, yeah I don't like him, he was clingy and not what I want at all. Third, that was Ken, he's on the swim team and we had a thing once. Good enough for you and your five-second attention span or should I tie a shiny bow on top to help?"
Bren blinked, the dig mostly going over her head, because something else had just caught up with her. "Wait, your dad made you go get bit by a vampire? You were the right price? What does that even mean?" It wasn't so much that she had a five second attention span...okay, she kindof did, but also that things didn't always process right. Some things got too high a priority, or something, that was starting to wade into terms she didn't understand, but the thing was, it wasn't that unusual for something to register and be reacted to hours or days on. Especially when distracted or tired.
Really? Really? Dagmar didn't deal well with hopping around on subjects when she was past tipsy and verging on full-out drunk. It twisted her up and damnit, she was busy starting to be mad at Bren and now she went and brought it back up. Frustrating. "Yes," she replied, still looking out the window. "My father made me get bit by a vampire because she had something she wanted and instead of dishing out a bunch of money for it, he gave her me for a meal." Her hand went to her neck and she frowned, touching the scabbed marks, knowing how odd they must look on her pale skin. "It kinda hurts still." Sure, in the moment the adrenaline and touching had made it just as pleasurable but she didn't have to say that. Bren seemed to have enough trouble just understanding that she'd gotten bitten.
Things were moving a mite fast for Bren today. "What the hell!" she said, looking scandalized. "And not, like, asking you if you were cool with this? I wanna burn his face off!" she declared, glaring out the windshield. "That's not even fucking cool, fathers are supposed to be out for the well-being of their kids. Stupid...asshat." Bren ran a hand through her hair, looking stressed again. "I think that this day should just go away, and we should all get to skip it. How do you feel about that plan?"
"No," it was Dagmar's automatic reaction, eyes wide and panicked as she finally looked over at Bren. "You can't even think that when you're around him. He'll hear you and then... no, Bren, really. That's just..." What, just how he was? Didn't make it okay and Dagmar knew that. But she had also been experiencing it her entire life with herself and with her mother, and even Satu. "How things are for me, for us. Mother and Satu and me and I'm glad it wasn't either of them." How the Niemi family had always and probably would always operate. Jokull was a force to be reckoned with. It was hard to mess with someone who could read your mind. "But yeah, today can go far, far away and we'll forget it ever happened." Only she wouldn't. She was going to let Nikita bite her again, she knew she was. Normally Dagmar didn't encourage Bren taking her attention off the road at all but right then she was feeling odd, almost vulnerable, and she did did not like it. She slid her hand out, palm up and made sure that Bren saw it. Wasn't like she could hug her when she was driving.
Bren's hand was there almost instantly, squeezing hard. "After the fireworks, I'm like, gonna go home, and get someone to buy me a big bottle of rum, and drink this day away. Is that how that works? I've never been drunk enough to black out. Maybe I'll just play my cello a lot, or go to that hotel with the piano. I don't wanna play my shitty little casio bitch-keyboard." They weren't too far from Dagmar's now, and driving with her left hand was awkward, but Bren managed to get them there unscathed, and without ever letting go of Dagmar's hand, needing the contact as much as the watery girl did.
Not liking the thought of Bren drinking so much that she blacked out, Dagmar frowned but she couldn't really say anything because she'd just drunk enough to numb herself. Not to mention that morning when she'd gotten so stoned that she hadn't even been able to summon up a trickle of fear at a vampire's fangs in her neck. "Black out drunk isn't the best but yeah, that's how it works. I've never been that drunk." A mix of glad and not-so-glad to be home, Dagmar reluctantly let go of Bren's hand to stumble out. Because her legs still weren't working quite right. Walking over to the driver's side she waited for Bren before grabbing her hand again because really, she was home and that meant her father could be inside. Where they wouldn't be going. She didn't want Bren to meet him. Preferably ever. "We can go around back... I'll go grab a blanket from the pool room. You don't have to come if you don't want to be by the water."
Bren followed Dagmar, looking around with the air of a five-year-old being led along by her mother. It had been said that Bren had three modes: five-year-old, "I will burn your face," and...well, sex goddess, possibly said by someone attempting to get in her pants at the time. The basic point was intact, though. "Okay, I'll meet you in the backyard," she said, letting go and going around the other side of the house -- slightly longer, but much less water. She stood waiting for Dagmar, since the grass was wet, looking around to figure out what direction the fireworks would be in.
Carefully, and very quietly, Dagmar slipped into the garage and then into the pool room. There was the cabinet her mom made sure to keep stocked with blankets and towels. She grabbed a few of the first and draped them over her arm, giving the water a longing look before sliding the door open and stepping back outside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but then she saw the shape that had to be Bren and headed over, proud of how she only stumbled a bit. Or more than a bit, whatever. "Here we go," she called, laying one of the blankets down and keeping the other for covering with. Sure it wasn't cold by any means but it'd be more comfortable and Dagmar was all about comfort right then. "We lay this way and we'll be able to see them best." Not that she really cared. Fire in the sky, big whoop. She laid down and rearrange the blanket around herself before holding it open for Bren. "C'mon fire-girl, or I'll go watch from the pool."
Bren giggled as she heard Dagmar stumbling and tripping all over herself, waiting for the other to get arranged and then laying down, snuggling up and managing to wiggle until one of Dagmar's arms was around her shoulders, because she was totally a ninja like that. "How far are we from the park anyway? Like not that far, right?" Bren asked, practically purring in contentment, because she was warm and comfortable and Dagmar was maybe really skinny, but Bren was squishy in enough places that they were totally cuddle-compatible.
"How'd you get like that?" Dagmar asked, blinking as she realized that she was basically holding Bren without having moved to do that. Not that she was complaining even a little bit because it felt really good to cuddle with Bren. Partially because they just seemed to fit for some reason and partially because, well, she was close to her and she could pretend for just a moment that she'd be brave enough to tell her. Yeah right, coward. Danny's words were coming back to haunt her again. "Mmm, yeah, we're pretty close," she murmured her agreement, draping her other arm around Bren's waist because it was just more comfortable that way. She didn't mind lying on her side because it wasn't like she was really going to pay a lot of attention to the fireworks. "One of the other good things about this house, get a good view of things like this. Kinda surprised mom didn't keep the kids here to watch."
"Well, they probably went to the park, or are just upstairs." She craned her neck back to look, but she couldn't see any windows from here so she settled. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, checking the time. "Are they gonna be, like, on the hour? Cause if they are we've still got like five minutes, according to Betty." Betty was the name of her phone. She had a bass named Matilda, a guitar named Jessica, and Emily was reserved for a car, if she ever got one. Bren just had a tendency to name things.
"Park." Dagmar'd bet money on them being there if they weren't here. Her mother wouldn't want to stay in the house with Jokull any longer than she had to. Not that she blamed her in the slightest. She herself didn't like being home on those weekends when he was. "I think they start on the hour or something like that, yeah." The water elemental wasn't quite sure. Remembering things when her mind was a little fuzzed from the alcohol and the rest of the events of the day didn't help with that either. "With your habit of naming things I'm shocked you haven't named my car yet." It was a light, teasing remark. She wanted there to be a happier mood than had existed earlier. Better that way.
"It would end up with some weird Russian or Finnish name. And I don't know any good Russian or Finnish names. Other than like, yours, but I can't name your car after a member of your family." The girl squirmed around, so she was on her side, curled into Dagmar. She was breathing against the older girl's neck, sighing contently. She checked her phone again, without moving hr head. "Four minutes. And we approve of these cuddles."
Russian? Ugh. The only thing good about the Russians in the eyes of anyone who knew about Finnish history was that they hadn't been able to keep their country forever. Not a lot of people knew about the fact that - and Dagmar's mind suddenly shut off thoughts about why the Finns and Russians were historically not friends despite popular belief because Bren was breathing against her neck. And that was a distraction. In a pretty big way. "Right... that'd be totally... weird." No, Dagmar wasn't forgetting how to talk, the words had just changed on her. "Mhmm, these are very good cuddles. Much better than some half-drunk guy pawing at me. Take you over them any day."
Bren grinned brightly, even just at the minor approval of her cuddling skills. She fed off affection and praise like a plant fed off water -- she did suffer a serious lack of positive reinforcement in her life. She was like a puppy, cute and helpless and loyal and kindof pathetic, but in a sweet way. "I think everyone should cuddle more, really. The world needs more love," she said, nodding definitively against the other's shoulder.
Not from people like Dagmar the world didn't need more love. The water elemental didn't really have a whole to give as far as she herself was aware, despite what her mother said, and sulked over her episodes that were the exact opposite often. "Well, I can't give it to the world but I'll let you have mine so you never have to be lonely, how's that?" Sober Dagmar wouldn't have said it, but tipsy with Bren's breath on her neck was a different story. Besides, the fire elemental had never caught onto things like that before. Doubtful she'd start now. "And all the cuddles you want." She even kissed the top of her head.
Bren grinned and leaned up, kissing Dagmar on the cheek, then laid her head back down. "I'm keeping you, Dagmar Niemi. Ooh, one minute!" she said, grinning excitedly and shifting around so she was on her back, looking up at the sky. She kept her arms around her sometimes-roommate, seriously a fan of these cuddles, although after the fireworks she planned to leave, maybe call someone to come over to her place who would just, like, pet her and tell her she was okay. Dagmar tended to get mad or huffy seemingly at random, although Bren was pretty sure there were probably factors she didn't see.
"I'd say I'll keep you too but I think people would fight me for it... so you'll just have me." Only she wasn't keeping her, not really, and Dagmar knew that. It was one of those friendly little things Bren said because she was Bren and Dagmar needed to remind herself of that because... yeah. She had to. Because. When the first firework went off, Dagmar turned her face away from the sky and nuzzled it into Bren's neck. She just didn't see how the explosions were all that pretty. The light hurt her eyes and she knew that it was a form of fire so it made her uncomfortable. So I nuzzle into a fire elemental, right, way to make sense, Dagmar. "At least tell me that they're pretty." Her voice was muffled but she really didn't want to look. They were probably just the same as when she'd had to watch them as a kid. Lame.
"They are totally awesome and pretty," Bren confirmed with a nod, smiling down at Dagmar. "And you're so cute, you're like a little kid." Bren laid her head back and just watched, almost feeling a little fizzle in her fingers at the presence, however distant. She watched contently, occasionally rubbing Dagmar's shoulder a little, holding the other girl close for comfort, and to maximize on the affection and cuddles.
"Not like a little kid," Dagmar denied. "Like a water elemental. Glad you're enjoying yourself though." And actually, so was she. It was nice to be cuddling with Bren. She was warm and held her close and it was just nice. Even if there were fireworks going off and she had to pretend that there was something, anything there. And she kinda hated herself for it. Bren was content and happy, why couldn't she be too? Not fair. Her voice was sleepy, "Tell me when they're over."
Bren yawned, Dagmar's sleepy voice contagious. "You are getting your sleepies on me, missy," she scolded, still watching the colored fire happily. It was over, though, pretty soon, and Bren lifted her head to see that Dagmar was still awake. "I should probably get you in bed, huh?"
"Sorry." No she wasn't, not even a bit. Because it wasn't her fault she was sleepy. She'd gotten up early for one of the more stressful days of her life and she could be allowed to be sleepy before midnight. Or whatever time it was. "I guess... you don't have to if you don't want to, bet I could stumble up. Maybe." Probably not but she didn't want Bren to feel like she had to take care of her.
"No you're not," Bren said with a little laugh when Dagmar apologized. "You drank a little, I don't wanna be back in two hours to drive you to a hospital cause you broke your head. I'll walk you upstairs and then head out, yeah?" She carefully extracted herself from Dagmar and then helped the other girl up, grabbing the blankets and tossing them over her arm.
Bren knew her way too well if she could pick that out and Dagmar just grinned as she got to her feet. She didn't really want Bren to leave because that led to thinking about what Bren was going to do and that made her stomach threaten to throw up its contents. But she couldn't ask her to stay, knowing she wouldn't. "Just keep your thoughts quiet, don't want him knowing there's someone else in the house." Much less connecting the girl with the thoughts that sometimes found their way into her own head. That wouldn't be good. "More comfortable lying down," she did sulk at Bren, sticking her lower lip out. She could've slept like that easily.
"I am totally not leaving you out here exposed to the elements to sleep!" Bren said, looking indignant at the thought. Of course, now being told to be quiet would ensure that her thoughts would be loud. She led Dagmar to the back door, putting the blankets down just inside and then taking Dagmar's hand for steadying purposes, leading her up to her room. Luckily, the thoughts in her head were primarily about getting Dagmar to bed and planning out the rest of her night, which didn't involve burning Jokull's face off or anything.
Dagmar didn't respond to that, because she'd slept outside in the pool plenty of times, but remained silent as Bren led her into the house. She saw the dimness of light peeping out from the hallway. Her father was probably in his spider and a quick disturbance of the light made her shudder. His familiar. Her room was the first on the left on the second floor and luckily, it only held a faint scent reminding of what she'd done that morning. Instantly she went to her dresser and pulled out her nightgown, changing into it with only a little stumbling before looking at Bren. "I know you're making all these plans in your head for whatever you're going to do and I'm sorry for taking up your time but could you just stay until I'm sleeping? I'll stay out once I'm gone but I can't fall asleep in this house alone." Not when the only other one in the house was her father. Just didn't work.
"Sure," Bren said, nodding. She remembered what Dagmar had said and the house definitely seemed too empty for the kids and Linnea to be home, so she understood. "Do you want me to lay with you or just sit over here?" she asked, fiddling with her hair again and bending over to mess with the buckles on her shoes in the interest of getting them off. Because they were the most stubborn shoes ever, okay, and she didn't even know why she wore them except that they were super cute.
She should have told her to just sit down somewhere, but Dagmar'd been comfortable before and she liked taking her comfort where she could do it when her mood wasn't ruining it all. Currently her mood was behaving quite well. "With me?" she asked as she slid into the bed and under the covers, wriggling around until she was laying comfortably, holding it up for Bren to join her.
"Okay," Bren agreed, sitting on the edge. "If I...ever get these stupid things off..." Eventually the buckles gave in and she sighed, kicking them off and sliding under the covers with Dagmar, squirming up close. "Do you want me to sing until you fall asleep?" she asked, getting arranged so they were comfortable, but she could still get out without too much jostling.
Dagmar smiled, cuddling up against Bren and nodding. "That'd be nice," she admitted. Sometimes Bren's singing and constant need for music annoyed her, but right then it'd be as welcome as her need to always be close to people. Without even thinking she nuzzled against the side of Bren's neck before sighing, letting her eyes close. "You have a pretty voice and it'll help."
Bren grinned widely. "Okay, I'll sing." She cleared her throat like a stereotypical conductor or something, then started singing Amazing Grace, voice soft but clear, not giving the notes any embellishments or riffs like a lot of vocalists, just going for simple. Some people might call it boring, and maybe Bren just wasn't old or experienced enough yet, but she still found beauty in the simplicity. She let her mind wander, stroking Dagmar's hair idly as she sang.
"Thanks Bren," Dagmar murmured, leaning up enough to kiss Bren's jaw before letting herself start to drift off. She didn't care if there were riffs or anything special in her voice, she just liked it how it was. Simple and pretty. The stroking of her hair was soothing and it didn't take long for her to hit that drifting place right between awake and asleep. "Love you, by the way." And then she was asleep.
Bren grinned and kissed the top of Dagmar's head, then carefully snuck out of bed, tucking Dagmar in. She grabbed her shoes, so as not to make noise, and headed out, setting off home.