Annie Cresta is one with the waves (lifeisastorm) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-03-01 20:59:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, annie cresta, caroline forbes |
Who: Caroline Forbes and Annie Cresta
What: Caroline checks on Annie and tells her about being a vampire. It doesn't go as well as it could.
When: Post Hunger Games plot
Where: Annie’s apartment
Warnings: None
Status: Log | Complete
Everything finally seemed back to normal. Caroline had gone back home, life was resuming as normal. However she was still worried about Peeta and his friends, particularly Annie. It couldn’t be easy having your dreams attack Orange County like that. From the second Caroline met Annie she saw how anxious the girl could get.
Today she was at Peeta’s apartment complex, but instead of going to see him she was there to see Annie. She made her way to Annie’s apartment, knocking on the door and waiting for her to answer.
Things were back to normal, but Annie’s mind was still a mess. She was struggling to get herself back to normal, trying not to let the arrival of Panem in Orange County keep her down, but it was hard. She also had made a decision but that decision also left her a bundle of nerves because it meant opening up in a way she hadn’t. Ever. So as was the case when she got exceptionally anxious and trying to focus on anything else, she had inadvertently torn her apartment apart in a frenzied search for the bracelet from the dreams. Because of course that would be what she lost in her panic and that was what calmed her most. Especially when trying to find the words she needed.
Or… there could be a knock on the door. That was unexpected. No one had said anything about stopping by. Confused, Annie made her way to the door, looked through the peephole and let some of the tension leave as it was Caroline.
Stepping back, she opened the door and stepped aside.
“Hi? Um. Do you want to come in?” Well now she was just confused but that was better than anxious.
Well Annie invited her in, that was kind of a must when it came to Caroline given the whole vampire thing. “Thanks,” she said crossing the threshold and stepping inside. She obviously saw what a mess Annie’s apartment was. It looked like a tornado had hit it or something. Clearly Annie was upset, or just super messy but Caroline had a feeling it was the former.
“I just came to see how you were doing,” she didn’t need to add her reasoning. Annie probably knew why she was checking on her and really Caroline didn’t feel the need to bring up the fact that her dreams had invaded. “Is this a bad time?” now she was referring to the mess in Annie’s apartment.
It wasn’t that hard to put together why people might be checking on her. After all, they all knew how unstable she was in the dreams and it wasn’t like Annie’s first meeting with Caroline had been conventional as she had been super freaked out at the time. She appreciated the concern, but really… She had nodded at the reasoning and then blinked at the question.
“No. I just can’t find my charm bracelet.”
Definitely not how she usually was. Annie was usually much more organised than this. But given her mind was a mess and she was trying to figure out how to open up about things…. Well. Losing bracelets was a bit more upsetting and her apartment thus became a mini battleground.
Caroline understood how it felt to lose a piece of jewelry. It was extremely frustrating, but she had never gone to such lengths to find it. Never torn her room completely apart. Either Annie was losing it or the bracelet had some serious sentimental value. Caroline hoped it was the second option.
“What does it look like? I can help you look for it,” she offered giving the other girl a small smile.
It was a combination of both, which often seemed to be the case with Annie. She was struggling to find some sense of footing after everything that had happened, which meant losing something which grounded her was extra upsetting.
“Black cord charm bracelet with an anchor charm.” The one she wore consistently regardless of outfit or which ribbons or bracelets she was wearing that day.
Caroline knew what bracelet Annie was talking about. She had seen her wear it a few times before. Actually now that she thought about it she didn’t remember ever seeing Annie without it on.
Wasting no time Caroline began looking for it. This would be a lot faster if she used her vampire speed but she was pretty sure that wasn’t something that Annie knew about yet. Peeta hadn’t mentioned telling Annie, not that he had to tell her every time he told someone what she was but she figured he would when it came to Annie. A few minutes later Caroline found the bracelet underneath a couch cushion. “Found it,” she said holding it up and bringing it over to Annie.
Having been looking anywhere and everywhere, the second Caroline said she found it, Annie’s head popped up and she looked over to where the blonde was, a small sense of relief flooding over her. It wasn’t all there, not with the decisions she was focusing on, or more… sentences she was trying to formulate in her mind. But the bracelet was something which grounded her, which she desperately needed in that moment.
Pushing herself up, Annie went over to where Caroline was and smiled some.
“Thank you so much.” To most it was just a bracelet, but everyone had the things they held onto. This was Annie’s for when the world got to be too much. Taking said bracelet, Annie quickly put it on and felt at least marginally more at ease.
“Do you want something to drink?” Not that she had much. Juices and teas were what Annie kept on hand but well, Caroline had stopped by and she was able to play hostess easily enough.
It was probably just a bracelet to everyone but Annie. It didn’t hold the same meaning to anyone else as it did to her. But that didn’t mean that Caroline didn’t understand how some objects held a deeper meaning. She had a few herself, mostly things that came from dreams but still she understood.
“Of course,” Caroline replied giving Annie a reassuring smile. She seemed a little more calm now that she had her bracelet back. Definitely a good sign. “Sure. I’ll take some tea,” she was fairly certain Annie had that given the fact Peeta even kept some at his apartment for her. And you know it was generally a calming thing which it seemed like she still needed at the moment.
Tea was always a good thing. Nodding, Annie made her way over to the kitchen to put a kettle on as well as pulling down different selections of tea, as well as whatever else Caroline might want. She was going to need to put everything back together, but that could wait.
“Was there something you wanted to talk about?” It just seemed… fairly out of the blue. True there had been everything that had happened and it was good to check on people. But it was still unexpected, and unexpected tended to mean people had something on their minds that they wanted to discuss.
Caroline honestly hadn’t had anything specific to talk about. It was mostly just to check on Annie and see how she was doing, after everything. But talking to her about what happened the past few weeks didn’t seem like the best idea. She didn’t want to bring up bad memories for the girl. And really if Annie wanted or needed to talk hopefully she knew by now that Caroline would most definitely listen. Now that she was here though it felt like it was time to tell Annie what she was. Caroline didn’t want her finding out some other way like if she accidentally lost control and her face transformed like it had done a few times during the blood rain.
“Well,” she began “there is something you don’t know about me. It’s nothing bad, really. Just shocking maybe? I don’t know.” Ugh no matter how many times she told someone this it never go any easier.
The past two weeks was definitely something Annie didn’t want to discuss given how stressful that had been. It would just add to her stress and anxiety which would defeat the entire purpose of tea and staying calm as well. She was getting things back in order… well no, she was struggling on that, but she was getting better.
Though then Caroline was saying that there was something about her that she didn’t know and should share and the brunette blinked in confusion, tilting her head to the side curiously.
“Oh?”
There really was no easy way to say it. At least from Caroline’s experience. But she did know it was better to be told than to just flat out see it, although Peeta had handled that rather well. But still. “I’m a vampire,” and there it was. “I don’t hurt people or anything,” she rushed to add because she knew it could be a scary thing. Sucked because she was still her she just survived on blood and had a few talents. There was really nothing to be scared of but she knew that some people were, especially those who didn’t dream of vampires. It was a new somewhat new concept for them even with living in Orange County.
Annie just… stood there for a few minutes and only seemed to snap out of it as the kettle whistle blew to let her know the water was ready. Had she heard Caroline correctly? Vampire?! That was… slightly terrifying. Which was why she quickly focused on making the tea. It was something to keep her hands busy as she tried to make sense of what she’d just been told.
Vampires weren’t real.
But the dreams. And if there was one thing Annie had long since learned since coming to Orange County, everything that tested her grasp of reality? It could exist and made things really difficult. Yet here she was. And she never got a bad feeling from Caroline. There was of course her concern for Peeta after everything with Alyssa when it came to relationships, but she didn’t think Caroline was bad. But Peeta….
Turning around to hand Caroline her tea, Annie finally found her voice.
“Does Peeta know?”
Well, she didn’t drop anything or back away or try to attack Caroline? So that was something. True she was still processing but she had enough focus to ask about if Peeta was aware since he was the one dating Caroline.
It felt like it was taking Annie forever to respond. Caroline wasn’t sure if she should keep explain or just wait for Annie to process. She chose the latter.
“Thanks,” Caroline said softly when Annie handed over her tea. And then she finally spoke. Wasn’t exactly the reaction she was expecting, but it was sweet that Annie was worried about her friend. Of course he knew though. There was no way Caroline would get involved with someone who didn’t know what she was.
“He knows,” she confirmed taking a sip of tea. “He took it pretty well,” best anyone ever had honestly. Let her feed from him and everything but Annie didn’t need to know all that.
Letting Annie process things tended to be the best plan all around. It was still a lot to take in, but the fact that Peeta seemed to know and still trusted Caroline did help. At least somewhat. Unless there was mind control involved. But given the fact Peeta wasn’t acting any differently than he’d been before? That didn’t seem to be the case.
Her head hurt.
Still, she gave a small nod. “Good.” One more thing to file away. Even so, she had started to pace, her own mug of tea still in hand, pausing briefly to take a sip before she started to pace again. Nervous energy and all.
Annie was taking this a lot better than she had expected. She wasn’t having a panic attack or anything. Definitely a good sign. Although the pacing was somewhat worrisome.
“Hey,” Caroline said softly but kept her distance from Annie. She didn’t want to startle her. “I’m still me. I’m still the same girl you met in Peeta’s apartment. I just need blood to survive. There are ways to get it without hurting anyone.” That was the last thing Caroline ever wanted to do. Hurt someone. “Well, and I have a few abilities. They come in handy though with all the crazy this place brings.” As long as she was telling Annie she may as well tell her basically everything.
Blood. Still weird to think about and a bit stressful but she nodded absently. Her read on Caroline as a good person hadn’t shifted or anything. It was just confused now. But not hurting people was a big thing for her. As was honesty. So as Caroline mentioned abilities that could come in handy, she paused some. “Like what?”
“Well,” Caroline began. “I have super strength and speed. My blood can heal.” Those were the ones that really came in handy. Especially when Annie’s dreams had decided to manifest themselves and take over Orange County. “And I can compel people or manipulate dreams. I’ve never tried the dream manipulation here though and my dreamself has only done it a few times.”
Compulsion was something she used more often then she lied to admit. At first she was completely against it, but now she used it pretty often. Mostly to get herself discounts or even free drinks, and then when she was late to class or something. But she had never used it on Peeta and she couldn’t now that he had vervain, nor would she want to. She liked that that everything between them was real.
Annie could certainly see how strength and speed could come in handy, as well as supposed magical healing blood. She didn’t have much of a chance to respond though because Caroline then went into the compulsion and dream manipulation thing… and had just admitted that dream manipulation was the one thing she hadn’t tried. So while she’d been handling it (mostly) okay before?
Tea mug falling to the ground, Annie quickly dropped to clean it up even though her hands were shaking. It wasn’t hard to figure out what compulsion meant. And after everything she’d gone through….
“Is there a way to protect against it.” Maybe her voice was harder than it usually would be, scared, but she needed to protect herself. She trusted Caroline well enough, but between Orange County things and never knowing if there were others like her…. Annie wanted to be prepared.
The second the tea cup fell to the floor Caroline set hers down on the counter, dropping down to the floor to help Annie clean up. She hated that Annie was so scared of her now that she dropped her drink and now her hands were all shaky. A frown formed on the blonde’s face.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “It’s called vervain. You can wear it to protect against compulsion or drink it for the same reason and it makes your blood poisonous to vampires. At least the ones from my dream world.” Because Caroline was well aware there were others out there, not from Mystic Falls. “Peeta has some. I’m sure he’ll share.”
To her credit, and really Caroline’s since it reflected on the fact the girl did trust the blonde to some extent, Annie didn’t back away or anything like that. She just focused on the mess on the floor. It was hard to explain her reaction and all the complications of it. She was having a hard enough time figuring out what to say to Finnick, let alone….
And… of course there were others. That was even more upsetting. At least she knew Caroline. Meaning it was probably a good thing she even knew this much now.
“Vervain. Okay. Got it.”
Caroline finished cleaning up the mug, one of the broken pieces slicing her hand, but it healed right away. She had no idea if Annie saw that or not. She stood up and threw everything away. “I guess I should go,” she said her voice still soft. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” But really Caroline couldn’t help who she was, what the dreams made her and she did her best to remain a good person despite it all.
Annie nodded some. “It’s okay.” It was. Annie knew that Caroline couldn’t control that part of her, just like Annie couldn’t control parts of herself that she really wished she could. She just… needed time to get her thoughts and emotions in order again and not be so panicky. Between the issues Orange County recently brought about and then the panic of losing her bracelet because she was trying to find words to tell Finnick her past… and the connotations… Space was good. And vervain. “I’ll see you around then. Sorry.”
Because of course she’d apologise. She did feel bad it just… too much right now.