Entry tags:

!complete, elena gilbert, itachi uchiha

Who: Itachi and Elena
What: Surviving the fog
When: Saturday during the fog
Where: The dojo where they normally train
Rating/Warnings: PG!
Status: Closed/Complete Upon Posting

There had been a lot of strange things going on in Orange County as of late. Itachi thought the fog from the previous month was bad, but blood raining from the sky was a thousand times worse. Saturday dawned without blood, and Itachi asked Elena if she wanted to continue on with their training.

He was cautious as he made his way to the dojo, and began to slowly relax as he neared the familiar building. Exiting his car, Itachi grabbed his bag from the trunk and slung the strap over his shoulder. As per usual, Itachi stopped in front of the dojo, underneath the awning in the event that the skies decided to open up, or if something worse decided to happen upon him he could quickly make his way into the dojo.

Closing his eyes, Itachi let out a long breath. He'd gone to the eye doctor earlier in the month, although they offered no explanation about his failing eyesight except that he just needed glasses. Age had something to do with it apparently, although he wasn't that old and had never had to use glasses before. As it was, he wasn't wearing them, and they were tucked safely in his gym bag. Itachi didn't believe that it had anything to do with that, but more to do with his dreams. There were mornings after his dreams that he awoke and his eyes were red with black swirls through the iris. Sharingan. That was what they were called.

He opened his eyes to see Elena, and he gave a small wave in her direction. "Hey," he greeted her with a smile.

Seeing blood rain served as further incentive for her to carry on training. Elena, although a little timid, wasn’t about to let that hold her back. She wanted to be prepared for whatever the OC had in store for her. With a slew of vampire friends (former or otherwise), the need to be self-reliant burned even brighter.

Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary that day, but things had been dicey. While she’d avoided encountering any beasts that she heard about on the network, Elena wasn’t holding her breath either. Anything was possible when things went awry. So, eager to get the ball rolling, she pulled up to the dojo and hopped out of the car. With a beep, the doors were locked and she made her way up to the front doors with a small duffle bag holding a change of clothes.

“Hey,” she responded in kind, smile bright. Training had become the highlight of her week. “I’m glad you’re here in one piece… things have been unsurprisingly crazy again!”

"They have been indeed." Itachi agreed with a small nod of his head. There always appeared to be something going on in the OC. From the posts on the Network, to everything else in between, it was a strange place to live that much was certain. "I'm glad you're doing well too, Elena." Truly, he was glad that she was alright. She'd been one of the only people that Itachi had confided in about his experience with the fog, and the death of his cousin outside of his family.

Well, he hadn't told them about the fog, but Itachi didn't think that they would fully understand. They hadn't seemed to have any dreams about a life that he hadn't really lived since he'd asked Sasuke about it. The strangest dream his brother was willing to admit to was nothing like the ones Itachi had been having.

"Let's…" Itachi trailed off, eyebrows drawing low over his eyes as a misty like fog appeared across the street from where they stood. "We should get in...now." Itachi's voice was urgent as he pulled the door open, the fog creeping closer to where they stood and he'd be damned if he was going to let Elena or himself get lost in that shit.

Bonding with someone outside of the Mystic Falls-group had been nice, really. Elena enjoyed Itachi’s company and valued his listening ear. He’d been helping her become stronger and that was an invaluable gesture to her. The last thing she wanted to be was useless to her friends who just happened to all be, by and large, vampires. Even her own brother was a hunter with greater skills than the average joe. She was just… Elena, nothing special.

To have learned more about his background made her feel like they’d truly become friends, which was also nice. She wasn’t sure what it was about Itachi, but she felt like she could trust him. If it was naive, Elena didn’t particularly care; she liked to believe her instincts were apt. So, when his concern became evident, she didn’t hesitate to follow his lead.

Hurrying over the opened door, she spun around on the inside to glimpse the impending doom. Her mouth fell open in shock, eyes wide with concern. “Will the door even keep it out…?”

Opening up to Elena had been hard for Itachi, but nice at the same time. To be able to share a burden that had been weighing on his shoulders for far too long was a relief, and he was grateful for Elena's friendship. Now, however, he wanted to attempt to protect her from the fog that was rolling in on them.

Itachi pushed the door closed, brows drew low over his eyes as he stared out into the fog. "I don't know." He answered honestly as the fog inched closer. Itachi took a step back, reaching out to place a gentle hand on Elena's arm. There was a closet in the entryway that they could get into if need be, but for now he was just waiting to see if it would snake its way underneath the door. "The last fog didn't care, this one is different." He could tell. It wasn't as thick, as ominous as the last one.

Elena made it a point to be available to her friends, to give the air of trustworthiness. It was hard to find someone to confide in without worrying about whether they would share those secrets with other people. To her, Itachi was a good person, so whether it was just offering him company or exchanging books, she was more than happy to be around him.

While she didn’t like being something of a damsel, these were certainly different circumstances. The way that he set his hand on her arm and offered a sense of security didn’t make her feel helpless, it made her feel supported. Nerves prompted her to cover his hand with one of her own, hoping to ground them both.

“Guess we’ll have to find out,” she responded meekly. “No matter what it is, we’ll figure it out. We’ll be okay. I’m glad you’re here, it’d suck to be stuck in this alone.”

The warmth of her hand against his made Itachi feel better about the entire situation despite how grave he thought it was. Of course, that was his own paranoia talking. He had no reason to really think that this fog was the same as the last, but there was something off about it. "I know what you mean." He glanced over at her with a soft half smile, and it was true. Itachi would rather be facing this with a friend than on his own again.

He took another step back as the fog pushed against the door, it swirled against the glass, and for a brief moment, Itachi believed that they might be okay. That was when he noticed the small tendrils slipping underneath the door, and then the sides. "Let's go." He turned, his hand still on Elena's as he moved toward the room they typically practiced in. There were no windows in the room, just mirrors that covered the walls and two doors, one entrance and one exit. "Towels," he spoke suddenly, "we should stuff the towels underneath the doors." It would hopefully keep the fog out, but then again, they really had no way of knowing.

The difference between facing something alone and by someone’s said was astounding. She’d spoken the words with the utmost sincerity. If anything came out of that fog, she was ready for it--he’d helped her feel stronger, less like someone that everyone needed to check on constantly for fear she’d gotten hurt in her human capacity. Her friends cared and she didn’t fault them for that at all, she only wanted to give them one less thing to constantly worry about.

Itachi may not have been a man of many words, but what he did say meant something. Every gesture and small smile spoke volumes. When he said to go, she fell immediately into step with him hastily. With the door shut behind them, she looked around for some towels just as he suggested it.

“Good call,” she agreed. “I’ll take the exit.”

With any luck, the fog wouldn’t last and they wouldn’t have to hole up in there for long. Certain they’d find something to do nonetheless, she made haste grabbing up towels and started stuffing them under the edges of the exit door.

The seal on the door should hold, or at least, Itachi was hopeful that it would as he stuffed towels underneath the door on his side too. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on outside, or how long this would last. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long, not like it was the last time. The thought was enough to make Itachi shudder, although he was doing his best to be strong during all of this.

After stuffing the towels underneath the door, and making sure that nothing would creep past the outer edges of the door he took a step back.

Itachi cast a curious glance over at Elena, and then let out a long breath. "Are you alright?" He asked, a curious brow raising. "I don't know how long this is going to last, but hopefully nothing will get in."

Elena may not have been much to look at, but she tried to make up for it in building herself up to be stronger mentally. It was the only choice she had in the dreams, so she had begun preparing herself now for the downhill spiral her dreams would likely take her on… if Damon didn’t beat the dreams to it at this point.

Completing her share of the task, she hopped up to her feet to survey it. She had no idea if it would work, but it was well worth the effort. If anything, it would buy them some time and hopefully it would pass. If not, they’d figure something else out. She was worried, but wouldn’t let it show for now, not if she could help it.

Looking over at him as he asked her a question, Elena had a feeling she could just be honest with him and say how scared she was, but being strong for one another somehow seemed to take precedent. So, she smiled--something she found easy to do toward Itachi--and nodded.

“I’m okay,” she assured. “If it does get in, we’ll find another place to hide or something. I’d say we could watch something on my phone to pass the time, but I have a feeling this fog is going to kill the signal… are you? Okay, I mean.”

His shoulders relaxed a degree the moment she said she was okay. Even if she didn't mean it, which Itachi had no idea if she did or not, those simple words put him more at ease. She put him more at east honestly.

"It most likely would kill the signal." He knew the last time he'd been trapped in a fog it had killed all the signal until he'd gotten back into his home. He let out a long breath through his nose, his eyes closing for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts. "I'm fine." He replied finally, eyes finally opening to look over at Elena with a small smile. "If we do have to hide elsewhere there's a closet over there." He gave a small jerk of his head in the direction of the closet which actually housed some of the towels. As it was, though, it looked as if everything was going to hold.

Itachi shoved his hands down into the pockets of his pants, "I have a deck of cards in my bag, I play solitaire when I go to the coffee shop once we're done here. We could use those to pass the time if you'd like."

"I think that sounds perfect," Elena said with a smile. Disconnecting from technology with a good friend? She could get on board with that. Plus, it had been a long time since she played cards for fun. They'd make their own fun in the creepy fog, no matter what--everything would be just fine.