Derek Souza (edisonwolf) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-06-04 09:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, chloe saunders, derek souza |
Who: Derek Souza and Chloe Saunders
What: Dream discussion over lunch
Where: Some restaurant
When: Today
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete!
Work had been crazy like usual and Chloe was so thankful that Derek wanted to meet up on the weekend because it gave her time to mentally prepare for this meeting. She had come to accept herself as being alone in this world with these Dreams and suddenly Derek was dropped from the sky. It wasn’t that she disliked him at all, but that he was a main character at the Lyle House and there were things about him that she was still trying to figure out here and there. He at least seemed a little more friendly than he typically did in the dreams, but a meeting in a video store wasn’t the same as meeting him again after he had dreamt of her.
Chloe parked her car in the parking lot for the restaurant Derek had picked and stepped out of it. She was wearing a simple dress and knew that he would probably be a little confused by her fashion choices since she didn’t dress like this in the dreams, but she was different from that girl. She had let Henry know about the meeting and her phone was safely stashed in her purse on silent so she could give Derek her full attention. Sunglasses moved to the top of her head as she stepped into the restaurant, blinking to adjust her eyes, and scanned for him.
Perhaps Derek shouldn’t have offered to meet Chloe this weekend. He had finals and should really be studying more. Med school wasn’t easy. But it was also good that he was being forced to take a break.
The previous night he had more dreams about the Lyle House. Catching Chloe talking to ghosts in the basement and hurting her arm when he was trying to tell her what she was. He felt incredibly guilty and wasn’t sure how to talk to Chloe about it. But whatever food first.
Derek got there a bit before her and had already ordered himself a burger, fries, and some wings. He was hungry okay? But then Derek was usually always hungry. When Chloe walked in he spotted her right away. She did look different from the dreams. For one she was older, her hair wasn’t pink and she was in a dress. There wasn’t much of a reason for dresses at the Lyle House. He waved for her to come join him, pushing aside the fact that she was incredibly pretty.
It was nice not to be an actual sixteen year old who had a lot of hangups and dyed her hair pink in the school bathroom. She felt like she was more equipped to handle the powers that were coming from the dreams because she was older and a little more wiser than her dream counterpart. It also helped to not be wearing the same boring clothes that she did at the Lyle House, but she wasn’t the only one who was different. Derek certainly looked different than his dream counterpart at this stage in the game.
He was a lot more handsome and didn’t have the puberty smackdown look in this world. She wouldn’t be surprised if he got asked out quite a bit, but just didn’t even register it. She caught sight of his wave and made her way over to him, sitting in her chair across from him, and gave him a tentative smile, “Hey. Nice to see you instead of just staring at you awkwardly.”
Dating wasn’t something Derek ever did. He wasn’t the greatest at talking to people in general. Often saying something rude or stupid without realizing it. Derek was book smart and good at sports, but he had no social skills. They were somewhat better now that he was older but he still kept to himself for the most part. Hence the reason he had joined that horrible network.
“It makes sense to me now,” he replied giving her a half smile. “How was your trip?” he asked just as the waitress brought over some of his food. “Sorry, already ordered.” At least he was acknowledging it was rude to have ordered before she got there. He began to dig in as the waitress asked Chloe for her order.
Chloe was putting her napkin over her lap when the waitress brought over the food. Her eyes went wide when she saw how much he had ordered and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I guess that teaches me for keeping you waiting,” Chloe placed an order for a lemonade as she opened up the menu so she could figure out what to order when the waitress came back, “As for my trip, it was quite nice. I surprised Henry, my boyfriend, with a trip to the beach for the weekend, so it was really relaxing to get out of town. How was your holiday?”
“Studying works up an appetite,” he explained. As did running. Which was basically all Derek did, study, work, eat, sleep and go for runs. He actually went on a lot of runs he needed to get his energy out somehow. It was a very boring life he led. According to most people. He was perfectly fine with it.
“Sounds fun,” Derek said between bites of food trying to ignore the twinge of jealousy. “He probably appreciated it.” Derek would have at least. “I had more dreams.”
“I’m sure it does. When are your finals done?” it was incredibly annoying that not all colleges got out at the same time. It was annoying as a college student when your friends at another school got out earlier than you. But she was sure there was a lot more going to cause him to be so hungry, he was always like this in the dreams. A noise of agreement was made as she looked over the menu at his comment, “It was and I hope he did. And wait, you had more dreams? What did you dream about?”
“Thursday.” And then hopefully he would get more hours over the summer. He didn’t know what else to do with his time really. Other than prepare for becoming a werewolf apparently. But how do you even prepare for that? He put his burger down at her question she deserved his full attention for this. “You. In the basement.”
“Well, good luck. You’ll probably be just fine,” she placed a teasing lilt in her voice when she said that because she did honestly think that he was smart enough to make it through his finals fairly easily. She had picked her menu item when he decided to tell her what he had dreamt of. She set her menu down and looked at him, “Which time? I’m in that basement a lot, actually.”
He shrugged. The truth was Derek would probably ace them. He usually had a 4.0. But he didn’t like to brag about himself. Nor did he want to jinx himself. “The time I hurt your arm.” He replied honestly and maybe a bit bluntly. “I’m sorry about that,” he added just as honest. “I don’t think I know my own strength,” in the dreams he meant. But it was also somewhat true here even though he wasn’t quite werewolf strong like his dreamself.
“Oh!” Chloe’s cheeks immediately colored pink when she remembered what else happened after that incident in the basement, “I don’t know how much further you got past that, but I get you in some trouble because my aunt sees the bruises and asks me about it.” She felt bad about that, but it had just happened and she couldn’t stop it. They would get into a lot of trouble being in that basement together.
As usual Derek completely missed her blush. “Haven’t gotten past that yet,” he replied frowning at the fact that he had apparently given her bruises. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure whatever trouble I got in I deserved.” Did he get mad at her for it in the dreams? Because if so that was seriously fucked up of him. He had hurt her. Accident or no he should be punished.
“You never deserved it. I mean, it was scary and uncalled for, but you probably couldn’t control it,” Chloe was far more willing to forgive him in those world than she was in the dreams. The dream situation was far more sticky and she was a lot younger. She felt bad for Derek there and she wouldn’t let him feel guilty about it here, “It’s not a big deal though. I’m fine here.”
Despite the fact that she was fine, Derek still felt bad about it. He knew he did in the dreams as well, he didn’t think that would be going away anytime soon. “Are you sure?” he asked obvious concern in both his eyes and voice.
“I’m sure. There’s probably a lot more that is going to happen then you doing that,” Chloe explained and gave him a look that portrayed that she was forgiving him. She reached out to gently grip his wrist and gave it a reassuring squeeze. That was when the waitress came over and Chloe was able to place her order before removing her hand from Derek’s wrist, “You’re forgiven.”
Great. Something for Derek to look forward. Hurting more people. “Thanks,” Derek said giving a small smile as the waitress walked off to get Chloe’s order. “So,” he asked picking up a wing. “This was supposed to be about getting to know each other.”
Well, she didn’t really say he was going to hurt anyone. Just that there was a lot more craziness going on in the dreams. “What do you want to know?” Chloe asked with a chuckle as she took a sip from her drink and then settled back in her chair as she waited for her food, “I think we went over some of the basics.”
Even if that wasn’t what Chloe said it was what Derek assumed. It wasn’t her fault he assumed he’d hurt people either. Derek just didn’t have a ton of faith in himself. “What are your parents like?” She mentioned that her mother had died in the dreams and her father didn’t want to take care of her, and that here her mother had been sick but that was all he knew. Relationships with parents fascinated him a bit considering he was in foster care until Kit found him.
“Um...they’re fine? My mom is lovely, but my dad is okay. He’s a bit like himself in the dreams. He’s away a lot on business, so I don’t see him that much,” Chloe explained with a small shrug. She didn’t really talk about her parents much since she had moved away from home and went to school, “what about you? Kit and Simon are actual people in this world, right?”
Derek nodded chewing his food as she spoke. “What about your aunt?” she seemed to be around more in the dreams than either of her parents. Obviously since her mother was gone. “Yeah,” he replied picking up a fry and popping it into his mouth. “They are as real as me. Did you want to meet Simon?” he may be early in the dreams but he could already tell Simon and Chloe had a thing for eachother. He was always observant when it came to his brother.
“Oh! Lauren. Yes, she exists here - I see her a couple times a year. Definitely not as much as I do in the dreams,” Chloe pointed out with a chuckle. She had briefly forgotten about her aunt when it came to the OC. And then when Derek mentioned meeting Simon her eyebrows raised, “Um...oh gosh. I don’t know. That would be so strange.” And even more strange would be the fact that Simon wasn’t dreaming, which only added a whole other level to the thing.
“Doesn’t live in the area?” it was the logical conclusion. Or Chloe just didn’t have time to see extended family. He shrugged at her response to Simon. But obviously it wasn’t strange for him, even with Simon not dreaming. But he had grown up with the guy so there was no reason it would be strange. “Well he’s not in town right now. I usually go visit him and my dad since they are together, but if he ever pays a visit I’ll let you know.”
“Correct, she’s out of state,” not too far away, but enough that they only got together for holidays. There wasn’t a reason for Lauren to be as present here as she was in the dreams, now that her mom was feeling much better. When Derek said he would let her know if Simon ever showed up she gave a nod and a smile, “Sounds good. We’ll see where we’re at when that happens. So, what are they up to?”
It was the same for his family. They were in a neighboring state, but he only saw them on occasion now. Part of that was because he was still ashamed of what happened in high school. “Both busy with work I guess. My dad’s a lawyer and Simon is working on his comic book.”
“A comic book? How awesome! I know he loves to draw in the dreams, so it’s nice to hear he’s making that a thing here,” Chloe commented with a chuckle, “So, med school? What do you wanna do with your degree?” She was curious to know what exactly he would end up doing once he finished his schooling.
“Yeah. He’s always been into drawing.” At least as long as Derek could remember. “Genetics,” he told her. Which actually he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it anymore with dreaming about that lab. “I work as a genetic research assistant right now. Part time.” No way would he have time for a full time. Med school was basically a full time job as it was.
“That sounds really interesting. I’m not the best at science, but I’m sure you’re constantly learning new things. Do you want to continue to be a researcher when you’re done?” Chloe took a sip from her glass as she waited to find out. There probably weren’t a lot of options with a degree like that because research would probably be the most important thing to work on.
“Yeah. There’s so much we don’t know too,” another shrug as he finished off his burger. Down to the just the fries and the wings now. “Maybe. Either that or a genetic counselor. Not as glamorous as a movie director I know.” But it was what he enjoyed and that was the point, right?
“Ha, movie director isn’t that glamorous, but genetic counselor would be really helpful to a lot of people,” Chloe couldn’t help but smile. Derek was really impressive and he was the type of guy that didn’t own up to that, which was a little refreshing. The waitress came by and brought out her food and Chloe gave her a thanks, “Alright, let’s get to eating.”
More like she needed to get to eating considering Derek had already consumed a good amount but he wasn’t done yet. And hell he could always order more. “Right, enjoy.”