Jill Mastrano Dragomir (surpriseroyal) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-11-01 07:10:00 |
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When Jill returned to her suite after her physiotherapy appointment, she found her usual bodyguard Lara, who’d been passing herself off as Jill’s cousin, packing, and a new - but familiar - face amongst her security contingent. The presence of Rose Hathaway was not a good sign. Rose was Queen Vasilisa’s personal bodyguard, and Jill couldn’t understand why she’d be here unless something was terribly wrong with her security arrangement...or something had happened to Lissa. Seeing her panicked expression, Luca Brazzoli, the head of her security, spoke up. “The Queen thought Rose would be a better fit for this assignment than Lara. Rose grew up here, and you won’t have to explain why your ‘cousin’ has a Swiss accent.” Luca rarely went out with Jill himself; he coordinated everything from headquarters-slash-Jill’s suites. Jill liked him; he was quiet and competent and was willing to give her some space. Most of all, she trusted him. Still, she glanced over at Rose uncertainly. “Is Queen Vasilisa okay?” *** Coming back to California wasn’t high on Rose’s list of things to do. She had good memories in this place, but she also knew how insane it could truly be and she didn’t want Jill to know about that. It was strange having two versions of Lissa in her head - both Queens in their own right - but not completely the same. She had written the Dreams off while she was gone because they never occured while she was out of the Orange County area, so maybe it wasn’t truly something that would happen. But when the Queen asked you to personally watch over her sister you weren’t allowed to refuse. A small smirk tugged the corner of her lips up on Rose’s face when she took in Jill’s expression when she walked through that door. It was true that she was in charge of the Queen, but Jill needed her for the moment. The poor girl had been through so much already and Rose felt for her. Her world had been turned upside down and as a result she had almost die from it. “She is perfectly fine. However, she is far more concerned about you, which is why I’m here. Making sure that you’re okay and fitting in is now top priority and I’m pleased to tell you that I’ll be in charge of protecting you,” she explained as her smirk turned into a small smile. Rose wasn’t that much of a hardass. It would be a bit of a transition, but Rose knew that she could get things figured out for Jill without much interruption. *** “Oh.” Jill smiled with relief. She didn’t know her half-sister very well and actually felt kind of intimidated by her, but she was glad Lissa was safe all the same. And if Lissa was okay, then she didn’t have to feel guilty about enjoying Rose’s company, which she did. Rose intimidated her too: she was tough and competent and beautiful and everything Jill wanted to be when she grew up, but she was also warm and friendly and had been one of the first to make Jill feel comfortable at Court. She moved further into the suite and set down her purse. “Did you just get here? How was the trip? How’s everything back home? It’s been really good here. No assassination attempts or anything, right guys?” It all came out in one breath. *** Woah, there girl. Rose was tempted to step forward and put her hands on Jill’s shoulders and tell her to take a deep breath. The girl seemed a little unnerved by Rose being in the room, but it was something she would have to get over quickly. They were going to be spending a lot of time together starting now and Rose wanted to make sure that Jill felt completely comfortable around her. But instead of touching the girl all Rose did was shake her head with a laugh. “Do you want to breathe next time? Yes, I just got here an hour ago. The trip was uneventful, which is nice. I watched that weird ‘Keanu’ movie on the plane. Back home is fine,” although Rose would have to admit that she didn’t really consider that home. The OC had become more of a home to her and now she had come back, “And I’m really glad that there hasn’t been any kind of attempts going on here. Makes my life a little easier.” “So, I wanted to get your take on things. How do you want this detail to go? Do you want me with you 24-7, or would you rather have me give you some breathing room? I already decided I’m not going to class with you, been there and done that, but I can put someone who may be interested on that detail if you want it. I feel like we have a bit more breathing room here, but we can’t let our guard down.” *** “Sorry,” Jill said, abashed. “My mom always said I needed to breathe because I kind of talk a lot when I’m excited. Or nervous. Or both. Not that I’m nervous about you being here. I’m excited, really! I just have a hard time, um…” Realizing she was babbling on again, Jill trailed off, gesturing helplessly in an attempt to finish off her thought. She finally took a breath and managed to answer Rose’s question. “You don’t have to be there all the time. It’s nice to have my own space, but obviously not if you guys think otherwise. Because I really want to cooperate in this. Um. Yeah.” *** “I just don’t want you to burst a blood vessel in your head from not breathing,” Rose pointed out with a smile. Jill didn’t have a real reason to be nervous, but it was a sudden change in plans that hadn’t been communicated, so Rose was going to give her a pass. The last thing she wanted was to start this off on the wrong foot, but the two of them already got along well, so it would be easy for the both of them. “Okay, perfect. I wasn’t sure how you were feeling. It would be normal for you to want more protection if you felt scared, but I’m glad you’re feeling safe around here. And you cooperating is greatly appreciated and makes this much easier. I think I may have some people on the outskirts and I can be around you fairly often, but we’ll make this look more like a normal friendship than someone being glued to your side all the time. If we get wind of anything possibly happen then we’ll increase,” Rose wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. It was more like blending into your surroundings and not looking like something was going on. She never wanted to be a bodyguard that wore a suit and an earpiece and looked the part. There weren’t many of them, but she had a small team that she would use if she needed to, but she also didn’t want to smother poor Jill. *** This was a lot more freedom than Jill was used to. During class, she had a few guards scattered around her as “students”. And outside of class, Lara pretended to be her cousin and followed her everywhere. Now Rose was offering her a chance for more freedom, and Jill immediately thought about how much easier it would be to meet Alak and be herself around him - as much as she could be herself without letting on who she really was - without someone shadowing her 24/7. “I’m good with that,” she said, starting to smile excitedly. She could make friends! Real friends! And do stuff without checking in all the time! “And I won’t take too many risks. I promise.” *** Rose may still consider doing the whole bodyguards as students shtick, but maybe at the beginning of a semester. It seemed a little suffocating to have people around constantly and she can only imagine that Jill would like a little bit of alone time to make friends and be herself. And Rose really did not want to go back to school even if she wasn’t actually doing any of it for a degree this time around. “We might still have people on the outskirts watching you, but I don’t feel like you need to have someone stuck to your side. If something seems hinky though I will be there beside you, so you’re going to have to get used to me being around. You’re young - you deserve to be able to live your life,” she could only imagine what poor Lissa had to go through when she was growing up. This was turning more into a normal Moroi/Dhampir relationship and Rose appreciated that. *** “I don’t mind,” Jill assured her, although it was clear that she was thrilled to get some of her own space back. She missed it: being on her own schedule, getting to hang out with friends, getting to make friends. As long as she didn’t have a bodyguard glued to her side, it was a lot easier to do that. She reached out and hugged Rose happily. “Thanks Rose!” *** The hug was unexpected and Rose couldn’t keep her stoic persona about her as she returned the hug and smiled. Keeping her charge happy was the most important part, but she also had to make sure that she got the job done in the end. “You’re welcome, Jill. I’m happy to be here and I’m glad you’re not upset with having me come here. I want everything to go well.” “I’ve got a lot to go over with you though so we can make sure we have things ready to go. I’ve gotta give you all my information so you know how to reach me,” Rose knew the time had come for a bit of paperwork and making sure things were in order. At least she knew that Jill was accepting all of this quite calmly. *** Most teenage girls would chafe at the restrictions Jill had been under, but she had been raised with a strong commitment to family - and that included Queen Vasilisa now. She knew what was at stake, and she didn’t want some teenage rebellion to be the one to bring down a dynasty. “Okay, let me just go freshen up, and we can do whatever we need,” Jill offered as she stepped back. *** “Sounds like a plan to me,” Rose had some papers in her car that she would grab. They were full of information on how to reach her and who the members of the team would be. She would probably try to work out a schedule of Jill’s typical week and they could see what to do about that. This was probably going to be a lot easier job than working with Lissa, but that was mainly because there was so much more to do when you watched a Queen. |