alak (alak) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-02-07 19:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alak tarr, jill mastrano dragomir |
WHO: Jill Mastrano Dragomir and Alak Tarr
WHERE: Chipotle’s
WHEN: Backdated; Christmas Wish Plot
WHAT: Alak has something to tell Jill
RATING: PG
STATUS: log; completed
Jill was worried. For Alak, who had been so transparent about where he worked, who his parents were and what they’d done to him, to start getting cagey about something she might or might not hate him for, it must be really bad. But what could be worse than parents who were Russian mobsters? Unless he was really an agent in disguise, sent to make sure she didn’t go astray or blow her cover? But that was silly. He’d been here longer than she had, and besides, that kind of thing had already been covered in a Mandy Moore movie. So what could it be? Jill hoped she wouldn’t have to wait too much longer to find out. She’d gotten to Chipotle’s early, and was sipping a ginger ale as she restlessly waited for him. *** Winter clothes made Alak feel strangely more conspicuous than he did when he had been wandering around Orange County looking like an albino. He had forgone a hat or gloves, but given in on the matter of a jacket, a long-sleeved Henley, and slacks with a pair of worn kicks. The reflection he caught of himself in the window outside Chipotle made him smile wider. It was amazing to see himself as he'd been for---for most of his life. He was human. Going into the restaurant, Alak looked around for a moment before he saw Jill. She had a drink already. He hoped he hadn't kept her waiting too long. It wasn't too hard to get through the people milling around. Chipotle wasn't exactly a fine dining experience so if he wasn't blocking the assembly line or the registers or the drink machine? Alak knew he wasn't in anyone's way and that meant no one else was in his way either. "So hi," Alak said with a deep breath as he forced himself to keep his smile intact while standing in front of Jill, "I made a wish on a star. How do you feel about dating a human guy for a while?" ~*~ Caught up in looking for an albino with punkishly stylish clothing, Jill didn’t even recognize the young man who’d come up to stand in front of her until he spoke. Then her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. “Alak! Wow, you look….you look amazing!” She thought he looked amazing as an albino as well; this...normal-looking boy didn’t have the otherness that she’d come to associate with him, but Alak was cute in any form. She just didn’t know why he suddenly looked so different. But he’d said something about being human? As in not albino? Regardless, she jumped up and gave him a hug. “How did you get to look so different?” *** Very few people had ever hugged Alak Tarr. He had almost forgotten Jill had told him she needed to hug him until she was doing it and it was warm and wonderful and welcoming. There was no holding back from her. She didn't seem to care about his statement as much as she cared about giving him that hug she'd promised. Holding onto her, Alak tucked his face into her hair as he tried not to look to see if anyone else was staring at them. "I'm so glad you aren't freaking out. I really did just---wish on a star. I Dreamed about being from another place where I was an alien only to wake up as more and more alien until suddenly I was an alien," Alak took a breath, "I wished to be human again. I've never wanted anything so much and it happened. I'm exactly the way I was before the Dreams. I feel like Pinocchio saying 'I'm a real boy' again." Jill was so pure. No wonder she was willing to hug him when he looked like a guy who could live in California. She deserved him this way all the time. Forever. "I don't know if it's going to last forever, but I hope it does. I want to be human. For you. I want to be normal. As normal as I can be, family and job decision withstanding." He thought that was fair. Alak hadn't picked his family; his career was the result of his passion as much as a choice he'd made consciously. Jill knew he was in it for the music, not the other part of the offerings at The Need/Want. Alak wasn't about to let her think he was that kind of guy so they'd established he was an artist first and his location was a secondary matter to go along with the first. ~*~ There was a lot to unpack in what he said, and Jill finally understood what he'd meant when he said she'd either hate him or want more privacy once he'd told her. Alak was an alien. It was hard to believe she'd been dating something right out of Syfy, but in retrospect it made a lot of sense. His strange look and way of movement, which she'd attributed to his personal style; the fact that he'd never eaten in front of her; that strange inexplicable otherness that set him apart from everyone else she'd ever known. Did it make a difference? Jill pulled back and studied him for a moment. He looked so normal and and hopeful standing there, and she realized that no - it made no difference. Alak was Alak no matter what he was, and she wanted to be with him no matter what. And the fact that he'd wished to be human just for her? That touched her more than she could say. She reached out to hug him again, tightly. “I don't care if you're human or alien,” she told him. Her family would probably care. A lot. But she could deal with that later. Right now she wanted to show this wonderful, thoughtful man that she cared about him just as much as he cared about her. “I just care that you care enough to want to be human for my sake. I'm not exactly normal either. Do you want to get out of here to talk more?” *** Returning her embrace, Alak breathed, "Sure. We can go wherever you like. My place. Your place. A public park bench. As long as I'm with you? I'm happy." He was happier with Jill than he'd been in a long time. Alak had thought no happiness would ever come to him again when the Dreams had started and he'd lost Christie. She'd been everything to him. The Dreams had taken her away. There was only so much a man could expect a woman to accept from him and turning into an alien species? Well, that was a definite breaking point for most people. It'd been the breaking point for Christie. Alak was beyond happy it wasn't for Jill even if she was saying it while he was human. It mattered she'd said it at all. He wouldn't hold her to it if his wish didn't last. There were too many things that went along with dating a Casti for him to ask her to choose him over any human man who'd be all too lucky to have her. They had each other now though, didn't they? Now was all anyone was ever promised. Alak knew better than to take it for granted. "Lead the way." Alak stepped back far enough to let Jill step in front of him, but couldn't bear to let her go too far so he laced their fingers together to hold her hand as they made their way out of the restaurant. ~*~ His hand was warm; Jill realized in short order that she wasn’t used to that. As long as she’d known him, he’d had cool skin. Another aspect of his alienness? The warmth was nice, but what she liked best was the shape of his fingers, long and slender. Her own hands were small, so they fit nicely between hers without making her feel like she had to stretch her fingers to hold on. “So tell me everything,” she said, once they’d left the bustle of the restaurant. She wanted to know more about this alien state. As with everything about him, this news fascinated her. “What are your dreams like? What kind of alien are you? How are you different from humans? Are your parents alien too? Is that how they got so powerful? Are you powerful? Can you shoot laserbolts out of your eyes? Or is that mutants?” Her eyes suddenly widened, and her voice hushed. “I’m sorry, is that very insensitive to ask?” *** Questions were inevitable. No one -even someone as kind and hopeful as Jill- would be expected to simply accept they were dating an alien. Alak simply hadn't expected the types of questions Jill asked though he had figured the speed at which she'd ask them. She had a great way of talking in a rush; it made him excited to talk to her about anything. There was nothing he wouldn't answer for her. That didn't mean he could hold back a laugh as he looked over at her, white teeth flashing in a way which stood out from his tanned complexion even if his smile was otherwise the same. "No. I don't think it's insensitive. Umm, I don't have any superpowers? I was born on Earth. My parents came to Earth on a ship when it became an option for them. The humans call all of us -anyone alien- Votans, but my species is Castithan. Casti. I'm pretty usual for a Casti male. I have a different diet than humans, much better senses in terms of sight and smell, and I---we're not exactly the same as humans intimately. Otherwise? I'm not really what I'd call powerful. My parents became powerful here much the same way as they did in the Dreams. My mother comes from a powerful family and my father did anything necessary to get to the top. He's cruel, ruthless, but that's respected in the Old Country and among Casti? It's the way of things, too." Alak shrugged a shoulder as his smile faded a little. "I'm not like that. I'm a DJ in my Dreams the same as here. I broadcast news to the people of our town to help protect them from outside threats. I send out music to cheer them up. To encourage them to get together. I try to use music to inspire. Here, it's not as meaningful, but it's still my passion. What about you? Do you have Dreams?" ~*~ Intimately different? He didn't kiss any differently than a human. A human who was really good at kissing, but human nonetheless. Unless… Her gaze dropped, unbidden, and she dragged it back up, her face red. “Sorry,” she said quickly, and she turned her gaze to the sidewalk. “I have dreams too. Of being a vampire. But a living vampire, if that makes any sense. Like, everything's the same except I have to drink blood.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don't want to drink blood! That's gross. But Rose says I'm going to turn into it, and if you turned into an alien because of your dreams…” The mention of Rose, though, made her remember something else she'd wanted to tell him. And tonight, when they were sharing such fantastical secrets, seemed the right time to tell him. She just hoped he wouldn't be mad that she'd been lying to him. Or that she couldn't tell him very much. She stopped walking suddenly and turned to face him. “I have a secret. It's a really important secret. But I don't want to lie to you either. So if I tell you, can you promise not to tell anyone and not ask me any more questions about it? Because I can't really give details.” *** "I'm good with secrets. I have to be since I really don't want to star in the next 'Alien Autopsy' courtesy of Area 51." Alak let the look Jill swept over his body slide. He wanted her to know she was safe with him. There was no way he'd betray her. Trust was important to Alak as a result of the way he'd been raised. Being surrounded by people who double-crossed each other as a way of courting had made trust immeasurable to him in its value. Jill was the only person he'd wanted to see when he'd become human. There was no way he'd betray her regardless of what kind of secret she was offering up. Smiling at her, his eyes crinkled at the edges, "Are you about to confess to murder to me? I mean, if you're a vampire, it's possible you've drained a victim at least once. I've seen enough horror movies to know. If that's what you're about to tell me, don't worry. My people are the ones who offer to get the bleach if you bring the shovel when there's a body needing disposal." He wished he was joking about that. Unfortunately, murder was a way of life for his people in his Dreams and in his reality. Alak wondered what Jill looked like as a vampire. Did she change like something out of the television shows or movies? Did she just have nice, neat fangs in her perfect smile? It was hard to imagine her as a predator, but he thought she'd make a good one with her innocent looks and manners. "I do want to know what you look like as a vampire. Just so I'll be prepared if you change." ~*~ Jill’s eyes widened in horror. “No, of course I’m not going to murder you!” The exclamation came out a little louder than she’d intended, and she looked around guiltily before lowering her voice to repeat herself. “Of course I’m not going to murder you.” She knew he was kidding, but the idea of hurting anyone was so anathema to her that she couldn’t help her reaction. It was partly why she was so bothered by those vampire dreams. The Moroi were the good vampires, and they didn’t kill - not like the Strigoi did - but the people they fed off of...they became empty, soulless addicts, just waiting for the next rush of feeding. Wasn’t that just as bad as anything the Strigoi did? “I look the same, just...you know.” She used her two index fingers, fingertips curled towards her, and drew them down a few inches away from her mouth to indicate fangs. “Anyway, that’s not my secret. It’s…” She took a deep breath, then released it. Really, at this point, it couldn’t be any worse than aliens or vampires. “Rose isn’t my cousin, she’s my bodyguard. Remember that scar I told you I had? It’s right between my ribs.” She held her hand over it - just under her heart. The assassin had come mere inches away from successfully killing the one thing that was keeping Queen Vasilisa on the throne. “That’s why I have a bodyguard. And that’s why I can’t dance anymore. The knife punctured one of my lungs.” She looked at him anxiously, hoping he wouldn’t be mad she’d kept something so important from him, hoping he wouldn’t ask any questions she wouldn’t be allowed to answer. *** Vampirism seemed to be a more interesting issue than having a bodyguard. Kenya had a bodyguard in Nikolai; Alak had grown up with silent figures sheltering his parents. They were the kind of people who had bodyguards if they wanted to survive. Rose was an interesting figure for a bodyguard. Alak wondered if she'd ever killed anyone or if that was something she hoped never to do unlike the Vor who followed Kenya like a silent spectre of death. "Do you have permanent damage from the wound? Should you be out in this air? Pneumonia can be serious." Jill's health was more important to him than why she had a guardian. Alak couldn't stop his brow from furrowing. The concern was real. He had been sick as a human. Humans were far more fragile than Casti and Alak knew more of life as a human than as a Castithan regardless of his Dreams. They could go back to his place---or was Jill being watched? Was she allowed to go into his place or would he have to have it cleared? Was that the reason they met in public so often? He reached out to rub her arms over her jacket, "We should get inside somewhere. Are you allowed to come to my place? Or should we go back into a restaurant? I am assuming the bodyguard means you're under surveillance. That's fine. I just need to know what the rules are and where we can go next. I---don't want to leave you." ~*~ He was sweet, smart, concerned for her, and he didn’t care that she was going to become a vampire or that she’d been lying to him about Rose. Sure, he was also an alien, but he wanted to be human again for her sake. How did she get so lucky? “I’m okay now,” she assured him, reaching out to rest her gloved hands on his hips. She didn’t want to leave him either. “Mostly. I was on tubes for a while, and I’ll probably never do anything really athletic again, but I’m alive. But my family wants to keep me that way, so that’s why the bodyguards.” She glanced around without moving her head, knowing that they were being watched right now. At least they were keeping their distance, which gave her and Alak some privacy. “We could go back to your place,” she suggested. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious as to how a human who became an alien who became a human - who was a great DJ to boot - lived. “The guards can wait outside.” She gave him a happy smile, though it was still a little tentative. Part of her still couldn’t believe this was real, that she had met such a perfect guy. “I don’t want to leave either.” *** Money was something Alak had grown up with access to, surrounded by, fully aware of, and never denied. He had been forced to understand the actual value of money when he got to the United States on his own and needed to use his savings sparingly until he could get a stable income coming in. It'd been hard. He'd had roommates for a while, shared an apartment with guys who weren't the best, and once Alak had even stayed in a hotel since it was somehow cheaper than paying rent for one room in a shared house. These days he had his own place. It wasn't much -two bedrooms with one having been converted into a music studio- but it was entirely his. Alak got paid well by Kenya from The Need/Want; his side jobs helped supplement his income enough to where he was several months ahead on his rent. That'd come in handy when he'd started to change. He needed to be prepared to pay out for the cosmetics, contacts, and considerations to make his life as a Casti on Earth bearable. "My place isn't far. I live alone. I suppose you know that. It's cluttered, but clean. I can't stand filth. Just---don't check my fridge? I can get you anything you need if you're hungry or thirsty or whatever," Alak mumbled the end, trying not to look at Jill as he pulled her by the hand toward the curb where they could catch a cab to his apartment. Questions were inevitable, but that didn't mean he wanted to explain his eating habits to her. Jill had enough on her plate without Alak disgusting her. She was important to him. He wanted to make sure she knew she was valued. He also wanted to make sure she stayed. Losing his last -and first- real love had been devastating for him. Alak didn't want a repeat performance because of his stupid alien diet. He hailed a cab and asked, "Are you okay with taking a cab? I'm not sure if that's breaking protocol." ~*~ Jill hadn’t thought much about what Alak ate if it wasn’t human food, but now that he’d asked her not to look in his fridge, she was morbidly curious. She’d respect his wishes, though, and stay away from it. There had already been a lot of revelations tonight, and now she just wanted to enjoy spending time with her boyfriend. “It’s fine,” she assured him. “I’ll just text them the address from the cab.” They could follow behind, and Jill could enjoy the rest of the evening with Alak. |