Rᴏʙᴇʀᴛ Mᴏɴᴛᴀɢᴜᴇ Rᴇɴғɪᴇʟᴅ (insects) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-09-26 11:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, hank mccoy (beast), katherine pierce |
Who: Beauty & the Beast Hank & Katherine
What: Katherine's amulet fails, she gets a little sun-crisped and summons Hank to help with that and discuss her latest dreams
When: Today
Where: Katherine's condo
Rating/Warnings: Warnings for blood drinking, some groping, and le feels
Status: Complete
What a fucking ride Mystic Falls was - and Katherine wanted, off, period. Especially when the latest shitshow of dreams revealed the fate of this elusive vampire cure (meant to bargain her freedom from Klaus and failed but no worries, the infamous Katerina always had a plan for every letter of the alphabet) found its home down her throat. Literally - the showdown between her and the special snowflake that was her doppelganger twin should have ended in Katherine’s victory (vampiric strength was determined by age, and boy was it hard to defeat one that was five hundred years old) if it weren’t for Elena’s convenient possession of the cure-infused crystal. Adios immortality, eternal youth and the security of self-defense against a supernatural population and hello soft, squishy and breakable humanity. It wasn’t a good position for her to be in, either - she had centuries worth of enemies that couldn’t wait to put her head on a platter for all that she’d done, and she found herself on the run again as a feeble little mortal. And her blood was a hot commodity again, not because of what made it so special in the first place, but because the cure now ran through her human veins - meaning anyone who sucked her dry and sucked her dead would be cured, and that was exactly what Stefan’s ancient evil doppelganger (what the fuck, seriously) wanted to do to her. How ironic, to be objectified again into some treasure to be killed for someone else’s gain. Again. It wasn’t the most surprising turn of events either, oh no, especially with a certain European vamp-woman (Czech, she assumed) that was so determined to be after her that she kidnapped her, making claims that she had murdered her mother and such, things Katherine wasn’t above doing but the details were wrong. Bullshit was in the air. Somewhat, anyway. Turns out Nadia wasn’t completely lying. Katherine did kill her mother. April 6th, 1492. A noose around her neck. Suicide. Her suicide. Along with the teary doe-eyes and soul-rattling words of my name is Nadia Petrova, and you are my mother that came with the sinking revelation of who the woman was. Needless to say, the morning started out rough. Still dead and bloodthirsty, of course, proven by the fact that she’d woken up to being almost sizzled to a crisp like bacon in her bed. Part of the beach condo’s appeal were the glass walls that served as windows that allowed natural sunlight in, which was perfect for when she was human and even as a vampire with an amulet that allowed her to daywalk - assuming that amulet was working. It wasn’t. Curtains were drawn before her skin was lit on fire and with burns that would soon heal themselves, she almost crushed the screen of her smartphone texting Dr. Beast. Something’s wrong. Amulet’s not working. I’m stuck home. Something happened - I need you. Before she went to her closest neighbor and ate them because she was testy. Real testy. Well, Hank was certainly awake and already on his fifth cup of turbocharged coffee, black and sludgy and chock-full of all the caffeine a scientist would need. When he got the text from Katherine, that meant he sprang into action (dressed and ready, wearing the uniform of superheroes - a sweater vest over a dress shirt and pressed slacks...with size twenty shoes) and grabbed some burn supplies, to put into a bag and bring over. This was because he distinctly knew what the implication was when she said her amulet wasn’t working - she would have gotten scorched in the sun to be able to know that. And maybe she would heal on her own but she didn’t have to be in pain while that happened - always be prepared, Hank was ever the Boy Scout! How odd that all of a sudden her amulet malfunctioned. But then again, odd things were afoot - those temples cropping up had him heading closer to see what samples he could obtain, of both the area and anything leftover from fighting the mercenaries with the Charon Industries logo. He would be having a field day in the lab after this. But to his girlfriend’s condo he went, since of course she was his priority. He knocked once on the door to indicate he’d arrived, then just let himself in. “Katherine?” he called, obviously concerned. My, wasn’t it dark in here. “I brought you some burn cream - are you alright?” Naturally, he had no idea how hungry she was - but she was free to assume that he wouldn’t mind her having him for breakfast. Hank never minded. All curtains were pulled shut, all of them, and the only lights in the condo were artificial - lamps, mostly, bathing the interior in a dim golden glow. It’d almost be romantic if it weren’t for the sight of an agitated vampiress on the sofa in her short, satiny robe (nothing underneath, duh). Patches of burns scattered over her body that were, of course, healing but the aching hunger slowed the process. It was why she was nursing an entire bottle of tequila to herself. To quench the thirst temporarily, and because after what she saw? Katherine needed to drink. A lot. Even if it wouldn’t get her mindlessly intoxicated. “In here,” she called out, something about her voice distinctly off - it was dulled, tired. An entire storm of emotions spun around within, and it was felt tenfold and the severity of it was exhausting. Maybe it was numbness from the shock of looking into eyes that were hers, seeing the physical manifestation of her human heart. Her daughter, who had suffered the same, cursed fate she did - a vampire, one that had spent centuries searching for a mother that turned out to be a wretched cunt of a monster. “Want to do shots with me?” “Katherine,” Hank sounded a bit aghast - because none of this was what he was expecting, and he hated the sight of her in pain. She sounded pained too, in a way that meant the usual vim and vigor were gone from her voice. Something must have happened in her dreams as well as waking up to the shock and surprise of a malfunctioning amulet, but first thing’s first. He wanted those burns to heal as quickly as possible. Dropping to the sofa beside her, he shook his head. Then relented a second later. “Maybe one shot,” he agreed, finding the small glass and pouring some of that liquid gold - he knocked it back quickly, the taste not something he was used to. Raw and burning. “I’m quite sure this is all a long story, but here - “ He unbuttoned his shirt a little, better for exposing his neck. The best place to sink fangs into, although there were numerous other arteries to choose from. “Take me.” He always wondered what his blood tasted like. To her. To him it was simply salted and metallic. Take him, hm? Dangerous, dangerous words to a ravenous creature such as herself. Say no more, blue eyes, because she went to straddle him - the motion was seamless, as they’d been in positions such as this many times - and before she sunk those pearly fangs in? There was a kiss, their mouths burned with the taste of tequila. What a trooper, for drinking with her this early in the morning. Katherine herself had already polished off half the bottle before he arrived but for shame, there was barely semblance of a buzz. “You for breakfast,” she purred, rubbing her nose against his. Then to his cheek, his ear, before she pressed it against his neck for the scent of him - and being so close to his skin she could smell it. Life in liquid form. “One of my favorite things. Thank you.” That’s when those teeth popped into place and pierced flesh, and she held him tight in a loving embrace as she drank from him to satiate that thirst, to heal. It’d accelerate the process, and soon that honey-toned skin would regenerate over the remaining wounds. Hank didn’t struggle, and it was strange - being in this position, the natural instinct was to fight but he did his best to force himself not to. Sometimes he gave into the beast and sometimes he didn’t - it just depended - but either way, a calm feeling settled over him like a fog and he just felt drugged. The lust. It did that to him. Katherine’s mouth was sharp as a knife but also sweet - he held onto her, hands cupping her backside as she straddled his lap but eventually his grip slackened. That was likely due to a dwindling supply of blood, but he trusted her and she could take as much as she needed to help heal her burns from the cruel, cruel sunlight. “I feel an emotional attraction to you right now,” he huffed, voice strained. Yes, he meant love, but it simply came out in his verbose way. It always did feel like a sexual experience drinking from him, didn’t it - the minimal amount of clothes on her behalf didn’t help, neither did the way the barely kept together robe slid off her shoulders. Katherine flavored blood from several sources - most other ones dead, as an arrangement between a certain assassin and she - but there was nothing better, sweeter, than the taste of her dear Blue Beast here. That’s why it was so hard to bring herself to stop sometimes. Instincts always battled humanity, and luckily she was seasoned enough to know when she reached a certain line. “Love you too,” she chuckled huskily, lips bloodstained and wet when she pulled away but she kissed him with the essence of himself on her mouth, anyway. Her brand of messy was always on the more macabre side. Came with the package when one was courting a vampire. “Sorry for the emergency text - I think those towers are fucking with this amulet’s magic. Remind me not to sleep with the curtains open ever again.” It took Hank a moment to gather his wits about him, blinking eyes that were mostly pupils floating in a sea of blue. He slid his hands up Katherine’s thighs, all that soft and smooth golden skin, up beneath her robe - he may have even somehow palmed her breasts, because they were there and her sucking his blood was just about the most intimate thing he could think of besides actually engaging in, ah, copulation. “You don’t need to apologize,” he said, some color returning to his cheeks though he felt a little bit light-headed. However, his healing factor would kick in and help him not be so woozy. “Here, I have some medicine - I don’t want you to be in pain at all.” He stretched one arm over to reach for his bag and unscrew the cap of the tube of cream. “There has been a lot going on lately, with those towers. I’m sure your amulet will be back to normal once the latest one is gone.” They seemed to only be up for a day or so. What was - was that burn cream? A single brow of Katherine’s shot up, but she was amused. Real amused. “I’ll be fine, my pain tolerance is thankfully high.” Inhumanly so. “But none of this is why I had you come. It’s about…” Nadia. To think her daughter had a name now. Coming up with one herself in either world had been too painful even if she had a couple favorites, but Nadia was perfect. “Hold on.” Sorry, give her a minute, she needed to grab that bottle of tequila by the neck and chug it like her life depended on it in hopes there was a brief sensation of at least being buzzed. It worked, sort of, and the taste was harsh even on her unique palette. She swallowed a gulp of breath after she stopped. “It’s my…daughter. She’s alive. There was this cure that got shoved down my throat and it turned me human, but it also turned me into a walking fucking vampire cure. All someone has to do is drink me to death to be human, but then they become the cure - some bullshit cycle, but now I’m being fought over for. And she shows up, a vampire, and I’m thinking it’s someone random wanting to hand me over to the latest villain of the shitshow but it’s...her, trying to protect me after spending the last five hundred years looking for me.” Instead of living a human life, Nadia had changed to find her. And what a horrible person she turned out to be for her own flesh and blood. Of course it was burn cream! Hank was a doctor, he relied on science and modern medicine to tend to most injuries - admittedly, magic and other aspects tended to clash with his aforementioned scientist brain, cognitive dissonance, and he had trouble wrapping his mind around them. Plus, he just hated seeing Katherine in pain, tolerance or not. But wait, what. What on earth? Her dreams were a circus, they really were. Speaking of things that he had trouble wrapping his mind around. “Drink you to death? That’s all?” he cringed. “It is astounding how powerful your blood is.” And astounding how much everyone wanted it - Hank would also astoundingly murder anyone who tried to take it from Katherine now without her permission. She wasn’t a walking blood bank, for goodness sakes. But hearing of her daughter was good news, he thought. “I imagine after five-hundred years it can be hard to know where to start to catch up,” he mused, reaching out to gently tug on a piece of her hair. And also check on her burns, the closest one to him, just to make sure it was healing. Really, her wounds were healing right before his eyes - the skin would first turn pink, and then darken into that natural tan. “It’s a family reunion I never expected,” she mumbled, swiping that bit of blood off her chin and sucking it right off her fingers, mmm. “I’ve made no friends to help me not get eaten by another psychopath, but she’s willing to help. And she - she looks like me. Just like me.” No, not in another headache of a doppelganger fashion - but you could tell they were related. That they were flesh and blood. Katherine wanted to call bullshit to her face, that it was some elaborate lie and trap but she knew it wasn’t. Those were her eyes, Nadia had. Her fire, conviction, hair. Features. A little bit of her biological father’s, too, but most of it was hers. A heavy sigh seemed to ease those initial nerves, and she remained on Hank’s lap because it was comfortable. “Her name’s Nadia,” she continued quietly, fiddling with the collar of his shirt. “So what are the chances that it’s her name here, too?” “I imagine she’s just as beautiful as you,” Hank chuckled quietly, cradling the back of Katherine’s head - his fingers ran through her hair, and he certainly wasn’t going to complain about her being in his lap. Especially while wearing only a robe. “Nadia. That’s a pretty name.” It rolled off the tongue nicely - he liked it, yes. He could tell Katherine did as well. And honestly, Hank had been hoping that this would come up. As soon as she told him about the daughter she was forced to give away, he knew that the girl was the missing puzzle piece - something that would help Katherine fall into a much better ending for herself than the one she was barreling toward in her dreams. Maybe some happiness, perhaps. That was what he wanted for her. “We can find out?” he asked point-blank, hand dropping to rest between her knees. “Find out her name and how she is. Dreaming of her more now...it makes you curious?” They could find out. Her conversation with Cindy was still fresh in her mind, constantly nagging - and now, this, knowing she was now face to face with her own child centuries later? All Katherine wanted to do was know her. Those maternal instincts screamed. None of it was logical, and she didn’t want to delve into what happened to her daughter on impulse. She didn’t know if she could trust herself to not do something irreparably selfish. “If,” started the vampiress, nuzzling her face into the nook of his neck and shoulder. “If I say I do want to find her - can I have you do it? I can’t be involved, Hank. I don’t want to know where she is because I’ll go looking for her, and I’ll want to meet her and I don’t want to come in and interrupt her life if she’s got a happy one and I can’t guarantee I won’t if I know where she is.” Because sometimes motherhood could be selfish out of sheer intensity. It was a bitter fact. “Just letting me know if she’s okay would be enough. That’s all I need.” And if she wasn’t okay? That was a scenario she wasn’t sure how’d she handle, aside from doing something deadly. That was something Hank could do. He felt good about Katherine asking, felt good about the whole decision - it was the right time, he was sure of it, and something equally good would come from this. It had to. Usually he liked to hope for the best and prepare for the worst, but in this case, he maintained a high amount of optimism about everything. “Of course,” he agreed right away, turning a bit to kiss her forehead. “I will take care of it. Finding her, I mean.” It wouldn’t be too difficult, he imagined. He would just have to look into hiring an investigator of sorts - Hank would do it himself, but searching for people wasn’t his area of expertise, despite his super genius, and someone more trained in the art would know better ways. Better databases, etc. And then they would go from there, with what they knew. “If she’s safe and happy, I’ll tell you so. That’s all.“ If she wasn’t? Well. They would figure it out, he presumed. Katherine wasn’t sure how she felt about this. Terrified, maybe - sure, that seemed the right descriptor. And anxious, like there was a knot in the pit of her stomach tightening every second. It wouldn’t go away until she knew, once and for all, what kind of fate she landed her daughter when she didn’t fight for her as hard as she should have. Her grip on Hank tightened, and she burrowed her face into him a little more. “Thank you,” she whispered earnestly. There weren’t a lot of people that would take her with this kind of baggage but he was one that did, no questions and no shame. Her nails circled his chest, then went to stroke the spot on his neck she had bitten into. “I know this place losing it’s damn mind is part of your job to look into, but - if you want to play hooky?” “I’m sure a day of hooky won’t harm anything,” Hank chuckled fondly, fingers playing with a bit of Katherine’s way hair, those loose curls. “Besides, I can work remotely if I need to.” Connect his laptop to the Agency system or what have you - either way, Katherine needed the support now so he wasn’t about to leave her by her lonesome. And anyway, he’d just go out and collect some more samples tomorrow. He already had plans with Sans to do so, to explore the next tower - wherever it happened to pop up, since there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason - and see what they could find. It was an exciting adventure for two scientists. The place was losing its damn mind, but anything he could do to study the phenomenon would be a help later on when the next crossover happened. “I’ll just make some breakfast - “ Human food for the human, well, mostly human, “...and we can settle in?” There wasn’t anywhere for her to go, either, not with the sun up and the daylight amulet on the fritz - a little cabin fever for a vampire could get dangerous with her mood, so the company was nice. Especially his. “I’ll be a good girl, let you work for a bit,” smirked Katherine, tickling his chest with her fingernails before climbing off him to plop all over the sofa. And she adjusted her robe too for the sake of decency, otherwise she’d be distracting (though she planned to do some of that regardless). “You’re mine on your break, though.” It was healthy, to pull away from work - and god knows she needed it too. |