Caroline Forbes is full of light (miss_mystic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-08-18 19:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caroline forbes, leon orcot |
Who: Caroline and Leon
What: Apologizing for Mother's Day
When: Late July
Where: Coffee shop
Ratings/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete
The only thing good about being stuck on desk duty was the fact that it was better than being cooped up in his apartment all day binge watching Netflix. It was practically torture to spend the whole day sitting at a desk, doing paperwork and answering phones. So when someone mentioned the possibility of a doughnut and coffee run, Leon leapt at the chance and headed out the door to the coffee shop.
He was glancing at the selection of doughnuts when something in the reflection of the glass caught his eye. He frowned, thinking that it couldn’t be her, but when he turned around to get a better look, he realized it really was Carol. He hadn’t seen her since he’d made her first Mother’s Day since Liz’s death even worse, though he’d thought about that day pretty often.
Not sure what else to do, he made his selection, paid for the coffees and the doughnuts, and then said to the cashier “And I’ll get whatever that blonde wants too,” handing over an extra fifteen dollars, just in case Carol had expensive taste. The cashier just smiled knowingly, obviously thinking that Leon was trying to pick her up, and then, while they were preparing his order, he approached her. “Hey, it’s Carol, right?” he said.
Although Caroline’s diet was well blood, she still had a bit of a sweet tooth. The sweeter the better given her dulled taste buds to human food now. And with Tyler cancelling plans on her so often lately, she was in need of sweets. Well among other things but she couldn’t get that without Tyler. So donuts before work it was.
Caroline stopped at a donut shop on her way to the office, getting ready to order a few powdered sugar donuts when the man in front of her offered to pay for hers as well. Caroline was about to say no thank you, she already had a boyfriend thank you very much, albeit an absent boyfriend, but that wasn’t Tyler’s fault. However when she got a good look at the guy she realized who it was. The way he addressed her only confirmed it.
“It’s Caroline actually,” she said giving him a sheepish smile. “But really, you don’t have to do that. If anything I should be buying you donuts. You and your brother.”
“Oh, sorry, Caroline,” Leon said, and it was his turn to look sheepish. That was embarrassing. He couldn’t remember exactly, but he was fairly certain he’d called her Carol in the cemetary too. He shook his head when she mentioned that she should be buying doughnuts. “No,” he said. “I mean, I really should have known better. Chris has been…” he rubbed the side of his head. “He’s been through a lot the last year. And he’s got this anxiety thing too. I really shouldn’t have let you go in there without warning you about that stuff.” Or even let her go in there at all.
“Don’t worry about it,” Caroline said giving him a reassuring smile. “I mean I didn’t even get your name.” All she knew about him was that he was a cop that knew her mom, had a brother, and their mom was also dead.
“How’s he doing?” Caroline asked about his brother, resisting the urge to apologize again. Because then they would end up going around in circles.
The corners of Leon’s lips tugged downward. “Not too well,” he admitted. “I ended up getting shot in my sleep a couple months ago. My boyfriend managed to keep him from seeing the worst of it, but he’s been…” Well, quiet wasn’t exactly the word for it, seeing as Chris hadn’t said a single word since he’d come to live with Leon a year ago, “more reserved than usual.” He rubbed the side of his head.
Caroline found herself frowning as well. Of course she caught onto the comment about being shot in his sleep. That could only mean one thing, dreams. Or maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe someone broke in and shot only Leon. Not his boyfriend or Chris. Not completely logical, but it was probably a good idea not to assume everyone she ran into had dreams. “I’m so sorry,” Caroline said being truly genuine. “At least he didn’t get shot too.” Because she had to point out the bright side. It was what she did. Plus it would help her figure out if he dreamed or not. “Are you okay?”
“Not much chance of that,” Leon muttered. Chris didn’t have the dreams; he wasn’t on the Network and he was too young anyway. “But yeah, I’m all healed up. Well, mostly at least.” He wasn’t quite in the same shape he’d been in before he’d been shot, and the wounds had gone pretty deep. Sometimes when he exerted himself, he could still feel the sharp twinge where the bullets had torn through muscle and organ.
Another frown from the blonde. Then a pause as she contemplated sharing that she could fully heal him if he wanted. But what if he wasn’t a dreamer? His answer hadn’t exactly told her one way or the other. Her voice lowered, eyes focussed on him. “Did it happen because of your dreams?” If he said no she would just have to figure out some way to brush it off. Better to brush that off then ‘I can heal you with my vampire blood.’
Leon should probably stop being surprised whenever he happened to run into a Dreamer. “Yeah,” he said. “You get them too?”
“Yes,” Caroline replied softly leading Leon away from the counter. “I um,” she paused keeping her voice low. “I can actually heal you. If you want.”
Leon’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. He wasn’t sure how, but it sure sounded like magic. He didn’t trust magic; he’d watched enough bad horror movies to know that magic always came at a price, and usually one that smart people didn’t want to pay. “How exactly could you do that?” he asked, unintentionally using his cop voice.
Well that wasn’t the response Caroline was expecting. Of course she figured he might have questions. But wouldn’t most people jump at the chance to be healed? But given his tone… well maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. “Nevermind,” Caroline said. “Forget I said anything.” No she wasn’t compelling him. She wouldn’t do that. Not after what Tyler did to her. But she didn’t need to be questioned the way Leon was already starting to.
Leon ran his hand through his hair self-consciously. Here he had been meaning to apologize to Caroline for making her feel like crap, and here he was just making things worse. “Sorry,” he said. “I think I’d rather do it the old fashioned way.” He grinned, and patted his stomach. “Besides, the worst of it’s already over.”
“I totally get that,” Caroline replied the smile back on her face. “I’m still sorry to hear you had to go through that.”
Leon waved a hand dismissively. “It’s not so bad, really. Just part of the job, really.” Even if it had been part of the job in the dreams instead of in real life. He tried not to dwell on it too much. Thinking about it would do nothing but cause him grief.
“I thought you said it happened in dreams?” Caroline questioned quietly her brow furrowed in confusion. She was well aware he was a cop here, but that wasn’t something people said about their dreams.
“It did,” Leon said. “I’m a detective in my dreams too,” he answered, to clear up any confusion. As far as he was concerned, he and his dreamself were more or less the same person, even if the closest thing his dreamself had to a friend was the drug dealing, human trafficking serial killer he was investigating.
Okay that made more sense. “Really? My dream life is like pretty different. But that might be because I’m still in high school… but then I go to high school with all the same people as I did here,” Caroline replied with a sheepish smile.
“Maybe if you were younger, it wouldn’t seem so different,” Leon said with a bit of a smile. Though it did seem like the dreams were either radically different or pretty close to the same. Alex’s dreams seemed entirely different than his real life, though his dreams mostly took place during World War II. Everything had been different back then. “Mine even take place pretty close to here. In LA. Except in the nineties.” And Leon had a mullet, which he was not about to share any time soon.
“That wasn’t that long ago,” Caroline commented. Granted she was born in the 90s.”I’m not exactly sure when mine are, Somewhere in the 2000s. They aren’t close to here at all though.”
“Hell, high school feels like a lifetime away no matter how long ago it was,” Leon said. Caroline didn’t seem too far off in age than he did either, but everything had been different even a year after high school. Of course, he’d also lost both his parents during that year, and he’d suddenly found himself alone, so it really had been like a different life.
“What are your dreams like, anyway?” he asked.
“College even feels like a lifetime away. And I’ve barely been done for a year.” That might have something to do with it being across the country. And the whole dreaming another life thing.
“High school basically. Witch some supernatural stuff. What about yours?”
“Oh, you know, basic cop stuff, if hanging out with human trafficking, drug dealing freak who kills people with animals all the freakin’ time but gets a free pass because ‘Chinatown is tricky’ and everyone except for you is just fucking charmed by his fake ass smile is basic,” Leon said, his voice getting more heated the longer into his tirade he went.
Caroline raised a brow as Leon spoke. It was very clear that he was not all that happy about his dreams. Which she couldn’t really blame him. It wasn’t like she was the hugest fan of her own dreams either. “Sounds like a real creep,” Caroline commented about whoever this charming, people, and animal killer was.
“You have no idea,” Leon said, the heat still in his voice even if he did seem to be done ranting for now. He took a breath. “I just can’t wait for the dream where I finally lock him up and throw away the key.”
“I’m sure you’ll get there,” Caroline said giving him a reassuring smile. Not that she really knew Leon well enough to know one way or the other. But he seemed pretty danmed determined and passionate about the whole thing.
“Thanks,” Leon said, and then realized belatedly that he had been meaning to apologize to Caroline and had instead gone off on a rant about D. Of course that freak was sneaking his way into Leon’s waking life too. If he ever got his hands on him… “I hope you enjoy your coffee,” he added lamely.
“Next time, my treat,” Caroline replied. Even if he felt as though he needed to apologize, Caroline still felt bad for the events of Mother’s Day. “I’ll let you get going. I should probably get to work myself.”
“Deal,” Leon said, smiling a bit, even if he felt bad accepting it. He had the feeling Caroline would make it happen next time they ran into one another whether he liked it or not. “I’ll see you around,” he said, grabbing his tray of coffees and doughnuts.