RP: Tornado Callie
Who: Blaise & Calypso What: Tornado Callie When: April 15th (backdated) Where: Country Home Warnings: Calypso throws a baby temper tantrum, cries far too much, large catface giving comfort.
Thursday night had been a mess, Callie hadn’t known how to tell Blaise what had happened. How did you explain that you had assumed you were in love with your best friend all because you were trying to figure out your feelings for your significant other, only to realize you didn’t love her. You weren’t in love with her, so what was the point? She had been trying to figure that out by the time Friday had rolled around. She had kept her plans with Astoria, dressing in the slinky little number she had bought for the party she had intended to throw. The night had started out just as normal, the pair going to a club where no one would know their name. It was what happened throughout the night that hadn’t gone as normal. They had fallen into bed together after what had probably been a few too many drinks.
It was late Saturday morning that Callie had apparated home, still in the dress she had worn out with Astoria that night. A black dress that hung off her shoulders and hugged her slender little frame. Her heels were dropped by the front door for someone to trip over if one of the two house elves didn’t get to it first. Her dark locks were in a messy bun up on the top of her head, her black chunky framed glasses on her face. She knew she looked a mess but she knew the only person she wanted to see wouldn’t judge the smeared red lipstick on her lips, the fact that she was still in what she had left in the night before, or the fact that she clearly was on her walk of shame.
Since Kermit had left, Callie had noticed that Blaise wasn’t bringing anyone back to the house. It was with that knowledge that she padded barefoot upstairs to his room, knocking on the door before she poked her head in the door to see if he was in there. When she didn’t see him, she silently slipped around the house looking for him. She found exactly who she wanted out in the garden, curled up in the sun. She could just see his big head and tail, not if he was awake or not. If he had been a real panther, she wouldn’t have just slipped outside and into her safe spot. She settled in against him, her head resting in the crook of his neck, just enough to hide her face after she set her glasses on the ground behind them. She curled up, almost in a fetal like position, as she curled up with her arms around his large fur body. “I really messed up.” She whispered to Blaise, nuzzling her nose into his fur.
Even if he had brought someone home, there really wasn't a scenario especially right now, where Blaise wouldn't just drop whoever he was with for Callie. In a lot of ways that was true even when Kermit was around, which probably sounded bad but she was his sister and she was pretty much the top of his priority list, followed by Astoria and Draco and Theo.
But he hadn't brought anyone home yet. Didn't feel safe to bring anyone home anymore. Probably would eventually, it was a stupid feeling, but it was there nonetheless. And this morning was his morning of do nothing except in emergency, so he'd gone for a run, showered, and then shifted to cat and gone to lay in the sun, which felt even more glorious in the fur than in his regular skin.
He recognized her before he even fully came out of his doze, the scent familiar to him after so many years. His large paw lifted over her and let her slip closed, and he made a rumble deep in his chest. He thought he recognized other scents too, but he wasn't making any assumptions just yet. He rumbled again, and a rough tongue swiped over her temple in a comforting manner.
When she felt that tongue on her temple, a shakey sigh left her as her hands balled up in his fur, holding tighter to him. She sucked in a breath before she pressed her cheek against that spot so she could see him. Her emerald eyes were a bit watery, though she wouldn't let them fall. It was guilt more than anything.
"I don't love her, I thought going out last night would help me forget that fact..." Callie let out a dark laugh as she curled more into Blaise's cat form. He was her safe place. Feeling him rumble at her was one of the most comforting noises in the world. She didn't need advice, she had been through this enough to know she had to be hones with Ginny. It wouldn't do to carry on behind her back. She wanted Blaise's comfort though.
"Did you know she liked girls?" Callie asked softly, "At least... I think she does? I don't think I have a gaydar... I couldn't even tell that Gin liked me. I had to take your advice and ask her to shower with me.." Callie rolled her eyes at herself, smoothing her hands over his fur now that she loosened her grip.
He'd always been her safe spot, even before he'd become an animagus, but he wasn't stupid, he knew there was an additional comforting aspect to be found in this form. With her. With Theo. With others, at times. So he didn't transfigure back immediately and instead let her have that comfort from him.
He made a curious cat sound to prompt her to continue, large paw draped over her heavily. And then he rubbed his head over hers, giving another loud, rumbling purr of reassurance. He thought he had the pieces of the puzzle to put them together, but he also knew assumptions were sometimes wrong. And he didn't mind if she held on tight, it didn't really hurt in this skin, so she could rough him up and it wouldn't matter.
He chuffed in a way that let her know of course he'd known. But it had been a secret, of course. He'd actually wondered occasionally over the years if Callie and Astoria would get together, given what he'd suspected about Astoria and his sister both and only recently had it confirmed (apparently he DID have gaydar). His only qualm in the whole thing is what would happen if they got together and then broke up, leaving him in the messy middle.
The weight of his paws around her was comforting. It was like cuddling a giant living and warm teddy bear that could hold you back.
A soft laugh left her when he gave her that sassy noise. "Maybe I should start calling you asshole instead." She let out a soft sigh, "I know I need to tell Ginny. I know I need to talk with Astoria... I just don't want to yet. I royally messed up everything and just want at least a little while to roll around in the guilt of it all before I own up to it." She was trying to preemptively strike against his brotherly advice she knew he was working up to.
"I went to see Romi to tell her I was in love with her... I even kissed her.." which had been stupid and barely even counted, but it had happened. "She just helped lead me to the light... I should feel something deeper for Ginny by now, shouldn't I? It's been... Almost four months? I still don't feel anything heavy for her." Callie could talk herself in circles if given the chance. She wanted to be sure she gave him all the information though, it had been a long two days. "I don't think I want to be with her anymore, even if she would forgive me." Was said just above a whisper. It was her biggest regret of it all. Ginny hadn't deserved this but Callie had done what she did best. Had a freak out about the relationship and ruined it the only way she knew how.
Blaise let her talk it out. That always had worked best with Callie, even when she was little. If he let her get all the words out, then he wouldn't have to prod her about it all later after he'd already pissed her off with this or that bit of advice.
He snorted, a bit of wry amusement. Well, at least he'd taught her how to own up, if only to herself and the people involved in a situation. She might fuck it up, but she owned her fuck ups, like he tried to. Even in this Kermit fiasco, he was trying to own up to what he might have done.
Then he nuzzled her at her final whisper, whiskery kisses that told her he still loved her. He tried as a general rule never to cheat; that didn't mean he didn't understand the urge. He always did do better if he had a couple of loose relationships going on. Maybe that was how he'd fucked up with Kermit. But Callie could fuck up and he wasn't going to criticize. He might check in with Astoria later to make sure everything was okay, but he wasn't going to get upset at either of them over it.
So he also rumbled at her, and gave her ear a lick, and then butted ahead against a hand in a bid to make her scratch him again.
When she felt those familiar whiskery kisses, tears started to leak from her eyes. She buried her face in his furred cheeks, sniffling as she wrapped arms around that big neck. She knew she was being silly, she shouldn’t be brought to tears by cheating on her girlfriend. She had already decided that she didn’t love the woman, she didn’t fit in with her family, and she just knew it wasn’t going to work out. It felt that way anyway. She was crying because she felt guilty because even though she knew it was over with Ginny, she knew Ginny hadn’t deserved the betrayal.
She sniffled as she turned her head after a moment, her hand moving to scratch his head and she pressed closer. She had to focus hard on not letting anymore tears drop. “Thank you.” She whispered to him, “I know I’m being ridiculous, I know I shouldn’t be crying. I’m the one in the wrong.. It just isn’t supposed to hurt like this. I never cared with my other exes, but I also didn’t like them. I like Ginny, I just don’t love her.. I didn’t mean to, there were drinks and…” She let out a soft sigh, “I don’t mean that I didn’t mean to do that, I wanted to do that.. I just wish I’d been smart enough to just dump Ginny before I’d left Scotland. Though I guess breaking up by owl is severely frowned upon..” She let out a soft sigh. “I’ll go see her later.” She murmured, fully intending to hide at least for a day or so.
Blaise started a loud, rumbling purr when she started to cry. He didn't like when his sister cried, especially genuine tears. It made him want to hurt people. At least as a cat he could purr and snuggle her. So he purred and rubbed his cheek against hers, trying to offer what comfort he could.
He bumped his head under her fingers and blinked slowly at her, big yellow eyes calm and understanding. He nodded his head, knowing where she was coming from. Making mistakes was hard, admitting them even harder. She was brave to admit it, even if just to him and herself.
Until she was ready to deal with it, though, he'd keep her here. There was no point in reading her the riot act, she was already beating herself up enough.
Blaise had always been able to calm her down and today was no different. That reassuring look from those large eyes, she just hugged him again, pressing a kiss to his whiskered cheeks. “I love you, have I told you that lately?” She asked him, reaching a hand up to scratch behind one large ear.
“I need to go shower.” She licked her lips, shifting just a bit so that she could curl more into him and relaxed. Her eyes slid closed, relaxing into his soft fur. “I think Astoria’s mad at me too. She was acting funny when I left… I think it’s about the whole Ginny aspect, she mentioned her a few times before we left. I don’t want her worrying about any of that, it’s my fault and issue.” She huffed softly, “I don’t intend to tell Ginny who it was with, I don’t need the Weasley’s thinking they need to exact revenge on her or something ridiculous.” Not only that, Calypso didn’t know how out Astoria was. She was betting on not at all since Callie hadn’t even known and they were good friends. It seemed only the inner, inner, inner circle knew that secret and so she wouldn’t go telling Romi or Ginny who she had slept with. She wouldn’t betray her friend’s confidence like that.
“Promise that I’m not some monster?” She whispered to Blaise, as her hand continued to pet his soft fur near where her head lay. “I feel a bit like a monster.”
He made a vehement sound, agreeing that she shouldn't tell them it was Astoria. He'd have to get involved then. He was too protective. And he knew how her family would react.
A large paw patted her several times, reassuring. He'd considered changing back but he'd do that after her shower. He could make himself understood like this for now. And he purred harder for her. She wasn't a monster. She'd made a mistake but she wasn't some monster.
And even if she was? She would be his monster.
When she heard his agreeance that she shouldn't tell the other, she nodded her head and pressed a kiss to his fur. She knew that was the right answer but it felt better hearing him agree that she had chosen correctly.
When he patted her a few times, she felt tears filling her eyes again. "I have to go shower." She murmured softly, just loud enough for Blaise to be able to hear. She pushed to get up then, sniffling as she wiped at her eyes. "I love you, thank you so much for listening. I'm going to go shower and then go see Ginny.. I'll be home directly after." She knew she wouldn't want to go out for drinks, no matter how messy the break-up would get. She felt like some robot, going through the motions. It was something she knew she had to do, but she wasn't looking forward to it.
Blair twisted around on his back and chuffed at her. He would be around waiting for her or he'd go find her if she didn't show up after a certain amount of time. For now, he'd finish sunning like this and maybe stretch out in his other skin for a bit too. A lazy day. A good day. Except of course for the worry about his two favorite people.
Callie left Blaise to shower and get ready. She didn’t want to leave much time between when she had gotten home and when she was going to talk to Ginny. She knew if she waited, she would just put it off. It needed to be done now, she needed to talk to her now. Callie hadn’t known what to wear, she had ended up in one of Blaise’s old Slytherin jumpers and a pair of jeans to go over there. She had even stupidly worn her glasses, an extra layer of protection from everything she guessed.
The entire thing had been a mess. It had been loud, messy, and Callie had been exhausted after everything had been said and done. Ginny had even slapped Calypso, which is she were honest? She knew she had deserved. When confessing to what had happened, Callie had maybe purposely taken a jab at Ginny and started the entire fight that had not been needed. It had still ended the same, the girls had broken up and Calypso had apparated home immediately. She didn’t want to go anywhere but home at that point.
Instead of apparating to her room, she had apparated to the garden. She had expected it to be empty, and it for that reason that she let out a blood curdling scream. It was the scream she had been holding in through the entire fight. It was the noise she always made when Oya had pushed her just that bit too far, when Callie wanted to hex someone but knew that she couldn’t. She couldn’t hex Oya and she couldn’t hex Ginny. With her scream came a blast of accidental magic that shattered a potted plant in front of her.
“Fuck!” She screamed at the pot, as if it was the pot’s fault for breaking. She produced her wand from a pocket, doing a quick repario spell. She didn’t realize that Blaise could still be in the garden, or near enough to hear her scream.
He'd done some other things while she was gone. Kept himself busy and thought a lot, mainly. How he was going to handle her. How he was going to approach Astoria. If he needed to have words with Ginny or not -- hopefully not.
He was back outside by the time she came back, though. Not right nearby, luckily. Poor planter. At least it could be put back together. He hadn't been worried by the scream, merely a bit startled. She'd been doing that kind of scream all her life when it came to their mother, and he'd been witness and wrangler of her tantrums for all that time. He knew she wasn't in danger.
Blaise made his way back over to her, a little cautious, wand out only because he had an offer. "It went that well, huh?" he drawled loudly enough for her to hear. "Do you want a hug or do you want to duel a bit before you get a hug?" An offer to let her get it all out.
Callie had been sure that Blaise would still be catting around the yard, her head snapped up when she heard his voice. Her voice probably gave her away, her eyes were red with tears and she looked like she was about to burst into tears all over again. “She’s a fucking twit.” Callie said, though at his offer she had to honestly thing about it. She had been in the middle of repairing the pot, and as much as she really wanted to duel… She knew she wouldn’t play fair, which wasn’t fair to Blaise. She wanted to hurt someone, just not him. After a moment’s hesitation, she shook her head to the duel. “I need a hug, I don’t want to scar your pretty face…”
“Is it always so hard? I know I was in the wrong but she made me sound like some slug that’s leeching off her brother. It isn’t my fault that her family doesn’t have money and she doesn’t have the luxury to do whatever she pleases.” Her nose wrinkled up and she started to make her way over to Blaise, the pot that was only half repaired had been all but forgotten at Blaise’s entrance.
“I thought for sure she would be relieved, I wouldn’t be her problem anymore. She didn’t want to be with me! If she wanted to be with me, she wouldn’t have found every excuse to stay away.” These were all things she had been reminding herself, to make herself feel just slightly better about the entire thing that happened with Astoria. She still didn’t regret it, the only thing she regretted was not breaking with Ginny sooner.
"What makes you think you could get me, love?" he said, shooting her a bit of a smirk. He didn't think she could, thoughs he could at times be devilish and sneaky. He still held a fair amount of experience over her though. But in a mood she could potentially manage something.
He snorted and made his way over to her. "Leeching off me... as if! You're rich, you have your own money. You're just with me because I like it that way." He had asked if she watned her own place or to stay and he'd been glad when she'd decided to stay. Relieved even. He wrapped his arms around her when she got close, even lifting her off her feet briefly.
"I am sorry, love," he said more quietly. "This shit is all sorts of complicated and sucky and I didn't want you to have to go through that."
Callie shot a glare in his direction, while she did get the joke... She was still too angry. She was still too mad about everything that had gone. She had started it, she knew she had, but she hadn't been able to stop herself. Then it had just... Spiraled away and out of her control. Much like everything else that she seemed to touch, she was getting so sick of it.
"It was ridiculous!" She screamed, though then he was closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and she wasn't about to scream in his ear. Or... Well, his chest area. She wasn't tall enough to reach his ear. "I like it that way too." She said, a pout very evident in her voice. "I like knowing you're here and that I'm.." Safe. She just knew she didn't need to say it, he knew. It was always her biggest thing, wanting to feel safe.
"I'll live.." Calypso said with a soft sigh, "At least it's over. I owned up to what happened and that's what was important." Before he could ask, "I didn't tell her who it was with... Just that I'd slept with someone else. I maybe started the entire fight, I barely remember." It was a little lie, she remembered she just didn't want to remember.
"Scream it out, love," he murmured, and then his arms were tightly around her, and a hand stroked over her hair in a way he'd done since the first time he'd held her and her hair had been this fine, soft fuzz. "I'm always going to be here for you, you know." He'd kept her safe that first time and he'd keep her safe now.
"You did, and I'm terribly proud of you, you know," he murmured. "You did a good job of all of that, love." He tilted up her chin and kissed her nose. "That was very well done," he repeated softly, keeping her eyes now. "What can I do for you?"
Almost all of the fight slipped from her as Blaise held her and did that thing… It was like a button, almost. She instantly felt that safe feeling wash over her when he would do it. When she was younger she had thought he was working a spell on her, their mother never held her so close or touched her so affectionately. It was always Blaise who had done those things, it was why he was always her safe space. Well, one of the many reasons she supposed. Oya being a terrible mother in general explained most of it away.
Hearing the praise made those tears that she had been fighting feel far too close to falling again. His question made her shake her head. She didn’t know what he could do, she didn’t even know what she could do.
“Just…” She laughed sadly, her eyes watching his. “Just hold me and adjust the wards? I don’t want her to be able to just show up… I don’t think she will, but just in case.” The slap had been more than enough to let Callie know that Ginny wouldn’t be wanting to just pop in. There would no longer be a beautiful red head in her bed from time to time. “Is it supposed to hurt, even if you know that you’re not able to be with that person?” She asked in a soft, small, voice. “I know that I don’t love her, she didn’t let me in… I know that I can’t be with her if she wants to keep me as some dirty secret… I want more.” Though whether or not she wanted that more with Astoria? She didn’t know just then. She knew she had enjoyed her night out with the other woman, she had enjoyed falling into bed with her, and she hoped that Astoria might want that too. Calypso wanted to discover things with her, she just hoped Astoria would want to.. Though that awkward feeling that had settled around them before she had left this morning… She didn’t have a clue and her mind was racing in too many directions to follow any one train of thought.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered softly, finally feeling those tears spill. She let out a breath, her eyes slipping closed. She was emotionally exhausted and had no idea what in the world what to do.
"They're already adjusted," he said quietly. Just like she'd done with him for Kermit he'd already done for her. The only way she could get in was if she'd come directly with Callie.
"I think it always hurts a bit, especially if you want it to work and it doesn't." Kermit had hurt him even though things hadn't been perfect and he'd had trouble with the words.
He went ahead and swept her up in to his arms. "Come on, Callie-girl. We're going to go in and have alcoholic ice cream and watch some stupid show or another."
That was why she never wanted to move out. It was ridiculous but he was her other half. No one else would think to do something like that, yet it had been the first thing he’d done. She was a mess and she knew it, she wiped at her tears, sniffling as she blinked rapidly. “You’re the best.” She murmured as she melted into him. It was completely childish but she felt just a bit better already. She could be ridiculous and eat alcoholic ice cream with him.