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Hal Yorke was involved tagentially (needstheroutine) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2013-09-15 23:33:00

Entry tags:

alex millar, hal yorke

Who: Hal Yorke and Alex Millar
What: Coping with life
Where: Their new place
When: September 15, late afternoon
Rating: TBD
Status: In progress

Things had been going well. Which of course made Hal nervous. They were getting complacent around him, ready to believe that he was redeemed, better. That things were going to go well for him and they need not fear the monster any longer. It was a foolish belief and they were very much mistaken in it. The threat had not diminished and the month he had spent hidden from the world was far from enough. He needed to prepare them. Prepare Alex. He'd watched Mitchell and Lydia grow into a couple, a happy couple, content in themselves and what they believed was the only course of action. They were happy, content, in love.

And he'd had fun with Alex, even had fun at that vampire gathering, eventually. Oh he was still wary about the people involved. Those Originals, older than even him and in some cases just as sadistic from what he had gathered. But he had gone, he had been social, he had danced with Alex, kissed her, and god, ghost or not, he felt it when she touched him, just a whisper of a dream of what could be. But he'd take it.

Even now he sensed blood. A twitch of the curtains revealed the cause, so very simple. A teenage girl, maybe 16, had fallen, cut her leg, not injured badly, just a trickle really but it was enough. Black eyes watched her, stared with unrelenting focus as she continued up the street. The blood he could smell coming from a small vein, fed through an artery in her thigh, all the way up to her heart. Hal blinked, stepping back from the window and moved quickly to the table, His dominoes lined up. The urge to knock them stronger than ever. But he didn't. He wouldn't. For his friends sake. Alex's.

Perhaps though he couldn't do this. Even with her.

Perhaps taking a little. Just a little, was enough. Just enough to feed the monster.

He could stop him from taking everything.

But no, no he couldn't do that to them all. He would be like Mitchell. Complete abstinence, strength that Mitchell didn't for a second believe he had but Hal knew the younger vampire had more willpower to him than he would ever have.

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stucklikethis
2013-09-15 07:09 pm UTC (link)

The vampire gathering had been amazing for Alex. As much as the boards allowed her to talk to everyone, to be in a big group of people and be seen, acknowledged. She had actually been slightly shocked at first before she practically exploded in a flurry of sociable, bouncing up to just about everyone and talking to them. Even though some possibly had trouble understanding her accent, none of that had mattered to the excited Scot.

Even so though, the vast majority of her time was spent with Hal, Hal who she was so proud of. She would always be proud of him, no matter what he thought of himself. And Alex was no idiot, she knew Hal had doubts about himself, his strength. That he had moments of weakness. That didn't shake her faith in him.

As a ghost, there were certain limitations in their relationship, and Alex did often wish she could offer him more than she could. But what she could do was make fucking amazing tea. So she did, regularly. Like right at that moment, for example. She rentaghosted in, holding the steaming mug, and saw Hal staring at the dominoes table.

"Everything okay?" Her tone was casual, but the expression in her eyes was slightly concerned. Just because she had faith in him, didn't mean she didn't worry as well. He kept making life so difficult for himself.

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needstheroutine
2013-09-15 07:32 pm UTC (link)

No. It wasn't and he wanted to tell her so. But it had been a hard day, and those happened, those were normal. Those would pass. He told himself all the platitudes he believed would help and finally looked up from the dominoes to see the beautiful girl he had fallen so completely for standing with a mug of tea.

He did wonder sometimes if it was a thing with ghosts. Constantly making tea. Though Lady Mary had never made him tea. He hadn't been sure she knew how.

"Everything is fine my love." he said simply, "Or at least it will be, it's just been one of those days."

He took the tea, grateful once again that he had someone like her in his life, someone so wonderful and caring that would stay with someone like him in spite of the myriad of reasons that she should not. She had looked to have enjoyed herself at the gathering, made friends, people who could see her, could talk to her, interact with her, and yet she had stayed by his side most of the time. He would never completely understand why that was but he was grateful for it.

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stucklikethis
2013-09-17 07:58 am UTC (link)

She kept her gaze on him a moment longer, trying to see if he was being honest with her, or just trying to keep her from worrying. Oh, she trusted Hal, but he did have a tendency to try to pretend he was alright, even when things were too hard for him.

"Alright," she eventually said, smiling slightly as he took the tea. While she did, occasionally, make tea for Mitchell, really it was a thing between her and Hal, a ritual for the two of them alone. One more glance at the dominoes table was all she did before she moved to lounge on the sofa. For a ghost, Alex really could take up a lot of space in a room.

"So, question," she smirked up at her boyfriend, with a faintly impish glint in her eyes. "Was there a reason you glared at Kol so much the other night?" It had been strange, Alex had chatted with Kol a few times, as she had many people, but for some reason Hal seemed to bristle slightly whenever she went near the cheeky Original. "What did you think of them all, anyway? The vampires I mean."

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needstheroutine
2013-09-19 07:30 pm UTC (link)

He was more than glad she had changed the subject. Pulling it away from him and how he was and on to, well alright, she could have picked a better subject change than Kol but he'd take it. He took a sip of the tea still impressed with how well she knew him and his habits by now and how easily she had fit into his life and his routines. Not that she'd left him much choice in the matter. She'd decided she loved him and so that was it. Lucky really that he loved her back.

The reason he'd glared at Kol so much though was relatively simple overall. He reminded Hal so very much of himself. Charming and friendly but with a glint in the eye that Hal recognised. The man enjoyed what he was and what he did and likely enjoyed the thrill of the chase, the hunt. The kill. Oh he was putting on a show, all of his family were. Playing at being human.

"I just didn't like him. I think he's dangerous." he told her. No he wasn't being entirely honest with her, but he didn't need to be. Not about this, it would only worry her and he didn't want her worrying what with everything they were facing. There were bigger concerns than his worries. "I think the meeting went well, Caroline perhaps is hoping for too much out of this, there are so many of us and all so different. I don't know that it will work."

But she had enjoyed it, and that was the important thing.

"You made some friends though, didn't you, aside from Kol."

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stucklikethis
2013-09-20 06:17 pm UTC (link)

Alex watched Hal drink the tea and inwardly felt smug that she managed to make it just the way he liked it. Maybe it was living with a bunch of guys for so many years, being the one to take care of them, but damn she was good at making tea. And hey, it was worth being proud of.

Though she did think he was overreacting to the Kol thing.

"He doesn't seem too bad," she shrugged. "Cocky little shit, yeah, and his brother isn't nearly as impressive as he thinks he is, but they seem decent enough." All of the Mikaelsons were like that really, from what she could tell. Overly important, but not too bad if you talked to them. "Besides, he's quite funny if you talk to him." Funny, witty, kind of cute. Maybe that was Hal's issue with the guy.

"I like Caroline," Alex nodded. "She's sweet, genuine. And Lexi's adorable and keeps calling me awesome, so what's not to love about her."

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needstheroutine
2013-09-22 08:47 am UTC (link)

Cocky was one word for it. Hal had decided basically that he didn't like the man and he didn't see that opinion changing any time soon. And Alex thought he was funny, what was so funny about him. He was borderline psychotic at the best of times and had an ego the size of a small country. And his type of vampire of course was not a slave to blood.

"I wouldn't go so far as decent. They are, for all intents and purposes, Old Ones. And I will continue to be suspicious of them until they prove themselves. I don't believe they have. And sweet as Caroline Forbes may be she has given her heart to one of them. Are you sure then, that she can be trusted to be completely impartial where that family is concerned?"

He was reaching, and he knew it. But it hadn't been a great few days and Hal was worried, about himself, about the other Him, about the vampires meeting, about Mitchell and Lydia and about Katherine.

Alex at least had had fun, gotten to know people. Gotten to be seen, and for that at least he was grateful.

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stucklikethis
2013-09-22 05:22 pm UTC (link)

"Well, Hal, that's just ageist," Alex put on a prim tone even if the sarcasm was softened by the look on her face. Because she was terrified of the Old Ones too, and that was after meeting them for mere seconds. Snow and all that. But different worlds, different rules and all that. "You can't hold them to the same standard as home," she half shrugged. "They're different from the people you knew. And hey, maybe they'll be fuckwits and maybe they'll turn violent on us all, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt."

After all, she was no Peter Vincent, judging all on the actions of one. "And okay, yeah, Klaus is fucking terrifying, and I get why Katherine is scared shitless of him. But even with that, Caroline seems a good influence on him. Katherine's still alive, right? And there's Elijah who is possibly even more posh than you. No, wait, no one is more posh than you." Teasing, of course. Mostly.

She tilted her head slightly, looking closely at Hal. "You seem tired. Sleeping alright?" Alex felt momentarily guilty, she had been so focused on trying to relax her ghost mind into some meditation like sleep, she hadn't actually paid attention to how her boyfriend was sleeping, even the times he was right next to her.

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needstheroutine
2013-09-24 07:35 am UTC (link)

Hal was holding them to his standards, which is of course what worried him most. He knew well that he couldn't blame them or assume they would be just the same as he sometimes was. Nor could he judge them all on the actions of Kol or of Klaus. But they reminded him too much of Mr Snow. That same coldness. They reminded him of himself in many ways too. Especially Kol.

He didn't want Alex talking to Kol but he could hardly tell her not to. She wasn't stupid and she needed to have people around her she could interact with and get to know, why should he deprive her of that when really Kol hadn't done anything wrong other than...well, exist.

He mustered a slight smile, weak admittidly at her comment about how posh he was and returned to musing about the annoying vampire she'd decided was lovely. "I'm fine." he said quickly, too quickly in response. He wasn't fine. He was far from fine, he was tired, angry, teetering on the edge of half a century of death and destruction and he didn't know how to make any of it better.

He didn't know how long he could hold on.

"Perhaps sleep has been difficult lately but I'll be fine. Keep to my routines, you know?"

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stucklikethis
2013-09-24 08:03 am UTC (link)

Alex could sort of understand Hal's wariness, five hundred years, his habits and beliefs were deeply ingrained by now. But even with that understanding, she just couldn't share his hesitations. The Originals, all the vampires really, they hadn't done anything to her, or to anyone from what she had seen. They seemed like people just wanting to get with their lives, what was wrong with that?

But that wasn't the point. The point was right in front of her, a Hal who seemed on edge, and Alex frowned with some concern. "You sure?" The worry was clear in her tone as she watched him. At least he wasn't the same as before, with that false confidence he had shown when biting Natasha. No, this was more jittery, which was surely a sign he wasn't on blood. Right?

"Routines are good." Okay, not for her, for her they were boring as hell and made being a ghost seem even more dull, but for him they were vital.

"Oh, hey, did I tell you I've been working on my ghostly powers control?" She put a smile on her face, at least attempting to brighten the conversation. "See?" Alex stretched out a hand and focused on the dominoes pieces. Four of them floated up and towards her before spinning in a slow ring around her hand, the pace controlled and steady, each piece an equal distance from the others. A few rotations and spins and she then floated them back to where they had been standing, placing them back into position without them even wobbling.

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needstheroutine
2013-09-24 10:55 am UTC (link)

"I've said I'm..." he started. Not quite snapping the words but definitely less than his usual calm. "I'm sure. Its just been a hell of a morning. And what with going out more often lately. I just need to take the time to focus. Perhaps its that I have lost sight of. I'll be alright Alex. I promise you." And he'd try to be, for as long as he could be because she truly did deserve that from him. Really she deserved better than him but he knew telling her things like that was futile.

It bothered him that this was the life he had forced upon her. Living with his moods, his routines. Knowing ultimatly that one day soon he would disappoint her. That all her help, all of it would fall by the wayside to Him. He didn't know when or what the catyest would be, he didn't even know that there would be one in any real way. But it would happen. Until then he would fight it, as Alex would want him to, in memory of Leo who had fought so hard for him for most of his life.

"I'll keep to the routines and it will be fine."

And if she believed that she'd believe anything.

He focused on watching her lift the dominoes. They floated and span and returned to their place and he had to admit he was impressed with how far she'd come in so short a time. She was powerful. "That's amazing Alex, you've been practicing without telling me?!"

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stucklikethis
2013-09-25 01:38 pm UTC (link)

It bothered her, the tone of voice he was using. And Alex wanted to push the issue, in her oh so charmingly Scottish way, that lacked any tact. She wanted to force him to talk, to open up to her, to be honest.

But, she also knew Hal. Knew that pushing like that was probably the worst thing she could possibly do for him. At least right now, with him clearly tired. Maybe the vampire meeting had been too much too quickly, too many people around, even if biting them wouldn't have been an option. So she simply offered him a small but reassuring smile.

"Okay, though if this is all a ploy to make me bring you more cups of tea, it's not going to work, mister." Her tone was gently teasing, trying to make him relax a little bit. "You get one extra, then that's your lot. I will stand firm on this." Three brothers, one dad. She could resist the pleading of boys. Even Hal, who had her heart so completely.

And she couldn't help but feel a flash of smug pride at the way he reacted to seeing her powers. "I just figure, I might as well be the best damn ghost that ever haunted Lawrence. Plus I kinda made a mess the first few times, you might have demanded Marigolds."

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needstheroutine
2013-09-25 07:56 pm UTC (link)

All he wanted, really and truly, all he wanted was to be around her. His beautiful, fierce Alex Millar. She'd come through so much just for the crime of having known him, having agreed to date him. She'd told him once he shouldn't be charming and attractive and a number of other things and instead implied he should be wearing a sign and a bell. And she was the walking example of why. It had been because of her connection to him that Cutler had snapped after all. Killed her to try and get him back onside. He'd tasted her blood that day of course. And she had become a permanent fixture in his life.

Which was why he returned the smile, trying his very best to be the man she wanted, the man she deserved him to be.

"At least I get one extra. I like to think that makes me that little bit more special. Mitchell doesn't get extra tea. Of course he's Irish and does not truly understand tea as I do. Much as he tries bless him."

Tired as he was, long as the day had been, the week....he still looked up rather suspiciously at the talk of her having made a mess. That wouldn't do at all, no, not one bit!. "What did you do? Where, did you break anything? Where did you put it, what did you break?" It was entirely likely that he was more than a little crazy with his routines and insistence on cleanliness but he was who he was. And if she'd broken any of his mugs he might actually have to cry a little bit.

Besides American marigolds were not at all the same.

They had colours other than yellow.

Barbarians

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stucklikethis
2013-09-26 08:26 am UTC (link)

"Oh, Mitchell needs to bargain for every cup of tea, you're definitely more special than him, by far." Of course, she was biased. People probably thought Alex crazy, for loving a man so involved in her death. But really, it hadn't been his fault. Just a date together, a date she had walked away from, and from that Cutler had come to some giant conclusion that she was worth something. That she was worth killing. Hal had never asked for that, never asked to have some crazy progeny trying to lure him back to the dark side of the vampire force.

"Though, to be fair, the Irish are just fine with tea. Celtic solidarity, it's totally a thing, Brit Boy." Not that Scots and Irish actually cared that much, it was just so much fun to wind up Hal and his oh so British ways. He really was so posh sometimes, bless him.

And she couldn't help it. She giggled.

"I didn't break anything! Swear! I think you would have noticed if I had." There would have been very British swearing and shooing her away places and it all would have gotten very awkward.

"I knocked the coffee jar over, spilled the granules everywhere. Some of the books came off the shelf," she gestured in the general direction. "But I'm pretty sure I got them all back in order. And I sent the sofa cushions flying around. Oh, and I spilled some orange juice. But I totally cleaned it up!"

There was a faint wince though. "You know how Mitchell's been in a bad mood? He thought he lost the tobacco tin? Um." She used her power to push the sofa away slightly, showing the scattered remains of the baccy in the carpet. "I really did not mean for that to happen and I kinda hid the tin after."

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