Who: Adrian and SageSydney What: Adrian finds the books/world they’re from and leafs through what’s to come Where: Bookstore in Lawrence then where he and Sydney are staying When: Nov. 22, 2013 Status: Gdoc/Complete Rating: Lowish, some spoilers for the new Bloodlines book.
Life had definitely been interesting since Adrian had found himself whisked away from Palm Springs, California to Lawrence, Kansas. Not only that but apparently he had crossed dimensions to this place. And then the second day, the second damn day he’d been here, the complex had gone boom. Not something fun to wake up to. But he was grateful nothing had happened to Sydney. He couldn’t bear it if something had. True their relationship was still developing even after nearly a month or so here, but they had a lot of inner qualms to overcome. Mainly their relationship being considered taboo by many outside of the Keepers. Still, they were enduring it and overcoming it.
And he knew too that she worried over his using Spirit. Especially after that explosion when those people had been hurt. True they probably would have been fine healing on their own but Adrian didn’t like to see people in pain really. Not only that, but it was a way to do good in the word and prove he wasn’t some slacker like his father always claimed he was. Not for the first time he missed his aunt, the only one in his family that seemed to have truly given a damn about him and his well being (true his mother did as well but she was currently in jail for falsifying evidence and such to ensure he wasn’t implicated in Tatiana’s death). It was weird having Christian here given the similarities the Ozeras had to one another but Adrian didn’t have much interaction with the dark haired fire user.
Tossing some of his stylized messy hair from his eyes, he continued to walk along the streets when he spotted a bookstore. Well...Christmas was coming up and what better gift for Sydney than that of a book? Well…probably gift card as he had no idea what books she hadn’t probably read. Though he might be able to find one on architecture she might like about ancient Rome and Greece. Grinning at the thought of seeing her eyes and face light up with that book, he went into the store and began searching for the history section. He started passing by the teen section when a book title caught his eye. He blinked a bit and looked back at it, studying it closer.
“Vampire Academy?” he murmured. Intrigued, he picked it up and began leafing through it when he realized something. Rose Hathaway was in here as was Lissa. He had known about the possibility of being fiction but to actually see it? Well that was shocking. He set the first book down and looked over some of the other titles, realizing this was all very much the recent past for him. Reading the bit about his aunt’s death when he flipped through one made his heart clench and he set the book down quickly. Letting a slow breath out, he was about to walk away when a book with a yellowy gold cover caught his eye. More specifically, the girl on the cover had a lily tattoo. Against better judgement, he picked up the book and began reading through it, eyes widening when he saw that this was about him and Sydney and Jailbait and the others. He glanced at the next book, a purple cover one and leafed through that one. He was stunned, realizing that this had just happened for him and Sydney. He had to warn her.
Once more he was about to turn away when he saw another book. He reached out for it slowly and picked it up, slowly starting to read. Immediately he realized this was what was to come for him and his Sage. But he couldn’t put it down. He had to know more. He wanted to buy it but funds were a bit limited right now. So he leafed through as much as he could, not stopping until he got to the last few chapters. Unbidden, he began reading them, at some point sinking into a nearby chair the store had scattered about for browsers.
By the time he finished reading, he slammed the book shut, his hands shaking. No. None of that was going to happen. He would never take those damn pills and he would keep Sydney safe. The thought of her made him rush out of the store, his primary mission there forgotten as he rushed back to the place they were staying and all but flew inside, his eyes a bit wild as he fell into the manic throes of Spirit.
“Sage?? Sage where are you!?!?” he cried, searching desperately for her. He couldn’t lose her, wouldn’t lose her. He’d die first before he allowed her to leave this place and be sent back home and to the prospect of re-education.
Sydney was tired of waiting and sitting around doing nothing. At least in Palm Springs she’d had a purpose. Here? There was very little she seemed to be able to do. She was worried, too: about Jill, Angeline, Eddie, Ms. Terwilliger, Clarence, Trey, and everyone else. It was so strange to be away from them, and to be with Adrian so much…here, they didn’t necessarily have to hide their relationship, even if it didn’t seem as though there was a lot of stigma about human and vampire relationships; yet she didn’t think Christian knew, entirely.
She was also worried about Adrian. The first couple of days after he’d helped heal people following their arrival, he’d been so incredibly down that it had honestly scared her even if she hadn’t said anything. Now, things had evened out for him, and he seemed generally pretty balanced, but he still seemed to get morose sometimes, even from light spirit usage like aura reading. Sydney liked to believe that her being there, staying with him, helped, but honestly? She had no idea. All she knew was that it seemed like her being around him kept him a little calmer.
At the moment, she was idly flipping through the Kansas University course catalogue. It was mainly to pass the time while she waited for Adrian to get back, but a part of her wondered…and hoped. She’d seen a few others post about taking classes and knew it was possible while she was here, and she had begun to seriously consider applying…and possibly talking Adrian into doing it, too. Painting made him happy, Sydney knew, and if he could take art classes again, she thought that they might actually help him.
Hearing the hotel room door open, she turned from where she sat cross-legged on the bed and her smile dropped as he called out, blinking at the state of him. Suddenly terrified, she let the catalogue fall to the floor as Hopper ran over to Adrian, jumping to her own feet as her eyes widened. “What is it? What happened?”
Ignoring Hopper for the moment (though Adrian was glad their little adopted dragon was okay), his green eyes took Sydney in. She seemed okay physically. Without a word he pulled Spirit into him and checked her aura. Seeing it’s usual yellow and purple brilliance without anything wrong started to calm him but it wasn’t much.
He moved to her and crushed her into his arms, trembling. “We can’t go back. We won’t go back. I’ll find a way to keep us here where we’ll always be safe and free without anyone coming after us. Spirit will make it happen. We’ll be safe and happy here.” He knew he was rambling but right now he wasn’t worried about that. Sydney was all that mattered.
He pulled back after a moment and cupped her face, his eyes still wild and a bit crazed from his Spirit induced craze. “That’s okay right? Us staying here happy and free? Of course it’s okay…” he said, more to himself. “You have a college not far to go to, lots of stuff to study and learn. You like learning…” As he rambled he released Sydney and began roaming back and forth in the room, barely keeping from stepping on Hopper.
Sydney took a step forward as she watched him, trying to stay calm. When he stepped up and hugged her tight, she blinked in surprise at his words, returning the hug carefully, her own grip tight. “What are you talking about? We have to go back, Adrian - Jill and the others need us. And we don’t have any control over…” She trailed off when he cupped her face, swallowing hard as she studied him.
He was definitely worrying her.
Watching as he started to pace, she tilted her head, frowning a little. “Adrian, you need to calm down and breathe, okay?” Moving to put herself in his path, she caught his hands and squeezed them softly, brown eyes on his green. “Tell me what happened today that made you think of this, please?”
He began shaking his head rapidly. “No no no no no, we’re not going back! I won’t let them take you from me! I won’t let them re-educate you!!” When she caught his hands and pulled him to a stop he looked at her, staring into her eyes. Even if she didn’t have compulsion like he did, he couldn’t lie to her. Not about this. She had to see what kind of future awaited them so she’d agree to stay here. Though he could make her agreeable to it. Not that he’d ever use compulsion on her. He cared for her too much to do that to her.
“Found it. Found our world here in books. Found out what happens to us if we go back. Your sister...no. We’re not going back,” he said firmly, slightly calming down as he grasped her hands tightly as if she were his lifeline. And in many ways, she was his lifeline. She had been a constant here, helping him through the downs of Spirit. He closed his eyes, slowly working on his breathing in an effort to calm down.
Sydney went white with shock at his use of the word “re-educate”. She froze, eyes a little wide, still staring at him even as he reversed her hold and was suddenly holding her hands in return. Blinking several times to force her brain to work, she shook her head a little, then spoke slowly. “You….found books? What do you...Zoe? What happens to Zoe?” Suddenly terrified that her sister had been hurt - or worse - Sydney took a step closer to him. “We’re in books and something happens to my sister?” Even the thought terrified her and momentarily paralyzed her. Zoe was still innocent, still young….she could still save the younger Sage from the Alchemist fate.
She had to believe that.
He shook his head. “She does something to you, betrays you to your father about us.” He began rambling more about the end of the book, how she had gotten Eddie away from the other Alchemists that had been there to take her. He pulled away and began pacing again, agitated. It had been his fault. If he hadn’t lost that Love Phone… It was his fault she would suffer.
Without a word he looked at a nearby wall and slammed his fist into it. “It’s my fault Sage...my fault they catch you…” he whispered, his voice cracking.
“What? No...she wouldn’t…” But she would. Deep in her heart, Sydney knew that Zoe would betray her if their father told her to. As Adrian continued, Sydney wrapped her arms around herself and tried desperately to keep from trembling at what he described. This was straight out of the nightmares she sometimes had.
Jumping when he punched the wall, she snapped back to the present and dashed over. “Adrian!” Grabbing his hand to check his fingers, she pressed them to her cheek and met his eyes. “Don’t. Don’t blame yourself - you couldn’t know. And it might have happened anyway, no matter what we did with the phones. If what you say is true...I should have deactivated your phone the instant you lost it and gotten a new one, so it’s my fault - not yours.”
“She did,” he returned, looking at her. When she took his throbbing hand (it didn’t feel broken but damn did it hurt) he watched her check it for breaks before he pressed it to her face. He stared into her eyes, watching her. “My fault,” he insisted. “If I hadn’t had lost the phone in the first place then it wouldn’t have had to be deactivated. My fault.”
He shifted enough to sit on the corner of the bed and buried his face in his hands. He wanted to do nothing more than sleep now since he knew Sydney was okay and she knew. If she knew they could prepare. Surely they could change things when they went home. He had to believe that. He needed to believe that right now or he felt like he might shatter into too many pieces for Sydney to put back together.
“If you’re blaming yourself, then we’re both to blame,” she replied firmly. As he sat, she stared at him sadly, then slowly sat beside him and rested a hand on his leg. Hopper jumped up and curled onto his lap, headbutting his stomach, concern in his eyes as well. After a moment of letting Adrian wallow, Sydney reached out to tug his hands off his face and tip his head up so she can meet his eyes.
“Whatever happens - whatever might happen there or here or anyplace else - never forget that I love you and that we can handle it. You’re my strength, Adrian.” She needed him to hold himself together, and fully believed he could. “I need you.”
He let out a shuddering breath when she rested a hand on his leg and nodded some. Feeling Hopper headbutting his stomach he lowered his hands a little. More so when Sydney forced them all the way down. He met her eyes and listened to her words. His left hand moved and grabbed her hand and he held it tightly while the other stroked Hopper’s back.
“I need you too,” he whispered. “I feel like I’m about to break…” He closed his eyes, letting the full impact of how much Spirit he had held that day hit him. “Centrum permanebit,” he murmured quietly.
Returning the squeeze, Sydney also reached out to brush a finger across Hopper’s head, completing their tiny, perfect (in her mind anyway) circle. “You won’t break,” she said, her tone allowing no arguments. “I won’t allow it.” She wished she felt as confident as she sounded, but she’d worry about that part later.
When he spoke Latin a moment later, she blinked in surprise. “The center holds?” She asked, studying him. How did he know Latin? Where had he learned it from? After a moment, she pushed aside the mental questions and leaned forward a little. “It does, you know,” she said softly, then pressed her lips to his.
If he didn’t know her as well as he did, he wouldn’t have been able to tell if she believed what she was saying. But he did know her and he knew she wasn’t fully certain. Just small minute cues from her body language. But hearing her say she wouldn’t let her break meant the world to him. He returned her kiss fervently, tugging her closer.
The Moroi pulled back a moment later and panted some for air, staring at her. “That’s what you told Eddie before they took you,” he whispered, his voice cracking slightly. “I can’t hold Sage. I’m not strong like you.”
Sydney was swept away in the kiss, all her worries and thoughts temporarily banished. It was like this every single time and it still baffled and amazed her. One hand shifted to rest on his chest while she leaned in willingly, deepening the kiss until he pulled away. Her eyes were dazed momentarily, then sharpened on his at his words. “You can. You are - we’re strong together, Adrian. I have faith that you can do amazing things in this world and that you will do those things.” She leaned over and touched his cheek again. “I have faith in you.”
Shifting to wrap her arms around him, she lay back on the bed with him and curled against his form, nuzzling his shoulder. “We’ll be okay, Adrian. I know we will. I have faith in us, too.”