Caroline Forbes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
persevere) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entrancelogs2017-08-01 02:28 pm
persevere) wrote in entrancelogs2017-08-01 02:28 pm
persevere) wrote in entrancelogs2017-08-01 02:28 pm
no subject
Me.
[She feels even worse now; it's written all over her face, not to mention in the way she holds out the massive gift basket out to him.]
I basically owe you a massive apology and I would be a coward if I just dropped this off with a card or something and left so I'm just...trying to do the right thing here.
[She presses her lips together, appearing almost nervous.]
I promise I'm not going to hurt you, alright? I just wanted to talk. Not that you owe that to me or anything, because you definitely don't, but...
[She trails off because he has every right to slam the door in her face and not talk to her. At least she'll be able to remind herself that she tried.
Even if it doesn't really make her feel better.]
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Caroline will get a sense he's focusing on her mouth to an unusual degree--at the place her fangs had sat. Those fangs that had been lodged in him at one point.
That sounds way, way more kinky than he'd like.
Ironically, now that he knows she's more than she seems and he can lump her in with the likes of a Succubus or a Lilim, what surprise and fear he still harbors are more manageable with a category to put her in; the blindfold's off his eyes, and seeing clearly puts him on steadier ground. If anything, he might just forever be a little bitter that the first girl to put her lips anywhere near him--barring his mom on embarrassing special occasions--is the gorgeous creature looking apologetically at him. And it'd been to kick the shit out of him and Akira. It's not fair at all.
A beat of suspicious silence passes. The-girl-who's-not-really-a-girl seems sincere enough now... but he'd been tricked into thinking she'd seemed sincere then and that hadn't ended well. He looks her over again.]
You seem less, y'know--grrr than before. [Miming the fangs.] Big change. What happened?
[It's a concession, if a sullen one. No door-slamming just yet. Maybe it's to Ryuji's detriment that he's also no coward when it comes to face-to-face exchanges, preferring to face a fight rather than run from one. And it helps that the other not-girl, Elena, had shed some light on some of the vampire drama going on behind the scenes of Days of Our Wonderland Lives.
Enough that he accepts the basket (dang, she didn't skip on the goodies), brows drawn into a flat, bemused line.
Damn it. Life would be so much easier if he was a person who didn't get angry at all the wrong moments, and take his foot off the gas when he has a legitimate reason to be angry. But he's Ryuji, and Ryuji is contradictory, and right now he's willing to spare a moment.]
This is apology fruit...?
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[The pain, the guilt, the relief. All of it, for better or worse.
She hands the basket over, her hands threading together in front of her as she rocks on her feet once.]
It's not an excuse and if you never want to see me again, I get it. I just wanted to say I was sorry. [Her grin is sheepish.] Yeah, I guess so? Or maybe a 'You don't have to run from me in terror' gift? 'I promise not to eat you' present?
[They're terrible jokes, but this is awkward and she's just trying to get through it.]
I don't usually do that, by the way. Feed on people, I mean.
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[Namely, what they are. And what Caroline had done to herself.
And what Caroline had experienced at home with her mother to encourage her to do it to herself.
From the context he had, he'd gathered that in her own way she was running away from her problems--running away and lashing out in all directions. He could try and take the moral high ground and pretend like her going berserk on someone is incomprehensible and not something he'd ever do, but...
It'd be a lie, and he's stopped lying to himself. His posture shifts, becoming something more steady and relaxed like an unspoken question has been put to rest. He can still be freaked the fuck out, but he gets that much, anyway. Enough to see when someone is trying.]
How about a "sorry for trickin' ya to get ya alone" consolation prize? I'd settle for that.
[They are kind of terrible jokes and he appreciates that she's willing to humble herself in front of her evening snack.]
I ain't gonna pretend that shit was cool, 'cause it sure wasn't, but it takes guts comin' here knowin' we got more lightning bolts where that first one came from. I already like this 'you' better. So that means... this is how you normally are?
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[She'd been running away from a pain she didn't think she could handle. It was an escape, for sure, just like a human might turn to substances or endless solitude under a fortress of blankets. She'd locked away everything that made her who she was, instead, leaving only the monster that she usually hid away instead.]
I'm not sure that sounds much better, but okay.
[She smiles though, sheepish and still guilty. It's not fair that he should have to joke about it to make things less weird. He shouldn't have to do anything at all.]
Yeah, that sucked by the way. If I come out of this without your friend wanting to electrocute me on sight, I'll take that as a win, alright? I'm not asking you to be my friend, 'cause I know that's not exactly realistic, I just wanted a chance to prove that's not me. [She nods.] Ex-cheerleader, party planner, control freak. That's me.
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She beat you to the punch in trackin' us down to talk to us--seems like she really cares about you. The best friends crack you over the head when you need it.
[If he's telling the truth, he'd been trying to nudge her in the direction of a more personal apology with the joke. Her unnatural strength paired with her indifference (and compulsion) had made for a uniquely unpleasant encounter in and of itself, but the thing that still stings is that she'd played into his friendliness to do it. Older people are talented at manipulating the younger; he hadn't been expecting it from someone who looks his own age.
But, as she'd already said, she hadn't been in her right mind. He can't say he's any more thrilled at being butt of somebody else's joke and seeing Akira be strangled now than he had then, it wouldn't be right to hold that against her for pettiness' sake.
He sighs, deflating. You had him at the fruit basket, Caroline.]
Depends if you really mean it, about being friends. [He's willing to let go of a grudge rather than hold onto it, in other words.] You can come in, if you want. Yo, Akira!
[Speaking of said friend, Ryuji turns his head to call into the depths of the apartment.]
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I said unplug the toilet yourself.
[ Seriously, he's supposed to be living on his own after their senior year.
Maybe he needs supervision, and if nothing else putting effort in now will save him interruptions later. Akira rolls himself out of bed, stowing his earbuds into his jeans pocket with the same practice he had when doing the same on the way into any one of his part-time jobs.
Puzzlingly, the bathroom door has no sliver of light underneath. Even more puzzlingly, Ryuji has the front door open and arms full, standing in front of -
...!
What now? It wasn't enough to come at them at a gathering and have a little sample of their blood? Instantly Akira's eyes narrow behind his glasses frames, a defensive stiffness threading in to the set of his shoulders.
He's observant enough to know that they're not being attacked, not this time; Ryuji's too relaxed and the vampire hasn't so much as flashed a fang, though that's no guarantee of future developments. ]
Ah, figured out that some more electroshock therapy would fix your more stubborn personality flaws, have you? Happy to oblige.
[ This is a teenage boy taking up an aggressive stance beside his best friend, staring down an immortal vampire who's already proven she can kick his ass. Because Akira is a good friend ok. ]
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[Beat over the head by her best friend and boyfriend...or whatever he was now. It was complicated. So were the forms of beating, but that was neither here nor there.
It had worked and no one died. That's what mattered.]
I know you don't have any really good reason to give me a chance. You were, like, super nice to me and I took advantage of that, and I know what that feels like. It sucks.
[Then there are the magic words, an invitation, and she breathes out a sigh, managing a smile, peering further into the apartment as she takes a single step over the threshold, just in time to come face to face with the guy who brought a literal storm on top of their heads.
She tenses slightly, if only because it hurt. She can heal, but everything still feels the same. She holds up her hands, palms out, in a symbol of surrender.]
No need to burn the floors on my account. The worst of those flaws are thoroughly stamped out, I promise.
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He can't help it; a weak laugh climbs his throat, escaping on the back of a dry, exhaled breath.]
"It sucks." Shit, was that a vampire joke?
[Oh my god, he just got punned by an honest to god vampire that honest to god sucked his blood, what is life coming to? Akira picks that moment to answer his call and Ryuji shoots a brief glare his way--who are you talking about, man?--a look that fades with the comprehension lighting up the other boy's eyes and simultaneously hardening his features.
Moments when Ryuji's an observer to a confrontation rather than in one are rarer than a red diamond, but as Akira steps over to face down Caroline, Ryuji shifts the apology fruit and his weight along with it. Slight, nothing obvious about it, but a visible gearing down into a more relaxed stance. An it's okay sent Akira's way in the lack of combativeness. He probably speaks for all of them when he thinks they've had their fill of fighting.]
She came to talk to us. I think we should hear her out.
[They're in the business of second chances, aren't they?]