entrancelogs | ( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

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( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

Who: Everyone who signed up for SHIPPING
Where: All around Wonderland! See below for specific locations.
When: Tuesday, September 9, evening
Rating: PG13 just to be safe, but if anything gets steamy (she hopes it does), I can up the rating.
Summary: Becky sets Wonderlanders up on blind dates. Also, will be image heavy.
The Story:

You receive a letter under your door sometime on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 9. This letter will be addressed to you in fancy script (Becky's best attempt at calligraphy) from a "secret admirer." You might be wondering, but it isn't February! What's with all the romantic nonsense? Well, my good friend, romance can be celebrated on more than just one day out of the year. That day happens to be today. The letter will ask you to meet your secret admirer at 6PM at a designated location. You'd best not be late! A night of romance (and perhaps even intimacy) awaits you! At least, she hopes so...

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I'm new. I'll make friends eventually. It's often easier for me to stay on my own. Though I would happily come out of my room if you were to be looking for company.

[ The date wasn't set by Elijah, but that doesn't mean he won't protest to one being set up by himself. He's not exactly familiar with modern dating, but he's not against it. He'd happily spend time with Jo again outside of this arranged evening. She wouldn't have to wear that dress again either. Not that it's not beautiful, but he can see that it's not something she's over familiar with.

Elijah really doesn't really let ideas linger. If they think about dancing too much then they most likely won't. They'll go round and round with conversation about dancing possible peppered with jokes about toe crushing, but they won't dance. He wants to have a chance to actually dance with her tonight. He's fairly certain he can handle a few crushed toes from her. ]

Joanna is such a beautiful name though.

[ Though he does understand one requiring a different name of sorts. Niklaus was the one to adopt Klaus around the time they met Katerina. His desperate attempt to stick it to their father despite the man not being there. ]

Would you mind if I called you Joanna?

[It's not so much that she's not used to forward. Back at the roadhouse, men were forward with her all the time, usually in the most undesirable way possible -- drunk, condescending, thinking she'd be an easy mark just because she was a small-town girl working out of her parents' bar. Joke was always on them. Jo would shut them down without a second thought and smile about it, usually pairing it off with some smart remark as she handed them their bill.

It's the combination of forward and polite that throws her. That, she's not sure what to do with. Anyone who's ever shown genuine interest in her has always beaten around the bush, not been able to say plainly that they want to spend time with her, but here's a perfect stranger saying it just fine, without any hint of hesitation or embarrassment. Was that how it was supposed to work?

What were you supposed to say when there wasn't anything objectionable about the offer, but you just weren't sure?]

You're not shy about flattery, are you.

[She gives him a little half smile as she lets him lead. Following, as it turns out, is easy enough, and the steps aren't nearly as complicated as every period piece she's ever watched (not that there were many) would have her believe.]

It's been a long time since anyone has.

[Her dad had always stuck to "Jo," which may have been why she'd clung to it growing up and left Joanna Beth behind. It only ever came out now when she was in trouble, which, considering she was a grown woman, was still a little too often for her liking -- but at least she has a mother to be in hot water with.]

If you want to-- you could. [Why not? At least just for tonight. It couldn't hurt anything, and he seemed like someone who was used to a certain level of society where names like 'Jo' rarely ever circulated.] A little change never hurt anyone, right?

[ Elijah's ability to flatter a woman simply exists because he's not a heathen like most of the men he's run into. He doesn't blatantly stare at a woman like Niklaus does. His brother acts more like a predator than a gentleman. His mother raised Elijah better. Acting like a dog around a woman would serve no purpose other than to make them uncomfortable around you. He treats most people with respect as long as they extend the same courtesy to him. Vampires are a little different. Sometimes the younger ones need to be talked down to and put in their place when they started to believe the world revolved around them. ]

But am I flattering you or am I simply speaking to like you should be spoken to? I find it troubling that you aren't that familiar with men actually paying you compliments. I would think that a woman as beautiful as you would have men falling all over themselves to simply get you to look their way.

[ Her smile is beautiful. He doesn't really get to do things like this that often. Before all his time was taken up with Niklaus and his silly quest to unbind his werewolf side. Then he daggered him. It's good to be on his feet and in company that is neither his brother or his scheming mother. Jo's beauty and her conversation are what he needs right now that much is for certain. ]

Well, then I'm happy to be one of the first ones to do so. It suits you, Joanna. [ His smile grows wider. ] I believe a little change can hurt nothing. But you'll tell me if you ever want me to call you Jo alright? [ Because making her uncomfortable is the last thing that Elijah wants to do. ]

Tell me. How long have you been in Wonderland?

It's not that, exactly.

[It's the formality of it, she supposes, incredibly unlike the compliments she's used to being paid, even discounting the undesirable ones she used to get back at the roadhouse. He and Dean are polar opposites; even Simon is more familiar, boyish. Neither way is right or wrong, but very distinctly different, and she finds that interesting. It's an adjustment. It feels strange, but she wouldn't go so far as to say she doesn't like it.]

I think that maybe we just come from very different places.

[Another knowing smile -- not just different places, but used to dealing with different sorts of people. Wonderland was great for throwing you together with people that delivered a little bit of culture shock on all on their own.

She bites at her lower lip as her smile persists, amused by how taken he seems to be by the name. It's just a name, isn't it? She'd never thought very much of it, but far be it from her to ruin someone else's harmless fun.]

I wouldn't mind giving it a test run. I'll let you know the verdict after we put the name through its paces, see how it tracks.

[She narrowly avoids stepping on his foot during a turn, but manages to cover it well. Good reflexes.]

Not as long as some, but -- one year, five months. It starts to go fast, once you settle in.

That could be the reason.

[ Elijah's found that a lot of people are different than him here. But that was actually the case back home as well. Damon and Stefan were nothing like him. Though he supposes Stefan might have been closer to Elijah's personality than Damon. He did enjoy the younger Salvatore much more than Damon. He had manners and respect. Plus honor. Elijah can respect a man better when he has honor. ]

I'll be waiting.

[ He doesn't even notice the slip up. But he does think she should loosen up. They're dancing not defusing a bomb. One doesn't need to be quite so serious about it. Perhaps if they were at an event of sorts, but it's just the two of them here. Elijah really won't say much if she does stumble or manage to crush his feet. ]

That's quite a long time. I suppose you've managed to make yourself a life here. One that I'm guessing does not revolve around dancing. [ He actually smiles. ] Try loosening up a little. It might help. We're just dancing. If you stumble that's alright. It doesn't have to be perfect. My feet have taken worse abuse than your heels.

[She relaxes automatically at the suggestion; the shift is both subtle and sudden, but it makes a difference. She doesn't dwell on it too much, but instead considers what he'd said about making a life for herself. He's right, she had -- and most of it had fallen apart, but not all. There was both good and bad, but there was no denying that the life she had here was far more than she would have had back home, considering the circumstances.

She smiles at his appraisal, her response quick and tongue-in-cheek.]

One that revolves around bartending, mostly.

[Among other things. Self-defense lessons, helping train up any residents who didn't know how to take care of themselves -- that took up a good amount of her time. Enough that it helped to distract her from the ever-present existential crisis that came from being here in the first place, as opposed to some real afterlife.

Her movements are much smoother now, quickly becoming practiced as she gets used to the steps. She's always been a fast learner.]

Among other things. Bartenders don't get asked to many formal affairs. [Not that there had been any here to attend, though she'd faked her way through more than a handful back home.] Some, I'm not entirely out of the loop, but not many.

[Really, now that she's had a few moments, she's not doing so badly.]

But you're not wrong. Sometimes it feels like I've been here longer, but there are parts that feel like they've gone too quickly, too. I'm sure you've already noticed that time doesn't mean very much here.

I imagine that does bring in some rather unsavory fellows. Bartending is nothing to look down upon though. A woman who knows her way around her liquors is actually very fascinating.

[ Elijah loves a good formal affair, but not when they're thrown by his family. They always tend to end very messy. He's hoping that when he does get to return home they can get to the bottom of what his mother is really planning. Being here hasn't really shaken his fears that his mother may be working against them. He's not one to save Niklaus after everything that's happened, but he doesn't want to see his own mother destroy them all. ]

What a pity. I would imagine you'd have been great company. I'll have to see to it that you accompany me to any that we encounter here. I would be honored to have you with me.

[ She's a very peculiar woman. Not at all what Elijah usually finds himself surrounded by. This world isn't her element. He'll have to make sure he sees her in her own world just so things can maybe have a sort of even balance to them. He actually quite likes bars. ]

I have. It's sounds as if you've lost things here. Were they important to you?

[ the only reason dean stumbles onto their date is because his had been a total train wreck. for one, neither he nor ned had actually signed up for it, or asked each other to a romantic secret meeting, so whoever had sent those invites? not cool. and not for dean. the pie maker might, well, do just that; make a mean pie, but after the things dean had learned about ned the goddamn pie maker, the last thing he would do is ask him out.

just... no.

normally, being freed from such an awkward situation would demand making time for a drink, but instead dean's taking a slightly different route, one that leads right past the ballroom. he catches a glint of yellow -- something big and yellow-gold -- only to realize it's a dress, and that it's jo-- what the hell. and while dean could easily just stare at her the whole while, his eyes track to who is dancing with jo a beat later, only to find elijah fucking mikaelson, or rather, the monster of the month who could have so easily snapped his neck in half sometime ago.

dancing with jo. fucking dancing with--

he's not even thinking before he's storming right inside and at them. ]

Oh no-- no, no, no. You get the hell away from her, you freak.

[ this, the harsh bark of a command, comes with dean all but shoving himself between them, a hand ready to shove at elijah to move the fuck away from jo. and he won't back off until he's there, between her and the monster he knows elijah to be. ]

[She glosses over the standing invitation for now, unsure of how to process it or what it really means in the greater scheme of things -- he's probably just being polite; it's not like the kinds of opportunities he's talking about pop up that often here. Then he speaks of lost things, and something in her face shifts -- her smile remains, but it's more careful than before, suddenly unable to reach her eyes.

Yes. She's lost things.]

People, mostly. [In a dozen different ways.] But that happens no matter where you go. People change, or leave. Sometimes you're the one that--

[She finds herself cut off as she sees a Dean's hulking figure storming towards them. She flounders for half a moment before fixing her gaze on him; her eyes harden as her eyebrows draw down, irate before he even opens his mouth. He doesn't have to say anything, she knows that walk.]

Dean--

[She says his name just as he wedges himself between them, forcing her to drop her hand from Elijah's shoulder. She lets out a brief huff, an irate sigh as she grabs his arm and tries to wrench Dean back towards her. Whatever the hell this is about, she has no patience for his crap if he can't be direct with her.]

What the hell are you doing?! He wasn't doing anything, we're just talking--

[And dancing, but that didn't need to be said.]

[ Elijah was enjoying his time with Jo. She was a very insightful young lady. It's not everyday he can hold an honest conversation with someone that doesn't make him wanna walk into the sun with his daylight ring off. The moment is quickly broken up though by the neanderthal from his first night here. The one who charged at him with a blade and tried to start a fight before he knew exactly what he was wading into. Elijah can already tell that Dean knows Jo and that puts him at a distinct disadvantage. Normally he wouldn't hesitate to break Dean's neck, but he's her friend. He's not trying to burn bridges. ]

Ah. So you've returned. What a pleasure.

[ He doesn't particuarly relish in hiding behind his dates for the evening, but he's figured it might be best if Jo was the one to calm Dean down. The young man had stabbed Elijah, but Dean walked away far more injured that night than he did. He didn't want to risk anymore bloodshed in this nice ballroom. Especially with her dress looking so lovely. He would hate for blood to get on it. ]

And dancing.

[ There's a slow smile that crosses his lips. Talking and dancing can't be a crime. ]

Perhaps it'd be for the best if I was to remove myself and return to my own room?

[ dean doesn't have a weapon drawn, no, it's all shoving and bodily forcing himself between them at this point. of course, he knows a weapon won't really help against whatever the fuck elijah is, but it would damn well make him feel better to have another knife to bury in the the smug douchebag.

jo trying to pull him away goes totally ignored, with dean not budging so much as a foot from where he is, glaring at elijah like the look alone could kill him.

and dancing.

dean wants to punch his teeth in. ]

You can remove yourself the moment I'm done freakin' skinning your ass. [ they'd walked away from each other once before -- dean had scurried off, more like -- but not this time, no. this time there won't be anything left of elijah fucking mikaelson to see daylight. ]

I don't know what the hell you were planning here, but you're gonna regret it, pal, I'm gonna end you--

[ he follows with another shove, fingers curling into fists seconds later he's very, very intent on throwing. ]

Nobody is skinning anybody else--

[Elijah was impressively calm about all this, while Jo herself was clearly fed up within a matter of seconds, going from conversational to aggressive in almost no time at all, matching Dean's own demeanor as she fought to get his attention.

If he was going to storm in here and make an ass of himself, the least he could do was acknowledge her.]

What is your problem?!

[Except she doesn't really need to ask, does she? Her attempts to pull Dean back do nothing; he's all about shoving and throwing punches, which means Jo is quickly forced to change her tactics -- he won't let himself be restrained, but she can put herself in his way. She's a hell of a lot smaller than he is, not to mention fast, and before he can get a punch to connect she's forcibly shoved herself between the two of them, putting both of her hands up and shoving them against Dean's chest as she braves accidentally getting hit in the process. She knows full well what she's put herself in the path of.]

No, Elijah, you don't have to go anywhere because someone else is being an ass--

[She glares harshly at Dean; it didn't matter what she was doing or how invested may or may not have been. The fact that he thought he could shove his way in here and try to shut her down was insulting.]

What the hell is this about? Don't tell me you're jealous. [She thought they were beyond that, better than that, but maybe not.] Back the hell off, Dean, you've got no right to storm in here and start making threats.

[ Elijah almost looks amused at the idea of Dean trying to skin him. He wouldn't get far before he plucked the young man's heart from his probably dirty chest. He was a killer, but killing needlessly wasn't something he did. He just hoped that Jo could contain her very volatile friend to spare them all the unwanted blood shed.

He's probably not helping the situation with how smug he looks right now. Smug and not even the least bit intimidated by Dean Winchester and his silly behavior. He really was lacking in the manners department. Someone had certainly dropped the ball with this young man. He was lacking. Obviously very delusional as well. Elijah had been seconds from snapping his neck that night with very little effort and here he was again. Trying to throw this nonexistent weight around. ]

Maybe you should take a walk, Dean. Jealousy can be a very fickle mistress. I don't believe you'd honestly want to do something you might regret come morning.

[ Oh. So damn smug and not even the least bit ashamed. Fortunately for Elijah it actually sounds like genuine concern for Dean and less like he's taunting the young man. Which he is. Because he just makes it so easy. Elijah takes a moment to button his jacket and adjust the cuffs of his suit jacket. ]

We don't need to throw any punches in front of Joanna.

[ somehow, miraculously, dean doesn't end up throwing a fist at jo despite her barging in between them. instead, he manages to pull it back, the action coming to a violent, staggering halt with dean pressed back a few steps. and instead, she's there now, all prettied up and angry between them in her stupid yellow dress, with dean wanting to throw her out of the way. wanting to shake the obvious answer into her because she has to know what the fuck she was dancing with not two seconds ago.

both of them throwing words of jealousy at him is an attack on something else entirely, and only fuels the fire to see elijah dead. but before that... the words are snapped at her hard, eyes livid as he finally glares right back at her, no one left ignored. ]

He's a goddamn monster, Jo, and you were-- what, playing princess with him?

[ as if that wasn't bad enough, dean's snapping his glare back at elijah again, the name joanna rolls off elijah's tongue with too much ease and familiarity, sparking what might actually be closer to jealousy by now than dean cares to admit. that's not the issue here though, no, if jo had been dancing with anyone else -- aside from the obvious candidates on dean's list of unapproved dates for jo™ -- he would have left her be. but not with him, not when it's some freak of nature with his arms around her.

not with a monster. ]

You get the hell out of my way so I can end this right here and now--

[ sorry, jo, prepare to be shoved aside again harshly, with dean bodily attempting to pass her in favor of getting at elijah, who is gonna need a whole lot more than just some readjustment of his cuffs and buttons. ]

I ain't gonna regret any of this if it means ganking you.

[Size wins out this time around and he manages to shove her out of the way, forcing a clear path between himself and Elijah, but like hell Jo is going to let that stand. She's not stopping to think about what Dean's saying, not really processing any of it, but her temper flares as he barrels forward to-- who knows what. Something stupid, that's for damn sure.

It's not even about Elijah. She doesn't even know him; they've had all of ten minutes to talk and while it's been pleasant, the issue here is that Dean has gone off the deep end, letting his anger get the better of him-- kind of like she's just about to let hers get the better of her.]

Dean!

[She swings hard, aiming precisely for the bridge of his nose in a move that's reminiscent of their first meeting.]

Pull yourself together!

[She moves to shove him again -- one good turn deserves another, after all -- prepared to take another swing if he starts to retaliate. If he wants to throw punches tonight, she'll gladly oblige.]

You're not ganking anyone, you're just being a jackass! Just because you don't like someone doesn't make them a monster-- [All she can think of is the way he talked about Tom, the way he'd threatened to murder Tom without giving her the opportunity to explain, to tell him why that wasn't the way to handle things.] You need to stop this. You can't keep going around attacking anyone and everyone because you've got an itchy goddamn trigger finger!

[She reaches to grab him by the front of his shirt, glaring up at him, the size difference between them almost comical in that moment, especially with her stuck there in this dress she'd really rather be without.]

There is nothing happening in this room that warrants this. Nothing. If you're going to be an asshole, then go do it somewhere else-- I'm done with you jumping down my throat and out my ass because you think you need to play hero, when all you're really doing is being a damn bully. That's not the Dean Winchester I know, so you'd better find him real fast, because I'm sick of whoever this is.

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( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

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were u guys having fun well its over now

dean is here to ruin everything and it's beautiful

elijah is so upset jo is here. he can't just eat you and be done with it, dean.

dont wanna do that elijah u dont know where hes been

boys please could we not

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