{ dreams we had once remembered || open! }

[kampfend]

Who: Allison Argent (driven), Annabeth Chase (oikodomae) Mikasa Ackerman (kampfend) and you!
Where: all around Wonderland Storybrooke!
When: the event!
Rating:PG-13 for safety reasons?
Summary: catch-all event log! feel free to latch onto a starter or to make your own.
The Story:

KATHRYN BRUNT/Allison Argent

Kathryn is a junior at Storybrooke High. She has a decent group of friends and a great girlfriend and an okay family life, other than the fact her parents never seem to be around or really care much for her general state of being. She really has no complains, except for the part where she's not really sure what's missing. Because something is, and she's trying to find it, one of those people who are friends with everyone but only close with a couple, who changes hobbies every few weeks, few months, just because nothing seems to stick. She takes a lot of walks on her own, tries a lot of things despite knowing she isn't good at them, all looking for that one piece in her life that isn't there.

The one piece she can't seem to find.

But on the outside, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. Her smile looks okay, she holds herself okay, she's always with friends or doing extracurricular or anything she can find to pass the time. The only issue? None of it seems to really be working, and she doesn't know why.

ANNA CHASTIN/Annabeth Chase

Anna's a senior at Storybrooke High, with great grades and an even better resume and is looking to go to Boston University next fall. She's got a great boyfriend - Nico/Nick - who she has been dating for just over a year now and really does love. The only issue? Is that there seems to be this boy, Percy Jackson/Thesues Parker Lewis, who for her whole life has always been more than just a little annoying. Now? Now that annoying is something else, something she's not really sure how to handle.

Add on a previously horrible relationship-and-break-up with one of her closest family friends - Luke - that has left her feeling not only incredibly guarded, but still heartbroken. Still totally shattered. He ruined her life, ruined her chances at love, and if it weren't for Nico/Nick she would still be a horrible mess today.

Other than that, she holds her head up high, because she is the class president and she does have to set a good standard. And while her own personal life may be complicated, it is also personal, and she can't let that bleed into her school work or her potential future.

MELISSA ANDERSON/Mikasa Ackerman

No one really knows what happened to Melissa. They know that the Andersons used to be incredible people, with a beautiful daughter and loving parents. They also know that one night, their family was ruined, when the Andersons were brutally murdered in front of their young daughter for no reason at all. No one really remembers details, no one really wants to talk about it, but they all feel for the young girl who had her family ripped away so violently and suddenly from her normal, good life.

Since then, Melissa has become a haunted, quiet child. Barely says a word, barely seems to react to anything around her. She was taken in by a foster family that isn't mean to her, per say, but they don't really remember she's there. They leave her on her own, ignore her, forget she's there - the only reminder being the check they get in the mail every month. Not that Melissa seems to complain much - she doesn't talk much - and except for a small boy that she always seems to follow around she doesn't actually have any friends. She moves more like a ghost than a child, but she's still there, keeping to the corners and out of the way.

[ ooc action spam and/or prose is welcome! as are text threads or phone calls or whatever you want. heading out for a movie right now but I'll put up some general starters for these girls when I get back, but feel free to slap something down that I can get to as well! c: ]

Comments

[driven]

[ honestly? she has, once or twice. an awkward moment or two that kathryn could pull off if only for the adrenaline of it. the moment she felt herself adapting. it had felt good, in a way, to pull it off. get away with it. but that was it. now, she avoids the interaction at all, knowing stories from clare about what he was capable of, what could happen. if anything, kathryn wanted to keep clare from having to deal with the guilt of if something did happen, wanted to keep her from worrying.

still, she can't bring herself to feel weird about being in this house. even in light of knowing that clare isn't even here. if anything, she's confused about where clare could be - she's not with cordelia (already checked) or any of their other friends. she's not at her after school clubs or anything. there's a hint of a smile when benjamin mentions clare's coming and going habits - fond, but unsure. usually kathryn does know those things, but that would make sense, seeing as she and clare tended to go everywhere together. but when it involved her family? kathryn knows how clare gets. even if kathryn can't see why when it concerns benjamin.

she takes another step inside, feeling unsure of how to take how minimal his room is. compared to clare's room - posters and art that kathryn had put up, pictures of the two of them, pictures with cordelia - it was a little jarring. ]

You're already working on it? I bet teachers love you. [ is she trying to force conversation? maybe. but it doesn't feel weird to her, somehow, so she just keeps going. she's got nowhere else to go, after all. her eyes fall back to him when he takes off his glasses, watching (staring) at how he looks without them. she hasn't seen it before, so it's a bit of a shock.

but then kathryn is looking somewhere else, suddenly feeling like she was being too awkward, making her way over to the bed before looking back to him in question - wondering if it was okay that she sat. ] Honestly? [ this is the only house that doesn't remind her of that strange curling in her stomach that has been happening lately, so she wants to hide away in it. ] I don't really want to go home. Am I bothering you?

[unharnessed]

[ adrenaline is new to him. the rush he gets when he thinks about putting the Welcome to Storybrooke sign far behind him in the rearview mirror. it's sneaking out in the middle of the night with Clare and sitting behind the wheel, putting pedal to the metal and being grateful when he doesn't take out a mailbox or a stray cat. he feels it creeping up on him now when the house is empty and Benjamin is alone in his bedroom with his sister's girlfriend, trying to pretend everything about it is normal because it should be. life's not supposed to be messier than it already is. so what if she's beautiful? plenty of girls in this town have that going for them. pretty is only pretty until it's gone.

( a surface crush, he tells himself. that's it. )

he's not a bad person. he loves his sister. there's only one family member he would betray, and it isn't Clare. he instantly regrets feeding bits and pieces to Kathryn and not giving her more to go off of. the fact remains: he doesn't know where she is, not for certain. he only has an idea, and ideas aren't worth getting anyone worked up over. she's as open as she needs to be and that isn't always the same amount. but she's a survivor and Ben can't fault her for holding on for dear life in any of the ways that work for her. he simply wishes that if Kathryn isn't Clare's lifesaver anymore, then she would tell her as much. ]

Yeah, [ he admits hastily, a little uncomfortably too because he recognizes how much of a loser it makes him. ] I'm a regular teacher's pet. [ he puts his glasses back on, tight lipped with his smile because he must seem like the most boring guy alive to her - the girl that he's noticed trying new things, again and again, without hesitation.

or so he thinks.

he sits up straighter as she stops hanging in the entry of his room and strolls all the way in, headed closer to him. she's bored, he realizes. bored enough to talk to him with nothing else to do. he gathers up the items on his bed ( a notebook, a textbook, several printed articles with sticky notes here and there ) and leans over to set them down on the carpet. clearing a space for her comes to him too easily and he swallows once, hard, and puts his feet on solid ground instead of across his bed as they had been. he doesn't want to be too relaxed around her. ]

Oh. [ and the weird look isn't because of her, so much as it is him struggling with the thought that someone would want to be in this house instead of their own. ] Honestly? I don't think you could bother me if you tried. But, if you'd like me to humor you, I could sigh repeatedly after every word you say.

Or we could play a few rounds of Mortal Kombat. [ don't even be surprised that a family full of soldiers only has fighting games. ]

[driven]

[ kathryn has a feeling, but that's all it is. the same feeling she's had for some time now - weeks? days? she doesn't know. a feeling like a storm is coming, like something is wrong, but she has nothing to base the feeling on and absolutely no reason to blame the feeling on clare. clare is one of the few things in kathryn's life that she can really depend on, that she can have without worry. she and clare have been closer than close, which is why their relationship made sense. kathryn can't just think that some feeling is the reason to actually doubt anything, or worry about anything.

clare's just out. that's all it is.

but allison doesn't want to go home to an empty house. doesn't want to bother luna, or cordelia. doesn't want to go anywhere because even amid the war memorabilia and tension that hangs in the air, kathryn likes being at the roads'. likes spending time here. and, as it turns out, can hold onto that feeling even when clare isn't here, and it's just ben she's seeing. kathryn can't help the way she smiles when he gets a little nervous when she asks him about his homework, laughing a little when he moves to shuffle things off the bed. ] That's not a bad thing. Sometimes I kinda wish I could do my homework early- I just don't have the motivation.

[ she takes the seat next to him on his bed, aware of just how tense or out of place he seems to be, but not feeling it herself. she's strangely comfortable sitting in here and she doesn't know why, but she's not willing to leave just yet. she laughs when he continues, though, eyebrows shooting up her forehead. ] You'd do that for me? [ as her grin spreads. ] You're too sweet.

[ another laugh, and then kathryn is falling back to lay on his bed, eyes turned to look up at him. ] We could, and then you'll beat me just as fast as Clare does. I know you Roads and your Mortal Combat tricks.

[unharnessed]

Procrastination. The greatest flaw since Achilles' heel. [ sloth will get you dead as fast as anything else. he doesn't see the harm in it with her as long as she eventually gets them down, completed before the countdown. ] Poring over textbooks isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[ it may be his ticket out of here ( which makes him unwilling to throw it away ) but he's aware of how much of the high school experience he's missing out on by hiding out in his bedroom or the library. "the high school experience." it can't be so great. everyone around him looks miserable half of the time. the emptiness inside of him that he tries to fill with stories and hope about his future never loses depth and part of him has to wonder if it's because he doesn't belong reading in the background. something in his chest swells at her grin, her unconcealable joy, and he feels the anxiety seep out of him. he's been pulled tight like a wire since he heard footsteps at the bottom of the staircase. Benjamin finally eases into himself, distracted by her company. ]

What can I say? I'm a sucker for [ a pretty face ] a friend in need.

[ she's been around the family long enough for him to call her that without it being awkward, even if they aren't close. he can count on two hands the number of times they've sat together like this - after school, downstairs, in the car waiting for Clare to get back in it after putting gas in - and none of them have been highly personal. he feels close to her. as though she's a fixture in his daily life, as familiar as the sun rising, and it would be weird to remove her from the program now. she falls back on his bed and he pulls one knee up, half-turned towards her. ]

Tricks? The word you're looking for is skill. We've perfected the careful art of button mashing and kicking the other guy while they're down. [ is this the face of a guy that uses cheat codes?? ] If you don't want to go home and you don't want to play video games, then what do you want to do?

[driven]

Tell me about it. [ the truth of the statement settles in her as it settles in most teenagers. aware of the reason and the flaw and yet completely unable to grasp just how easy it would be to remedy it. how much better life would be. she can look at the problem, can see the answer to it, but will immediately turn - instead - to her friends. to her newest hobby. to anything and everything that isn't studying. because while her own personal standard is always in the a-b range, it's too much effort if she has to push it to her social life. to the hours she could be spending staring up at the sky, driving around with clare. ]

No, but it'll help get you into college. [ college. a step she hasn't yet taken, beyond the school-wide necesity to at least look. she's got ideas in mind, places that aren't more than a name on a piece of paper. not because she doesn't think she can do it, or because she isn't excited about it. more so she just hasn't had it settle in, yet, that it's right around the corner. hasn't let it settle in a way that will sit heavily on her conscious - college. four years. away from storybrooke, away from her friends, away from the only life she's barely managed to settle in by now.

if she doesn't know who she is in the one place she's lived her whole life, who will she be somewhere new? somewhere different?

she doesn't want to know.

so instead, she recites high school conselor knowledge. repeats phrases she's hear da hundred times over. 'colleges like this, colleges like that'. colleges like people who know who they are and what they want, things kathryn isn't sure of. isn't sure she'll ever be sure of. she shrugs and smiles and feels at ease enough where she is now. isn't that enough? ]

I'm serious though, if I'm bugging you you can totally kick me out. I don't want to mess up your study schedule. [ there's only a hint of a tease, there, covered mostly by pure honesty. kathryn does worry that she's imposing - because while she's known benjamin mostly her whole life (as long as she's known clare) it's always been the 'best friend's younger brother'. they get along because they do, because allison does like ben and ben doesn't seem to think she's too annoying, but that's all it's been. smalltalk here, a shared joke there. a wave in the hallway at school before kathryn was pulled away by clare's hand in her own.

he makes her laugh again at his question, her hands settling over her stomach, one starting to fidget with a ring she'd bought earlier that year. an arrow that wraps around the middle finger of her right hand. it'd caught her eye, for whatever reason, and now she can't seem to take it off. ] Yeah, perfected the art of totally beating up on everyone who isn't as good at it as you are. [ a.k.a. whose girlfriend seriously won't let them win once? ever? no, it's better for their relationship if they avoid the game entirely - that was decided some time ago.

kathryn's eyes go back up to the ceiling for a moment - more in thought than anything - before she looks back over to him. ] I don't know. Anything. What books are you reading? [ and then, because it has to be said. ] Not one's you're reading for school. Or ones you are and actually like.

[unharnessed]

College isn't going to amount to much if I don't have anyone to share my acceptance letter with. [ it slips out of him. so many years of practicing to keep his inner monologue inside where it belongs, only to spill the beans the second he's shown kindness. he means with friends, possibly even a relationship, but he covers for that quickly. she doesn't need to know about the things that trouble him. ] If it isn't enrolling in the military, then nobody in this house is going to want to hear about it. Even if they did, [ he thinks of Clare here ] it's not something they would openly admit.

[ he doesn't know why he felt compelled to share that with Kathryn, although, he's positive that Clare already knows that he's running for the door the first chance he gets. all of the Roads children do eventually. he isn't a fighter ( not for the sake of it ) and their aren't careers within those uniforms that he's interested in looking into. he wants a civillian's life. he's drawn from that by her loose apology, not quite sorry, but giving him permission to dismiss her. Benjamin shakes his head; some of her teasing goes right over his head, sifted through a filter. he's being too intense. that's what it is. books make him more serious, more involved in the relationships he does bother to maintain. ]

Math comes to me naturally. History's been drilled into my head for as long as I can remember. Science takes some work, but I'm ahead in the reading in every class, which is about as embarrassing as it sounds. You're not the only one that could benefit from a break.

[ his gaze drops to the arrow on her finger and he wonders where she got it, what it means to her. he doesn't ask. it's probably a gift from his sister and he doesn't want to hear about that. ]

Nope. [ he denies her but he's in good spirits. there isn't a frown line anywhere to be seen. ] We've already established what a huge geek I am without talking about my collection of fantasy novels.

[ that may have seemed like he was talking about them but he is, in fact, not. ]

Next suggestion pending.

[driven]

[ the comment throws her off for a second to two, leaves her confused and staring at benjamin like she'd never thought of it that way. sure, she's never really seen him hang out with any other friends, the few times she's been around he's either been tagging along or sitting up in his room. does he really not... ]

That's not true. [ she wants to sit up, but she doesn't, thinking the movement might make her seem more crazy than just trying to make a point. she looks at him with one of those i'm being serious look at me sort of looks she gives to clare whenever she's being blown off, but she doesn't know if it'll work. ]

You and I both know Clare cares about you. A lot. [ she's watched her girlfriend stress out about her younger brother, after all. there are very few people that clare roads stresses out about. ] Plus- I'd like to know. Getting into college isn't an everyday kind of thing.

[ kathryn doesn't blame him in any way, shape or form when it comes to high-tailing it out of this town. she's probably be on that same boat, if it weren't for the connections she has, the family, the friends. keeping all those while also on the run to anywhere but here? doesn't seem possible to her. but at the same time, she doesn't really know if she's that attached at all. like a feeling, low and settled in her, that says she's used to this. that there's a reason she doesn't feel settled here.

but then her eyes leave him, head back to the ceiling, laughing only when he mentions being a week ahead and embarrassed by it. ] Okay, I take back what I said. You're every teachers dream.

[ she looks back up to see him staring at her ring. rather than try and put it away, put off by the look, she feels an odd sense of pride. is about to ask him if he wants to see it, when he continues. and outright denies her. ]

Oh come on. [ she reaches out, then, smacking him on the knee with her hand. ] I want to know about your fantasy novels. I've read fantasy novels! [ one. once. shh it was really super long and she totally got into it but seeing that the sequel was roughly eight hundred pages long she decided not to worry about it. ]

Okay, fine. [ she settles again, stubbornly. ] Movies. Not motivational sports films or war movies. Meaning that Miracle and Pearl Harbor are not options. [ a.k.a. two movies clare has made kathryn watch TOO MANY TIMES. ]

[unharnessed]

Yes, she cares about me. But nobody in this house is allowed to care about anything that doesn't somehow serve as combat training. [ his point is that if he shared his admittance at the dinner table that he planned to attend college as soon as his time was up at the local high school, rather than shipping off to the military with a buzzcut and taking a class here and there for their careers, well, he would be asking for the plate to fly across the table and shatter behind him against the wall. he doesn't know if Clare will show her approval, her joy, or just let it slide to the carpet like salad from a broken dish. ] I'm sorry. None of this is your problem. If I get in, I promise you'll be one of the first few people I tell.

[ assuming she doesn't get out of town first. ]

You want to hear about wizards and vampires and knights? Which aren't all in the same story, for the record. [ dirty, dirty shame. she does not want to know! he doesn't even know why he's sharing against his better judgment. supernatural creatures, fantastical times - they're great. they're perfect. in the end, he always recognizes that good will triumph over evil. the hero's journey will certainly cause strife and doubt, but the greater purpose will always come to fruition. a guarantee that real life simply can't hand out to him.

Ben laughs at her, short and maybe a little morbid. ] Were they ever options for anything other than torture?

[ while he's grateful he doesn't have a younger sibling to make him sit through Frozen six thousand times, Clare's just as bad. all of their siblings had a movie or two they liked to loop and quote the lines back to the television at. he's not much better. ]

Fine, but no laughing, or kicking me out of my own bed on a technicality. [ because his taste in movies is as sucky as the next teenager's. ] The Star Trek reboots despite their flaws and . . . Fight Club.

[ what? he's a boy. ]

[driven]

[ she deflates a little when he says that, because part of her wants to get defensive over clare. wants to say no, she'll care, she'll care like a normal person would care. would get excited and be proud of her brother and everything would be fine. but she also knows how things work in their family, and she knows better than to just assume something because she believes in clare.

it settles over kathryn, there, just how right he is about it, and it kind of depresses her. there's nothing she can really do about it. because it's not her family, it's not her place, it's not her anything to do except be a friend and sit here and be happy for him. so she takes a breath, looks back up at him with a smile. ] Please do. I'll be excited, at least.

[ because as much as she isn't all that attached to this city, this place, she can't really see herself going anywhere else.

his next comment has her laughing again, something light and easy, eyebrows shooting up in amusement. wizards and vampires and knights. she could think of worse things to read about. ] Maybe I do! I don't appreciate your judgement of my interests. [ which, really, is a joke in itself. she's read a fantasy book or two, read a supernatural story here and there. knights and princesses and royal courts never really interested her all that much - something about women needing saving, needing protecting, never really sitting well with her. but she can see the appeal, can see wanting to be whisked away to somewhere else, anywhere else, and there were times she wished she could like them more than she does.

but then he laughs at her and kathryn just laughs with him. she loves those movies, sure, but not every time. quite literally every weekend. ] Torture's a little mean, they're not bad movies.

[ they've just been watched too often. kathryn believes if you can quote an entire movie from start to finish, maybe you shouldn't want to watch that movie every time the opportunity arises. ]

Why would I laugh? [ so she's quite when he continues, waiting for his answer. she doesn't know anything more about star trek except that it was a tv show and not star wars. her face does break out into an almost-laugh grin when he mentions it, though, holding it back

she's not going to laugh. she's not going to do it. but then he says fight club and she's sitting up, so quickly that for half a second she's dizzy. ]

Whoa- sorry. [ a turn to face him. ] I love Fight Club.