d | a november catchall

[damnpire]

WHO: d & others
WHERE: stygia mostly probably
WHEN: nov.
WHAT: general meetups, notice board things, etc.
WARNINGS: me freezing spoon's comment so i can laugh every time i see it, reference to csa (laurent), snake imagery (augustine)

OOC plotting post

Comments

[damnpire]

[Honestly, he thinks he has overstayed his welcome, and he almost just excuses himself. It isn’t as if they can’t continue this conversation another time while they are in Hale.

But it feels a little impolite. For now, he doesn’t get up yet.]

I can use what they have, or engineer it to work the way I need it to. You don’t have to worry. I can show you if you’re that interested, but this is something I’ve made for myself for a long time.

[Will she take this the wrong way too? He doesn’t want her to feel as if his comfort is resting on her shoulders alone.]

I appreciate your willingness to help.

[craters]

（ d: will be polite even if it kills him.

she gives him a sideways glance, and then tucks her hair back over one ear where it's come loose from its slightly off-centered tail. now that the anger is burnt away to nothing, she just feels worn thin and tired, the slightly jittery soreness that follows coming down from a surge of adrenaline. ）

You don't have to keep saying that, you know?

（ the general sentiment, that effusive gratitude. ）

I want to help you.

[damnpire]

[Yes...

He lowers his eyes beneath his lashes momentarily before looking up at her again. Like it's a bow of apology.] I know. [Very slowly, he pulls himself up into a stand. He situates the hat on top of his head again, but doesn't move away.]

I'll be in Hale whenever you're ready. You don't have to rush to leave your clinic. I'm not in a hurry to make them. I'd like to take my time.

[The need is pressing, but the execution doesn't have to be speedran.]

It's nice, by the way. Your clinic.

[craters]

（ you, sir, are goddamn infuriating. sakura blows out a breath, but joins him in standing, not quite sure what to do with her hands.

infuriating, yes, but there's something about his kindness that threatens to drown her in the ocean of it all. kindness isn't inherent. it's learned, and often through great hardship — it takes work, to exist, to live, and be kind when the world (every world, she thinks, not just her own) is at its core an uncaring place, chaos wrapped in cruelty. it's up to people to make it better. sometimes they do, and sometimes they fail.

she looks at him a long moment, and then reaches up to straighten his hat just a touch. ）

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. But I want you to know, your company would never be a hardship. （ then, aiming for a bit of levity — ） Even if sometimes I really want to throw you in the bay.

[damnpire]

[He accepts the look with silence, not thinking too much of it (aside from her being Done with him), and he's surprised a little when she bothers to adjust the hat. Will he habitually pull it down over his eyes more later as he leaves and ruin it? Probably.

Really ought to throw him in the bay.]

It would be an injustice to you when you have to fish me out afterward.

[A... joke.......????

His expression doesn't change and neither does the inflection of his voice. So who is to say... He turns and ducks low to be able to pass through the doorway without taking himself out at the head. But he waits politely on the other side...? To be lead out.]

[craters]

（ for now, the bay is Pending.

it pends.

ominously. ）

Who says I'd fish you out?

（ obviously she would, but that's said with a trace of the mischievousness missing from the main bulk of their alarmingly fraught conversation this evening.

she even loops her arm in his, and guides him out. ）

Give me a few days and I'll have that plasma replica for you. After that we just need the lab equipment, that should be easy enough.

（ local woman, 19½, unfortunately lacking the gift of foresight doesn't realize that in a scant few days she's going to be punching guards in an underground jail... but that's neither here nor there. ）

[damnpire]

[She'd let him drown and that would be the most fair thing. He is acting as if he can't swim when it's not the case, but the joke was there to take.

He allows himself to be lead out by the arm while also not realizing in a few days he would be half-naked and locked away inside of prison. Honestly. Arrest him for trying to break into the Palace to keep Laurent from getting in trouble, but don't arrest him for no reason.]

Hale's equipment should suffice, but I'm going to check Mirth as well.

[Well... He was going to.]

[craters]

Okay.

（ they reach the limits of her little territory, and she stops at the threshold of the canvas tent like... well, like a vampire who hasn't been given leave to cross. ）

Don't be a stranger, okay?

[damnpire]

[Sakura, your future D vampire curse. He pauses just long enough to tip his head at her politely in acknowledgement and farewell.

And then he turns away and departs.]