briefing ♔ we'll be the broken lovers with the poison cup

[wynn]

Vampire Smile - Kyla La Grange

WHO || Wynn, Rose, Dean, Ashley, Gus, Elijah [Closed]
WHAT || Carmilla Mission Briefing
WHERE || Round Table Room
WHEN || April 2016 (before Gar's kidnapping)
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

Just as before, accessing the secret room where the Round Table is housed requires using the Knight's keycard to open the glass case beside the mural of the War in Heaven, located across from the ballroom entrance. Using the fire extinguisher as a lever to activate the "door" mechanism reveals the long torch-lit hall plastered in artwork depicting the Knight's history. The tenants of the Knighthood hang large and foreboding over the doors at the end of the hall, which stand open to reveal the brightly lit Round Table, and the majestic crystalline dragon statue presiding over it.

Come in, find a seat, meet your teammates if you haven't already somehow.

Comments

[likedillinger]

Maybe.

Maybe it's more... I wasn't sure I was wired for anything else.

[littledhampir]

[Rose nods slowly, picking at some invisible thread on the hem of her hoodie before chancing a look in Dean's direction.]

And now? [Nobody here actually thinks they're talking about the Knights, do they?]

[likedillinger]

[ well... he does. with his amazing crit fail. ] It's different.

[ he glances at her, although it's impossible not to see the conflict in his eyes ] Being grounded somewhere. Can't say I don't like it, either, because it sure as hell beats crappy hotels and microwave dinners.

It's just every time I try to think ahead to getting old and going gray here... [ he shakes his head ] I still can't wrap my head around it.

[littledhampir]

[She holds her breath, as if that will help her to keep her face schooled to neutral but there's still a tension in her features and shoulders as she tries and... mostly fails not to read too much into his words.]

Do you ever... think about the future at all?

[likedillinger]

Sometimes.

Usually though, it's more thinking about what might go wrong.

[littledhampir]

[Her will saves continue to suck pretty hard as something like guilt twists her features.]

Guess I can't really blame you there...

[likedillinger]

I didn't mean-- [ he sees that guilt and frowns, finally realizing that they might not be on the same wavelength here ]

It just feels like I've spent my whole life runnin', even more so since everything that happened back then. [ the way his features darken makes it clear what part of his life he's referring to ] Like if I stop, the darkness is gonna catch up and swallow everything I happen to be standing next to.

But I'm tired of it. Living that way, it wears you down, makes it so there's not a lot that feels real.

[littledhampir]

[Uncertainty settles across her features, Rose unsure of his words as much as her own but she takes the time to consider them. To give weight to their meaning before finding her voice again.]

Then stop. [She makes it sound so simple, as if he could just make that decision here and now and it would all work out.] Not for me, not for Sam or the Knights. Stop because it's what you want... If it is what you want? But you can't make choices based on what might go wrong... you do that and you might as well throw the towel in right now cause they win, and they don't even have to lift a finger to do it.

[likedillinger]

[ he just studies her for a second, before smirking a bit ] You're pretty damn smart, you know that?

[littledhampir]

[It takes a second for the smile to tease its way onto her lips, her shoulder brushing against his as she briefly leans into him.]

Don't know if I'd go that far. [A low chuckle escaping.]

[likedillinger]

I won't tell, don't worry.

[littledhampir]

[She could let it go. Not push. Keep ignoring the very subject that they hadn't really talked about but as her smile fades away, she finds the words that should be said, aren't so easy to bury anymore.]

Do you... see me differently now? [Stealing a quick look in his direction before pointedly looking ahead.] Because I died.

[likedillinger]

[ that seems to surprise him ] ... Different how?

[littledhampir]

[Gaping as she struggles to make herself say the words that have been swirling in her head ever since her rez.]

Like... Now I'm just another person who's going to end up leaving you.

[likedillinger]

... You think that's what I see when I look at you?

[littledhampir]

[With a carefully crafted mask, she tries to keep him from seeing just how haunted she has been by this. Rose still pointedly not meeting his gaze as she makes her mouth work.]

I think... [Swallowing hard.] Everyone you've ever cared about has died and when you think about the future, all you see is what might go wrong and I worry that's because...

[Frustration twisting her features as her words don't come out the way she wants them to.]

I used to be the exception and then I got blown up by a damn tank.

[likedillinger]

And all that did? Was make me more determined to hang onto you.

Why do you think I did what I did?

[littledhampir]

I know why you did it. [She comes to a stop so she can turn to finally look at him. Lines creasing her brow as she struggles to give voice to her fears it for only the second time.]

I know because if it had been you and not me? I would have done anything to get you back. [As if that was just a given.]

[likedillinger]

Exactly.

But it didn't change the way I felt about you. [ there's a weight behind his eyes, but the words are sincere ]

[littledhampir]

Dean.

I've never doubted how you feel. [The small smile that graces her lips, something close to bittersweet.] But you know me.

[Rose doesn't run from danger. She throws herself headfirst into it and dying twice hasn't changed that.]

I couldn't really blame you if you pulled away because you wanted to protect yourself. [Pushing through.] Mostly I worry that you'll get hurt or pull away because you think it will protect me.

[likedillinger]

[ lmao too real

he tries not to visibly wince at the assessment, because, well. that does sound like him, doesn't it? he at least doesn't just dismiss her concern. after a pause he asks: ]

You never think you might be better off, if I'd never walked into your life, even without all the other bullshit? I know all the things you say I've done for you, Rose, and I'm not forgettin' that.

But even if it meant that could happen to you again, that or worse, there's no small part of you that wonders?

[littledhampir]

No. [The reply comes quickly. No hesitation. Not a kneejerk answer but rather one she believes so completely that she doesn't need to think before she gives it.

Taking a step closer.] No, Dean.

You know what my worst case scenario is? Losing you. Everything else? I'd rather have one more day with you than a lifetime of anything else.

[likedillinger]

[ one hand moves up to encircle her waist, his eyes falling shut a second as he lets that sink in, fights against the intrinsic part of him that wants to reject it as even possibly real. ] I'm not leavin' you, alright.

[littledhampir]

[Ever since her rez, there has been a weight pressing on her chest. One she hadn't entirely understood until now but giving voice to her fears? This time to the one person who needed to hear them. When he pulls her close and she breathes in his scent, she can feel the heaviness lifting.]

I'm going to hold you to that... [A promise that if he tried, she would go after him.

A hand moves up his chest, Rose's head angled so she can look at him. Eyes darting back and forth as she commits every detail of his face to memory.]

I'm proud of you, you know that? [A small smile, twitching its way across her lips.] Take the promotion. Don't take it, I don't care. Whatever you choose to do... I'll back you.

[likedillinger]

[ that draws a little smile, one that's genuine enough to hit his eyes, maybe even more than his actual expression. ] What, you think I'm gonna give up that whole sword and suit of armor thing that easy? [ the forced humor translates well enough - he's gonna take it, along with everything else that implies. ]