|
Post by Kaya on Apr 10, 2017 22:38:46 GMT
The week was going to suck.
Kaya hated the month of July especially, but there was always one week in particular that she despised. Once, it had been a time of stomach butterfly flutters, endless phone calls, and unexpected but easy to deal with disasters. Everything that was supposed to come down to amazing stories later in life. It was supposed to be a month that the little vampire would look forward to remembering and talk about, and annoy her friends with the same stories year after year.
But now it was a time that just mocked her.
At the end of June Kaya had started to show some strain in her usually chipper personality. She still chatted amicably with Rye and showed up with a smile at the club. But there was a darkness in the red eyes that made the more sensitive stay away, unsure of the meaning of the malice that was lurking. By the start of the worst month of her life, she had become unbearable to be around. She hid in her room mostly, trying to hide the emotions and tension the built in her small scarred frame. She would still go downstairs, wave to Rye, grab something to eat, and head to work as usual. But that was it. The personality of a bubbly, flirtacious, somewhat annoying woman was gone. As the dreaded week came closer, she had called in much to the relief of her employees to let them know she was taking a few days off. She had been starting to scare away business.
Then the week came.
Kaya had all but cut everyone off from her life when the Monday started. She didn’t leave her room for blood, to dress up in the shared bathroom, to sit on the couch, or to even check in and see how her friend and roommate was holding up. What she did do was sit on her bed, and stared at the offending object that was across her room, hanging on her closet door. The vampire became a statue for a solid three days as she stared, the only movement was the occasional fidget of something in her hands.
It was Thursday when the the tears started to stream down her face silently. Her eyes and lips gave away no emotion, and she emitted no sound, but the red streams would not stop. It was hours of blood droplets hitting her shirt and staining the silk top before the hunger took in. For the first time in nearly a week an emotion kicked in; annoyance. Vampirism and its need to sate thirst was a curse sometimes. But she knew if she didn’t get something to eat, something regrettable would definitely happen. The statue finally became Kaya again as she sighed, tucking the object she had been toying with her hands into a side pocket and tried to wipe away some of the mess that was upon her face. She then rolled the hair tied with a band behind her back. The locks were long and nearing her waist; sleep made the growth fast but it still inched during her days of numbness. Her body groaned at the feeling of muscles being used as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stared hard at the floor. She prayed that no one would be around. It was the first year she was here in July, and she didn’t quite know yet how to talk about why this was the worst week of her life.
Wiping her bloody hands at her grey slacks, the vampire headed out the bedroom, absentmindedly leaving the door open and letting the crack show the hint of white and ruffles upon a hanger on the closet door, and down the stairs to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and took one of the blood bags that was chilled inside. She went to a cupboard to pick up a glass, and started to pour the cold red liquid. The smell overpowered her desire to be a emotionless statue and her pupils dilated.
“Here’s to another shitty year.” She muttered to herself before taking a sip.
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Apr 10, 2017 23:33:20 GMT
Shit.
It was nearing dawn and Rye was fumbling with her keys, trying to find one of the two on her ring that opened the front door of the building. It had been an abnormally late night at the club - a few of the employees had been begging her to stay late the last few nights. Extra security, they kept repeating, and then they would either look around or look at her as if expecting something. Expecting what? They wouldn't tell her, she'd asked them directly of course. One of humans - who was a dumb human, by all accounts, seemingly unaware he was working in a mixed-species bar - had offered up that the boss hadn't been there. Hm. Kaya hasn't been here for a few days, has she?
This was unusual. Rye searched her memory, and guessed it had been less than a week since she'd last seen her room mate. This would probably not be weird in most circles, but when you're a werewolf holding down a fort with a vampire, it's prooobably cause for some fucking concern. She hadn't heard a pin drop in what was, at certain times, an apartment bustling with the sounds of a busy woman coming in and out. The normal scents of perfumes and makeup, vampire skin, had dissipated but not disappeared. This had been what Rye was thinking while toying with her keyring, until she caught movement in a window a few stories up.
Feminine shape. Baggy clothes. Long, long hair. Kitchen.
Welp, that did not look like Kaya.
Rye finally found the right key, slammed it in the door, slammed the door open, slammed it shut and locked it, and hurtled up a few staircases on boots and hands and jingly metal bits. By the grace of some god who must be enjoying the hell out of the show, she had also secured the apartment key and given her own door a similar treatment. The space between the entryway and the door to the kitchen was covered in a simple leap.
"HOLD IIiiiiii, uh."
The scarred woman in front of her did not smell like the things the werewolf associated with her cohabitator, the hair was different, the outfit was definitely different. But the skin matched, the face matched. Except for.
"That's not blood from the cup," Rye said flatly. Pause. "Rough night?"
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Apr 11, 2017 0:02:54 GMT
There was a loud slam. It took a while for the thought of it to register through the woman's mind, but the sounds of boot stomps and jingles finally lingered through, making the vampire involuntarily jerk. She had no desire to confront her roommate, but knew it would likely be inevitable. The taste of irritation was in the air. Kaya had been lacking in duties without warning, leaving it all to fall upon her werewolf friend's shoulders. Kaya knew it wasn't sensible to find herself becoming frustrated with the prospect of having to explain her lack of communication, but she couldn't put away the want to snarl and retreat back to her room and wallow in self misery.
The loud sound emitting from her friend's lips made the red eyes glance up. She was being studied, and welcomed the lookover as it meant silence. But it wasn't going to last forever. In response to the flat statement, an eye twitched. Then a smirk spread over her cheeks painfully. It had been days since she had actually attempted to show an emotion on those lips.
"Fucking observant, you are. Bravo." Kaya rasped out. The tone was dark, and she wanted to smack her own face for it. Rye was not the one who inflicted this predicament. She did not deserve any maltreatment for catering to the needs of this house and the business they worked together on. But today, of all fucking days, she deserved to let that little demon out and shove the angelic part of her down deep into a pit. It was her day and she could cry if she wanted to.
The vampire turned back to the cupboards, grabbing a short clear glass and slamming it down on the counter next to her red glass. She then opened another cupboard and pushed several bottles aside before reaching to the back, pulling out a whiskey. The bottle said it was nearly 300 years in age. It had been a present for her, and every year on this week for the last five years, she drank from it. She turned back around and twisted off the top, pouring a generous amount into the empty glass and pushed it to the werewolf. She then turned to her own glass and dumped an equally generous amount in what blood was left. Whatever. She could feed and get drunk at the same time. Win win.
Kaya twisted the cap back on and thunked the bottle on the counter. Picking up the glass of alcohol and type A-, she held it out towards the wolf with a sneer.
"A toast, my dear friend, to happier times." Whether Rye would toast or not, Kaya had already swung the glass to her lips and took a long gulp, letting the whiskey burn. Every year she would try to burn away the memories, and every year the burn just made it worse.
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Apr 11, 2017 0:24:55 GMT
Alright, then, everything's going to be weird. Rye's inner monologue toddled along in response to the deformed smirk trying to find a place on Kaya, and it clearly did not fit. The wolf, usually not one to bother studying most things too closely unless there was a viable reason for it, was now trying to run the scene in front of her with the image she'd gotten accustomed to over the past year. Nah, vampires don't get more pale, but something's fucked.
"Hey fuck you," she replied, but it was without malice - more of an automatic retort. She'd shoved her keys back into her pocket and was in the process of tossing her jacket on the kitchen chair, which was where another one of her jackets was also sitting. Kaya had been neglecting the chores she'd volunteered to do around the house, and therein was the key - Rye had not volunteered to do them, and so if the vampire or any houseguests had looked around they'd notice more clutter (though no real "mess", city gunk and rotting food would not abide her nose so Rye had kept up with that kind of basic maintenance).
Even the rough sounds of glasses and bottles were out of the ordinary. Which was to say, Rye was subconsciously now becoming aware of there being an ordinary in this situation. There was no finesse. These were hard, final movements. The kind people used when they intended to be pissed off regardless of whatever else.
Bonus, though, this whole weird scene came with whiskey. Her purple eyes widened. Old whiskey, previously opened, but very, very old. She sure as shit was not going to turn down the glass.
She clinked, for a rare occasion careful to estimate the amount of force and make sure neither of their vessels cracked. "Cheers," and was not far behind Kaya in taking a (much smaller - for a rare occasion) sip. She could taste the wood of the barrel in the fire, and this mixed with the smell of the chilled blood and booze mingling the vampire's own glass. This was fine.
The fridge hummed and the world below wasn't fully stirring yet. Rye was now very much awake. The sum of it all made no sense, and a week or more of abnormalcy was catching up in the wolf's dense forest of a brain. She hadn't even bothered to scan the rest of the apartment yet; there was no intruder so there was no need. "You've been gone a couple days." She raked her hand through a knot of hair by her ear, considered and leaned against the counter, nearby but not within an arm's length, and cast her gaze out the window she'd looked up from earlier. "Either had a real good time, or had a hell of a bad one. I'm not going to make you talk about it, but you're the one who poured the drink, so, if you wanna."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Apr 11, 2017 1:03:33 GMT
There was many times the vampire appreciated having this woman as her choice of roommate and friend. She was a dense little creature and the hard headed nature came before emotions, but she was a listener, not a talker. The lack of questions and demands soothed the stark and iced silence that enveloped their kitchen. Kaya did not mind the retort back to her snark. It was deserved. And she in a way was enjoying having a partner to drink with. The bottle had meant to be shared with another, even if this wasn't exactly the partner that was to savor its flavor and value with the vampire.
She had placed the glass down after her first swallow, looking out towards the window so she wouldn't have to see any emotions rolling over the wolf's face. The world was starting to lighten, but the want to sleep still wouldn't come. The numbness of her brain wouldn't fade away for at least a couple more days. It was almost pathetic how used she was to this certain kind of mourning. Her body would be on fire once it was over, the shock replaced with the realization of the neglect her limbs forced her into.
"Nope." Kaya said at Rye's comment of her being gone. "Been here the whole time." She just didn't want to be. Being gone sounded amazing. There were no feelings when you were gone. No aches or pains. How cruel it was that he was the one who got to experience that sensation while she was stuck here, living it alone.
The next response brought up an even uglier and alien reaction than the ill defined smirk she first threw at her friend. She chuckled halfhazardly, not feeling the tears that reformed now that she replenished her body with the substance it needed to continue. She took another sip of the murky red concoction in her hands and slammed it again on the counter. There was a sound of small crackles.
"What's there to talk about? He's dead and I get to be here and rot and experience this time no matter what. Talking won't change that simple fact." She realized the words that snaked through her lips and closed her eyes. What a fool you are. She leaned her elbows on the counter and hid her face with a hand.
"I'm... sorry. You don't deserve to be talked to this way." She wasn't drunk enough for this confession. The tightness in her chest confirming the suspicion. Feelings didn't deserve to have a place in her little being this week. She reached for the glass and took another sip.
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Apr 11, 2017 22:56:45 GMT
adfadkljad Neither of them were looking at each other, which suited Rye just fine. To remove eye contact was relatively new in the werewolf's life, but a werewolf's life nonetheless - deference to this situation. Her tongue flicked her lip, both for the whiskey and a similar tic to acknowledge the stress, a cue that was neither considered nor useful here. Her mind was instead rifling through what to do with pissed-off women, because this was not her strong suit, and thus far the only thing she'd been able to intimate is that something had happened.
"Mm," in response to the apparent fact that the vampire had not left at all, at least for a few days. Rye did not recall seeing any cups moved nor cleaned, no outfits nor men nor mail or anything else moved around. Or any of her own things moved in a bid for decoration and redecoration (Rye didn't have much outside of her bedroom, but a few of the furniture pieces were things she had acquired, and they moved around often in ever more complicated nesting rituals that the werewolf didn't understand).
Resumption of sound and motion pulled the silver-maned head back toward her friend. That glass is shot after this was filed away for later. Some other part of her mind thought of bad, old comedy routines in which unhappy wives through dishware: So, so, soooo far out of her element. Also now Kaya was tearing up. Crying... blood? Do vampires cry blood or is this a special occasion was the second thought filed away, if only because Kaya was also talking, otherwise Rye would have asked outright and this whole night would go down an even more ridiculous path. No matter, way more interesting developments to tend to right now.
The vampire was now leaning on the counter and apologizing. Rye regarded her for a short time, one gray eyebrow raised, before opting instead to stare into the whiskey and take a longer pull from her own glass. Do vampire females go through something -like- a period? Hm. But someone is dead.
She had apologized. Gotta say something. Rye ventured. "Nope, I don't. But I did deserve being called a cock-sucking hellhound by a warlock who's now banned from the bar for three weeks after trying to sell tranquilizers indoors." Rye took another sip and smirked. "Little shit. The barback caught him because he offered her a discount if she'd slide him an extra beer."
More slow rattling around in the instruction manuals of the mind. Kaya had been cross before, either at the typical troubles of living with another being or at a man or at her job. It always passed quickly, like clouds in an unrelentingly, aggressively sunny sky. This would be a good goddamn time to have at least part of my memory. Time was - shit.
Dawn was coming. "Uh." Rye motioned one calloused hand toward the window. "Might want to move a little deeper in to the apartment."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Apr 11, 2017 23:24:17 GMT
Rye began to babble about the dramas that came with the bar. The filth that tried to infest the little sanctuary that the vampire built for the wanted in this town. On most days Kaya would have questioned and laughed along with her friend, but right now, fuck that place. What was the point of keeping it around when it just kept attracting the sewers of their world. The anger was burning in her chest, fingers starting to claw into her head as she fought to control the bubbling emotions wanting to burst. She had suppressed them for days. Coming downstairs was a mistake. She should have taken the risk of not feeding so she could have stayed hidden in her bedroom until the period was over. Rye was right in a certain way after all.
Rye had mentioned something about retreating from the oncoming sunlight. Kaya did nothing at first, but an intake of breath was the first indication of her response back. Then she started to laugh. It was shrill and gross, the breaking point of wanting to sob tearing into each chuckle.
"Why? Because I might burn?" She hissed out. "Look at me. What's a little sunburn gonna go on this wretched skin. Fuck it, let it come in." The anger burst through, and the raging desire finally took over the steel complacement she had been fighting throughout the week. She grabbed her glass with a snarl and launched it at the window, sneering at the sound of it crashing through and smashing out onto the street below. Someone yelled, but she just laughed.
The laughing suddenly turned to crying as her resolve couldn't take the multitue of emotions she buried for days, slumping to the floor. She leaned her head back against the lower cupboards, feeling her body wanting to split in two.
"Vansoi." The word was bubbled out inbetween aching breaths. "Why did you leave."
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Apr 12, 2017 17:07:55 GMT
Kaya had started..kind of... laughing. Theeeeere it is, the logic-brained beast thought to herself, this is probably about the point shit's going to go down. Like the moment of knowing acceptance before a deer's hit by a car. Like something flying through the air that can't be caught in time, no way. Much like the glass hurtling at and through the other glass and down to the outside. This was all very dramatic, and beyond the straight-forward action-thoughts that piloted the SS Rye through most interactions there was a growing, harmonizing backdrop of FuuuUUuuuUUuuuucckkk~
A lot of shit sure was happening at breakneck speed here. Didn't every other creature have a better tell for shit like this? What is happening. (The wolf had not yet come to the obvious conclusion that not having a heartbeat or pulse or endocrine system in the living sense was probably the reason) "Hh." She rumbled in her throat, an acknowledgement. Rye took another drink.
Her friend had slid to the floor, sobbing with blood pouring out of her face which was apparently how/why all the other blood on her clothes existed, so Kaya wasn't injured? but this was Clearly A Problem. Telling somebody to stop crying generally did not stop the crying. Vampires needed blood to live. Of course they'd also lose it form their eyes, why not.
She set down her glass and the hardened girl's cool shell had dropped off in place of alert confusion. Her own heart had ramped up a beat or two, it couldn't be avoided with the increase of instability on the outward side. If only she actually knew how much her housemate had been suffering lately, before this breaking point. Alas, her best sense was bound to the physical.
Still. Here sat a distraught woman, almost a year of time between the two. That kind of sob tugged at something inside. Not a part of herself she had to contend with much. Had to act. "Kaya, it -" Voice was always gravel. Always rough. Nothin' doin' for that part. She was trying. very. hard. to choose words.
Her brow was knitted with intent. "I'd... be, very surprised," goddammittttt " - if any man actually chose to - up and leave, someone like you." Squatted down with a clean hand-drying towel (Kaya had picked these up, they matched the other towels) in hand, folding it first one way and then the other, waiting to see.. if she wanted it, maybe? To wipe up with. "If there had been... any other option?"
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Apr 13, 2017 6:40:50 GMT
Fuck, was she saying all this? Ever since his death Kaya just hid the past with him deep into a little box in her mind, securely locked away. She only let it peek through during this week, but she supposed that was where she was messing up. No one ever saw her during these few days. She had always made it a point to stash herself away and keep the roller coaster that spun inside her body secured in a tiny little room until it passed. Leaving her room broke the routine, and she couldn’t predict the outcome as a result.
And the goddamn sobbing. She wanted it to stop. The noises were ugly and did nothing to ease the knife that kept plunging itself into her gut. Stupid, stupid, stupid, for leaving the room!
The sound of Rye walking towards her sent iced chills down her limbs, and the sound of her own name made her wince. She didn’t want this conversation. She never wanted this conversation. But the feelings wouldn’t stop, and she knew Rye was not going to just walk away while she made a mess of herself on the floor. The wolf may not have the best methods to deal with emotions, but she never turned her back on the vampire companion.
The question Rye asked made the sobbing slow as a burning hatred suddenly spread through Kaya’s mind. She hissed out a laugh and wiped at her face. Blurred red eyes stared down at her hands as they flexed in front of her, palms up, as if holding something.
“I suppose there could have been.” She couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying as she spoke. All the dams had broken now that someone poked at at the gate she had sealed away. “If there was a way to place a heart back into your chest after it was torn out.” Her fingers curled in front of her, as if grasping the very heart that she had seen years ago. Each hand then became shaking fists, and she could feel blood drawing from the pressure.
“My husband was murdered right in front of me, and I could do nothing. We are supposed to be immortal, yet… he’s just gone and he left me here to rot.” The bloodied hands slid over her face. Laughing and black eyes appeared in her memories, making her shake. Gods she needed a drink.
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Apr 18, 2017 19:28:48 GMT
If nothing else, now was the opportune time to notice everything. Those purple eyes were attuned to the motion of the wince as she moved forward, and so the measured distance stayed measured. The laughing and sobbing were indistinguishable; this is the sound of hysterics. The stress and pain were apparent in the vampire's face, and the body in kind wracked with the in-and-out of breathing. The air around Kaya smelled of dust and drying blood.
Another note, the questions were all getting met with sharper breaths. Hisses, wheezes. Guess that means it's a kind of pain?, Rye's little mental notebook was jotted with all kinds of words and doodles of What To Not Do Now That This Had Gone To Shit. Everything seemed to be hurting. Causing more damage was not what the werewolf wanted to accomplish. What the hell did she want to do, here?
Blink, blink. Heart out of a chest, huh, this was not something the relatively-young creature had experienced in the real world. The mind wandered to the severing of arteries and veins, the loss of connection of vital liquid to the brain. What killed vampires was the loss of one or the other, right? Through violence or poison or magics that ultimately resulted in the same.
Husband - "Shit." Rye breathed out as she put her own back against the stove, as if this news was real-time. This was, somehow, not what the wolf had expected. Had not really bothered to try to expect anything, but still. She became aware of the new scent of blood, assumed her friend had cried anew or something similar. "Goddamn," she added, reaching her left hand up diagonally, finding her own half-emptied glass of whiskey, switching it to her right hand, and extending that hand out toward Kaya. Rye was no mind-reader, but acquiring and sharing the closest booze seemed pretty fucking appropriate right now.
Rye's mouth opened, but by some miracle of some god somewhere, closed again with pressed little lips. Her friend had begun to shudder. She rested one arm over her denim-clad knee, and if Kaya took the glass her other hand went down to the floor. This moment was not for talking, at least no more on the persistent woman's part.
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Apr 19, 2017 8:01:05 GMT
Kaya’s own mind prevented her from hearing the whispered curses her friend uttered. The laughter of the elf vampire resounded in her head, growing in its intensity between the sounds of squelches and stutters. The final memory of what Vansoi sounded as he died had been on repeat for days. It was like a broken record. Kaya did not know how to deal with the kind of grief presented to her. She never talked about this. No one knew of the horror that happened besides her family. Fingers gripped tighter into her palms at that thought, clenching her teeth. Her head started to get dizzy and light, and she started to breathe in attempt to keep her from getting into the panic attack her body was being developed by.
Then a smell hit her nose, and the phantom scents of blood and guts ceased. Her bloodied hands lowered and red eyes looked up in bewilderment, forgetting entirely that she was sitting on the floor in the kitchen with Rye, who seemed to be just as bewildered at the predicament she was forced into. The smell was the fermented grain in the glass that Rye was handing out to her. Eyes studying it for a minute, before it clicked that booze was the thing she craved, and she reached out.
She took in a gulp with a sigh and leaned into the cabinets behind her, eyes closed. She waited as the drink soothed her with its heat, focusing on its burn and aftertaste of oak barrel it had once been aged in. She took another drink, doing the same. The focus on anything except the final moments. Finally her eyes opened and she watched the leftover brown liquid. Her shoulders finally relaxed as she slumped into the wooden frame.
“He…” Kaya caught herself as her voice shook. She had never talked about her former lover ever since his death. But it was out in the open, and she didn’t want the only memory of him to be how he died with her friend. “He was beautiful, Rye. Strong headed and tempered sure, but god did he always know what to say to make me feel amazing. Life was never boring when I ran into him.” A smile suddenly crept onto her face, and she nearly laughed at the memory. A raspy chuckle made due instead. “Literally. I almost knocked him into the ground. God did he hate me when we first met. We did nothing but bicker until…” Her eyes dimmed as fingers went to her lips, and soon replaced them with the glass, taking the last of the remnants inside. Heat blazed at her eyes, but she was able to blink the urge away. She finally gathered the courage to look over towards the wolf, the weight of her secret finally dawning on her face.
“I miss him.”
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Apr 25, 2017 19:31:41 GMT
Timing had worked pretty well in her favor. Just as the vampire had begun to hyperventilate, the drink was on its way across the short distance - a universe away - toward her. Rye heard the breath catch, felt the glass be grasped away, heard the sound of drink and sigh and what was ultimately release.
Calm.
The wolf's mind unwound its spring, her own breathing pattern having slowed back to a normal and controlled cadence. No visible relief - No way in hell we're done yet - but a less urgent need for focus. Leaned against the stove, knotty head turned toward Kaya again. New bloody tears, bloody hands visible along the glass, bloody nails. Guess it's all its own kind of weird fight. Rye did not possess even a third of this emotional depth. All of this was new in some way every damn time.
Hm. Now she was talking. Rye watched her face. He'd seemed nice, from that description. Kaya was smiling a little, less of an off-the-charts crazy and more true to what was her when she was thinking of a better thing.Somebody to match the immortal's swinging spirit with his own. Would have taken a lot of energy, that.
The same strange twinge to the soul, now that those ruby eyes had finally found the purple ones. Protective in a way. Worried in a way. sunrise is still gonna come and a side of the previous Goddamn. Of course she missed him. "Of course you miss him," simultaneous with the thought, as if everything rolled out back-to-front, dry humor but with no harshness in the implication: "He sounds like one of the only people on this planet capable of keeping up with you." Rye offered up a little bit of a cautious smirk, shifted to face her better, which was a way to carry her mind along.
She herself had no current concept of grief - nothing from the past was entirely there in order to know what was missing. Outside the newly-opened window, the sound of morning birds waking up could be heard. "...Make you a deal. We move in to the living room, where we can draw the heavy curtains, and I'll -" fUCK what do I have to bargain wi- " - mix you a 50/50 of the blood and whatever booze in the house you want. Your bottle, one of mine, whatever."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Apr 26, 2017 6:57:40 GMT
Kaya looked suddenly tired at the response Rye had given her, feeling her eyes dim and the urge to sigh coming. Those three words had been hiding in the back of her heart for years, and it took a lot of acceptance to finally reveal her remorse. Of course she missed him. It was so obvious, but the vampire wanted to shake her head. It felt to easy to let her emotions be said in such a simple phrase. Did missing him even begin to cover the want she had for her past love?
She had started to look back away when the wolf talked again, and a new emotion sprung forth. A genuine smile finally found its way back onto her lips, and she offered a soft chuckle as a tear emerged and streamed down her cheek. It was quickly followed by gritted teeth and eyes shutting as the anguish hit. As much as she wanted to joke, she knew it was a lie. No one could keep up with her. Van was proof of what happened when people tried. The sounds of laughs and blackness started to come back, and fingernails once against bit down into her palms, trying to force the pain will away the visions.
Kaya did not acknowledge at first the trade off her friend was offering her, the desire for the vampire’s safety present in the request. Kaya didn’t want to move. She was quite content here, on the floor, like the little bug she felt she was and let the magnifying strength of the sun’s rays burn her. Coward. He didn’t step in the way just so you could let yourself die so stupidly.
“I swiped a bottle of scotch from the bar.” Kaya said, finally opened her eyes again though stared out straight ahead of her. “It’s in my room, on the nightstand. Don’t bother with blood. I just… want it to stop. Blood fucks with that.” The feelings. She wanted the emotions to stop.
She sighed and finally moved to get on her feet, swaying slightly as the aged whiskey kicked in with the movement. “I’ll be on the couch.” She said and began to walk to the darker room, forgetting completely that right now, her room was completely trashed with memories of her former husband. Gifts from him, photographs, the calendar marking today as their wedding anniversary… and the wedding dress that she had been staring at from her bed since this whole nightmare week had started.
|
|
cyb
New Member
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlife
Posts: 10
|
Post by cyb on Jan 1, 2018 3:14:12 GMT
Alright, the couch. She could work with that. “Mhm,” was all she offered, rising after the long silence until the verdict, dropping her jacket on a kitchen chair. The brief respite of cool air was already starting to burn off – it was back to tanktop time. Bruises and scrapes be damned; there were always many in Rye's lines of work and none of her customers cared about them.
She moved toward the doorway and was transported to a world she had previously not considered. She could smell the dried blood intermixed with the mustiness of a shut place. She could see pictures, gifts, a calendar. Kaya was still Kaya in these pictures. The man next to her was handsome – maybe not her own type when she was sober, but he looked like he loved her. They both looked happy. These photos, taken so thoughtfully in indoor lighting, printed and framed before the world's major shift in technology. Relics of many kinds. Kaya hadn't meant for Rye to see this probably.
What was she expecting? Rye rarely anticipated and in that lack of expectation came with it a peculiar lack of surprise in life. If one didn't have a formed picture in their head, then the reality had nothing to replace – it simply materialized and was, as it must have always been, with no fuss.
But this was a special day. The kind of day where her friend was a literal and emotional mess, the kind where Rye was entering a woman's room to fetch something. A box in the back of her mind ticked this one note away; the wolf was not inclined to be an errand-boy but that could be remedied in some way down the line. Back to the moment, the moment right after the thought, wherein one's purple eyes were filled with the reflection of gleaming white.
“Hm.” Of course she hadn't been expecting to see the dress.
Was Kaya's whole room a secret mausoleum of bad days? Rye thought she might not have ever been in here before. It always smelled like perfumes and makeups and clothes. Occasionally like booze and sex. Maybe it was a fashion crypt. What do vampires keep and why?
Somewhere else in her mind, before that breath exhaled, another compartment stirred with a memory that didn't fully exist: Someone other woman had been wearing white like this, once.
No matter. She gripped the bottle of scotch and spun around in only a handful of heartbeats, moving through the house with casual steadiness, her boots clunking on the hardwood floors and carpets alike. As she moved she did manage to reflect on the idea that she should say -something-. This was a special day. “When did you manage to set up all that in your room? Goddamn.” She meant the furniture and decoration in and of itself, but maybe also the mementos.
Handing the bottle down to her friend, Rye was in the process of settling haphazard across a high-backed chair that she usually favored. Her legs slung over one of the arm rests and her shoulder leaned into the chairback, a distance between them at arm's length.
“It's pretty,” pause. “The dress. It. Looks like the kind of thing that a princess from a story would wear.” Another short pause but this time there was clearly more to come. Rye was physically incapable of ending a thought on a nicety. If Kaya was looking at her friend as she bumbled her way through her thoughts, she'd see the ratty-haired woman's sharp features shifting out of their usual mask. Into what? Not pity. Something more familiar. "Hell and beyond to whoever ruined your day."
|
|
|
Post by Kaya on Feb 6, 2018 10:24:38 GMT
Kaya entered the simple living room and looked down at the dark brown leather couch that was part of three, paired with a simple armchair and then Rye’s personal space. Beyond it was the coffee table, littered in her magazines and Rye’s newspaper along with the wolf’s old mug half filled with cold coffee. There was a small stand for the tv and a collection of films that neither of them watched due to busy lives. It was set with a plush rug to accent the furniture, and the walls were lined with books that the pair of them had collected to enjoy together. The two windows were lined with heavy curtains so the vampire may enjoy spending time down here with her friend during the day. Today nothing in this room offered its usual comforts. She despised seeing the life she had built for herself here, in this city. She wasn’t supposed to be living here. She was supposed to be with wherever… wherever he was.
Kaya rubbed at her eyes as the red liquid threatened to spill again and sat on the couch, staring tiredly down at the magazines. The vampire sighed and leaned back into the cushion, dragging her legs up to bend in front of her and letting her feet grip at the edge. Her face leaned down and pressed into her knees, ruining the sweats further with the wet bloody leftover mess on her face, though she really couldn’t give a shit about it much at this point. Her whole mourning outfit was wrecked, as they were every year. She couldn’t really think of a reason why she should change when she went through her process, and it became easier to simple dump the clothes out once it was over it. Kaya gritted her teeth with a growl in her throat. She didn’t want to think of the normalcies that came with this week.
The sound of clumsy boots clunking against the ground as Rye came back made the vampire tilt her head up, red eyes watching the little wolf enter the room. She zeroed in on the scotch in hand but the silver haired girl spoke first. Kaya was gracious enough to smirk as she reached out to grab the bottle.
“It’s amazing how easy it is to fill your life with junk when you’ve been around a while.”
She unscrewed the bottle and drank from the lip. She took in a few deep inhales before lowering the bottle and settled it between her legs. The wolf spoke again with a short sentence and she perked up, though as her friend continued, Kaya cringed and swiftly looked towards the floor. She had forgotten the damn thing was out. That meant… so was everything else. Fuck. She didn’t want to talk about the dress, or the day, or anything else about the life she was supposed to be leading. Thankfully Rye talked again, but it wasn’t words she wanted. The vampire dragged a hand over her face, wondering how possible it would be to simply melt into the couch.
“That’d be my family.” She muttered between her fingers. There was a deep pause as Kaya struggled with the torment of the wretched sounds of Vansoi’s death played over and over again, and the laughter that rang over her head as blood dripped in front of her. Her hand grabbed for the bottle again as she took a swig, needing the stupid courage it brought.
“I’m cursed, Rye. I have to be.” She said quietly, not looking up at her friend. “I should have learned that when they murdered my husband, and again after the fiasco with your old pack, but I guess that’s just part of it. I don’t learn. I’m stuck in this hell forever.” The vampire’s shoulder sagged and she looked up with a sad smile.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into it, but I did warn you, to be fair. You just don’t like to listen.”
|
|