[ Poe heads for Caroline's place at a jog. No one sounds like that, no one says I need you like that without things being...
Bad.
Bad in a way that means he asks BB-8 to stay at home, and to go to Cassian's for the night if Poe doesn't come back. To tell him not to worry, that he's just with Caroline. (He wouldn't have bothered, before his own disappearance, to make sure BB-8 has military-trained company.)
[ Things are bad. They're very bad and Caroline isn't sure where to start. She learned a long time ago not to be reckless and a part of her had a sinking feeling that Katherine, Stefan and Damon's disappearance might have been some kind of punishment for what she'd done. (It wasn't rational, if the town wanted to punish her, they should have taken Elena). But she needs to do something, she needs to fix this.
By the time Poe gets there, she's pacing her porch and the moment he's up the steps, she's moving to pull him into her arms for a hug, the tears falling all over again. She buries her face into his shoulder.]
[ He returns the hug fiercely, rubbing her back. His priority at the moment is calming her down, making sure she's all right. He can't find any signs of injury. That's a start.
Unfortunately, it doesn't take a genius to guess what she means by they're gone. Not any more. ]
Stefan. [ She murmurs his name, her heart aching at the idea of him being gone the most.] Damon and Katherine. They're just gone. [ She's being too reckless now, despite knowing better on some level, just saying this out in the open. But she's upset, she's worried.] They've been missing for three days and now all of their things are just... gone. And my memories of them... from here... are gone. Faded.
[ Damon. The one from the bar. Poe can't say he likes the guy, but clearly he matters to Caroline. That's the important part.
Any assurances he was going to offer about their vanishing, any comparisons he was going to make to his own, die when she tells him the rest. Didn't Cassian say something about that? About someone disappearing, memories fading?
It's a new problem, a new danger, a new mystery to add to the list. The top of the list, right now.]
Okay. [ He brushes her hair back from her face. ] What do you need right now?
[ To cry, to scream, to sleep, to tear down the rest of the town. Some he can help with, some he can help talk her down from. If she doesn't know, well. They'll figure it out. ]
[ She looks at him when he brushes her hair from her tear stained cheeks. Her eyes meet with his and she remembers to drop her voice, quiet but probably still audible to eavesdroppers.]
I need to find out what happened to them. I need to know where they are, if they're okay. [ Because Stefan wouldn't stop if the tables were turned and Elena isn't going to stop until she finds Damon. And even though Elena is human now and she can't turn off her emotions, Caroline is exhausted and angered by the idea of watching her friend suffer like this.]
I have to help them. [ But she probably looks exhausted, paler than usual and worn ragged. Caroline Forbes usually has the veneer of perfection, every hair strand in place but right now, she looks a mess.]
[ He puts an arm around her shoulders, trying gently to lead her inside. Right now, she reminds him of battleshocked pilots, pushing themselves until they drop or break. ]
Caroline. If it was someone else, and they didn't know how long it'd been since they ate or slept, what would you tell them to do?
[ Damn him, he gives her a taste of her own good friend medicine. She sighs softly, relenting as she sort of slumps and lets him guide her inside.] I wouldn't tell them anything, I'd make them eat and sleep.
I gotta warn you, I'm not much of a cook. You want Cassian for that. [ There's a tiny note of affection in the mention of Cassian that Poe couldn't hold back if he wanted to.
He lets her go when they're in her kitchen, wetting a washcloth and filling a glass of water. The latter, he hands to her. The former, he uses to wipe her face, before smoothing it over her forehead for a moment. ] Take care of you now so you can manage the rest later.
[ He smiles a little. ] That's what my dad used to say.
You don't need to cook me anything. [ she puts in softly. She did have leftovers in the fridge, although those leftovers were mostly because food curb the cravings for blood. It had been over a day since her last blood bag because she'd been with Elena.
In the pantry, there was a mini fridge filled with them. But that was neither here nor there, she still hadn't broken the news to him that she drank human blood, after all.
She lets him wipe at her face, feeling a little like a coddled child but not fighting it. She takes a sip of water.]
He's practical. Which I guess is close to wise. [ He sets the washcloth aside and takes her free hand in damp fingers. ] He taught me not to start something I didn't mean to finish. How to be kind. Not to come home after curfew on a school night.
[ The last is lightly teasing. When he speaks again, it's more serious. ]
My mom's the one who taught me that no matter how bad things seem, no matter how dark a moment gets, the galaxy is fundamentally a good place. There are people here who will fight with you. Including me and mine.
[ She puts the water aside with the washcloth on the counter when he takes her free hand, her eyes meeting with his as he speaks, managing to crack a tiny smile when he teases her. But the reality of her situation sets in again, especially as he goes on.
Her eyes flicker to the cameras before she steps in close to him, taking his face in her hands, making it seem like she's about to kiss him but instead, she turns his head, gently, pressing a kiss to cheek, her lips close to his ear, her voice so very quiet.]
I'm not risking you too. I'm not risking any of you. [ She turns his head right before her eyes close.] This is my punishment for my part in what we did. [ Just like his had been disappearing, getting grounded.]
Trust me, I'm plenty good at risking myself on my own. [ He rests his forehead against hers, the motion becoming more familiar every time they do it.
Poe keeps his own voice low, not showing how the idea of punishment via disappearance startles him. ]
Is it? Steve's friends were all right there, ready to kick teeth in, and they got a week behind bars. It doesn't make sense for them to do worse to you, and it makes even less sense for them to just up and disappear three people they were interested enough to keep here in the first place. Whatever happened, I don't think it's a punishment. Not an intentional one.
[ His forehead against her own makes her feel safer than it should, than she has any right to feel. Is that a hold over from her memories from before or is that something new? Something real?
He speaks reason to her, gives her a rational explanation. ]
Then why are they gone? [ Had they been up to something she didn't know about? Could be. After all, she hadn't clued them in on what Poe and Steve had planned until the last minute.]
[ It isn't the answer she wants to hear but she's honestly almost too exhausted to fight him on this. She looks at him for a moment before pressing her lips together and nodding.] I'm not giving up on them, Poe.
[ Not when there's any chance her people are still around, somewhere, waiting for help or having their minds or bodies turned against them.
He won't leave anyone to a fate like that, not if there's any chance to save them. ] Go lay down, all right? I'll bring you a sandwich, or... I'll bring you something edible. No promises what it'll look like.
[ She nods for a moment before... Oh, right. she needs a blood bag, not food. Food might curb the cravings but it doesn't do anything to energize her.] Um. I better get it myself, actually.
[ Poe gives her elbows a gentle squeeze before letting her go to inspect the kitchen. He stays close to her, though, with one hand hovering close to her arm. ] You relax.
It's not that. [ She reassures him, moving to towards the pantry instead.] I need something more than a sandwich. [ She opens the door of the mini fridge, taking in a breath before she pulls out a blood bag. Her back is to him before she turns around slowly, clutching it to her chest even if there's no hiding what it is is. And there's no hiding the exhausted shame in her eyes.]
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no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:03 am (UTC)Bad.
Bad in a way that means he asks BB-8 to stay at home, and to go to Cassian's for the night if Poe doesn't come back. To tell him not to worry, that he's just with Caroline. (He wouldn't have bothered, before his own disappearance, to make sure BB-8 has military-trained company.)
He takes the steps to her porch at a leap. ]
What is it? Are you okay?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:10 am (UTC)By the time Poe gets there, she's pacing her porch and the moment he's up the steps, she's moving to pull him into her arms for a hug, the tears falling all over again. She buries her face into his shoulder.]
They're gone. They're just gone.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:19 am (UTC)Unfortunately, it doesn't take a genius to guess what she means by they're gone. Not any more. ]
Who?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:50 am (UTC)Any assurances he was going to offer about their vanishing, any comparisons he was going to make to his own, die when she tells him the rest. Didn't Cassian say something about that? About someone disappearing, memories fading?
It's a new problem, a new danger, a new mystery to add to the list. The top of the list, right now.]
Okay. [ He brushes her hair back from her face. ] What do you need right now?
[ To cry, to scream, to sleep, to tear down the rest of the town. Some he can help with, some he can help talk her down from. If she doesn't know, well. They'll figure it out. ]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:55 am (UTC)I need to find out what happened to them. I need to know where they are, if they're okay. [ Because Stefan wouldn't stop if the tables were turned and Elena isn't going to stop until she finds Damon. And even though Elena is human now and she can't turn off her emotions, Caroline is exhausted and angered by the idea of watching her friend suffer like this.]
I have to help them. [ But she probably looks exhausted, paler than usual and worn ragged. Caroline Forbes usually has the veneer of perfection, every hair strand in place but right now, she looks a mess.]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 04:14 am (UTC)He's noticed how she looks. She's not going to do anything but get hurt, the state she's in right now. ]
When's the last time you ate? Slept?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 04:32 am (UTC)[ He puts an arm around her shoulders, trying gently to lead her inside. Right now, she reminds him of battleshocked pilots, pushing themselves until they drop or break. ]
Caroline. If it was someone else, and they didn't know how long it'd been since they ate or slept, what would you tell them to do?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 05:10 am (UTC)He lets her go when they're in her kitchen, wetting a washcloth and filling a glass of water. The latter, he hands to her. The former, he uses to wipe her face, before smoothing it over her forehead for a moment. ] Take care of you now so you can manage the rest later.
[ He smiles a little. ] That's what my dad used to say.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 05:17 am (UTC)In the pantry, there was a mini fridge filled with them. But that was neither here nor there, she still hadn't broken the news to him that she drank human blood, after all.
She lets him wipe at her face, feeling a little like a coddled child but not fighting it. She takes a sip of water.]
Your dad sounds wise.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 05:43 am (UTC)[ The last is lightly teasing. When he speaks again, it's more serious. ]
My mom's the one who taught me that no matter how bad things seem, no matter how dark a moment gets, the galaxy is fundamentally a good place. There are people here who will fight with you. Including me and mine.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 05:49 am (UTC)Her eyes flicker to the cameras before she steps in close to him, taking his face in her hands, making it seem like she's about to kiss him but instead, she turns his head, gently, pressing a kiss to cheek, her lips close to his ear, her voice so very quiet.]
I'm not risking you too. I'm not risking any of you. [ She turns his head right before her eyes close.] This is my punishment for my part in what we did. [ Just like his had been disappearing, getting grounded.]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 08:14 pm (UTC)Poe keeps his own voice low, not showing how the idea of punishment via disappearance startles him. ]
Is it? Steve's friends were all right there, ready to kick teeth in, and they got a week behind bars. It doesn't make sense for them to do worse to you, and it makes even less sense for them to just up and disappear three people they were interested enough to keep here in the first place. Whatever happened, I don't think it's a punishment. Not an intentional one.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 10:09 pm (UTC)He speaks reason to her, gives her a rational explanation. ]
Then why are they gone? [ Had they been up to something she didn't know about? Could be. After all, she hadn't clued them in on what Poe and Steve had planned until the last minute.]
no subject
Date: 2017-06-05 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-05 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 02:47 am (UTC)[ Not when there's any chance her people are still around, somewhere, waiting for help or having their minds or bodies turned against them.
He won't leave anyone to a fate like that, not if there's any chance to save them. ] Go lay down, all right? I'll bring you a sandwich, or... I'll bring you something edible. No promises what it'll look like.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 08:10 pm (UTC)[ Poe gives her elbows a gentle squeeze before letting her go to inspect the kitchen. He stays close to her, though, with one hand hovering close to her arm. ] You relax.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 10:48 pm (UTC)This is what... I have to have.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 11:13 pm (UTC)That makes sense with the teeth.
Convenient packaging, it must be in demand.
She's ashamed, even of what she needs to live.
So he just nods. Stays steady and unafraid. ]
Does any kind of blood work? Do you have enough?
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 11:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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