paradisa | 015 [ action

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015 [ action | dictated ]

[It was the first peaceful night's sleep she had in a long time and Vivian was planning to have an extra long lie it because she could. While her ankle was mostly on the mend, she was still taking it easy, only walking on it for a few hours at a time just to keep up her strength.

Another thought that had crossed her mind was Valentine's Day and she was looking forward to what that would bring, even if it was a few days away now. Her very first date on such a day; Vivian was definitely excited for it.

Around midday she stirred and woke up, her eyes taking a few moments to adjust to the light before she shifted a little causing the cast on her right ankle to hit something. Puzzled, Vivian sat up very slowly and turned to her right to see a somebody laying beside her. She blinked a few more times before it dawned on Vivian that it wasn't her imagination.

Cue freak out.]

Who the bloody hell are you?!

[Vivian shouted, not caring how loud she was. Yep, the whole castle can hear it since her journal was lying open on the dresser beside her.]

((ooc: Open via the journals!))

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[It seemed freshly cold again, as if winter was determined to get in one final, frigid push before allowing spring to come. And if she'd been in any sort of place to think about it, Fred might've found a topic to ponder in just how natural it seemed now to chase after the warmth pooled somewhere in the center of the bed. She settled against it, happily resigned to sleeping in. It'd been a late night in the lab again.

-- until she was jerked out of sleep by a voice practically right up against her ear. Fred had to scramble to to keep from falling out of the bed.

Wait. The voice. The very angry, very female voice]

...there's no need to shout. Really, there isn't.

[Fred blinked the sleep from her eyes, trying to see if she recognized the other woman. She didn't]

I find a stranger in my bed and you expect me to be calm about it?

[Her response is half-spluttered, half-surprised as Vivian edged towards her side of her bed, eyeing the other woman warily.]

So, I'll ask again. Who are you?

[Thankfully, she isn't as loud and shrill like she was just moments ago but the castle could still probably pick up on their conversation. At least some of it.]

[Fred sits up even further, automatically gathering the sheet around her. Is that a hot pink silk sheet?]

It's just the castle being the castle, I expect. We haven't been kicked out or put in the dark recently...

[It'll never be her favorite thing, waking up in a strange place. But at least it's not caves or collars. She extends a hand]

I'm Fred.

[Hot pink is not Vivian's colour so yeah, she's a bit weirded out by that too.]

Of course, the castle. That's the first thing I should have thought about before I started shouting...

[Vivian trails off, an embarrassed look on her face. She takes the offered hand and shakes it politely, yet firmly before withdrawing it again.]

Nice to meet you, Fred. Even if it's not how I usually meet people. I'm Vivian.

[Fred's, in fact, only just now actually noticing the sheets. These definitely aren't the ones from Wesley's bed. Just the idea of....

Wait. Vivian? Fred pulls herself even more upright]

Vivian? That's your name?

[Vivian prefers something a lot less tacky and more neutral in colour. The castle has either replaced her sheets or placed them both somewhere else...

Hold on, why was Fred acting like that?]

Yes, that's my name. Why, what's wrong?

[...nothing]

Nothing.

[She smiles, after a moment]

I mean, nothing's wrong. You know Charles, don't you.

Right. Okay then.

[Now she's a bit confused.]

I do know him. From here. Yes, I've spoken to Charles.

[Nope, her cheeks aren't turning pink.]

[Is that...or are the sheets just reflecting up on the other woman's cheeks. Fred peers closer. And then keeps it simple]

We're good friends, actually. From home.

[It's definitely not the sheets. Vivian swears she can see a few heart-shaped pillows that aren't hers either.]

He never mentioned you before. I do know Wesley though.

[And just like that, everything clicks into place. If possible her smile gets even wider. She can even shrug off the fact that Charles hasn't even once seen the need to mention her name. That's for later]

Wesley is my...[Well, that's that word again isn't]...home. L.A. , I mean. We're all from the same place. We worked together.

[Wait. If she's here...where is Wesley?]

Edited 2012-02-14 02:49 (UTC)

[She wonders just how much Gunn has told his friends about her and their date. Vivian was going to ask him about that some point. When she sees him again.]

He's very dear to you. [Vivian knew what Fred was hinting at and she smiles.] I met Wesley at the shooting range once and he said about the line of work he was in. Certainly interesting, killing demons and things.

[This wasn't her room.]

Don't suppose this is your room, is it?

[Fred? Sort of feels like she needs more than that sheet if she's being that transparent. But that doesn't mean it isn't true]

Well, it's not always about killing them, really. Sometimes it's research or just a bit of a wave. It all depends on temperament, really.

[Said by the girl who was once held captive in a demon dimension. But humans? Were capable of just as much --- if not more]

By that, you mean that there are the good kind of monsters back in your world?

[Not exactly the kind of conversation that Vivian thought she would ever have in her life. Especially in an unfamiliar place with a woman whom she just met.]

"I mean they're just as complicated as we are." Fred moves to scramble from the bed, then, making her way to the door as she continues her musings. "I mean, yeah sure -- some of them are pure and unadulterated evil. But mostly? It's more complicated than that."

She gives the doorknob a twist and a solid tug.

...nothing happens.

Vivian watches as she leaves the bed and heads towards the door, carefully slipping the blankets off and stretching out her uninjured foot. Her right one was still in a plaster from the ankle down. She rests it gently upon a pillow.

"Of course. It has to be more complicated than that," Vivian responds a bit dryly, hoping that they'll be able to leave the room. Fred may need to help her though.

Her hopes are quickly dashed when she realises that Fred couldn't open the door.

"Oh no. We're stuck here, aren't we?"

Fred sighs, staring down the door. It's not all that unusual a thing, considering where they live. But it's still frustrating. She can't help but be thankful that she's dressed, at least.

"We're definitely stuck."

She finally glances back at Vivian, reassessing her situation. The cast catches her eye.

"....are you hurt? Is that new, I mean? Or was it from before."

"Brilliant," she grumbles to herself. The only question that crossed her mind was how long they were going to be stuck here for.

"Oh this?" Vivian indicates to her cast. "It happened around the time of the lunar festival when those ghostly wolves were about. I didn't know about them beforehand though. Anyway, I was riding on my horse and she got spooked by the wolves and threw me off her back. Thankfully, I only fractured my ankle. It could have been much worse."

Fred crosses the room again, and almost allows her irritation to translate into a giant flop onto the --- oh. The heart-shaped bed. But then she remembers Vivian's ankle.

"There were ghostly wolves?" There's mild curiosity there. "I actually missed most of that. After her disagreement with Wesley they'd...stayed in.

"Yeah, there were. But they didn't seem dangerous. Just looked a bit intimidating." Vivian says, now looking down at the bed. Of course it had to be heart shaped to fit in with the hot pink sheets and the rather soft lighting around the room.

She looks up at Fred. "I think the castle is trying to tell us something." A beat. "In an extremely tacky manner. I mean, I like romantic gestures and settings, but this is too much."

Again, Fred glances around at their surroundings. As a result her arms cross over her chest, one in front of the other.

"Yeah, they really don't know a way to a girl's heart. For the record, I'm simple. Maybe a picnic, or breakfast in bed. My very normal shaped bed..."

"A picnic is a lovely thing to do. As well as breakfast in bed." Vivian would not be opposed to anything like that at all. She throws a disgusted look at the bed.

Vivian looks back to Fred. "How long do you think we'll be stuck here then? I mean, if it's happened before."

Edited 2012-02-20 00:02 (UTC)

"I don't know," Fred replies honestly, gaze lingering on the door again. "The last time we were locked out it was what -- three days, right? Or maybe it'll just be tonight."

She picks at the top sheet, feeling the fabric between her fingers.

"But this definitely has a certain theme. Valentine's Day is still a few days off."

The idea of what that day is settles over Fred again, and she can't help but look at Vivian with renewed interest.

This is who caught Charles' attention...

"Yeah, it was three days," Vivian says with a nod, briefly thinking about that time. She had hoped that nothing like that would ever happen again but look out that worked out. "Hopefully it will be just one day."

Vivian drew the blankets around herself a little (they were satin) and grumbles under her breath because she misses her comfortable, cosy blankets.

"It is. Maybe the castle is trying to encourage a bit of romance before Valentine's Day itself. Which, because it is the castle, locking people in rooms with tacky decorations and uncomfortable sheets."

She is trying not to be too annoyed about it. At least the person she was placed with was nice and friendly.

"You okay, Fred?" Vivian asks after a few moments, wondering why she had gone quiet.

"...I don't know," Fred finally answers, drawing her arms up around her as she answered. Which is of course both truthful, and not.

She knows what she is thinking, but there is a vague sort of promise to Charles not to pressure this woman. No matter how curious she is.

"What I do know is what I'm feeling? Isn't the littlest bit romantic." Fred casts a rue, apologetic look Vivian's way.

"Sorry."

"I'm not feeling romantic either." She replies honestly, waving it off. "Hey, no need to apologise."

Reaching to her dresser to the her left, Vivian picks up a bottle of pills, unscrews the lid and takes one out before swallowing it. After setting it down, she turns back to Fred. "Have to make sure to take these. One every four hours. Four times a day."

"Least being here gives us a chance to talk, right?"

"...it does," Fred agrees quickly enough, even though her mind is once again spinning. She'd promised Charles she wouldn't corner Vivian, at least not for a while. And she hadn't, not really. But there was no denying their current situation.

But it doesn't feel as if the other woman is aware of her past relationship with Charles. And maybe that really isn't for her to share.

Now if she can only figure out a place to sit.

"Give us a chance to talk, I mean."

A part of her was worried that Fred would give her the third degree and ask a lot of questions because she was seeing a close friend of hers. Maybe she wouldn't and it was just Vivian being paranoid when she really shouldn't.

Vivian didn't know the full story between Fred and Charles or even that they dated, but she didn't ask either. She wasn't sure how to in the first place.

"Try wishing up a chair," Vivian suggests, after seeing that Fred looked unsure of where to sit. She was going to stay on the bed because it was more comfortable in her current condition.

"Then we can have a conversation."

Fred hesitates for a moment, but then takes the suggestion to heart as she wishes up a stuffed armchair. She isn't the sort to normally wish for things, but there isn't any real way around it this time.

She pulls it closer to the bed.

"There. You're right. I feel much more inclined towards conversing now."

Vivian hoped there would be no consequence for Fred wishing up a comfortable chair to sit on but the other woman didn't really have a choice.

She settles against the bed, getting into a more comfortable position.

"So, what would you like to know about me then?"

"...everything?"

Wait. No. Charles is definitely going to take issue with that answer. But it's been said now.

"Well, I can tell you a few things of course." Vivian replies with a smile, knowing that she wouldn't tell Fred everything about herself when they had only just met.

"I'm twenty-six. Born and raised in Somerset. Daughter of a businessman who wasn't always around and my mum..she's no longer with us." A pause, then she continues. "I'm an expert rider-don't let the cast fool you- and I'm good with firearms. I won a few riding competitions when I was younger as well as martial arts."

Charles would like her.

Somewhere in the piled words that comprised the other woman's reply, Fred could see that. It was a strange thing, the sense of finality it brought. Bot that they hadn't both seen other people in the meantime. There'd been something with Gwen, not that they had ever spoken about it directly.

And she was fairly certain she hadn't been the only one to deal with their choice to join Wolfram & Hart in a quiet bar and company that didn't have the slightest idea what they did for a living.

Of course, you still had to get up and go to work the next day.

"You clearly love horses. I think Wesley even mentioned that about you once, before I really knew who you were."

"Yes, I do. It was a part of my daily routine at home," Vivian says with a smile. "I did tell him about that. I think it was when we met at the shooting range once. He's a good man, I like him."

Of course they weren't here to talk about anybody else other than herself. Vivian thought about what else she could say to Fred about who she was and what she liked.

"I've seen most of the world but my father made sure that no one really knew who I was. He was quite protective of me back home." Keeping her hidden away and at the same time preparing Vivian for a life which most would not want.

"Our relationship isn't exactly good." Vivian adds, looking down at her hands for a moment.

Fred heard the words and translated them well enough, even if she didn't understand them. Not in the way that others might. She knew just how lucky she was with her own folks. Of course, that only made their current loss that much more painful at times.

"Have you stopped trying? With your dad, I mean."

"I stopped trying a while ago. He doesn't deserve a second chance with me as far as I'm concerned."

Talking about her father was hard for Vivian and she didn't like to delve into too much detail about that aspect of her life. But the subject had come up a few times while she was here so she couldn't avoid it entirely.

"...I'm sorry," Fred offered quietly from her chair. And she genuinely was.

Nobody deserved that.

"Thanks," she replied, still not looking up at her.

Vivian wasn't quite sure how to continue after revealing something that personal.

Fred studies her.

"I've gone and managed to put a damper on things, haven't I?"

"No, it's fine," she looks up then, waving a hand. "You couldn't have known about it."

There's a tiny smile from Vivian. "A change of topic would be good though."

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