Only A Northern Song [open]

[dr. kamala avani lakshmi]

i'm not a robot without emotions
I'M NOT WHAT YOU SEE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Dr. Lakshmi's lab was on the second floor.

That was not her favorite thing about this school, and it was quickly shaping up to be her least favorite thing. As she finished ascending the stairs, she leaned against the wall and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, panting slightly. Her calf muscles twinged and burned, but she welcomed the feeling. The pain was her body's way of running a self-diagnostic - as if she'd run chkdsk on herself (though she preferred to think of herself as running on something less clunky than Windows - honestly).

Her legs worked. Sometimes. The process of repair was still ongoing, but the good days were starting to outnumber the bad ones. She'd kept the exercises going, and with advances in modern medical technology, she was likely to regain quite a bit of motor function. Most likely not all of it, but enough to walk and run and climb and hike unassisted.

Maybe even enough to dance again.

So that was why she climbed the stairs whenever she had the energy, whenever her legs wouldn't give out on the way up, and whenever it was early enough for nobody to be around. She didn't want anybody to see her struggling. She didn't want their pity. It was bad enough she had to keep the cane close at hand - and the raspberry-colored manual wheelchair was kept carefully folded in her closet.

5:30 in the morning and she'd already made it to her lab. She walked in the door and slung the backpack off of her back, fishing in it for a standard-sized laptop. She would have gone for a netbook, but sitting in front of a screen for hours was murder enough on her eyes, and she didn't want to make it any worse by squinting at a screen that tiny. She plugged it in with practiced ease and walked - beginning to limp now, Kami, careful - around the lab table to fetch the rest of what was in her backpack. Grinning, she withdrew the plastic bowl and dumped out the two-pound bag of candy corn into it. Then, just for fun, she picked up the pair of small imp horns she'd brought in her bag and popped them on her head. Little black spiraling things; they could have been mistaken for a very bad hair day from a distance.

Let it never be said that Kami Lakshmi did not know how to enjoy the Halloween season.

Easing herself into the high-backed swivel chair, which had been a condition of her employment (both to serve as a replacement wheelchair during the day and to let her indulge in her fantasies of supervillainry), she rolled her shoulders, cracked her knuckles, and got to coding. "Good morning," she said to the laptop. It chimed at her in response. She had a few hours before her first class of the day, after all, and she was probably going to be in here a while.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
i've come to help you with your problems
SO WE CAN BE FREE

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tagged » open!
words » 488
lyrics » mr. roboto - styx
music » The Adventures of Tintin
notes » oh, Kami, you stubborn. will you ever learn?

[alixandre rowan delacroix]

Alixandre had been up most of the night with Sarafina. The little one had managed to catch some strain of flu from the public school and had come home very, very sick. Finally, he had gotten her to sleep and left her in Jeordie’s care, deciding to go to the school early and get some paperwork done. At five AM his alarm went off and he dragged himself from the bed. Leyla was quick to rouse and head downstairs to start his breakfast while he shuffled across to Jeordie’s door and gave three sharp raps. Alix gave a yawn as he headed down the steps of his mansion into the foyer and then cut across to the kitchen. He rubbed his throbbing head and dropped into a chair, laying his forehead on his arms as he waited for Leyla to finish breakfast. Somehow he’d managed to fall asleep and was awoken by Leyla’s gentle smoothing of his hair and her quiet, tinny voice telling him to wake up. Blearily he opened his eyes and blinked several times before the world came into focus. Leyla stood with a plate full of food and a cup of coffee that she set before him and kissed his forehead before retreating up the back/servant staircase.

Alix ate his breakfast in silence. Ever since bringing home little Sarafina, he hadn’t had a moments peace. Even more so, he now had a four month pregnant girl in his home that was becoming more and more emotional as the weeks wore on. Angelique expected him to be involved in every aspect of her pregnancy and didn’t understand when he would miss appointments or ignore her. But to Alixandre, her pregnancy wasn’t something fascinating to him. He wasn’t interested in that. Angelique had merely fulfilled her contractual obligation by giving him a child. Leyla had been, thus far, exempt though not due to lack of trying. She just seemed to not be able to get pregnant. And the miscarriage she had had in the past nearly killed him. Alix sighed softly into his coffee mug (ironically eblazoned with ‘Hell Raiser’ on it as a joke from Libby, the handle being a devil’s tail) before he got up. His bones protested and cracked as he moved, suddenly feeling older than his twenty-six years. He shook his messy hair and headed back up the same staircase Leyla had gone up and into his bedroom where his ‘team’ was assembled.

They did their routine, each person falling into the same old thing they’d done since they were trained. Leyla kneeled on the floor and carefully applied Alix’s makeup and did his hair while Jeordie prepped his clothes. He was changed and sat on the edge of the bed while his shoes were laced up and Leyla did the crowning glory, so to speak. An inverted cross necklace was carefully lowered around his neck before Leyla kissed him quickly on the lips. Jeordie followed by kissing the ring on his master’s finger and bowing. Angelique was still asleep (one of the pros of being pregnant in Alix’s house is that he tended to them and allowed them to sleep in on their duties), Libby was dead to the world and Sarafina was sleeping fitfully downstairs. Alix stood up and grabbed his jacket, tossing it over his suit coat before he headed down to his car. Leyla flitted along ahead of him and had a cup of coffee poured in a thermal mug as he kissed her cheek and headed to his vintage, black Cadillac Coupe. He drove across town to the school and parked in his designated space. The bitter wind blew around him and snipped at him as he headed into the overly-warm building.

Obviously he was early for… everything. Most kids still slept in their dorms or hadn’t arrived. The kitchen staff was just beginning breakfast prep. And even most of the teachers appeared not to have arrived yet. Alix slipped off his coat and left it in the teacher’s lounge before topping off the coffee he’d drained half of on the drive over and making his way towards the stairs. He had to go along the second floor hall to get to his classroom and he noticed a light on in the science lab as he walked down the quiet path. He glanced in and spotted one of the science teachers in her lab. He normally wouldn’t strike up a conversation, especially not with a “stranger”, but he was in a quirky mood anyways. He knocked on the door, although it was open, and stood in the doorway with his same self-assured half-smirk, arms crossed. He looked around the lab and breathed in the scientific smells.

”It seems like forever since I was last in a science laboratory. I think it was my sophomore year of college for Chem. How are you this morning, Dr. Lakshmi?” He said in his deep, rumbling voice.

WORDS: 838
TAGGED: Zedfayce/Kamala
OUTFIT: click
NOTES: Mehhh.
LYRICS: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
CREDIT: CaeJae@caution2.0

[dr. kamala avani lakshmi]

i'm not a robot without emotions
I'M NOT WHAT YOU SEE
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Kami'd been coding for a while, which, while edifying, was not her first or only love. What she really enjoyed was getting down in the weeds, so to speak, actually building things. So she'd been working on building a circuit instead. It was small, tedious, detailed work, but sometimes that was just what she'd needed. And it kept her eyes and fingers sharp for when her pet project actually arrived for her to work on some more. At the knock on the door, she turned around, a little surprised - someone's here early, then, wait, how early is it? - and relaxed when she realized it was the French teacher. He seemed nice enough, but there was just something about him that always put her off just slightly. Then again, maybe it was because she hadn't really taken the time to get to know too many of her fellow faculty members. That was not outside the realm of possibility; she was still reasonably new here and spent most of her time either teaching or in the lab on her own. Or playing video games.

That thought made her frown slightly. She did need to work at being more social. Still, as much as the interruption had bugged her, she figured she should still be polite. Million-watt grin on, horns adjusted, and she turned around to face him properly.

"Ha! Yeah, that's when most people usually kiss these places behind for good," she said, smiling at him and ignoring the question - she'd learned that most people didn't care for it when she answered honestly. "It's not for everyone. I know chemistry sure wasn't for me. You're here--" She checked her watch, just to make sure of the time-- "--early, Mr. Delacroix." That was the correct name, yes? Yes? She was rubbish with names; most people she worked with for any length of time got nicknames that were easier to remember. Nicknames she usually called them by to their faces. Nicknames which were more often than not deeply unwelcome.

And this was part of the reason why whenever she worked in the lab, she was alone.

She examined the upside-down cross on his chest with an appreciative eye. "Aha, I guess I'm not alone in getting into the Halloween spirit," she said, and grinned. Briefly she turned around and swiveled back with the bowl of candy corn in her hands. "Want some?" She'd been picking at it over the past hour or two, since she could eat it without really thinking about it. She held the bowl out towards him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
i've come to help you with your problems
SO WE CAN BE FREE

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tagged » Ren/Alix
words » 443
lyrics » mr. roboto - styx
music » Portal 2 OST
notes » IT'S REALLY HARD TO WRITE WHEN THERE'S A BUNCH OF LOUD DRUNK PEOPLE IN YOUR APARTMENT

[alixandre rowan delacroix]

Alixandre hated being here so early. The last place he enjoyed being was the school. In fact, the only positive point of this was being able to scout out new girls. Like Anna. Two things that were good about this school, then. Anna had become his own sick obsession these last few months and upon finding out she was carrying his child he couldn’t stop wanting to help her and care after her. That paired with taking care of Angelique and Sarafina and Libby had left him perpetually exhausted. But at least when he was here this early everything was quiet. He had to resist the urge to just go to his classroom and take a nap.

When he found himself staring at Dr. Lakshmi he was intrigued. He always respected intelligent people, although he knew that an intelligent woman would never get by in his house. Sure, he made sure his girls (with poor Angelique being the exception) were smart, but never extremely intelligent. He didn’t want a battle of wits when he had a conversation. Plus, the stronger the mind the harder it was to break them. And the less work he had to do with them the better. He waited for her to acknowledge him, leaning on the inside of the doorframe. He felt the pressure of the metal against his spine and it alleviated some of the pinching he’d had all night. He mentally noted that he needed to get Leyla to give him a back massage tonight when he got home. Then he would check on the little one and see how she was doing. He took another sip of his coffee and gave a deep, rumbly laugh.

”Just between you and I, that was the only class in college I didn’t make a perfect A on. Science definitely isn’t my strong suit.” He nodded.

Alix didn’t know what had him in such a social mood this morning. Perhaps it was that things were beginning to fall into place in his life. Or perhaps a sign of easing into the life of a teacher. In any case he was content enough to stand around and chit-chat. Plus he didn’t want to face the poor grades of the kids in his class. He had a small, select handful of students who excelled in his class, but the vast majority of them didn’t take the language seriously enough. He watched Dr. Lakshmi closely as she looked up. At the moment he was just happy to have someone to talk to. That was until she commented on his necklace. His eyes immediately narrowed and he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

”I would think you would know from experience not to judge others on being different, Dr. Lakshmi. I mean—“ He bit his tongue, not allowing his next phrase to come out, ”I will just count that as a social misstep on your behalf. I’m sure you didn’t mean to insult my religion.”

Alix looked at her offering of candy corn and had to stifle a laugh. How odd it was that the two most unusual teachers in the school were… bonding so to speak. He nodded appreciatively and walked to the desk, grabbing a few of them from the bowl. He settled down in a chair across from her and looked at the lab again with a small, almost imperceptible look of confusion. He would never be able to understand all that science nonsense. That was when he noticed her horns. He let out a soft chuckle and flashed his most charming smile.

”I like your… horns.” He said with a wink.

WORDS: 623
TAGGED: Zedfayce/Kamala
OUTFIT: click
NOTES: Mehhh.
LYRICS: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
CREDIT: CaeJae@caution2.0

[dr. kamala avani lakshmi]

i'm not a robot without emotions
I'M NOT WHAT YOU SEE
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Seeing Alix drink his coffee was a Pavlovian trigger to Kami - she wanted coffee. Very badly. Unfortunately (and she had to glance around to confirm this) there was no coffee to be found. She'd woken up early enough that her body had decided that she had no need of caffeine and sent her to work on candy corn alone. And maybe a Nutri-Grain bar. She really couldn't remember. When was the last time she'd actually cooked? A week ago, at least. Probably two. She'd been living off of fast food for too long, when she remembered to eat at all. Not healthy, that, but she couldnt help herself half the time. Usually it went that she looked up at the clock and it was three in the morning, and sometimes she went to sleep for three hours. Sometimes she didn't even bother with that and went to Starbucks to grab some industrial-strength caffeine. God bless the trenta.

Whoops. Foot-in-mouth syndrome strikes again. This was part of why she didn't spend too much time being social. She'd barely spoken to this guy for a minute and already she'd offended him. Quick, backtrack! "Oh, my apologies," she said, "I didn't realize. I figured with it being that time of year and all. Mea culpa. Social missteps, I'm well-known for 'em." She examined it again with a more critical eye. "So. A St. Peter's cross? May I ask...devout Catholic or Satanist? I looked into LaVeyan Satanism for a little while. Didn't quite suit me, though," she said, as though she were merely talking about the weather. "I'm a bit of a nut about religion, you see. Fascinates me."

Mostly because she didn't really understand it. It had never stuck for her. And, being the scientist that she was, she had to figure out what made it tick.

Humans were odd. Robots were easier. Nicer, too. Harder to offend.

At the compliment, she grinned, tweaking one of them. "Thanks. Figured I may as well get in the swing of things, since Halloween's fast approaching. At the very least the students will get a kick out of it, and offering candy corn as a prize for volunteering may actually get some of them to pay attention." Hopefully her new experiment for the students would help, too, now that they were all done with the mandatory lab safety quizzes and basic algebra overviews and so on. Now they could get into the real fun stuff!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
i've come to help you with your problems
SO WE CAN BE FREE

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tagged » ren/alix
words » 438
lyrics » mr. roboto - styx
music » "Waterloo" - John Powell, The Bourne Ultimatum OST
notes » Kami has terminal foot-in-mouth disease.

[alixandre rowan delacroix]

Alixandre didn’t understand Kami—er, Dr. Lakshmi. Perhaps that’s why he found her personality so alluring. He surely couldn’t say it was her physically. She was the polar opposite of the delicate, pale vixens he usually pursued. But in an odd sort of way it was a breath of fresh air after living in years of dusty weather. He smiled in spite of himself. And not one of his usual I’m-too-good-for-you-or-this-conversation smirks, but a genuine half-smile. He liked listening to her talk, the briefest whisper of an accent to her words. Certainly not the French accent that still hung heavy on every syllable of his speech, but it was nice nonetheless. Alix noticed her glance at his coffee and suddenly felt very rude.

He held up a finger momentarily and jogged down to the teacher’s lounge, grabbing his ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ mug from the rack next to the sink and filling it up. He grabbed a handful of assorted sweeteners and creamer before going back to the class. With his long, spider-like legs it wasn’t a long journey and he was back in the room before he knew it. He gingerly set the items down on the table as he sat down himself. He took another sip of his own coffee as he listened to Dr. Lakshmi stumble over her apology. He broke into a grin and shook his head softly. Half out of humor and half out of habit. He normally didn’t accept apologies from those who insulted him but… what the hell. Nothing was normal today anyway.

”It’s okay, Dr. Lakshmi. We all have those moments. In fact, you should have seen how badly I stumbled over myself the first time I met my English professor in college. She was a late twenty-something lady with an impossibly tiny waist and a beautiful, southern accent. I was trying to explain an term and ended up flattering her and embarrassing myself!” He let out a low, throaty laugh.

He didn’t even realize what he’d said until it slipped out. Odd, he’d never bothered to admit he wasn’t always a flirtatious, charismatic guy before. He quickly brushed his hair behind his ear and met her eyes again. Automatically he smirked as he leaned on the table between them. He gave a quiet yawn, covering his mouth politely and blinked several times to refocus his vision. Man, how long had it been since he’d sat up late taking care of a child before? And to think he was expecting at least three more in the coming months. He rubbed his temples and gave a very soft sigh before opening his eyes and looking at Kami again.

”I really need to sleep more often. I think I got all of three hours of sleep last night due to all of the chaos in my household.” Alix said, skirting the fact it was Sarafina’s sickness having kept him up.

He picked up another couple of candy corns and popped them into his mouth, chasing them with a sip of coffee. He wasn’t a huge fan of sugar, hadn’t been since he was a kid. And he knew Halloween was going to be challenging enough with taking Sarafina trick or treating, but there was also the Halloween party with her little friends she wanted to have and cupcakes to eat and all sorts of terrible foods in the house. But it was worth it. Anything he could do for his little girl he would. He was worried though, about taking her and her little buddies trick or treating. Most of the parents had met him and not really liked him all that well. Did he need to call them and make sure it was okay? He was going to have Jeordie take them, had sent out all of the e-mails as such, but Sarafina had BEGGED him to go with her. So he had to relent and go. A brilliant idea struck him and he looked up from his coffee.

”So, are you going to be chaperoning at that Masquerade the school is having? It’d be nice to have someone there to talk to in between prying hormonally raging teenagers off of each other.” He laughed again and flashed her a hopeful look.

WORDS: 730
TAGGED: Zedfayce/Kamala
OUTFIT: click
NOTES: Mehhh.
LYRICS: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
CREDIT: CaeJae@caution2.0

[dr. kamala avani lakshmi]

i'm not a robot without emotions
I'M NOT WHAT YOU SEE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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When Alix got up and ran away, Kami assumed she'd scared him off...as was normal. Or insulted him too much. That was also normal. What she did not expect was for him to return with a fresh mug of coffee for her and a handful of assorted creamers and sweeteners. She blinked. Were her words not meaning what words usually meant? Why did he come back with coffee - in a mug that was obviously his? (She'd wondered who that mug belonged to) - before she even apologized? Was her lack of caffeine that obvious? Well, at least her apology had been accepted. "Thank you, you are a god among men," she said, tearing open five or six sugar packets and dumping them into the mug. She considered the creamer, but then decided against it. Coffee was not supposed to taste good. It was only supposed to be sweet enough for her to get it down.

She scrutinized the mug - 'World's Greatest Dad'. He already had kids? Or at least one who was old enough to pick this out for him? Lucky bugger. And he was young, too. Kami knew she didn't really look her age, but some days she felt it. Especially when she saw people in their twenties with kids and families already. It made the pain of being alone and childless even more acute. Normally she didn't care about being alone, but...she had wanted to have a kid, but especially with how much time she spent in the lab, she'd be declared an unfit parent. That was why she'd never adopted. She'd need to disengage somewhat from her work to do that - and working was pretty much the only thing that made life bearable, some days. She told herself that she'd go for it when she'd managed to fix her legs. It was both a goal to reach and a way of putting it off. Besides, she made up for it (she thought) by spoiling her sisters' kids rotten when she came to visit. She was obviously the favorite aunt. She was definitely the coolest. After all...her sisters hadn't helped their sons build a trebuchet in the garage.

"Chaos?" she asked. The fact that there were people in the world who didn't stay up all night on purpose baffled her. "And yeah, three hours seems about normal..."

When he mentioned the Masquerade, she laughed a little. "Who, me? No, probably not...I had my fill of awkward school dances in high school," she said, "but I probably won't have a choice. I think they're gonna need all hands, what with how the students here can get." She tried to sound lighthearted about it, but really the thought terrified her. She did not want to be in the room with people who were dancing, because half the time her legs were only barely strong enough to walk. Dancing had been her great joy, once, and going there and seeing that would just open her up to all that pain again.

"Maybe they'll just put me in coat check," she muttered, half to herself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
i've come to help you with your problems
SO WE CAN BE FREE

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tagged » Ren/Alix
words » 536
lyrics » mr. roboto - styx
music » The Weather Channel
notes » This conversation is bringing up every one of her demons, isn't it? xD;

[alixandre rowan delacroix]

Alix’s brain seemed to click when he got to the teacher’s lounge. Why in the hell had he gone to get her coffee? The woman was obviously capable enough to care for herself. She wasn’t some ward of the state or helpless cripple that couldn’t go get her own damn coffee. But he’d gotten this far and might as well come back with it. Besides his coffee needed a top off in any case. As he’d finished filling up his coffee mug and his World’s Greatest Dad coffee mug , one that Libby had gotten him when she was very little, he headed back to the classroom. He had begun seething by then, upset with himself for showing compassion towards a non-family member. Irritated that his heart had gotten the best of him in this situation and now Dr. Lakshmi probably saw him as a nice man. And damnit, he was definitely NOT a nice person. But as soon as he came back into the room and his eyes settled on her again, his whole expression softened. Damnit.

Her comment caught him off guard and he nearly freaked. Did she know? Everyone in The Family knew, of course, but he didn’t tell people outside of that group exactly what he was. He gave her his trademark smirk and added in a little half bow before settling back onto his chair. His poor, diseased mind finally chalked it up to a normal little comment and he relaxed a little. He took a sip of the coffee in his thermal cup and rubbed his temples momentarily. He really needed sleep. Maybe he’d get Jeordie to come watch his room during lunch and head up to the infirmary for a nap. He’d had a fling with one of the nurses up there who was still smitten with him, so she allowed him access to pretty much anything he needed from the room, including the cots. In exchange he gave her a half-meant compliment or a flirtatious kiss on the cheek to keep her chasing after him. Not that women flocking and beating each other for a piece of him was unusual. It’d been that way since middle school. In fact, he was pretty sure Leyla and Anna would have beaten each other senseless if it were not for the fact Anna was pregnant.


He laughed at her comment about three hours seeming normal. He shook his head and ran his long, pianists fingers through his hair, ”I was never so happy as when my Libby finally began sleeping through the night. I got her at five years old, but even then she wasn’t sleep well due to nightmares that had something to do with her family before the foster homes. Hard to believe she’s fourteen now,” Alix said shaking his head in disbelief, ”I assume you are a night owl then? Or perhaps just a diligent worker bee?”

He mentally debated over and over asking her if she was going. Why did he care if Dr. Lakshmi went to the dance? Why did he hope if she was there (and given the dance was semi-formal) he would see her in some sort of dress? Why did he want to see her again? And why, of all things, did he want to dance with her already? How in the hell had he gotten himself so smitten so soon? It was not an uncommon occurrence for Alixandre Delacroix to see something and immediately want it. Ever since his youth he’d had an issue with absolutely stopping at nothing till he had what he wanted. And his Followers had been no exception to this since most of them had been kidnapped because he spotted something he wanted. Albeit he didn’t really have any true ‘love’ for anyone. Maybe Leyla and perhaps Libby. But full blown, puppy love was just not in his repertoire. He didn’t fall in love with people. He was afraid to fall for people since he worried they’d leave. He came back from his little mental nod off to hear Dr. Lakshmi say she would probably end up going anyway. He brightened when he heard this and then frowned slightly when she said that maybe they’d stick her in coat check.

”Dr. Lakshmi, I would—“ He paused, unsure how to continue this, ”If you end up not doing coat check, perhaps you could save me a dance?” He said and looked down into his coffee mug, borderline nervous at her answer.

WORDS: 779
TAGGED: Zedfayce/Kamala
OUTFIT: click
NOTES: Mehhh.
LYRICS: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
CREDIT: CaeJae@caution2.0

[dr. kamala avani lakshmi]

i'm not a robot without emotions
I'M NOT WHAT YOU SEE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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"Ha, yeah, that's what my sisters said. Of course, they've got boys so they don't sleep through the night anyway..." Sure, so the boys were approaching the dread yawning chasm of teenagerhood now. They were still as rambunctious as ever. Her sisters despaired of ever getting them to calm down, but Kami rather thought that was part of the fun. She liked people who could keep up with her, and if they were family so much the better. She was getting ready to teach them how to pop a wheelie in her wheelchair next time she went to visit.

"Nightmares, though? Poor kid," Kami said, with sympathy in her voice. It wasn't the nightmares she had to worry about anymore, really. She'd long since come to terms with reliving the crash that night and all of the other horrible emotional baggage that came with it. The dreams that made her feel the worst when she woke up were the ones where she was running and hiking and jumping and most of all dancing. Ballroom, swing, bhangra, ballet...she'd had to stop watching Dancing With The Stars and shouting at the TV when they did poorly, because it had started to creep into her dreams. Most people would look upon that as a triumph of the mind over the body, allowing her to experience something stolen from her in the realm of dreams. She just viewed it as her subconscious mind taunting her with something she hadn't had for twenty years.

She struggled to change the subject. "Fourteen? So you adopted her when you were pretty young yourself, huh? That takes some serious guts, no way I'd be able to do that," she said. Subject changed, but to children again. Oh God. Was she seriously back on this again? Would her mental torment never end?

Apparently not. Had her ears deceived her, or had he just asked her to the dance? "Hahahahaha," she said nervously, trying to buy time to figure out what to say. "I'll do my best," she said. "If I'm not spending the whole time shoving rulers in between dancing couples and telling them to 'leave room for Jesus', or whatever the line is now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
i've come to help you with your problems
SO WE CAN BE FREE

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tagged » Alix/Ren
words » 381
lyrics » mr. roboto - styx
music » skyfalll
notes » fun fact: Kami's job is basically my own this weekend.

[alixandre rowan delacroix]

Alix still was trying to figure out what happened when Kami began to speak. He half smiled at her comment. Boys, huh? He hadn’t been so fortunate to get a son yet. Although at times he felt like it when he dealt with Christian, he didn’t have a biological son yet. He nodded as he sipped at the scalding hot coffee and felt the burn on his tongue. Libby had been a lot more combative the last couple of years as she entered the teen years. He could only wonder what she’d end up being. Regardless, the little girl who wore pretty black dresses and made him have tea parties with she and Jeordie was long gone. Now she was secretive and more violent. Much more like her aunt Tessa, whom her middle namesake came from, which had been something he’d had to work on with her. She couldn’t be so flagrant with her emotions and so physical with people, although all that had earned him was her door slammed in his face and a scream of how much he didn’t understand her from the other side of her door. Perhaps he hadn’t been so smart in spoiling her when she was little.

Nightmares were a common occurrence in the Delacroix house. Some of the Followers never really seemed to get over being ‘broken in’ and would wake up screaming from the invisible things that chased them. Lili in particular seemed to have some demons in her past she refused to talk about and that caused her a lot of nightmares. More often than not Alix would lie with her until she felt asleep, just as he’d done with Libby when she was little. Jeordie had been having a few here and there as of late, too. Alix would wake up and the man would be whimpering and thrashing about in his sleep to the point of flinging himself off of the bed and crying.

”Yeah, I was only eighteen when I adopted Libitina. I’d been volunteering at an orphanage she was being housed at in Paris and spotted her. She was five at the time and came over begging for me to pick her up. When I did and she nuzzled her face against my neck, it was love at first sight so to speak. I immediately began the paperwork and myself and my---“ Alix felt his voice crack and tried to clear his throat, ”My fiancé, may she rest in p-peace, uhm, we raised her until S-Sarafina passed. And then Jeordie and I raised her sort of until Leyla came along. She doesn’t remember Sarafina though, and thinks of Leyla as her mother.”

He suddenly felt very woozy. He hated discussing Sarafina, his deceased love, and that Libby couldn’t remember the woman who raised her for three years. It made him so sad to know that she didn’t get to know Sarafina like he did. Not that he didn’t appreciate Leyla stepping in and raising the child, or that he didn’t feel that she’d raised his daughter well. It just wasn’t the same. He had been so hopelessly in love with Sarafina and she died and left him alone to face the world. Mercifully he had Leyla now and a plethora of other lovers who attempted to fill the void. He felt a sudden pang in his chest at the thought of Sarafina’s bright smile and her soft laugh. He mentally shook off the feeling of sadness and turned instead to posing the question about the dance.

When she sort of accepted his offer he looked up with a smile on his face again. Blast this woman for making him feel this way! He laughed at her comment and shook her head, raising an eyebrow at her. A thousand pick-up lines danced on the tip of his tongue and he had to focus on not throwing one out at her. He couldn’t allow her to figure out just how interested he was. Instead he took a sip of coffee to give his brain time to come up with a not-so-lame response.

”Fantastic! Oh dear, now we can’t be killjoys. But if they start bumping and grinding or dropping their tailfeathers or whatever the cool thing is now, I’ll step in. I’m much more of a classical dancer, ballroom and the like.” He said with a proud smile.

WORDS: 730
TAGGED: Zedfayce/Kamala
OUTFIT: click
NOTES: Mehhh.
LYRICS: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
CREDIT: CaeJae@caution2.0