|
Post by Ray on Nov 26, 2017 19:48:57 GMT -7
Jon laughs a little at the offer of hot chocolate, said to sweeten the idea of stopping by more often. It's almost amusing how different she is to everyone else he's found himself surrounded by over the years. They're all so hardened by their experiences, by their life spans, by the things they've seen. Liquor and trouble seem to be the only things they deal in, the only things that pull them from their darkened corners of the world, the only things that unite them. He'd learned that first in London all those years ago, seeing how monsters and beings moved through this self-made dark underworld of sex and violence and vice.
But Tessa...Tessa has books, and hot chocolate, and a soft smile.
It's...refreshing.
She mentions Katherine and Jon does not miss the slight pause before the woman's name. A hesitant one. A slight smile ticks upwards at a single corner of his lips. With Katherine in Mystic and Jon here, a slight divide made by distance had formed between them. He loves her. Even still after all these years. But it seems like as the years pass more and more, their need to be constantly in each other's presence, constantly in each other's beds, has lessened. She visits here and there, but the last time he saw her was weeks ago.
"I'll remember that offer," he replies, pushing those thoughts from his mind. He gives her another smile, a little warmer this time. "Thank you for the coffee and the chat. But I'll get out of your hair. Let you enjoy some quiet of your own." He rises to his feet then, pushing his hair back once more.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 26, 2017 20:05:01 GMT -7
"You definitely should remember that offer" she said and watched as he smiled at her with a warmer smile this time. If she was honest she could easily ask him to stay right now, to just stay and they could talk, whether it be about books or their pasts or just something but she knew that he had things to do and she did have to open the store back up after all she did need to keep the money coming in to stay here.
"Oh, no worries" she said and stood up after him and scoffed softly "Soon enough the second round of the day will start and everywhere is noise" she admitted and then scratched at her neck "But you should definitely get back to school, don't need you to be missing classes"
Tessa realised what she had said and for a moment she wanted to scream at how stupid she really was, she was sure that if Jessie or the others had heard her speaking like this then they would pass out from laughing so much. With Will she had been so sure of herself but now she was acting like an idiot over a guy that wasn't even hers to take. He was someone else's and she really didn't need a pissed off vampire coming after her. Especially a pissed off vampire that she has helped in the past and even recently.
There was one thing that made her feel for Katherine was the need of which she had come to Tessa in the first place, a secret that she had asked her to keep from anyone else and she would promise to do so but she knew in the end the dark haired vampire was going to having to tell someone but that wasn't her business. Tessa pushed that thought out of her mind and concentrated on the moment.
"Hopefully I will see you soon" Tessa said and nodded at him.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 26, 2017 20:20:01 GMT -7
Jon smiles at her comment, giving a quiet breath of a laugh as he looks down to his feet for a moment. "I think my students would be quite happy if I missed a class," He admits, looking back up to her with amusement lingering in his eyes. "I'm not a very easy teacher." In fact he teaches history much the same as he taught sword-fighting back at the Wall, never pulling any punches. It's earned him a few complaints, a few pissed off e-mails, a few muttered swears in class, but they learn. They do the work, endure his limited patience, and learn. And that's the only thing that matters.
"I think you will," he replies with a small nod. It's been a few weeks since he's had a conversation he actually enjoyed, with someone who did not seem so eager to be out of his presence. When they first met, he never truly got a chance to know her. Or really even talk to her. But it's nice. Knowing that someone from so long ago is only a few minutes from him.
He lingers for a moment longer before finally clearing his throat and moving towards the door of the shop. With one final wave he steps back out into the dreary afternoon, feeling far less apprehensive than he had when he first arrived. He pulls in a deep breath after taking one last look at the sign, etching the way here into the back of his mind as he tugs the collar of his jacket upwards against the wind, and then lets his feet carry him back the way he had come.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 26, 2017 20:33:33 GMT -7
Tessa laughs "I've definitely come across a few hard teachers in my time" she nodded. In fact she was sure that in the time she was in London she had known a couple hard teachers where she had been living. But of course Charlotte had been told to get them educated and so she did in the best way that she could, it wasn't easy doing her job and Tessa never wanted to be a teacher. She respected them but would never do their job for all the tea in China especially after seeing what people she cared about had gone through all those years before.
No she was happy with her shop of dreams which she was going to have to open up soon.
She smiled when he said that he would see her again and Tessa found herself looking forward to that day, it didn't necessarily have to be the next day or even that week but whenever he was free again then he was more than welcome to join her at lunch while the shop was closed and they would really be able to sit down and chat.
Tessa sees him lingering and she was tempted to ask if he was alright but he cleared his throat and moved to the door before giving her a wave. She watched him leave the shop and she licked her lip, watched as he walked up the steps and then away from her shop. She moved towards the counter and behind it before opening up a drawer and in it was two different things. One a grey banner with a direwolf on it and the other a more precious thing to Katherine that she was surprised to even have it in her possession and she cleared her throat, shut the drawer up before moving to the door and opening the store back up.
It was nice to sit and talk to Jon and there was a feeling in her chest that she hadn't felt for a while and she wasn't sure if it was the right thing to be feeling now but it was there and it didn't feel like it would go anywhere.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 26, 2017 21:14:39 GMT -7
A few days pass, his life returning to the usual routine he's set for himself. As the semester nears its close, the things left unsaid in his class creep back upon him, reminding him of just how much had happened, how much was eroded away, how much there is left to say. It's difficult, picking and choosing what's important to note, what he can prove based on sources that have only ever read other sources, a long chain of people who never once saw the world as it was back then.
But Westeros burned with the Iron Throne, and its history burned with Oldtown. All of it thrown as ashes into the wind, and twisted and reconstructed from fragments collected down through generations. Not of it recognizable.
He leaves class that morning with a headache, names and places sitting heavily upon the tip of his tongue, names and places he cannot speak. He nudges the door to his office open with his shoulder, wincing a little at the strain the shove puts upon his chest, and tosses his books haphazardly onto his desk. Tugging off his glasses that are more aesthetic than corrective, meant to obscure the scars left behind from wars past, he pinches the bridge of his nose and heaves out a sigh. "Gods, why did I think this was a good idea?" He mutters to himself, letting his free palm set down flat upon the surface of his oak desk, hunching over it.
He tries to still his mind by dragging in a rough, deep breath and letting his fingers fall away from his face.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 26, 2017 21:26:33 GMT -7
"They say that talking to yourself is a sign of madness but I find it's always the best conversation one can have" she said softly and leaned against the door frame. Tessa had been trying to make herself decide if coming here was the best idea but she was here now and it didn't look like she had come at the best time. He was hunched over his desk and was talking to himself.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting" she admitted and looked in his office. Tessa really should've rang or text first but she then came to realise that wouldn't work because she didn't have anything to contact him with. Asking Katherine for his number would've raised questions that she was sure she wouldn't be able to answer and now she was wondering just why she was standing here but rather than moving away she walked into the office and shut the door behind her.
"Is everything alright?" she asked and watched his back. She knew that sometimes when people were hunched over desks and talking to themselves it meant that things weren't alright but she wasn't sure if asking anything else would've been the best idea. Tessa knew a little bit about the Starks but that was mostly down to Katherine, Katherine who had wanted her assistance so many times and on one particular day because she had said it was easier to deal with the ache.
It was the first time she had seen the bookshelves and smiled to herself, they definitely shared the love for books.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 26, 2017 21:42:06 GMT -7
The voice startles him a little, making his back straighten on instinct and his head turn to glance towards the source. He spots Tessa standing there, right in the doorway, watching him. He blinks a little in surprise, his shoulders slowly relaxing. A faint breath of a laugh falls from his lips as her words finally register through his aching head, and he drops his chin towards his chest. "I think at this point, madness would be expected," he replies, a small smile tugging at his lips as he glances back up towards her. Folding in the earpieces of his glasses, he sets them down on his desk as he turns his body to face her, leaning against the edge of the wood.
"The only thing you're interrupting is a mild panic attack about finals." He says, crossing his arms over his chest. For class, he looks far more formal than he did when he first dropped by her bookshop, standing in well-fitted black slacks and a pale grey button-up shirt. He wears no tie, leaving the top-button undone instead. The sleeves are rolled to his elbows, exposing the muscles in his forearm and the faint scars that reside there as well. "Which...I'm glad you did."
At the moment he would take anything to get his mind off of bitter thoughts, and Tessa is a better distraction than most.
"I was not expecting to see you, though." He admits, looking at her a little curiously. But a faint smile lingers on his lips. They had spoken briefly a few times over the past couple of days, trading quick messages online that always have a teasing edge to it. But she had made no indication she planned to stop by. If she had, he might not have left piles of books and papers across his desk.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 26, 2017 21:56:58 GMT -7
Tessa watches as he stands up straight and turn his head towards her, if she was honest she had been trying to get herself to come and see him. The messages online could be seen by Katherine and the last thing she wanted to do was upset her but she did like speaking to Jon and stopping by to see him seemed like the next best thing.
"Ah, nothing too bad then" she laughed softly and looked around the room. Tessa had heard so much about Harvard from Lexi but never had she actually been here before. Now she was starting to see why this place was so impressive, it was damn huge and she did get lost a couple of times until she had to ask someone to point her in the direction of his office and even then had to ask a couple students if she was going in the right direction. She used to be so good with directions but she guessed that in the years from when she stopped needing the directions to her store she had forgotten about others too.
He looked so much different in his 'school' attire but she thought he looked smart and even a little bit hot. Tessa wasn't going to say that to him though because things had been a little bit weird between them at the bookstore but she hadn't been sure if it had been cause of the years or cause he had finally stopped by her bookstore and was looking at someone he hadn't been able to take his eyes off the last time they had seen each other but seeing as the last time they had been even remotely in each other's presence had been in the 1800s and she had already got engaged to Will, she doubted that had been the case.
"I thought I would surprise you this time" she said softly and turned to look at him. Tessa was dressed in a black pair of jeans and her hair was up in a bun at the back of her head. They had been flirting online and it had been cute but it didn't stop the whole her wanting to touch him even if he had been at his place and she at hers. Her grey eyes watched him for a moment.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 26, 2017 22:26:20 GMT -7
He watches her as she looks around his office, her attention already drawn to the shelves of books on the right side. His office is small compared to some of the other professors in his department, but he's made use of the space as best he can. A massive map of medieval Europe stretches across the left-hand wall, territories and kingdoms marked with the names modern scholars have given them. His desk sits squarely in the middle beneath the window that takes up the upper half of the back wall, covered in scattered piles of papers yet to be graded and notes he's written for himself. But the books themselves are what make up most of the clutter. Most are more accurate findings by historians and archaeologists, categorized by region and time. Some are vague translations of what medieval texts survived the fires that rampaged most of the continent. And even fewer still are copies of books salvaged from the ruins of Castle Black, the originals locked safely away where they will remain.
But as she looks at the books, his own eyes drift over her.
He knows he's a fool. They've been flirting like shy children, trading messages like whispers, all where he knows Katherine can no doubt see them and with a girl who is Katherine's friend, first and foremost. But there's a sort of...comfort in talking with Tessa. With Katherine, there is so much history, an ocean of it filled with tragedy and chaos. Escaping it sometimes means escaping each other or drowning themselves in something else for a while, just until they know they can hold their heads above the tides again. But Tessa does not have that history with him. Does not mourn with him. She's optimistic and bright-eyed, even though she knows the trials of passing time as well as he.
And she's beautiful. That is a hard thing to ignore.
He smiles a little more when she turns to look back him and speak, his eyes shifting away for a brief moment as if he were caught doing something he shouldn't. "Well it's a nice surprise," he admits, letting his dark eyes return to her face.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 26, 2017 22:39:30 GMT -7
Tessa knows that there is more to life than books but sometimes she likes to get lost in them, other times she just gets through the day in and day out struggle of things going on around her. She had once worried about everything going on around her but as she was told... they couldn't save the humans from themselves if they wanted to destroy everything. She knew enough about Katherine's past to know that she mourned for so many different people but there was two that she was losing more and more as time went on and while it had been something she had told her to talk to Jon about, she knew that the dark haired vampire wouldn't.
Mostly because she didn't want to hurt him.
But it didn't stop her from turning up on Tessa's doorstep on one particular day every year just so she could help her out with it.
Tessa was aware of his eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to look at him because she was afraid that it was just her imagination so when he finally spoke she slowly looked at him and smiled. "I'm glad you think so" she said softly and nodded. Jon was Katherine's love, she knew that, and Tessa was Katherine's friend and she knew it would destroy her if anything happened between the two of them but she just found someone she could connect with and she hadn't felt that in a long time. Tessa wasn't saying it was love, no far from it, but there was definitely a connection between the two of them.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 26, 2017 23:20:51 GMT -7
A beat of silence follows her reply, broken only by the soft ticking of the clock above his door. His eyes remain upon her, his mind trying to find something to say to keep his thoughts from going where they want to. Thoughts of potentially hurting the woman he loves because this woman makes the world feel not so bleak. And he knows he is not a saint, and Katherine is not one either. This would not be the first time one of them found interest in someone else, even for just a moment, as the years have gone by. But it should not be this hard to shrug it off. He's seven hundred years old, for the gods' sake. Far passed the age of fumbling romances and hidden kisses.
But she's still here, still with the soft smile upon her lips, a silver lining.
"So..." he begins, unable to find the distraction he needs. He clears his throat faintly, rising off of the edge of the desk. "This is my office," he tries, glancing round and huffing out a slight laugh, "Where I murder my students' papers with red pen." He teases lightly before letting his eyes return back to her face. "Not very exciting, I'm afraid."
He darts his tongue out to wet his lips and then lets his teeth click together for a moment, his shoulders tensing for one final second as his resolve wears thin. "Oh fuck it." He breathes out.
Moving in one long stride, his arms uncross from his chest for him to place his hands upon her cheeks, drawing her towards him. His lips find hers, soft but reckless, capturing her in a kiss.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 26, 2017 23:35:03 GMT -7
Jon draws her attention back to him with his words and she laughs softly when he says about murdering the students papers with the dreaded red pen, she might not have gone to school for a long time but even she knew about the red pen that teachers used now, she had heard it all from Lexi who complained about those pens. Sounds like she dodged a bullet by leaving before Jon turned up at Harvard and because she looked rather like his girlfriend. It sometimes made her feel a bit weird, like Katherine was keeping an eye on her through this young woman but from what Tessa could understand Lexi had no knowledge of Katherine and it should stay that way.
Doppelgangers should never meet.
"I don't know, I'm sure it's very exciting" he then spoke again and before she could really understand what he had said he moved over to her, put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. His lips were softer than she had imagined them to be. Tessa had never thought that this would happen especially when he was in love with Katherine and she knew that the vampire would probably have their heads on the very pike that her own husbands head had been on in Westeros but for a moment Tessa sank into his kiss.
It wasn't like it was going to be anything romantic, Tessa had hurt too much from losing her William to let herself love again but it was nice to have fun with someone and a distraction is what they both needed.
Tessa put her hand against his shirt and drew him closer to her, to as close as they could get.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 0:10:34 GMT -7
For a moment, he thinks Tessa might push him away as her hand lifts to rest upon his chest. But she clutches at him instead, pulling him closer, lips pressing back against his. His hand drifts from her cheek, brushing back until his fingers find their way into her hair and his palm cups the side of her throat, feeling her pulse thrum softly.
Jon knows this could be a mistake. He knows he could regret this for years to come. But he's never really thought of himself as being a smart man. He's been far too reckless and far too impulsive and far too ready to die to ever call himself that. And for the moment, this seems like a far better mistake to make than any of those times. All the troubles that had followed him out of the classroom disappear as his lips move gently against hers, feeling the softness of her mouth, the warmth of her breath, the curve of her throat. With just the barest push, he presses her back against the bookshelf behind her, his other hand falling to her waist. He tips his mouth upwards, brushing his lips up over hers, before capturing her mouth in a kiss once more.
He breaks from the kiss after a moment, still hovering close, his dark eyes skimming over her face. There's a beat, and then he exhales a slow breath and shakes his head faintly. "I'm sorry. That was...impulsive," he admits, pulling himself back from her, but not far.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Nov 27, 2017 0:25:26 GMT -7
In honesty Tessa isn't sure just how far this is going to go but his lips were so soft against hers. There was just something about kissing this stranger, because in the end they were strangers. Tessa had only dealt with Katherine, but in the background there had always been Edric and Jon. This beautiful dark knight that always looked as if he had the world on his shoulders.
He pushed her against the bookshelf behind her and she didn't let go of his shirt but there was something nagging at the back of her mind. A woman with sad dark eyes staring at her. Amelia. The voice said to her. It was the thing that her and Katherine would do every year since the 1800s. It wasn't something that she could explain to him or anyone else. But the look on Katherine's face would hurt her and it would break the bond that they had.
The bond of friendship.
After a moment Jon pulled away from her lips and then shook his head and apologised to her. "I.." she said and swallowed hard before dropping her hand from his chest "we can't do this... I can't do this not to Katherine.. not when I.." she shook her head. It wasn't her secret to tell and so far Katherine clearly hadn't said anything. Tessa slipped away from the bookshelf. "I should let you get back on with your work.." she said and headed to the door.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Nov 27, 2017 0:49:59 GMT -7
Tessa slips away from him, a sudden rush of remorse bubbling to the surface now that the moment between them is over. But he lets her go, hand falling away from the crook of her neck. She hurries for the door to his office, voicing what he had been trying and failing to tell himself only moments ago, a reminder of just how foolish he's being. How impulsive. He pulls his lower lip slowly between his teeth, biting down hard upon it as a sliver of regret grips at his chest. "Tessa," he begins, turning to step after her, wanting to make this right, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
But the door closes behind her in a flurry, cutting off any others words he might have had.
A breath drifts free instead, his shoulders dropping low.
"Shit." He mutters, coming to a halt halfway to the door. He sets his hands at his sides and lets his chin hang towards his chest, eyes closing tightly for one brief moment as the whole scenario plays through his head on repeat. "I'm a...fuckin' idiot." He huffs, shaking it all away. He shoves his hair back with his fingers and then swipes the pad of his thumb across his lower lip, still tasting Tessa there.
|
|