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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 20:37:56 GMT -7
Manhattan is like every city he's been too, and yet like none of them. It's taller than London, rising to dizzying new heights with steel and stone; it's louder than Paris, its edges still rough with newfound spectacle; it's younger than all he's ever known, barely a budding dot on the map built on a sense of new hope. But it stinks all the same. The streets are lit with electric lamps, casting a tinny light over the sidewalks and streets where horse-drawn carriages intermingle among the new automobiles of the rich. The stars are invisible to his eyes, hidden behind the glow, the industrial smoke, the haze of growth.
He misses the stars.
"You never saw Rohan," Adrian says suddenly as they walk, more like stumble away from a bar they nearly emptied, liquor swimming in his belly and making him feel ten pounds heavier than when they ventured there. He puffs on a cigarette upon his lips, looking to Katherine and grabbing a light-post to swing himself passed. "I miss Rohan." He sighs out as he lets go, arm slapping back down to his side. "You could fucking breathe there."
Strands of his dark hair fall into his eyes. Though it is still short, falling in line with the times, it's grown just a touch over the years. Enough to be a nuisance. But he ignores it, letting it hang just in his line of vision as he huffs out smoke through his nostrils.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 30, 2017 20:51:13 GMT -7
Katherine is pretty sure that the liquor is making her dress feel that much tighter. Of course the two of them had put a challenge just to see who could drink the first one under the table. They were practically around the same age but it seemed as if the more they drank, the more that both of them were starting to feel the buzz until the barkeep decided that he wanted them out because they nearly had drank all of his drink.
She had gone to the bar looking all dressed up and now she was walking home a little disheveled with her hat in her hand and her dark curly hair falling around her shoulders.
Adrian spoke about Rohan and she pushed her eyebrows together. "I did see it once, I think" she said and then licked her lip. It was probably for someones wedding but she wasn't sure whose it had been mostly because she was a little bit hazy on the mind lately when she had been plying herself with drink. At this rate they were going to be barred from going into any bars. "If you want to breath then stop smoking" she said after a moment.
Katherine and Adrian had been here for a little bit and they had somewhere to live, it wasn't anything special but it was a place where they could shut the door and forget about the world for a little bit. A place where they could be safe too. "But Rohan did sound better than Westeros" she admitted with a nod. It sounded so much nicer than her old home country.
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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 21:16:49 GMT -7
He furrows his brows a little when Katherine admits to having seen it once, trying to wrack his mind for when that possibly could have happened. But the alcohol, though likely to fade soon, keeps his memories slow to find their way to the forefront. It doesn't help that it's been near on six centuries since he last saw his home, since he last trekked through its green fields and dark forests, since he last saw the high white walls of Durinhall. It did not fade as quickly as Westeros. Did not turn so violently to ash. But like all old things, it found its way to dust. And the memories of it aren't always so clear.
But those thoughts fade as well as Katherine teases him about smoking, forcing his eyes back to her face and causing a smile to tug at the edges of his mouth. He lifts a hand to tug the cigarette free, but not until he's sucked in another long drag, filling his lungs with the taste of it. "I want to breathe fresh air. Not the shit in the alleyways." Adrian admits, dabbing off the butt of ash. "This," he says, lifting the cigarette for her to see, smoke lazily drifting into the air between them, "Is the only thing dulling my senses enough not to notice it. It's as close to Ash as I am ever going to get again." He huffs out half a laugh before setting the cigarette back to his mouth.
The reach their street within a few moments, their little place nestled tightly between the row of brownstones stacked side by side for as far as the eye can see. Adrian turns to rest his shoulder against the wall as he digs into the pockets of his pants and coat for the keys, knowing they must be somewhere -- either on him or on the floor of the bar they drowned themselves in. "Do you miss it?" He asks, thinking maybe he's asked this before, but the liquor is making him feel nostalgic. "Westeros, I mean?"
He finally finds the keys, buried deep beneath loose change, and slides the key into the lock. With a twist, it gives, and they step into the small little flat they call their own. The lights are still gas here, and Adrian tugs his cigarette from his mouth to light the lamps as they enter.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 30, 2017 21:31:24 GMT -7
Katherine scoffs when he speaks about the fact the cigarette was the closet thing to ash. She had to admit there were times when she missed not having to breathe in the stuff that was in the sky about this City that they had found themselves in. They found themselves on their street and she's glad to see their little place, she had ended up compelling someone just so they could get it mostly because they both needed somewhere safe to stay. They needed a little place that was their own, somewhere they could shut out the world and this was it.
While Adrian is looking for the keys he asks her a question and it was one that seemed to take her off guard every time he had asked it; it definitely had been a while since he had asked that same question but either way it caught her off guard. Did she miss Westeros? Katherine missed her family she knew that much but Westeros definitely was one country that she would rather forget about, same as with London. "Westeros was a lot of trouble" she admitted once he found the keys and let them into the small flat.
Katherine locked up the door and made sure everything was double locked; they might be vampires but the last thing they needed was shocks. "It did keep me on my toes though but no I don't think I do miss it" she admitted and removed her coat and put that and her hat on a stand. She ran her hand through her dark curly hair just to move it back from her face. She hadn't thought about Westeros for a while, in between fleeing England and making sure that both herself and Adrian were alright she hadn't had time to really think about her old country but the more older she got, the more she wanted to leave it behind.
She missed her family more than anything but right now there were other things to worry about.
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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 21:50:52 GMT -7
He remembers very little of Westeros other than snow and ice and misery. The time he spent there was walled within the halls of Winterfell as the world froze around it, watching his brother fall in love with a Lady while he tried to pretend as if his shoulder didn't still agonize him every day. He can't even recall what the city itself actually looked like beyond frost-covered and dreary. But he can remember each and every one of the smiles Fili would give when Sansa spared him a moment of her time, and the blushes that would creep across her cheeks.
He'd been envious. Of each of them at the same time. Jealous of Fili for stealing the heart of a woman so beautiful, jealous of Sansa for the attention she now had which was once his.
Maybe that's why he so recklessly ran to death.
"I don't miss it either." Adrian admits, sticking the cigarette back in his mouth.
The flat is nothing special and far from the luxury of Katherine's abandoned brothel in London. The furniture is simple and sparse, left behind by the last tenants that Katherine compelled to do so. There are still spots of dust places, still newspaper in the window, still stitches in the curtains. But it keeps a roof over their heads and their cold hearts warm, and Adrian has lived in worse places before. He steps into the sitting room and shrugs out of his jacket, tossing it over the back of a rickety arm chair before dropping down into it heavily, the springs giving a creak of protest. Swinging his feet up, he sets the heels of his boots upon the old coffee table covered in empty bottles of liquor, and slumps down into the cushions. "We need to find a new bar." He sighs out, eyeing those empty bottles, still wanting more.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 30, 2017 22:01:02 GMT -7
Katherine looks over at him when he spoke about not missing it either. He moved into the sitting room and she followed after him rubbing at the back of her neck, her dark hair tickling her hands as she did so.
The noise of him sitting down into the chair made her look over at him once more before she too took a seat, if she was honest she had been feeling a lot more tired lately than she had in a long time. Maybe there were times when she was looking over her shoulder just in case, just in case she ran into someone. Someone that knew them from London or from other places they had been along the way.
She scoffed when Adrian said about the bar before looking over at him. "I'll get another couple bottles tomorrow" she said and gave a slight smile before she closed her eyes up. For the last couple of times she had been having nightmares so Katherine hadn't been sleeping as much. Nightmares that liked to turn her inside out as she went through everything that had happened in London. It had been a while since they had even been in England but it still pulled at her memories as if wanting to make sure she never forgot.
At that thought she opened her eyes and sat up before running her hand through her dark hair. "Plus for tonight I think you need to sleep off what you have in your system because I don't need to see your naked chest again" she said and let a slight smirk pull at her lips as she looked over at him. They had got rather drunk and ended up playing cards and before she knew it, he had been sitting there without a shirt on.
The last thing she wanted to see was him with no clothes again.
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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 22:19:17 GMT -7
He smiles, a grin tugging at his lips as he sets his eyes upon her, amused by her slight tease.
Ever since leaving London, their journey has been a tumultuous one. Paranoia, the after-effects of hunger, and the lingering shadow of what happened in those haunted streets have followed them like a stray dog everywhere they've gone. Katherine has felt it more. He knows she has. But it's remained this unspoken thing silenced by the whiskey and wine they drink in droves, drowned out and held beneath the waves. And because their tolerance is high, their drunken stupors short, finding ways to keep themselves otherwise preoccupied involves a little creativity.
Including interesting games of poker and blackjack.
"Oh, don't be such a prude." He replies sarcastically, still grinning. "If I remember correctly, that was your idea. Not my fault I'm shit at cards." He leans forward to stab out the short butt of his cigarette into an ashtray, breathing out the last tendril of smoke through the corner of his mouth. Adrian falls back against the cushions, draping his arms along the sides, and looks back to her.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 30, 2017 22:34:06 GMT -7
Katherine watches him for a moment before she puts her head back against the top of the chair and tries to hide the slight smile that is pulling at her lips. "It's not my fault you're shit at cards either" she said after a moment before looking back at him. He stabs out his cigarette and she feels his eyes on her once more before she slowly moving her eyes away from the ashtray and over to him for a moment. She held his gaze, her brown eyes on his and for a moment they seem to stay like that before she slowly moves her eyes away and closes them back up.
"I would rather stab my eyes out than see you naked" she said and then lets a soft grin pull at her lips.
Katherine did have to admit that he wasn't bad looking, after all they did sleep together over the four years that they had been in London together. This time things had been a little bit more harder, she hadn't allowed anyone to touch her in a long time. She kept her eyes down and her mouth shut, she never laughed, never smiled and made sure that they both were safe. It was the only way she could make sure that London never happened again. There were times when Katherine never loosed up at all, she got serious but it was to make sure they were protected.
In a way she became a ghost of what she had been before. At that thought she sat up before reaching down and pulling her shoes off and letting them drop beside the chair that she was sitting in. There were times when she didn't like to think, thinking could hurt and sometimes sleeping was hard but she was slowly getting there, right?
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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 22:53:54 GMT -7
"Mm-hmm." Adrian replies with just enough disbelief in his inflection to keep the joke going. Getting Katherine to smile is no easy feat, not anymore. He could probably count the number of times he's caught the rare smirk crossing her lips in the last few years on a single hand, and seeing her now, teasing, grinning, feels like the first accomplishment he's made in years. The first sign of actual progress.
And he knows he's no better.
He might be able to drown the memories of London with piss-cheap whiskey, but the hunger has always been a force to be reckoned with. Especially, it seems, for him. Katherine handles it better. Even before London, she always seemed in control of herself, her urges. Catching herself before she ever had the chance to fall. Only Drake seemed capable of pushing her over the edge. But not Adrian. It's always there for him, right under his skin like an itch he can't get rid of. He's done better since leaving England behind. Worked hard to get himself clean and stay clean, worked hard on building a system that doesn't rely on Katherine having to pick up the pieces he leaves behind. But even still, the thought nags constantly at the back of his mind, a low pestering whisper that never leaves him alone.
Drinking fills his stomach. Smoking dulls his senses. And making Katherine smile keeps him occupied so that whisper never finds its way to the front.
"I don't remember you complaining before." Adrian continues, "In fact...I remember a few times...where you just couldn't wait to get the clothes off of me..."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 30, 2017 23:06:33 GMT -7
Katherine pulls her lip in between her teeth and chews on it for a moment. If she's honest she could remember those days too. Before London she had never slept with another man because Jon had been the only person she had desired, he had been the only man, other than Robb, who had laid in bed with her. But then in the space of a few years she had slept with both Adrian and Drake.
There had been times when she pulled Adrian into a darkened room and pretty much ripped his clothes off but now, now she would rather lay in bed on her own and not touch anyone. She always made sure there was room between herself and another person in the street so they never brushed up against one another. There was no denying it that Drake had fucked with her head and made everything she done come to her mind everytime she slept. Sex was out of the picture, she couldn't bare herself to anyone. But that didn't mean men, even women, didn't look in her direction when she was out during the day. Sometimes she would even hear them whisper to their friends but Katherine carried on, kept her head down and her feet moving to get away.
Katherine glanced over at him. "Things change" she said and licked her bottom lip. Alcohol made it easy to forget for a while but that didn't mean it wasn't always going to be there in the back of her mind.
But if she was honest she did miss sex; she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Plus I didn't see you complaining either"
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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 23:25:01 GMT -7
Adrian's smile fades slowly as the silence between them grows, Katherine's thoughts turning somewhere else, somewhere better left buried. He can see it in her eyes, in the way she chews her lip. When she does finally speak, it's not as teasing as it was only moments ago, the humor lost somewhere in the hollow of their minds. Maybe he shouldn't have brought up London at all. Maybe it's better if he forgets that place, those years, those nights completely. It does neither one of them good to dwell on them.
The liquor is starting to wear off. He can feel the clarity returning to his thoughts, the warmth leaving his veins, the heaviness settling his belly.
"I'm not the kind of man who'd complain about sex." He replies, giving her another faint smile. He watches her for a second, until he lets his gaze drift away, settling upon the peeling wallpaper in their little flat in another city that's far from perfect. He tries to remember what he used to do in cities like these, way back then. He remembers taverns with cheap ale and glowing candles. He remembers dancing. Laughing. Kissing girls and singing songs and starting fights.
They feel like the memories of another man.
"Maybe I do need that sleep." He admits, furrowing his brows a little. "Or a very large cask of ale."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 30, 2017 23:37:31 GMT -7
Katherine watches him when he says about the fact that he never complains about sex and she feels her heart going out to him. It definitely couldn't be easy living with her over the last few years, she had changed from the happy bubbly vampire that he knew. She barely smiles, never laughs. Always looks over her shoulder, has nightmares that doesn't go away. Sometimes she wonders if she's awake in the mornings but here is Adrian he tries to make her smile and she never gives him much.
Hell she never gives him anything, always keeping her emotions away from her face but he knows her. He can look at her and know what she is feeling even without her saying anything.
She chews on her lip once more when he speaks about needing sleep or ale and for a moment she can't help the smile that pulls at her lips as she looks at him. "You end up drinking ale and I'm pretty sure you'll be sleeping in the bathroom" she said and watched him for a moment before a soft noise escapes her mouth.
That is the first laugh she has done in a while and it feels weird. Kat turns her head and looks over at him, a smile pulling at her lips once more. In honesty they probably could do with some sleep, hell they both could do with some sex too but which one were they likely to get right now?
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Post by Ray on Dec 30, 2017 23:54:59 GMT -7
Her reply makes a huff of a laugh escape him, short and quiet. She's not wrong. Adrian had drank about half the bar before they were finally booted out into the street, and while the effects of their bender are already beginning to work their way out of his system, another cask of ale might just be the final piece of the puzzle in his rush to unconsciousness. Which, at the moment, does not sound so terrible.
But those thoughts are rushed away by the sudden, soft sound that emanates from Katherine, a sound he has not heard in a long time. And it might be small, it might seem unremarkable in the eyes of anyone else, but it's still a laugh. His face softens as he looks to her, surprise crossing his eyes and making his lips part slowly. His own smile tugs at the corner of his lips, the first truly genuine one he's given all night, all week, as he looks at her. He drops his brown eyes after a moment, trying to brush off the sudden warmth that had spread through his chest at that moment as just amusement. Trying not to make it so obvious that a simple laugh had cured more than all the bottles of liquor piled around them.
Scratching his cheek, he lets his smile twitch further. "Well at least I'll be right there when the whiskey finds its way back up." He teases, looking back to her, his smile soft and warm. "But...maybe you're right." He sighs a little dramatically, dropping his feet to the floor and leaning forward to rest his elbows upon his knees, "Maybe I should just take my chances with sleeping off what I've already drank this evening."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 31, 2017 0:06:57 GMT -7
Katherine snorts before then shaking her head, he teases her and his eyes are on her, his smile soft and warm and for a moment she smiles back at him. This truly felt like the first time in a while where she had smiled and she had already given him two and a laugh. She really couldn't keep up with that because too much of the smiles or the laughter would have him being all giddy and she wasn't sure she could really put up with that right now.
He leans forward and says about getting some sleep and she knew she should do the same. "It's probably best if you do" she admitted after a moment and nodded once. She looked around and then grabbed her shoes off of the ground before she slowly stood to her feet.
Their bedrooms were off of the sitting room and honestly she didn't mind this place being as small as it was especially when it was their safe haven for now. Katherine wasn't sure how long they had been there for, wasn't sure just how long they had been here but either way they were going to be staying for a little while. They were home after all. "Hell it's probably best if I do" she said and rubbed her eye with the palm of her right hand. Vampires never got tired but Katherine definitely was feeling exhausted a lot lately but she wondered if it was more mental than anything else.
After a moment she looked at him before slowly moving away from her spot and put her hand on his shoulder, kissed the top of his head and said "Goodnight Adrian" before moving away and in the direction of her own bedroom. They needed to sleep off the drink and they needed to do it now.
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Post by Ray on Dec 31, 2017 0:21:34 GMT -7
Katherine is the first to stand, picking up her shoes and rubbing at her eyes. Though they don't truly have to sleep, some habits are hard to kill even after all of these years. There's a comfort in it, more than a need. A moment of reprieve from the outside world, the onslaught of noise and hunger, the trials of being. And some exhaustion is bone deep no matter what you are. And for two vampires with turbulent pasts, feeling tired is commonplace.
She begins her short journey to the bedroom that sits just behind him. His own is a little further, across a hall that separates them. Both small, both just enough to suit their purpose. He goes to stand as well, sitting straight and contemplating another cigarette before turning in for what's left of the night, when Katherine's hand comes to rest upon his shoulder. He pauses, turning his head slightly towards her out of curiosity, but is halted once more by the soft kiss she lays on his head. Adrian blinks, his brows twitching close, his brown eyes lifting to meet hers.
But she's already drifting off to her room.
"Goodnight." He murmurs, watching after her until the door closes softly. Adrian remains for a moment, rooted to the chair, working the laugh and the kiss through his tired, liquor-stricken mind and still coming up short for an explanation. But a smile ticks at his lips faintly anyway.
He stands, finally, forgetting that cigarette, and carries himself towards his own room.
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