we are nothing like you.

mine is the true face of vampire.

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

Duke winced. “I’m sorry. I was…” Drunk. He’d spent several nights partying and get wasted, only to end up sobbing on the phone. Levi whispering that they should go home while he dragged Duke to bed. “Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat and moved to the car to grab the box before returning in a flash. “Here.”

“Yes, that was clear.” And while she hadn’t been happy to hear from him only when he was heavily intoxicated, it was better than not hearing from him at all. She watched him dart back to the car, and a small smile sat on her lips as he offered the box to her. “Regardless of what has happened, I hope you know that you do not need to buy your way back inside...” her voice trailed off as she opened the box and pulled the dress partially from the box--not fully, but enough to see what it contained. “This is very beautiful,” she commented. “--But a present for me, or for you?” 

[adrianarousseau]

bloodxwitch:

“Please don’t touch me.” She tugged against the other’s hold and began to back away further from the woman. “I don’t know who you are.”

With her request, Adriana released Red’s hand--though her expression had gone from confused to pure concern. “We need to bring you to someone,” she resolved. Their relationship with the witches was unfortunately poor, but they were the only option. “Someone has tampered with your memory.” 

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

Duke grinned, moving forward to press a slow kiss to her lips. “I’ve missed you.” He whispered softly, against her lips. Adriana was easily one of the only good things to come out of his life as a vampire. Not being around her drove him insane; it was even worse than being around her when they fought. “I brought you something, actually.”

“I know,” she answered. “I listened to the messages you left.” Pressing a quick kiss to his lips, she added: “and I missed you.” His words drew a raised brow out of the vampire, and she hummed a note of curiosity. “Something for me?”

[adrianarousseau]

bloodxwitch:

“I’m sorry.. I just don’t know who you are.” Red took a step back from the stranger, the kettle left on the stove unforgotten in the moment. “I know others live here but I’ve never seen you before.”

“We’ve known each other for years, Red.” Nearing the hybrid, Adriana grabbed a gentle hold of her wrist to pull her closer. “Are you ill? Why are you behaving this way?”

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

Duke grabbed both suitcases from the trunk of the car, before slamming it shut. He looked up, eyes immediately locking on the small figure sitting on the porch. In his chest, he felt the pang of something painful. A mixture of guilt and grief and longing. There was a part of him that wanted to turn and run again. Far away from Adriana, their home, the conversation that he’d be forced to sit down and have with her. 

But, more than that, he was relieved to see her at all. Even after so long together, decades at one another’s side, Duke found it hard to spend more than a day without her. Or Elias. Or the others. They were his family. When he’d left, Duke felt like he’d let them down more than he could ever make up for. It had hurt him so much he’d rather escape than fix it. “… Adriana.” He mumbled, dropping the bags onto the ground and moving to stand infront of her in an instant. 

There was a moment of hesitation, a pause where he looked her over and wondered if he even dared to touch her. “I’m so sorry, ma chérie.” Duke breathed, kneeling in front of her and giving her a hopeful smile. “I’m done throwing my tantrum.”

Adriana hadn’t been a witness to the final argument that had prompted Duke’s decision to leave--and it had been trying, to say the least, when she’d come home to learn the news from Elias--but it had been obvious that something needed to change. She’d hoped that the change could’ve happened together, but if he’d accomplished it apart he’d accomplished it all the same. Maybe he’d finally gained that same sense of autonomy she’d sent him away for decades earlier.  As he stood before her, she looked up at him--her expression neutral and unassuming. It could have been easy to react angrily, or to start in on a line of questions...but truthfully, she was just glad to see him again. There could be time for all the rest later.  She returned him smile with a small smile of her own, and reached out her hands to brush against his cheeks. “Alright,” she resolved. “Welcome home.”

[grexsed]

“It’ll be fine, Levi.” Duke was saying to Levi as they pulled up to the mansion. He’d forgotten how much he missed the smell, the aesthetic, the way it made him feel. The two of them had been gone for a little over a month and not much had changed except now the humidity was even more thick. He sighed, parking and stepping out of the car. The sun was low in the sky, casting an almost angelic glow over the land. As if the sky was trying to remind him how magical home could feel. 

He slammed the door shut and looked over at Levi, a small smile on his lips. “They probably won’t even care that we’re back.” Duke shrugged, going to grab his suitcase from the trunk. In his heart of hearts, he knew that wasn’t true. Their family was too close, shared too much, for them to suddenly not care anymore. If anything, they’d be happy to have Levi and they’d tolerate Duke. 

But he’d never underestimate their ability to be kind.

“Do you want me to carry this for you?” He called when the trunk swung up, revealing both of their bags. 

[adrianarousseau]

Adriana had hardly welcomed Duke’s decision to leave, but she had made the painful choice to allow him to ride it out as far as it would take him. Dana had accused the family of controlling his choices and preventing him from making his own mistakes--and while Adriana decidedly hated the woman, there was a grain of truth to be found. And so, for as much as his evident absence and troubling voicemails wounded her, Adriana did nothing. When he was gone for a month, she began to question how good of a choice that might have been.  The sudden return of the car to the driveway might’ve sent Adriana’s heart into a tizzy if it still beat--and even without it, she could swear her hands shook as she reached for the door and turned the knob. The vampire stood on the front porch and watched as the two younger men left the car, and she wondered what she ought to say--and she wondered what Duke expected her to say. Unable to decide the appropriate words, she decided instead to wait. Dropping down on the porch, she sat and observed quietly. 

[bloodxwitch]

Paris was just the start of it. The redheaded witch had been experiencing temporary amnesia over the past month and began to forget simple spells. Red had woken up with a terrible headache, traipsing to the kitchen to brew herself some tea (by hand of course since she couldn’t remember her spell for fire); her gaze perked up when she heard footsteps approaching, looking at the figure quizzically before speaking up. “Who are you?” 

[adrianarousseau]

Adriana paused at Red’s question, and her brow furrowed in confusion. She hesitated to think that Red was joking with her--the hybrid’s tone did not seem light-hearted, but truly inquisitive. It left the elder vampire thoroughly confused. “Are you alright?” 

[adrianarousseau]

witchxodie:

Odie put her bags down and flopped into the nearest chair. “I figured the more I wrote, the easier it would be for me to find an excuse to stay.” She admitted. “But there was something I had to on my own and go someplace I would never take any of you. It’s been a rough couple of weeks for everyone, I couldn’t ask any of you to go away with me with things so bad here.” She explained. She was so fucking selfish,all the lies and avoidance,and her decision to leave her family right after an attack on them was the wrong move but it had to be done. “You should try and get some rest,everyone needs a break now and then,even you.”

Adriana listened quietly as Odette provided her explanation, and a small hum left the vampire. When the hybrid suggested that Adriana ought to go to sleep, she offered a thin smile and shook her head. “Where did you go?” 

[costumefilms]

[adrianarousseau]

Adriana came through the front door with several bags balanced on each arm. With all the stress they had recently been under, the vampire had thought that a little bit of retail therapy was in order. “It is shocking, really, how many stores are open only while the sun is up. I suppose I hadn’t noticed it before.” Sliding the bags from her arms and onto the ground, she appraised the ring on her finger with a smile. “I bought something for you, too.”

[ghostling]

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

“If you don’t like it, then stop loving me.” Duke whispered, looking down at the bag she held. “I suppose we have enough. Let’s go.” He grumbled.

“I won’t do that. I cannot do that,” Adriana replied, her tone having dropped from angry to weary. “But I also cannot stand to keep on allowing you to say these hurtful things about me, about Elias...about all of us. How can I help whatever pain you are in, if all you do is try to hurt me?” Shrugging the heavy bag of blood onto her shoulder, she turned towards the door. “We have to find their security booth first,” she replied flatly. “And have any video clips deleted.”

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

Duke clenched his jaw when Adriana slapped him, tears stinging his eyes. He didn’t know why, it wasn’t a particularly hard slap, but just the fact she had done it hurt. “… I’m hardly a man to love.” He whispered shakily.

“And yet I do,” she replied firmly. “Though it seems that I am only going to be punished for it, I do.” 

[adrianarousseau]

bxdtimxng:

“You do!” Duke snapped. “You all do. That’s why you treat me like a child that’s in constant need of scolding.” He turned away from her, grabbing a couple more bags. Any excuse not to have to to look her in the eye. “You don’t think much of me at all.”

“Cette salope,” the vampire practically hissed as she threw more transfusion bags into the duffel. “She told you all of these things, didn’t she? These insidious little lies?” Adriana stilled at his last accusation, and she turned onto him--one hand reaching to deliver a sharp slap. “I know exactly what sort of a man you are. I have seen you crawl out of the dirt and turn into a man that I love by the sheer force of your own will--so do not dare say that I do not think much of you. It shows how much you think of me.” 

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

“Well, don’t spare my feelings, Adriana.” Duke turned towards her, meeting her gaze. He knew she could see through him better than anyone, meaning she knew who he truly was. “If you have something to say, say it.” Duke dared, arms crossed over his chest.

“Merde. This is just what I mean,” Adriana replied, shaking her head as she took the bags of blood and stuffed them into the duffel she’d brought over. “You want me to fight with you! You want to think that I have all these horrible thoughts about you, that I am just waiting to unleash them! How do you think it makes me feel, knowing you hope I live up to what horrible thoughts you have of me?” 

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

“You and Elias are exactly alike.” Duke grumbled, shaking his head as he collected the blood. “Old fashioned. You two act more like our fucking parents than our family most of the time.” He snapped, getting defensive. It was an obvious deflection. “Honestly I can’t count on either of you for anything.”

“I am 171 years old,” Adriana drawled, annoyance evident as she settled down a duffle bag she’d found alongside the other vampire. “If I act old, that’s because I am. And so is Elias. And so are you, so there is no reason for your holier-than-thou position.” His accusation that they behaved as parents was clearly his way of avoiding her own point--but that didn’t mean it was any less irritating. His further point that he couldn’t count on them caused her to blanch at the suggestion, though she tried to recover her expression to something more neutral. Her tone dropped as she spoke again: “you keep trying to hurt me and provoke me--I cannot understand why--and I can only endure it for so much longer before you get exactly what you want.” 

[adrianarousseau]

grexsed:

“There’s always been sides, Adriana.” Duke groaned, eyes rolling as he pushed inside and away from her. “You can’t agree with everyone at once. We disagree, that means there are sides.” He explained, pushing open a refrigerated drawer and going through the bags.

“That is different, and you know it.” The vampire’s tone was firm, though she followed after the other as he moved through the storage facility. “We get into disagreements--but it does not mean that I am not still on your side, or trying to do what I think is best for our family,” she argued. Adriana began looking for some kind of bag to throw the blood bags into, but continued to make her point: “that is all I ever try to do. I feel as though you want us to all gang up on you--and I just cannot understand why.”