I'm, uh, Adelaide. Or Vivienne..depending on who you're talking to. You probably don't know me, and if my fathers are doing their job right, you don't know them. No offense, but I really don't want to know who you are either, so...if you wouldn't mind moving? You're in my light. {Independent OC rp blog}
[A pointed brow is raised, and then Lance turns around and…] Oh.
[The next couple of movements are swift—Lance ducks, narrowly missing the swipe that could’ve hit his eyes, and as he crouches he brings his leg around in a circle, knocking the man off his feet and plucking the knife daintily out of his hand.]
{Vivienne can't help the roll of her eyes as she pulls her tankard of ale closer and takes a sip. She watched Lance from the corner of her eye, just in case some of the man's friends decided to join in, but she had faith in her brother's abilities to take care of the drunkard. Letting out a soft snort at his theatrics, she pulled the latest missing children's papers closer to her and curled up on the chair she was in, trying to seem even small than she was. It was easier that way for people to miss her, and underestimate her.}
{Vivienne didn't do much, but her eyes strayed pointedly towards the drunkard behind Lance who had found a knife somewhere and was planning on using it on her overly loud twin.}
Her heart beat quick, fast and rapid against her rib cage, making it hard to breath, and the fear that it could burst out of her chest at any moment creeped up her spine and turned her veins ice cold.
Then she knocked.
Panic, flush white hot raced through her and she almost turned, almost ran, but she'd gotten this far, right? It couldn't be much further. Much harder than walking the short distance between their rooms, that transformed itself into a cavern that seemed far to vast to traverse. But she'd had, and she'd knocked, and she still had time to run. Run as far away as she could and forget that this had ever happened, had ever entered into her thoughts.
Then the door opened.
And all coherent thought left her, wide eyed and staring into nearly identical blue eyes, filled with curiosity and a dash of amusement.
"Something you needed?" He knew she was there, would've barged right in otherwise, wouldn't have cared if he was doing anything important and would've situated herself on his bed, sketchbook in hand, and ignore the rest of the world. But...she'd knocked. And that meant she was worried. Or curious. Or simply...insecure.
He leaned his weight again against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest as he watched her shift, and realize her hand was still raised in the knocking position. Swallowing she shoved it into the layers of her clothing, shirts upon shirts upon vests and whatever else had seemed to fit with the way the universe felt that morning. Her style changing with her mood, and the earth around her, as did her hair. Today it was pinned with flowers, little baby's breath she'd found left to die in the trash can that morning, given a last chance at happiness in her hair, to see the sun, to breathe before their life slipped away from them as easily as it did the rest of them.
Lance could see her thoughts had strayed and reached out a hand to grasp her still raised one, used it, twined their fingers together, and pulled her inside. With a soft chuckle he sat her down on the edge of his bed, the dark blue of his comforter offset by the brilliant yellow skirt she'd found in the dredges of her closet last week but hadn't felt like wearing until that day. She didn't feel like yellow anymore, not today, not after what had happened at school. Now she felt like grey, black, the darkest brown she could find in her closet. She wanted to walk down to her studio and pour black paint over herself, use it to disappear into the shadows and never be seen again.
But she hadn't. She'd come here.
She'd knocked.
And she needed to know.
The corner of her lip disappeared into her mouth, chewed on by porcelain white teeth she watched the legs of his chair as they scarped against the wood towards his bed. No longer carpet, he'd lost carpet privileges after the third time he'd set it on fire from one of his experiences, but it just meant he spent more time in her room. Sprawled out on the floor, staring at her ceiling, covered in images of the world, or where she wanted to be, of who she wanted to be, and what she knew she could never do.
One such thing is what she wanted to ask about today. Right now.
Right then, but she couldn't.
He finished pulling the chair from his desk and set it down in front of her, back to her, and straddled it, his forearms moving to cross over the back as he rested his chin atop them, a quirk of his lips letting her know he was finding way too much amusement from this. From her discomfort. But she never felt hurt by it, not like she did with the others. With anyone else, really. Instead, it only served to embolden her, because, somewhere in her mind, if someone as brilliant and amazing as her twin felt that what she was doing was ridiculous and stupid, than it was, right?
Then she spoke, "I want you to kiss me."
She'd never seen that plethora of emotions flash across his face, almost too many to catch as he sat up straight and pulled away. Rage, confusion disgust...hope, but most of all was disbelief. The emotion he used to hide everything else behind and face her, brow raised and hand filled with water in a glass for her as he asked, "Okay...You're gonna have to fill me in on what exactly it is you want from me, because I'm pretty sure it /isn't/ what I thought I heard." There was that hope again, crushed and beaten with a sharp flash, frustration and disbelief coming back with a vengeance as he watched the trucks packed full of men armed with words and emotions drove away, leaving nothing behind.
Nothing behind, but her...and him.
"I want-want you to kiss me." Her legs moved to rest on the bed, bare feet digging into the comforter as her arms moved to wrap around her limbs, chin pressing into her knees and defiant expression on her face. "I"m tired of the way the girls look at me at school...whenever I tell them I haven't been kissed, and you always said to come to you if I needed anything, anything at all, so I need you to kiss me." The words are spoken in a rush, a flurry of emotions curling in the pit of her stomach as she watched those blue eyes darken with something. Something that made her heart race and her arms to wrap tighter around her legs as she waited. Waited to see what would happen.
"Okay."
one word. Simplistic, quiet, and unembellished, which was...nothing like what he usually was like. Nothing like the bright shining flash of light that her brother was, and always would be. A light that she gravitated towards, soaked herself in, took in the nutrients and care he could provide and let it help her grow. Grow into something she hoped would be a fraction of what he was.
Her breath caught in her throat as he stood, pushed the chair behind him and crossed the short distance between them. There was a steadfast surety in his movements now, as if everything, every flash of emotion that had gone through his eyes was gone, and all that was left was the man. The ideal of what a man is, and what a man should be, and she felt her heart rate skyrocket all over again. The nerves and wafer thin conviction she'd come in here with, warring within her, and she was terrified of what would win.
He didn't give her a chance, though. He took her hands carefully, a soft smile on his face, and pulled them from her legs, letting them fall to the floor as she looked up at him with every ounce of love and affection she felt for him on her face, plain as day.
His lips curled into a smile as he moved to kneel in front of her, one of his hands moving to cup her cheek in a familiar gesture, one she'd always associated with him, and knew she always would.
"You know how I'm dating Barbara, right?" Vivienne felt her brow furrow, confusion apparent as she slowly nodded her head, only seeming to elicit a soft laugh from him. "Well, forget about that."
Her nod continued as she said softly, "Okay."
His thumb stroked across her cheek, causing a soft gasp to leave her and her eyelids to flutter shut as the touch continued and a soft smile to curl about her lips.
"I Know...I know you want this so they'll stop...picking on you, or whatever, Viv, but...you just gotta know, that I'm doing this for another reason, okay?" Eyes opening with a furrowed brow, she felt her face tilt into his hand, butterflies turning her stomach into a mess of nerves and excitement as she waited for whatever was going to happen, to happen. "I want...I want your first kiss, to be with someone that loves you. Loves you forever, and ever, and no matter what, okay?"
Vivienne felt her eyes well, tears turning the edges glossy as they waited there, on the edge of a precipice, for the perfect moment as she reached out a hand. She mirrored his touch on her face on his own, thumb stroking across his cheek, fingers digging into barely there stubble, and she wondered for a moment, when her brother, the boy who'd been her hero for as long as she could remember suddenly turned into...this.
She could see the uncertainty in his eyes, see how his words might be construed, but she didn't care. A soft smile curled about her lips and she simply nodded her head, chest warming with the familiar sensation of love for him as he moved closer, raising up on his knees to get closer to her, slotting between her open legs and letting a breath gust against the curve of her collarbone.
It was then she felt another sensation of warmth, one she knew had nothing to do with the love she felt for him, but something else. Something darker, that only came out when she was lost, lost in the shadows and the deepest depths of her own mind. That place where the darkest desires resided and broken promises lingered, reminding you of everything you'd done wrong in your life, and had yet to do.
She felt that sensation curl up her spine and wrap around her heart, squeezing it and making it hard to breath as he moved even closer, not seeing her pulling away and taking that as an affirmative. He waited, inches from her lips, blue eyes dark with...something,, something she knew might not end well but she didn't run. Stayed where she was and watched him close the distance between them, breath quick and emotions scattering in every direction, carried onto the wind and forced out of her thought process.
"Viv...?
"Yeah?" A bare inch separated them, eyes half closed, watching the other as they moved, every minute shift turning the simple kiss into something charged and...unknown.
"I need you to tell me this is okay." His eyes were dark, lost, and worried, but oh so convicted, filled with so much love, Vivienne didn't know what she would do with it all. The mere glance she got from them filling her up until she was overflowing, losing everything he gave her, even as she tried to keep it in, find ways to force the love back down and keep it there forever, but it never did. Flowing from her as easily as the blood from her veins.
She could stop this, whatever this was. Stop it from continuing and go back, find someone else to kiss, lie, even, but...but she knew no one would ever love her as much as he did. And wasn't that what he wanted? Her first kiss to be from someone she loved?
So she did what felt right for her, in her gut, she nodded.
"Okay."
With her next breath he was capturing her lips with his own, dry and chapped they scraped against her own, caused a friction she hadn't thought would happen and made a thrill chase down her spine. She knew she should feel disgusted, should pull away, slap him, do anything that would make this moment turn around and be discarded in the darkness, left to rot with the rest of the forgotten memories...but she didn't.
After a hesitant breath, heart thundering in her veins and ears, making everything seem surreal and almost...otherworldy, she pressed back.
With that minute shift everything changed, became heated and darker. Made that emotion in the pit of her stomach heat up, and made everything in her bones scream out for more, more more! until all she knew was his lips against hers, and his fingers in her hair, tugging just sharp enough to make a hiss escape from her lips.
He used that escape to slip his tongue into her mouth, swallowing the gasp with a hum, and she felt her toes curl, her own fingers moving into his hair, scratching against his scalp as she tried to get closer, needing more, finally understanding why this seemed to be such a big deal.
SLAM!
The quick, sharp raucous shout of a car door slamming seemed to be the ice water they needed, dousing the pair of them in cold, harsh reality as they pulled away. He stood, taking a few steps away and turning from her as she curled in on herself on the bed, her breath still coming in quick pants and her heart rate beating fast enough to breath through her rib cage. She curled in on herself, tried to understand everything that had happened, everything she had felt, everything she'd wanted to /do/ and couldn't come up with anything.
Hands shaky, knees weak, she stood on her feet, and turned to where he'd practically hid himself in the corner back to her and hand pressed to his face. Her brow furrowed minutely, thinking for a moment that she must've done something wrong, ruined this, ruined them, and she felt a familiar strain of panic creep into her chest.
As if sensing the way her thoughts had turned, he turned around and closed the short distance between them, pulling her into his arms and whispering soft nothings into her hair as he'd done countless times before to calm her down. It took her a few moments, his simple presence always doing wonders to abate her panic, which helped her remember why she'd started to panic in the first place. She let her fingers curl into his shirt, grabbing onto it tightly in security as her soft words echoed into the silence of their room as she listened to her parents enter the house and start to move around downstairs.
"Are we gonna be okay?"
He was silent for a few moments, a few short moments that felt like an eternity to her as she waited, wrapped up in his arms.
Then he spoke.
"Yeah...yeah we're gonna be okay."
With that, she closed her eyes, content to know that whatever happened, would happen, but no matter what...they would still be...them.
"I love you, Lancelot."
Her words are soft, muffled against his shirt where she's tucked into his collarbone, eyes closed and still feeling the emotions from before warring within her.
"Love you too, Vivienne."
His words are soft, whispered against the dark strands of her hair, almost identical to his own, as his arms tightened around her even more.
She knew then, that even if the world changed around them, they wouldn't. They would always be there for each other...no matter what.
Oh, well...Lance. He's always so animated, it's one of my favorite things to try and capture that movement on a canvas...I can't get his eyes right though.
My fathers are fun. Just...I've never shown them anything I've done of them, but it's a challenge to bring their love to life in paint.
Matt is...another one.
I like painting Jack too. He's always so...serene, but there's something under the surface there that makes him captivating. I don't think he likes it when I do paint him, though..
Viv has panic attacks. Regularly, and the only ways she's been able to find to calm down, is either her brother, Lance, or finding a dark corner to hide away in. The usually only come in stressful situations or when the world around her seems to get away from her control and she gets lost.
His eyes followed her movements from canvas to desk and back again. Her whole being glowed to him, her artistic spirit lighting the whole room and making his smile tug at his lips again. He glanced back at the canvas.
This one sounds pretty.
She would understand. She always did. He wiped a spec of blue from her cheek and pulled the clumsily wrapped package from his coat again.
I have something for you, a small thing. Wipe your hands off?
Fingers curled together under her chin she watched him look at the painting, that familiar curl of excitement in the pit of her stomach as she waited to see what he thought about it. Most of the things she made these days, she made for him. Finding the right connection between light and shadow and colors to create what she felt was the right sound for him.
Her hands moved to cover her smile as he complimented it, shifting her gaze between it and him. A soft blush curled up her cheeks as he wiped away paint from her cheek, glad he looked away, giving her a second to compose herself before she caught sight of the package.
Nodding her head, she grabbed a paint rag and wiped her hands off before holding them out for the package.
He could hear her yelp in her facial expression, the short high note followed by breath and her frown. The smack was expected but made him flinch anyway, and let out his bark of a laugh. Matt signed with an apologetic expression that was only slightly ruined by the amusement in his eyes.
Ow! Sorry, Viv, didn’t mean to scare you. Well okay maybe I did, but only a little.
Viv herself was like a walking piece of art. Covered in paint splatters and pigment that were bright and dark and somewhere in between. His favorite painting.
His smile turned to a frown when he saw her canvas.
Vivienne watched him sign from the corner of her eye, most of her attention on the canvas in front of her before shrugging a shoulder. She placed the paintbrush in her teeth and turned to him.
No, it's simply...
Her attention faded back to the canvas when a sudden idea struck her. She slid past him towards one of her desks and grabbed a tube of paint. Practically hopping on her toes, she hurried back and added the new color to the canvas, turning the mark into a new dimension of the colors and bringing it to life.
She stepped back after a few moments, eyes alive as they only were when she was painting and nudged his shoulder with hers.
