♪ Ripping The Band Aid Off ♪

[Skylar]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

This RP takes place on Sunday 4th January 2015.

Skylar:
I walk into Lancaster’s on Ric’s arm. For the first time in a while, I’m dressed as myself while I do this, which makes me feel great. I’m wearing a pair of blue jeans and t-shirt with a short cropped leather jacket with my heels, of course; perfect pub clothes. The perfect outfit for telling Ellie all about Ric and me and making it official. Though telling him about Ric and the faction he’s in… There probably wasn’t a perfect outfit for that. Or time either. That’s the main reason I have Ric with me. Not only he can explain why he chose to join up, if Ellie cares to hear it, but he can be there as a buffer to keep Ellie calm.
“You ready for this?”
The words slip out as we walk through the door, but I haven’t actually told Ric why we’re here. I haven’t even told Ellie we were coming. Maybe a part of me is hoping I can put this off if we show up and he’s not here I’d of made the effort, so it wouldn’t be my fault if nothing comes of it.

Ric:
She wants to go to Lancaster’s tonight and I'm not overly impressed with the idea. Mostly because there will be people there and I'm not a people person. Not with regular people I don't care about. I put on the shirt she gave me for Christmas, the one that says T-rex hates push-ups and a black pair of pants, along with my black boots. In my boot, the right one is a small blade, because I'm always ready for anything. You have to be in a city of vampires, paladins, and other nasty things. When we get to Lancaster's she asks me a question and I stand outside the door and count to ten before I answer her. "Sure. Yeah." She opens the door and it feels wrong because she only opened it once, but I can't stop because she's on my arm and more or less pulling me in. Once we pass the doorway, I take charge in leading her, now that we made it past the doorway and there's nowhere to go but forward. I take us to the bar, because I assume that's where Skylar wants to go first. It's where the booze is.

Elliot:
The night had not started out at its best. Well, no, that was a lie. He had woken up perfectly fine, and happy and content. But then Pi had told him about the bar down the road. About Mkvenner, and her one hundred thousand dollar pay out. He had found out that she had let the guy blackmail her, and extort her. Elliot had rolled from the bed with the intent of going straight down there and... well, he didn't know what he was going to do, really. Demand the money back, maybe, but if not that, at least to let the guy know that under no circumstances would he be getting any more money from Pi. Or from Elliot. Or from anyone at Lancaster's. They'd done just that, he and Pi, but the criminal himself had not been there.
With no other way of finding him, without going out of their way, Elliot and Pi had agreed to go back the next night. And then the next, and the next, until they were face to face with the guy. Until then, however, the situation hung over Elliot’s head like a black cloud. Although he wore his smile and laughed seemingly easily while serving the customers, inside, he was broiling. The plaid red shirt was rolled up to his elbows, and there was a towel slapped over his shoulder. It wasn’t too busy. But it wasn’t dead. A good night, really. He saw Skylar with Ric, and nodded, lifting one hand in a short wave of greeting.

Skylar:
I let go of Ric’s arm as we get to the bar, step onto the foot rail, place my hands on the opposite side of the bar and pull myself up. With my left hand remaining in place to steady me, I reach out with my right and grab a hold of the back of Elliot’s neck so that I can pull him to me and kiss him on the cheek. Having kissed him on the cheek I don’t stop there. I wrap both arms around him – as I’m now using him to steady me – and give him a big hug. I then lean back, my hands clasped behind his neck.
“Hey papa bear.”
It’s wasn’t until I was close enough to kiss him that I could feel what lay beneath the smile he wore. He wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy at all. A part of me is yelling, abort abort, but I don’t listen. I never listen. It’s my one major flaw if I’m honest. Not listening to that inner voice that does actually seem to know what it’s talking about.
“Think you can play hooky for bit and come chat. Maybe chill out. Calm down a little.”
I’m not sure I’ve told him about this superpower of mine. But he’ll figure it out. The men in my life aren’t stupid. I consider releasing my hold on him but I refuse to do it until I get the answer I want.

Ric:
I see Elliot wave to us and I nod my head in his direction as a greeting. I remember him from the auction with his other half. I wouldn't say better because I wasn't a fan of the way Pi acted at Skylar then and she probably still acted that way with her. But it was none of my business as it was their 'family,' and I didn't have to deal with either of them. Or so I thought until low and behold here we were at Lancaster's and Elliot was here. My eyes immediately search for Pi, but don't come up with anything, so they return to the direction of Skylar. Where she's doing her typical girl thing. I stand there and watch her before saying, "Hey," to Elliot before I start to count the heads in the bar. I'm more or less giving them some privacy, as much as I can give from this distance.

Elliot:
The greeting from sky didn't surprise Elliot. Not really, though they do get a few looks from people round-a-bout. At least, from the customers. The other bar tenders and waitresses don't pay him any attention - and Skylar they recognise. Not because she's a drunk, but because she's obviously a friend of the boss. Elliot narrowed his eyes at Skylar. Calm down? At first he wondered whether she'd been talking to Pi. That could be an explanation. Another could be that she has developed the same ability he has - the one that can easily pick up on her anxiety. The one that told him that this wasn't just a normal sit-down-and-chat thing. Not your ordinary stopped-by-to-say-hello. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "Sure," he said. "Come into the office?"

Skylar:
“’Kay. ‘Kay.”
I sing out trying to sound like my usual self.
“Wanna grab a bottle and couple of glasses?”
I let go and step back, my left foot hitting the floor first. I don’t think it’s pushing my luck to ask for a drink. Both Ellie and I clearly need it. In se ways I feel sorry for Ric. He has to miss out on stuff like this. I swing my hands back and forward and do my thing with my hands. Click, click, clap. Just the once though. Too much energy and not enough nerve.
I swing around to face Ric, a smile on my lips and take a hold of his hand. I’m almost positive that. We don’t do this often - the hand holding thing – I’m not sure why. I squeeze his hand gently because I need the moral support and then lead him around the side of the bar; we have to go behind it to get to Ellie’s office.

Ric:
I look down at her hand in mine after she does that thing she's done a couple times around me. With her hands. It's like a tic. Like me with doors and even numbers. I make a note to ask her about it when the time is appropriate after she squeezes my hand. I squeeze hers back, thinking she's doing a strength check or something. I mirror her smile, only not so much. Hers is much wider than mine and no guy should smile like that. She leads the way to Elliot's office and I'm starting to wonder why we're here and why we have to go to the office for a simple exchange in conversation. I'm starting to get suspicious, but the smile remains on my face.

[Roderic]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Elliot:
Once he was released, Elliot told the other barkeep that he was taking a break; he tossed the towel onto the bar and wandered into the office behind Skylar and Ric. He closed the door behind him, before meandering around to the other side of the desk, where he folded himself down into the office chair. It looked a tad too small for him. But then, everything looked a tad too small for Elliot. There were two chairs on the other side of the desk, which he assumed Skylar and Ric would take. "So what's going on?" he asked. It was his way of asking how things were. Skylar's nervousness hung around her like a bad smell, and Elliot was curious.

Skylar:
I’m glad to have Ric with me. I feel like a teenager bringing her first boyfriend home to meet the folks and in some ways, that’s exactly what I am. Ellie may not see himself as my father but he’s definitely taken that kind of role in my eyes. I want him to like Ric. Accept the relationship. I don’t want there to be any issues between the three of us.
I sigh when Ellie doesn’t grab anything to drink and blame it on his foul mood. It’s a shame. I kinda needed something to take the edge off of this.
“I could ask you the same thing old man.”
My tone is teasing, as always. He’s not that much older than me. Just a decade or so, give or take a few years either way. I let go of Ric’s hand and take a seat on the opposite side of the desk. It doesn’t feel right. It feels too formal. So I’m quickly back up and out of my seat and pacing back and forth. My fingers and hands working that familiar rhythm over and over. Click, click, clap. Click, click, clap.
“It’s nothing bad. It’s not. It’s good really. Really good. I just wanted to make sure I told you in person is all.”

Ric:
You don't need to be a brain surgeon to know there was something going on, even Elliot could tell. I shrug, because I don't have a clue what's going on and why we're in this guy's office. Skylar sits, then she's up again and she's doing that thing again with her fingers and hands. What the **** is wrong with her? She talks and I'm still confused. If she has good news to tell him then why is she acting like a skittish kitten? "Sit down." I tell her, quietly as I nudge my head to the chair next to me. Each time she does a complete back and forth with her pacing, I notice out of the corner of my eyes shadows starting to lift off the ground. Like the ones from the mall and the one Altaire party. "Please." I tell her with another nudge to the chair.

Elliot:
Elliot cleared his throat. Yeah, beneath the surface there was a bad mood lingering but it's got nothing to do with the people in front of him. Yes, he was distracted and kind of working on autopilot, so he forgot the drinks. Because generally he didn't drink while he was working, and he didn't think this conversation would last all night - and he would go back to work. But he did forget the drink for Skylar. Completely. In one ear, out the other. He glanced between the pacing blonde and the calm man at her side. Elliot himself remained calm. Curious. Even slightly amused. "Yeah okay. What's the good news?" he asked, arching a brow at Roderic, as if the other man could give him some hint as to what was going on.

Skylar:
I want to listen to Ric. I do. But I can’t seem to make myself sit in the chair. So instead, I go and stand behind Ric, my hands on his shoulders. I want him to place one of his hands on mine, like most guys would if their girl was acting this way but even as I think it, that thought it dismissed. Ric probably wouldn’t think to do.
“I wanted you to offi… No I wanted to intro… Urgh. This should be easier at my age.”
I tilt my head back and shake off the nerves, my fingers tightening on Ric’s shoulders. I exhale, long and deep and then train my eyes on Ellie.
“Ric and I are… Well… Ric’s my boyfriend and we’re moving in together.”
I blurt it all out rather quickly. This is not the part I’m supposed to be nervous about. It’s strange how something so amazing could be so painful to say, but I know too that it’s only painful because of what has to come next.

Ric:
I feel her hand on my shoulder and I look at it after shrugging my shoulders at Elliot's look. Skylar's being weird. Weirder than usual. She starts talking and I'm not sure where this is going. But then she mentions me and I start to sit up taller. What was she going to tell him about me? And her? She says I'm her boyfriend and while I'm not fond of the word, I nod. Twice. When she says we're moving in together, I stop it right then and there. "She was already living in my place. She's just relocating all her possessions to my apartment. For convenience." I'm not sure why she feels the need to tell Elliot her business or why he even cares. He's her sire, sure, but she's an adult. Well and truly.

Elliot:
Elliot leaned forward - he started to laugh and then stopped when Ric spoke up. Elliot narrowed his eyes, confused. For convenience? That kind of didn't make sense but made sense at the same time - as if Elliot would have cared whether she'd moved in before or after... well, this. He continued to laugh, and looked up at Skylar. "You know I was kidding, right? About the rules thing? You don't need my approval..." he said. But maybe this wasn't what she was here for. "Congratulations?" Elliot offered. Skylar was acting as if they were engaged to be married. He wondered whether Skylar's nervousness would go away, now.

Skylar:
I’ve not said any of this aloud. Not until now and I can’t help but smile when Ric chimes in. The moment I heard him speak I was expecting him to deny what I’d just said, but he doesn’t. He pretty much confirms what I’ve told Elliot, in his own Ric-ish way.
Elliot’s laugh however only makes me feel worse. I want him to be happy. I want to be happy. I told Ric we had to keep each other’s secrets and here I was about to say something that I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to. But I had to. I had to tell him. Doc knows. I can’t have Doc knowing and Elliot not knowing. Or worse. Doc telling Elliot. That would be some fucked up **** for sure.
“There’s more.”
I look at Elliot as I say that and then I lean down and whisper in Ric’s ear.
“I’m sorry.”
I straighten myself up, my fingertips really biting into Ric’s shoulders now.
“Ric kinda… Well he… There’s this… Oh ****. He knows Doc. They’re in the same… what do you call it… faction.”
I can’t recall the name of the faction itself. It was difficult to pronounce and worse to spell. Hell. I’d had trouble remembering the world faction. A split second before it pinged in my brain I was just going to say ‘group thingy’.

Ric:
"There's more?" I echo after her because I'm not aware that there's anything more. If she does that whole, 'full disclosure' thing I really don't know what I'm going to say. Or do. Some things just shouldn't be disclosed. I hear her apology, but I don't understand why she's apologizing until I feel her fingers pressing into my shoulder, Hard. I put a hand on hers to stop her from doing that, but then it drops away when she talks about Doc. And my faction. I frown. Why does Elliot need to know that information? The smile vanishes and I just stare at Elliot.

Elliot:
There it went. The smile that Elliot wore, his easy demeanour, vanished completely. He was only just starting to forget about the extortion, and the fact that he wanted to go down the road and slide a sharp knife down the green velvet of every single one of the Handle Bar's pool tables. And, well, draw blood. He was actually considering getting up and telling the bar staff that he was taking the rest of the night off - to go play pool himself with Skylar and Roderic and maybe get to know the guy better. But that was all gone now. Elliot leaned back heavily, the chair creaking beneath him. "Tytonidae? **** off... " Was this some kind of joke?

[Lancaster]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Skylar:
The feel of his hand on mine was exactly what I’d needed, though it might have been too little too late to actually help me say what needed to be said. Ric falls quiet, but I don’t worry about that. He’s not a talker. He’s not like Ellie and I. Ellie’s reply isn’t exactly what I expect though and all I can do is shake my head. Nope. No joke. I was serious and the worry in my eyes and in my heart must have shown it.
My fingers finally loosen from off Ric’s shoulder though and I slide my hands down over his chest, one hand covering the other as they rest on him. I was still nervous but this was slightly more defensive. Ric was mine and I wanted Elliot to now that. I wanted him. No. I needed him to play nice. The look I give him pretty much says it too.

Ric:
**** off he says. Well, it could be worse. A lot worse. I'm well aware there were people not in the Tytonidae fan club or even my own personal fan club, but I don't really care. Instead, I just nod at his question about me being part of Tytonidae and leave it at that. I have nothing else to say about my faction as it's none of his business and Skylar shouldn't have brought it up. Not that it was one of our rules, but I didn't think that was necessarily something she needed to tell anyone. Who cares? I haven't even asked her what 'family' she was in, come to think of it.

Elliot:
They were completely serious. Perfect. Just perfect. "You know Doc? He doesn't have access to the Den because he's part of that murderous cult of wanker dictators who think it's all their way or the ******* highway," Elliot said. He had explained all this to Skylar, hadn't he? She knew exactly how much... well of course she knew. Now Elliot understood why she had been so nervous. Lancaster's was supposed to be neutral ground and he should be able to put his differences aside, but in his current mood? He couldn't. His teeth ground together and he stood, the office chair slamming against the wall behind him. His shoulders rounded, full six foot six inch height reached. "No I mean it now. **** off. Get out of my bar," he said.

Skylar:
I jump when Elliot moves. I’ve never seen him mad and kinda wasn’t expecting this. Without even meaning to I step back too, my hands coming off of Ric’s chest as I do so. The come to rest on his shoulders. Or at least one hand does, the other is on my heart. It’s strange how ingrained some mannerisms are. It’s like I want to calm my racing heart and yet I don’t have. At least not a beating one.
“Don’t be mad Ellie. Please?”
I try to speak but the words come out as more of a whimper than anything else. They should have been clear, calming even but they weren’t. I wasn’t worried, or afraid. I was upset. Upset for him and for me. I chew on the inside of my mouth and wait to see if Elliot listens to me.

Ric:
I hear what Elliot says, only, it doesn't mean much to me. I count to ten internally and watch him explode both vocally and physically. In a sense. I let him say what he feels he needs to say, then talk around Skylar. "He has a point. I don't really need to be here. His establishment doesn't have anything that suits my needs or tastes. I'm not offended or bothered that he doesn't like me. I know not everyone is capable of doing what is needed and getting their hands dirty. But rest assured Elliot that when the next Holocaust comes, I'll keep Skylar safe. By any means necessary." That's all I have to say, really. To Elliot at least. I back the chair up that I'm sitting in and stand. "Have a good night."

Elliot:
At first, when Elliot zoned in on Skylar and the look on her face, the crack in her voice - he nearly softened. He nearly forced himself to sit back down and try to think about this reasonably. But then Ric spoke. And the words wheedled their way into Elliot's brain like a foreign, malicious virus and he couldn't help but fight it. He laughed, but it wasn't the laugh that Skylar was used to. It wasn't warm or generous. It was a barking, sharp laugh with no mirth within it. None. "Are you trying to ******* tell me I don't have the ability to protect my own? This has got nothing to do with the ******* holocaust. You remember what I said, Skylar? Personal rules. Words before violence. Think before acting. Try to see things from every perspective."
"They don't ******* do that. They see a name on a list and they kill it. No questions asked. You're into that kind of thing? Then fine. Go on. Be happy. But get out. I'm not in the mood. I was angry before you came into this office and now I'm angrier so I think you should just go."

Skylar:
Ric’s words are semi-reassuring and I half want to throw myself at him right here and now but that would be bad on so many levels I can’t even entertain that notion right now. I make mental note though to revel in the fact he finally admitted that he does care for me later. He’s readying himself to leave, so that becomes my focus and I take his hand. I don’t want him leaving without me, but equally I don’t want to leave Elliot the way he is now.
“I’m not dating the faction Elliot. I’m dating Ric.”
I can make the distinction but apparently Elliot can’t. My voice still isn’t what it should be either which actually starts to piss me off. This isn’t me. I’m not like this. For **** sake I’m on the verge of bursting into tears. If I do that Ric’ll figure I’m some weak arse girly girl; just the type I’ve been telling him I’m not since we started hanging out together.

Ric:
Now I understood how come Skylar lived in fairy tale land so much. Her sire was there a lot. But there was a saying that rang true for me in this scenario. "When you pray for rain, you have to deal with the mud." While Elliot was busy playing pretend there were some of us that made that possible for people like him and for Skylar. He's making an *** out of himself in front of Skylar who obviously thinks the world of this guy for whatever reason. She talks, and I stand there in front of the desk and put a hand out for the jar with some pens and pencils in it. I turn it twice, clock wise. "She's not asking you to invite me over for the holidays and frankly. I wouldn't come anyways. But what you fail to realize that while you're throwing your temper tantrum in front of her, is that even after you kick us out, we'll still be dating and living together. And that you pushed away someone who thinks the world of you for whatever reason." And no, I didn't think he could protect his family, but I don't add that in. I don't think he has it in him to kill anyone-vampire or human. I've said all I'm going to say and I move away from Skylar. "I'll be at the apartment whenever you decide to stop wasting your time here." I twist the jar around the other way two more times before it's back in the state I found it in before heading out.

Elliot:
Elliot was bristling. The anger flared through his long limbs like a live electric wire; someone would just have to touch him and he'd lash out. The guy left after his statement and Elliot wanted nothing more than to reach behind his back for the sword that he was not wearing, to spear it at this ******* asshole with his assumptions and his high-minded ******* opinion. But instead he stood stock still, his fingers clenched into fists. As soon as Roderic is gone, he turned back to Skylar. His eyes were bright. "You're dating a man who kills at someone else's orders, who favours violence over peace. He wouldn’t be in that ******* faction if he didn't," he said. "I'm not pushing you away, Skylar, but you could have ******* warned me."

[Skylar]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Skylar:
I feel sick. Like violently sick. It’s about all I can think about now. The hand that held Ric’s comes back to me and scrunches my t-shirt as I grip the area over my stomach. I hadn’t eaten anything yet, not since waking, though I had drunk a bag of blood. So if anything was coming up it was that; that or gastric acid.
Of all the times Ric chose to be chatty it was now. I’m not really concentrating well enough to realise that now was kind of the perfect time for him to find his voice, as mine had been stolen from me.
I want to race after Ric but my feet won’t let me. I’m stuck where I am and I have no choice but to listen to Elliot as he has more or less berates me.
“I didn’t ******* know okay. Not until the party.”
Finally my voice returns and I look more than a little startled by my ability to speak. With Ric gone though, my calm – what little there had been of it – goes with him.
“And you are pushing me away. You just kicked out the only other person in this ******* world that I give a crap about.”

Elliot:
"That's not pushing YOU away, Skylar, it's pushing HIM away. There are expectations when you join that ******* club. Pi told me all about it. Pi wanted to join, once. She did. She started the process. They put her on a bridge and asked her question after question and you know why they didn't let her in? Because she refused to agree to kill her family if it came down to it. She said she would protect her family at all costs. Told them, honestly, she wouldn't be able to hurt them. I'm going to bed you any money that if Roderic is in, then he will have answered the same questions. If YOU break the Masquerade? He'll help them to kill you. Do you get that? My pushing him away is not pushing you away. I want to protect you. You can date him. You can move in with him."
"You can do what you want Skylar, and I'm not going to ostracise you for it. But you can't expect me to like him. Or for he and I to get along. Because to me? He's only a danger to you, and I will never trust him. Can't," Elliot said. He flexed his fingers, and dropped back down into his chair - deflated, but still boiling.

Skylar:
I grip the back of a chair to stop myself from falling over. I feel ill. Still. I really don’t know all that much about the faction thing Ric’s a part of. He didn’t volunteer the information and I didn’t ask. I had enough stuff to learn without delving into stuff like that. And if Elliot was right, I wasn’t going to fit in there. But just because it wasn’t my thing, didn’t mean it couldn’t be Ricky’s.
I am however left with that horrible nagging feeling. Would Ric really kill me? Could he stand there and watch while others hurt me? The fact that I can even ask myself those questions worries me. I want to be able to tell Elliot to go to hell. To be able to tell him with conviction that Ric would never do that to me. But I can’t.
“I’m sorry Ellie. For how you feel. But I like him. I really like him. He’s important to me. Just like Pi is important to you. Why couldn’t you just make an effort to get to know him… For me?”

Elliot:
"Maybe I could have if you'd told me yourself, by yourself. Without him here. But I think we're beyond that now," Elliot said, glancing at the door through which Roderic had disappeared. "He knows exactly how I feel about him and I know exactly how he feels about me. A waste of time," Elliot said. It got on his nerves. Fury cascaded down his spine and his fingers fisted, again; barely refrained from slamming against the wood of the desk. He hated that. ******* loathed it, when people... he sighed and rubbed at his temple. He'd just done the same thing, hadn't he? Judged Roderic by the faction that he belonged to. But it was hard to get past. It was hard to see around. A low growl resounded in Elliot's throat.

Skylar:
“I wanted him here. I wanted him to be able to talk to you. Explain. I don’t know anything about that faction. I don’t need to know. It’s nothing to do with me. Anything he thinks I should know, I know he’ll tell me. Eventually. If it’s necessary.”
That was Ric’s word. I’d obviously been spending way too much time with him.
“Yeah well as I recall your wife didn’t make a very good first impression on me but I made the effort to play nice for you didn’t I?”
The sickness was fading but that was only because anger was replacing it. I had made an effort with Pi and because Elliot asked me to. I did it to make things easier on him. On both of us.

Elliot:
Elliot's teeth clamped. They clamped so he wouldn't tell Skylar it was different. Pi was the head of the d'Artois. She was the one from which they had all spawned and without her good graces, Skylar wouldn't have access to the Den. Elliot was, underneath it all, a reasonable person. He knew that would belittle Skylar's relationship. If it mattered to her. "I can make an effort, Skylar, but warn me next time? Call me beforehand. Organise a day and a time and make sure that you don't come to me the same night I find out some fucktard is blackmailing my wife and is going to come waltzing in here expecting another hundred thousand dollars from her, okay? Because I'm not in a good mood. I'm really not in a good ******* mood right now," he said.

Skylar:
I fold my arms over my chest.
“Well how the **** was I supposed to know about any of that? I mean yeah. I could feel you weren’t happy but seriously Elliot. That’s no excuse. Do you know how hard I’ve worked to get Ric to even admit that likes me? I bring him here to meet you properly. To make sure you heard everything from me. From us. I was worried Doc was gonna tell you just to piss you off. He wasn’t’ exactly thrilled by my behaviour at their big anniversary do I can tell ya.”
I know I shouldn’t say these things. I know I should let it drop. I should accept what Elliot’s telling me but I can’t. To top it all off, I’d now have to make my way to Ric’s alone. Though the tome and portals would cut down on the travel time. There was a chance I meet even beat Ric home when all this was done.

Elliot:
"That's why you call me! You don't know any of that but if you'd called me, maybe you'd have found out. If you'd have said Hey, Elliot, I have something to tell you that you may not like… so can you like not get angry? I'd have been more prepared than the bomb you dropped on my five minutes ago," he said. Maybe he was being dramatic. But she knew exactly how he felt about Tytonidae. Had he not been clear? Maybe he hadn't been clear. "That's not the first thing you tell me about your boyfriend, Sky," he said with a snorted laugh that wasn't really a laugh. "You're going to parties with him and hanging out with Doc? How the **** do you expect me to react? Sunshine and roses?"

[Lancaster]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Skylar:
“No. I didn’t call you. I didn’t want to give you time to worry. I brought Ric with me because I thought you might handle the news a hell of a lot better with him here. I wanted you to talk to him. To get to know him. And yeah. He took me to the party. Just like he took me to his family one too. And Doc was at both. I can’t control that you know. Other people’s guest lists. You know what. I can’t deal with this now. You deal with your ****. I’ll deal with mine. Right now I have to go and chase down my boyfriend and apologise for your behaviour."
My anger’s got the best of me. This was what I’d been dreading, what my heart of heart feared the most. That this news would cause problems between Ellie and me. I’d call him a drama queen but I know all too well what that ******* allurist PMS is like. I’m feeling it right now and I ******* hate it.

Elliot:
The fury was hidden there behind Elliot's eyes and if his former guess about Skylar were correct, she'd be able to feel it too. But he stayed still, didn't move, just gripped the arms of his chair like they were anchors keeping him grounded. "Okay," he said, voice flat and heavy with the emotion that he wasn't expressing. "To apologise for my behaviour is to belittle everything that I've said. You go and agree then, that I'm a waste of time," he said. Oh, he knew that he was being irrational, too. He knew that this wasn't the way to go about things. He sighed and leaned forward, and rubbed at his face with his hands. "I'm sorry, Skylar, I'm ... I'll try, I swear I'll try. But I really ******* hate that faction," he groaned.

Skylar:
“I’m not going to apologise for what you said Elliot. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I’m going to apologise for the way you reacted. Hell. I’m going to apologise for even bringing him with me to tell you. He didn’t know why we were here by the way. He just came with me because I asked him to.”
I could feel Elliot’s emotions like they were my own, only they were interlaced with my own, the strongest of which being disappointment now. I couldn’t blame Ellie, not entirely. Some of this was my fault. I knew that but then I didn’t think they’d ever be a good time to tell him this and I was fighting a clock. He had to hear it from me.
“Look. All right. I’ll admit. I could have eased you into this but I thought the ‘ripping the band aid off’ approach was best. I needed you to know. And I needed you to hear it from me. From us. Before you heard it from anyone else. I love you Ellie but tonight you were a complete dick."
I sigh with frustration. I had another one of these conversations coming when I got home and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Elliot:
Elliot’s brow arched in further incredulity. Not only had Skylar not warned him that she was bringing Roderic to reveal his membership in a faction that Elliot loathed, but she had not warned Roderic. Elliot’s lips fell open as he blinked up at his newest childe. Didn’t she think through the consequences? Did she want to put Roderic in danger? Or Elliot, for that matter? As much as Elliot may have developed a newfound distrust for the guy, he mustn’t have hated him too much. There was pity, curling at the back of his chest. Skylar had sprung this on the both of them like some kind of twisted surprise.
Elliot blinked, and then squeezed his eyes shut to shake his head. He realised he couldn’t blame Skylar entirely. There were only a rare few people who knew how Elliot could get; who knew that he had a temper to be reckoned with, and sometimes it was a thing beyond his control. Skylar didn’t know, so she couldn’t be held accountable. Skylar knew him as a reasonable person. One who tried to step into other people’s shoes. One who tried to see all perspectives. One who didn’t like violence. Of course she might have expected a calmer reaction. He nodded. “I was a complete dick. I have a problem with my temper,” he said with a smile that was supposed to be apologetic.

Skylar:
“No **** Sherlock. Where you been hiding that?”
As Ellie’s emotions begin to change and settle, so do mine. It was weird. It was almost like having a twin. Or how I’d imagine having a twin would feel. I’ve not had this feeling before.
“I knew you didn’t like the group but I didn’t think you’d go postal on us.”
I don’t sit myself down or anything though I half feel like doing now. By staying I’d effectively chosen Ellie over Ric. I mean I hadn’t, but Ric was fine, he didn’t need me. I had to at least try and sort things out with Ellie before I left him to it. I owed him that.
“I’m sorry to hear you have **** of your own going on. I really didn’t want to add to it. It’s just Doc was at the party and I didn’t want you hearing from him that I was there and that Ric was with… What is the group called again?”

Elliot:
“Tytonidae,” Elliot said, probably mangling the pronunciation, as is often the case with his broad Australian accent, and inflecting the wrong vowels. “They call themselves Ty, for short. If that’s easier,” he mumbles with a shrug. The atmosphere in the room dropped from a raging cyclonic wind down to a mere strong breeze. It made it easier to talk. He didn’t want to explain himself to Skylar. He didn’t want her to know that underneath his cool and calm demeanour lay a monster that he himself, at most times, was ashamed of, even if he had finally learned to embrace it.
“I don’t think you have to worry about Doc. I can’t remember the last time I spoke to that guy face to face,” he said. Maybe it was after he’d skewered Doc through the chest. It gave Elliot a small kind of satisfaction to think that Doc could actually be afraid. Oh, how much he wanted Doc to be afraid.

Skylar:
“Yeah well he does a lot of talking on the family website. And you never know what someone’s capable of. You know. Look.”
I walk around the desk to Ellie’s side and half perch on the edge of it, my arms still folded across my chest.
“I’m sorry okay. I’ll won’t drop anything on you like this again. Okay?”

Elliot:
Elliot shrugged. Doc did do a lot of talking on the family website and it did seem like a thing that he would do deliberately, to get on Elliot's nerves. But it hadn't happened, and despite whether she went about it in a good way or not, Skylar had done the right thing by coming to Elliot first. "I don't trust Doc as far as I could spit. Even if he had said something I'd have come to you first, to hear your side," he said, nodding as Skylar rounded the desk and perched. Elliot leaned back in his chair, which now creaked a little more after the way he'd treated it. "That's probably a good idea," he said, with that same half-smile. "Thank you, Sky. I do appreciate it."

Skylar:
“Okay. Well good then. You wanna meet up later in the week? Maybe talk things out a bit more. I hate to run off when you’re going through stuff of your own but getting Ric to date me has been a long ******* road and I need to go check up on him. I mean I’m pretty sure he’s not gonna call things off or anything cos of this but I’d kinda like to know for sure. You know?”
I lean forward and kiss Ellie on the cheek.
“I still love ya papa bear; even if you did just bare your teeth and claws at me and Ricky.”

Elliot:
"Okay," he said. He wasn't too sure what to think of Skylar's story - that it had been a long road to get the guy to date her. It seemed only to confirm Elliot's concerns. But he would wait. He would talk to Skylar about it another day; try to get the full story and a better idea as to Roderic's personality. His intentions. "My **** is not anything you need to worry about," Elliot said. "We'll organise to meet somewhere else - don't come here. I'm not sure what's going to happen," he said with a frown. And he really didn't. He didn't know what the bikers up the road were capable of. "Stay safe, right? And I'll talk to you soon."

Skylar:
“Always. You too okay?”
I offer Ellie and smile and get up to leave.
“We can meet at your’s right? You know, the place where I’ve been squatting.”
I walk to the door and give Ellie just enough time to say something else before I walk out of the office and start to make my way outside and round to the alleyway so that I can tome to the den and try to beat Ric home.

Elliot:
The place where she has been squatting, but where she will no longer be living. The notion settled in Elliot's gut like a bad lunch, churning unhappily. He had to trust that although Elliot had not drilled her too much about keeping the Masquerade - had been blasé about it - that Skylar was smart enough to know she should keep it anyway, for the sake of her safety. Because if she were to end up on that bounty list and was living with a man who'd kill her for it? It would just make things to easy. He nodded to Skylar as she left, throwing her a smile and a wave. As soon as she walked out the door, as soon as it was closed, his body fell forward, his forehead hitting the desk in defeat, a low shout emanating from his throat.
And to think - when he'd opened his eyes for the first time that night, everything had been going so well!