RP LOG with histhornedrose | We meet again

[naysowee]

[Follows THIS, THIS and THIS]

Rory was really disoriented when he woke up for the first time in the huge bed at Blaise's manor. In fact, he nearly pissed himself in fright until he calmed himself down a little and took in the surroundings. He remembered what the plan was, and he had a head injury, so it made sense that he was a little slower on the memory uptake. But the urge to pee stayed, and as he tried to get his breath back after the fright, he pushed the expensive covers of the bed back and tried to sit up. He managed to get to the side of the bed, and standing up, but then he realised he had no idea where the bathroom was and that standing was really making everything hurt. Now that he was neither sedated or completely drugged up to the eyeballs, all the sore bits from the attack were coming out with a vengeance.

And he really, really needed to piss. He scrunched his face up with a small whimper. This was the part he hated. It wasn't like he could just sit there and piss himself. He wouldn't, either. That would be completely beneath him and these sheets were far too gorgeous for that. But that meant he needed help. Maybe he could call Buffy. Only... no phone. Not in reach anyway.

"Fuck... shit... damnit,' he cursed softly. Hadn't there been a nurse? Or maybe he just imagined that. He needed help and the chick paid to help him was off being inconspicuous. Bollocks. "Ah... hello?" he called towards the closed door. "Kinda need a wee bit of help here... Emphasis on the 'wee'," he added to himself in a mumble.

Juliette had been outside Rory's door, keeping vigil in her own way. She knew he didn't want to see her. She knew being near him was just asking for trouble. She'd promised Blaise to stay away... for the most part. He'd accepted a compromise of her sitting outside the Scotsman's room if only because his mind had been on other things. She didn't know what had gone on between him and the Slayer, but it must have been heavy. Blaise's eyes had been silver, and the tiny blonde had disappeared quickly. The call from inside the room made Juliette cock her head, and she frowned as she fought the briefest of internal battles before she was on her feet and opening the door. "Mon amour... what is the matter?" she asked Rory as her green eyes fixed on his face.

Rory immediately froze when Juliette appeared, and for a long time he just stared at her, not sure what he was supposed to do or say. Crying for Blaise didn't seem like the most elegant of tactics, even if that was his first internal reaction. "I..." he began, but again hesitated. He was standing by the bed in just a loose pair of what seemed to be silk pyjama pants, hanging onto the post for support. His forehead creased with a small frown of confusion. "I need help."

Juliette held her hands out where Rory could see them so he knew she wasn't a threat. She moved slowly, carefully, as she let him watch every movement. She really didn't want to spook him, and she knew she was pushing her luck by trying to be the one to help. Only if Rory was in trouble then there was no time to get anyone else. "D'accord, tell me how you need help and I will help you. Then you will be rid of me again, oui? I won't stay any longer than I have to."

Rory held onto the side of his chest as he started to connect the dots. "Were you listening at my door?" he asked in amusement, even if the realisation was a little odd. "Jeez, I hope I didnae fart loudly or something. That's nay exactly Kindred behaviour, is it? Neither is going to the bathrom, which is what I need. Sooner, rather than later. Much, much sooner." He was sure if he didn't have to hold his side to make sure his ribs didn't spontaneous fall out of his chest like they felt they might, he would be clutching his willy and doing a pee dance.

Juliette slipped her arm around him and bit back a growl. Blaise would not be happy to smell her all over Rory, but what else was she supposed to do. She took his weight easily as she turned them around to face an ornate wooden door. They were not so stupid as to provide him with a room that lacked an en suite. It was just hidden behind a door that matched the rest of the panelling. It wasn't easy to spot unless you knew to look for a doorknob. "I was only slightly listening. There was no farting that I was aware of. At least not past the first time," Juliette admitted with a smirk. She reached out to open up the door, still taking Rory's weight as she took him inside the small bathroom. "Who is to say what is Kindred behaviour, and what is not? Voila! Perhaps this is not something we need, but it is still something we have rooms for in abundance. Are you okay to stand on your own, or you want me to keep a hold of you?"

Rory had stilled as soon as she touched him. He looked closely at her face, trying to figure out if he should tell her to go get fucked or not. He was still angry and hurt, but he needed help, and being angry and hurt really did take a lot of energy he probably didn't have to spare. Both were emotions he really hated to feel, and always had. "Well, I'm seriously injured. That's my excuse, and I'm firmly sticking to it. Actually, a lot of people tell me what is Kindred behaviour and what isnae. I'm getting the picture now..." He contemplated the toilet for a few moments. "Jeez, I dinnae know. I can stand, but usually holding onto something. Kinda need to be holding onto something else for this whole event, though."

"Can you not aim single-handedly?" Juliette asked with a slight frown of confusion. She couldn't profess to know all that much about how mortals went to the toilet these days. Even when she had a mortal stay at the mansion, she didn't follow them this far. "You could still hang onto me, or I can just hang on to you. I don't exactly know what I am doing here. What picture are you getting, mon amour? I have not told you what is, or isn't Kindred behaviour. I have just... indulged in the worst kind," she added quietly.

"Aye, but it takes skill and precision, and considering one side of me is basically completely out of action, I'm trying to work out how to roll with this. I dinnae know what they did when I was oot, and I dinnae want to either. The less people I know have seen my cock withoot my permission, the better. What I dinnae know, willnae hurt me, and all that." Rory wet his lips and then bit down on the corner of his lower one. "I didnae say it was you doing the telling. Aye, which is why I'm standing here trying to hold it in wondering if we should even be doing this right now."

Juliette moved to slip her other arm around Rory's stomach as so that she was facing the opposite way, and not able to see his penis. She was still able to keep him on his feet, and she just arched an eyebrow slightly in challenge for him to stop holding it in. "Do not think so hard, Rory. I will not be responsible for your insides exploding because you are so stubborn as to hold your pee in. There is a time to just take a deep breath, and let it go. We can argue about what happened once you have relieved yourself, d'accord? I am not looking, not am I about to start touching. I am just a glorified post right now to keep you upright. I will not even speak."

It wasn't something Rory could really argue with right now. He couldn't not pee. It was already starting to hurt trying to keep it in. He just glanced up at the ceiling - was that real gold on the cornices? - and then just started to relieve himself. It felt like he hadn't peed in about five years and he literally moaned in relief, smiling happily to himself. It was life's little pleasures, really. He sighed heavily and managed to finish a short while later. A happy dance was tempting, but he refrained. "I thought no one was allowed to touch me. He totally got his bitch on when the nurse lingered too long." And Rory had really been enjoying the view of her arse in his face, too.

Juliette's teeth caught her lip as she felt a smile threaten at the sound of Rory moaning. It was hard to imagine the pain that came with holding on for so long, but she had to admit it was a cute reaction that accompanied him finally getting relief. "I will worry about that after. I do not think he can argue that you needed help, and right now he is... elsewhere. I will risk him seeing me as a threat to know that you got help."

Rory cleared his throat softly and flushed the toilet before shifting awkwardly to wash his hands. "Well... cheers for the help. I appreciate it," he said quietly. Now he found himself standing in front of a large mirror for the first time since he was attacked. His whole torso was covered in healing bruises and the area with the broken ribs was obvious. It was swollen and a funny grey colour. His arm was bandaged, apparently a cast being a bad idea at the time for the fracture when the soldiers were worried he might use it to smash someone's face in. His face didn't look much better either. At least the swelling was gone, but it was still patchy with bruises and his head had a dressing at the temple. He lowered his eyes as he shut the taps off. He should never have come to Paris.

Juliette stayed where she was and turned her head slightly to watch him, sensing his discontent with his appearance. It was certainly confronting, but underneath it all she still saw Rory for who he really was. For what he looked like without all the bruises. And she still loved him. She had listened outside his door because there was no way he could go through this without her keeping some kind of watch over him. Juliette glanced away again before she shifted to kiss his cheek and rest her head against his briefly. "Je suis désolé, mon amour. I never meant for you to get so hurt. I never meant for any of this to happen. I thought I would save you trouble, save you pain... You wanted a family, and then Blaise was not even seeing Buffy. I did not know if you would still want to be here. I did not know if you would still see anything in me that you liked. There is no way I can give you the family you desire."

Now this just niggled away inside at Rory and he pulled away stiffly to start making his way back to the door to the bedroom. "Who made you God to be entitled to make those decisions for me, anyway? I cannae even... I dinnae... I just have no words for what you did. It was fucked up. And I could have been fucking turned in the process. You should just be oot looking for someone to control if that is what gets your rocks off. Because I'm still nay interested, and even if I could have been, I'm certainly nay now. Right now, I'm nay even sure what I saw that I liked in the first place."

Juliette followed a few steps behind, her eyes on the floor. Rory was the only one besides Blaise that could ever make her regret a decision she'd made. Now she was struggling to even remember why she had been so stupid in the first place. Blaise's fight with Buffy had been nothing to do with her and Rory. She could have let the Scotsman in and not worried. She could have been happy. She glanced up at him briefly before her gaze flicked to the door and she just contemplated leaving. No wonder Buffy was such a fan of bailing on her mate. That way there was no need for the awkward conversations that followed. "I do not wish to control you. I made a monumental error in judgement. I was foolish, and I was not thinking. I wish to make it up to you."

Rory sat down on the side of the messy bed. He thought he should do that in case a cleaner rushed in and tried to make it in his wake. Everything always seemed perfect. For now, that felt nice. Rory without Venture, it would probably irritate a little. When he looked up at her, he was just frowning. "You just cut me off. No word, no fucking nothing. That was just... it. After swooning over me and promising me you would be forever faithful, and you have my best interests at heart... It's weird. I'm supposed to just believe the world will be hearts and roses now because you feel guilty over what happened?"

Juliette shook her head as she hovered at the end of his Rory's bed, not sure if she should sit or not. He hadn't kicked her out, but it didn't really sound as if he wanted her to stay, either. "Non, of course not. Nothing is ever hearts and roses, mon amour. I know I have things to make up for, that I need to prove I really do love you. I just... I was following a misguided sense of loyalty. I thought I was doing the right thing. You know what they say about good intentions, oui? I could not give you word because if I spoke to you... I would have not stopped you from coming here. I would have let you in."

"Good intentions? Dinnae even..." Rory warned with a shake of his head. "I know exactly where your loyalties lie, and I dinnae know how they do things in France, but where I come from, relationships tend to mean you have most loyatly to the one you're dating. I get that you two come as a package, but please, give me a break. Would have let me in? My god, what an absolutely terrible tragedy. Alternatively, dinnae let me in and let me get eaten by a pack of rabid Kindred who want to kill me. Pardon me for your good intentions."

Juliette held his gaze for a moment. "It's not as if I knew you would be attacked! I didn't. I made a mistake, Rory. A huge mistake. I am asking for forgiveness. I will do anything. Anything you ask of me to get it. I will sit outside your door for as long as it takes." Juliette started to cry before she could stop herself, the blood dripping down her cheeks in place of tears. "Je t'aime."

Rory had to look away. Those tears were one thing that he really found hard to take. He couldn't even take it with Airlie when she lost it. Something inside him just felt strange when he saw it. It wasn't disgust, it was just unrest. The enormity of what they were playing with here. They were still Kindred, and still extremely powerful. That intimidated Rory more than he ever let on. He managed to cover a lot of things really well, honed the skills right down over the years. "What did you think would happen, Juliette? Seriously, I want to know. What the hell did you think would happen?" he asked quietly.

Juliette reached up to try and wipe the tears away, all too aware that she was probably only making it worse. There was nothing she could do, though. The emotion had built up inside her to the point that this was the only reaction she could manage. She hid her face in shame, this one thing the Masquerade was never going to be able to conceal properly. "I thought that you would just forget about me, go back to Scotland... Be happy."

"Maybe you were a psychic, because all this whole thing has made me want to do is just that," Rory told her. He slowly moved back so he could lie against the huge mound of pillows. "And if I'm completely honest, I'm nay sure I should be getting too deep into a Kindred lifestyle anyway. It's different with Airlie. She's my best friend and she had no one else when she was Embraced. But all this, as nice as it feels right now, it just isnae me. It scares me. I have feared for so long exactly what happened to me here. And I know why they attacked me. I just cannae tell you."

Juliette looked up from behind her hands briefly. "Why can't you tell me? I know I have done wrong, but I still want to know why they attacked you. Have you told Blaise why? He will need to know. I cannot ask you to stay if it is not what you want. I would not expect it of you. You are your city, and that is Edinburgh. Scotland is your home, it is your blood. I was deluded for ever assuming something between us could last. I will still love you. Nothing will change that."

Rory watched her and let out a slow breath. "I am nay gonna open a can of worms. I dinnae want you to know. I'm sure by now Blaise has heard things one way or another. Would it change your opinion if you knew why? Maybe that I deserved this on some level? Let's just say that sometimes it's possible to have too much information. It's okay for him. He's Prince. He has to know everything. I came here to help Buffy. I just thought that maybe along the way I could find a new direction for myself. I was wrong. I dinnae think I know how to be completely happy anymore."

"No, of course not. I would never think that this was something you deserved. Now who is making assumptions, hm? I still wish I had a chance to tear the connards who did this to you limb from limb. To make them suffer. This is because you know of Kindred? Merde! They are so stupid sometimes. I wish you had found your new direction," Juliette added in a softer tone, the silver staying out of her eyes for the moment. "I did not mean to take it from you. I do want you happy, and I wish I could help. Perhaps with more time... You will find it."

"I wasnae assuming, I was asking. Because I cannae read you at all right now. You should give your peers some more credit, especially that Clan. It isnae because I know Kindred. If that was the reason, they would be attacking innocent people left and right. There are people all over who know of Kindred. I dinnae have any answers here right now. I'm nay sure how I'm supposed to feel. I know I'm stuck here right now, because I can hardly move. I know that I need to be here as much as Blaise needs me to be. For now. But Buffy got on okay without me being around, so I'm sure she'll be fine. I know I'm safe in Scotland. I know what lurks in the dark there... mostly. Here, I just feel like I have nay chance to be in control," Rory admitted as he glanced around the room. He could see for the first time now how ornate it was.

Juliette raised her eyebrows a little. "What is that supposed to mean? I am not hard to read. I am crying! I am giving you the best answers I can. When I cut you off... That was the only time I was dishonest. So it is something you know about Blaise? About this place? I know you are stuck, that is why I will not bother you after this. I do not wish to make you even more uncomfortable. Besides, I do not think Blaise will let me near you once he realises you smell like me. Do not underestimate Buffy's need for you. I think she cares very much about you, and things with Blaise are not so smooth yet."

Rory rolled his eyes. "So, I should stick around just for her? Isnae gonna happen, love. She's a big girl now." He worked to get the covers away from his feet where they were all tangled. He didn't know why the lumps under his heels were pissing him off, but they were. "It was a pretty fucking big one time. I dinnae even get it. That was even worse than the Sex and the City post-it dump. Talk aboot making me feel like a right cocksucker." Running his tongue along the inside of his cheek, Rory studied her for a few moments. "I have reason to believe my wife was Embraced. No, I dinnae have proof, and I never wanted to believe it completely until now, but let's just say Airlie wasnae my first encounter with your kind."

Juliette's gaze slipped to Rory's feet as she fell quiet, absorbing what Rory was saying. "Would you stay if I asked you to? Why are you ready to believe it now? Do you think she's here? Do you... Do you want to find her?"

"Nay right now, no," Rory admitted quietly, yet honestly. He was still too confused and hurt. There was no way he would give up his home for this right now. He shook his head slowly. "Nay long after I started hunting, I started to be taught by a laddie who has hunted for years. Decades. A good friend now, but he lives and breathes it. Lost his son to a supernatural attack in the early days. Long story, and nay mine to tell. But he taught me, and someone with his level of experience, The Masquerade just doesnae fly completely under the radar. Scotland is crawling with Kindred, loyal to their land just like any Scot. They werenae a risk, but just like here, they have their rebels. I learnt aboot it and then passed it by. Couldnae see any reason a Kindred would want to take a bairn, like. At that point, I was still thinking they had been murdered and then wavering between them still being alive so I could find them. I wasnae buying any beasties could be involved. I was messed up beyond belief. Couldnae even face my family. But then I got sick. I woke up in hospital and they told me I had suffered some sort of hemorrhoage, that I'd been a coma. I had nay recollection of it. Nay of getting sick, of feeling bad, nothing. My last memory was literally leaving work one night after a shift and going to my car. Then I saw an old uni pal in Edinburgh a few weeks later and he commented on how gorgeous my wife looked when he saw us oot to dinner in town a couple of weeks prior. At that point, my wife had been missing for eighteen months, and I had supposedly been in hospital in a coma. The whole thing was just disturbing. My friend theorised that she had been Embraced and returned to try and convince me to join her, but then got cold feet at the last minute and couldnae go through with it. I dinnae know. All I know is what I have told everyone aboot my past. To this day, I have nay proof of anything."

Juliette still remained quiet for a long moment before she moved to sit in the chair near Rory's bed. She crossed her legs carefully, the tight black jeans clinging to them. She had gone as casual as Juliette ever would. Everything was still designer though, but the jeans and red cotton top were a far cry from the dresses and usual clothing she wore. She knew she would spend most of today sitting outside of Rory's room, so what was the point in dressing up? She wiped at her eyes again, still trying to get rid of the blood staining her porcelain skin. There was a chance Rory's wife was still living - as Kindred - and Juliette didn't know how to take that. Even if the woman had had cold feet she might still love him, might still harbour urges to try and turn him. "Do you think she was Embraced willingly?"

Rory shook his head. "Nay I dinnae... nay unless the bairn was in danger. She would have given her life for her. Maybe she did." He started to get emotional then, everything feeling like it was catching up with him. Playing in risky realms like this, it wasn't him. He was just a small town Scottish lad who only ever wanted an honest job and a family. He tried to swallow back the lump that rook residence in his throat, but it was impossible, and when he spoke again, his voice was hoarse and strained. "When Airlie got Embraced, I didnae have any choice but to help her and take care of her. She had nay one else. I knew enough to be able to help her. I worked with her Sire, but it came to a point where, although she loved him, she wanted to kill him because she hated him so much. So I stepped in where he should have taken her under his wing. He was a good guy. He didnae ever want to hurt her, but he loved her too much, so to speak. He slipped. I couldnae face the thought of her oot there alone trying to survive, as much as it terrified me to be aroond her. Having her in my care made it easier, though. I got more of an understanding and started to see the world through different eyes. That didnae mean I wanted to walk in those shoes, though."

"I have never expected you to want that, and I know it's asking a lot of you to even think about being here. Even if you couldn't see yourself staying right now. It's a part of why I did try and just let you go. I am old enough, and selfish enough to not want to be something you regret. I would not be able to take it if I thought you would grow to hate me. To hate this world. Having Airlie is different. She is your best friend, and I know you would do anything for her. But you know her, knew her before the Embrace. There is a bond that will never be broken." Juliette rest her hands in her lap before she met his gaze. "I really am sorry for how things turned out, mon amour. You should not have had to live with not knowing for sure if your wife was Embraced, or not. You need the truth, even if these Brujah think you already know it. Maybe it will bring you closure?"

"I dinnae need the truth. I'm fine nay knowing. I have been fine nay knowing for years, and I will keep being fine nay knowing. Even if she was, she wouldnae be who I fell in love with. Nay anymore, and if she was, and for some freakish reason this latest turn of events means she's Brujah, then she is really nay going to be who I fell in love with. I have nay proof and if I keep thinking on it, I will literally go mental. Closure? What closure do you expect me to get? Closure is a bullshit concept designed to give shrinks their pay packet," Rory said cynically.

Juliette held her hand up briefly. "I didn't mean to imply... Again, I am sorry. However, it certainly does throw a new light on the attack. I will have words with Blaise if you do not mind. Or would you rather tell him? Is there anything I can do?"

Rory looked at her, raising his eyebrow slightly. "Do what? Nothing is going to change. You cannae wind back the clock and stop it all happening. You can tell him anything you like, but really, what difference does it make? Does it change who I am? Nay, because I'm exactly the same person I was when you met me. This is just something I didnae reveal to anyone. Nay even Airlie knows. She was on tour when this happened. If my wife came back to me as Kindred, she didnae claim me or both you and Blaise would have sensed that. I'm just tired and very confused. I havenae even hit thirty yet and I feel like I'm pushing sixty. And now you understand why I pushed my family oot of my life. It broke my heart, but it was the only way I knew how to protect them. To keep them at a distance."

"Just like I was trying to protect you... I thought it would help you, but I don't think it's the right way to protect you. I know you don't want to be controlled, and this isn't me trying to control you - but I do think you need some back up. Some protection in the physical sense. Not that you would agree to it. I do know bits of you. Like the independent side." Juliette reached out to smooth out the wrinkles on one side of his bed covers. "I wasn't offering to change anything. I could get you a drink, or something to eat if you feel up to it. Maybe some dirty magazines?"

"Cutting me off with nay word or explanation after already coming on so strong with me is nay the same as what I did with my family. I still kept in touch with them. So please, dinnae compare it or it will just completely piss me off," Rory warned her with a small frown. "I dinnae need anything. I'm okay. Do I look like I need dirty magazines? Juliette, I dinnae know what is supposed to happen from here on in. I really dinnae. Maybe being aroond Kindred has just flared things up again. I havenae even begun to stop and think how I feel about my brother apparently dating one. It's hard enough to remember my own name without my head hurting."

Juliette nodded before she stood up and looked down at him. After a moment of hesitation she leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "You don't need to know, mon amour, not yet. You just need to work on healing, and on things with your brother perhaps. As much as pushing him away was you protecting him, he is still your brother. He is here for you, no one else. I will leave you to get some rest. I'm sure you'll have plenty of other visits from Blaise, Airlie and Buffy. I only wanted to know that you were... better."

Rory looked up at Juliette, really not having the energy to protest that it had been Logan who cut their ties, not him. "I'm not," he told her softly and lowered his gaze. "I'm not better. Bu I'll catch you later... whenever. Maybe you can all put one of those wee deli ticket things oot the door to take a number."

Juliette smirked lightly. "Perhaps, but I still think it is more up to you whether or not I get a ticket. I will just keep out of your way in the mean time."

Rory didn't reply. Instead, he just stiffly and painfully started to slowly pull the covers back up over himself. He couldn't reassure her that she deserved tickets or that things would be okay. He didn't know. Right now, his feelings for her were diluted and he wanted to keep her at arm's length. She had really hurt him and like the physical injuries, he needed time to recover from that. He needed to know if he was willing to put his heart on the line again anymore. "Bonsoir," he finally murmured, despite the Scottish accent. If he could curl up into a ball and mope right now, he really would indulge.

Word Count | 5,517