Blending In [Active, Open]

[leatherdahlia]

Characters: Dahlia and you~
Time: Midday sometime
Location: Millenium Park
Content: Dahlia’s trying this whole “blending in” thing, for now.
Format: Prose
Warnings: It’s Dahlia and her pain stick.

Comments

[becauseimboring]

Clare idly played with her new hair. She wasn't sure what drove her that she needed this change, perhaps it was just something had to change or this all was... unreal. A haircut was easier to explain than a tattoo, and far less permanent.

Clare had a book open, reading casually in Millenium Park. In this case it was a math textbook. Just because she was kidnapped by magic and running into odd mystical creatures did not mean she could just forfeit on schoolwork. She looked around, waiting in the park seemed like as good a place as any. It was bright, sun out, maybe new people would arrive. Not a day to spend indoors... at least until something went wrong.

[leatherdahlia]

Dahlia was less than pleased as she walked around the bean to find that no one even remotely familiar had appeared. She continued around the park slowly, her sandals scuffing along the sidewalk. Her sisters had done this before, shedding their leather in favor of blending in... All the easier to have people trust them without question.

Her gaze fell upon the girl casually reading not too far away. So innocent... so unassuming. Her lips quirked in a small smile before she tore her glance away. Had she been any younger, or her parents around, she'd have made an excellent Mord-Sith... It was a shame such a perfect little project would have to be wasted in favor of this place.

[becauseimboring]

Clare looked around, she thought someone looking at her. You know the feeling you get, when a boy is appraising your body, or a girl is considering how to be destroy your social standing at school. It was more of the second feeling, that someone was looking at her without a shred of good intention.

Of course as she looked up, and looked around, nobody stuck out as cruel or evil. Not instantly recognizable in that way. Nothing that looked obviously evil either, like the squirrel. Which was a silly thing to look for in this much sun, from what she understood. So after looking at the woman in the pretty pink dress for a moment, something seemed off about the image, she returned to her book.

Wasn't that woman here when she arrived in Chicago?

[leatherdahlia]

Dahlia continued to walk around a little, casually scrolling through the strange object that she'd been given on her arrival. She didn't care for the strange contraption, but had given in and learned how to use it. For now... She approached the bench the girl was sitting at with a very slow pace. She tore her gaze up from the phone and offered the girl the most genuine smile she could muster.

"Do you mind if I join you, dear?" she inquired as politely as she could.

[becauseimboring]

Clare looked up, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary... other than the woman wanting to sit next to her. Years of 'no talking to strangers' suggested the answer was 'no, that's fine, you can go away now.' What she's been told about fae and magical creatures suggested that no was the right answer.

However, she had one of those devices, making her like everyone else trapped here. "Sure," Clare said, after a pause, smiling, "I'm Clare."

[leatherdahlia]

Dahlia sat down and smiled a little more, slow and almost predatory if she hadn't paid careful attention to how it came off. "Dahlia. It's lovely to meet you, Clare..."

Her voice was almost too sugary, as she found this whole 'being nice' act much more difficult than she thought originally.

[becauseimboring]

"That's a pretty name," Clare wasn't the best at small talk, also something about the woman's tone reminded her of someone she would rather never think of. Well, part of that was the anger, the betrayal that goes with stealing a boyfriend. And the fact that it was frighteningly obvious Jenna had that mapped from the start. However instead of letting her mind fog over with memories of past trespasses, she could keep to her studies. Which all in all was an odd thing. However Alli would probably say it was 'Clarific,' studying in the face a mystery and living without rules or parents.

Clare did briefly consider what sorts of things she could do that she couldn't do at home. Other than an augmented sleep schedule, and a far more... interesting assortment of undergarments to choose from, she was just herself. She was certain Darcy would be horrified.

Still didn't answer her question of what this woman's interest was in her, why this bugged her, and what to do about it. Still, the whole sweeter than candy thing was unsettling, but was that a real concern or just memories? Until she sorted that out she kept reading her textbook.

[leatherdahlia]

"Yours is as well," Dahlia countered the compliment with ease. "It reminds me of my dear friend's name... Cara. Perhaps that's only because I find myself homesick for someone familiar..."

She glanced away from the girl and across the park, pressing her lips together. She wasn't really lying, she missed Cara the most of her Sisters and the similar sounds of the girl's name did remind her of her lover... Her friend.

She tucked one ankle behind the other, scrolling through the device a little more. "Do you have any friends here, Clare dear?"

[becauseimboring]

That sounded like a compliment... until it suddenly didn't. A rather odd way to twist something nice into something honest, but still a bit disconcerting. "Thanks..." she let the sentence go without a proper end, not sure to actually feel complimented or not.

At least she didn't say Clare-bear. "Not really... I mean I've met a few nice people but it isn't like at home," Clare answered honestly. Despite the voice in the back of her head shouting at her, that little voice that suggest just maybe the old lesson of not trusting strangers is a good one. There were a number of logical reasons not to trust Dahlia, equally there were reasons that unfounded paranoia was a bad idea.

Right now, Clare had to trust that in this world people were nice... ...until they turn out to be vampires. Even then, there was a bit of trust given to Thomas, just with caveats attached.

[leatherdahlia]

Dahlia smoothed out her dress a little, glancing at her purse for a moment. She was sure that using her usual methods... Well... it was too soon. She was also gauging what this girl had to offer other than an afternoon of amusement. It was more than obvious that she knew nothing of importance...

"I'm glad... It would be horrible to be in this place alone, without kind, familiar faces," she replied slowly. "Especially with someone as innocent as you."

[becauseimboring]

Clare didn't like the way she was called innocent. Innocent was in no way a compliment. Not in any normal company she was in. Her 'innocence' was a joke among her ex boyfriend and ex friend. A constant sourspot between her and her best friend Alli. The only person in her life to regard it as more than just another insult or failing on her part was Holly J. The student council president who wanted Clare not to kiss her boyfriend's neck again. Clare herself was not too thrilled with how she handled that crush, but that was the only time her inexperience has been treated as normal in a while.

"Yes... it would be less than optimal," Clare slowly answered, a bit more concerned. This woman was a young adult, aged for a later level of college or a job. Commenting on innocent "Saint Clare" like that was... unusual, it didn't sit well with the girl. However, Clare could hardly use this feeling as a reason to put distance between her and the woman, that would be rude. Yet it did give her a moment's pause.

[leatherdahlia]

Inspecting her nails Dahlia caught on to the girl's displeasure at her word choice. If she were any normal person, this would have triggered her into caring. But she simply did not care and it was becoming increasingly difficult to pretend she did.

She turned her gaze on the girl, smiling. "And have you come across anyone that perhaps I should keep my distance from? I would hate to have a run in with someone I shouldn't..."

[becauseimboring]

A straightforward question, which Clare could safely give a straightforward answer to, "Thomas... he's not a bad person, but... I'm not allowed alone with him for any extended periods of time." She figured vampire might sound crazy to add to the explanation as to why she couldn't be left alone with him for extended periods, so she left that detail out.

Clare was still put off by something about the woman. Which put the girl into a more self-conscious manner, casually touching her cross. Clare's eyes didn't linger on the woman long, her glances darting quickly for a moment to maintain certainty that Dahlia had not vanished, but not wanting to stare.

[leatherdahlia]

Dahlia took careful note as the girl touched her necklace. The symbol meant nothing to Dahlia, whose knowledge of worlds like this was few and far between. Perhaps it was simply a nervous tendency.

Right. Thomas. The handsome one with the quick tongue. She shrugged her shoulders as the hand farthest from the girl slid inconspicuously into her bag. Her fingers wrapped around her Agiel, pulling it slowly from the purse. "With a mixed population like this, there are certainly more people you should stay away from."

It was an innocent enough warning.... Until she swiftly pressed the end of the rod into the girl's shoulder with a twist. "Like me."

[becauseimboring]

Clare was, for the most part, sheltered. Not a lot of real world events to shape her, the scariest moments of her life her sister was in trouble, or she did something socially bad at school. For the most part, she was never injured in a great way, no physical pains in her past that effected her, that she could recall.

So when the weapon touched her shoulder she had no memory to compare it to. And if she did, she was sure it would fall short. The scream she let out was loud and ripped through the air. Whatever serenity this park had broken by a scream of absolute utter torment. A physical pain Clare didn't think could exist, something that as she felt it she couldn't make words form to cover what was happening.

[ocarinahero]

Now, Link certainly wasn't the type to ignore a scream like that. Hero-types, you know how they get. Whatever Link had been doing before the girl's scream cut through the air was dropped, and he ran in the direction of it to find a woman torturing a younger girl

"Hey!" Link called, whipping out his sword and pointing it at the woman, "Whatever it is you're doing to her, stop!"

Of course, at four foot nothing, and with his very childish sounding voice, Link was hardly the most intimidating of heroes, even with his sword pointing at the woman's back.