Joined: Jun 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 337 Location: Two blocks past Tuesday
Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Thread Started on May 19, 2007, 10:53pm »
Life had been strangely quiet these days for Tatiana. She'd spent time with friends, done her schoolwork for the most part, and watched the months meander from winter into spring. The date was now April the seventh, the entry into yet another average weekend. Tati didn't know which she disliked more: the constant theatrics of the earlier part of the year, or the lazy style her life now took on.
Wandering down second hall in a pair of tan cargoes and a white T-shirt, Tatiana was on her way outside. Simba, her ferret, was walking down the hall with her, in his little harness attached to a long leash. He as having a blast, every now and then skipping between her legs and almost-but-not-quite underfoot. Tatiana never quite understood the miracle of her being able to train the thing, but she supposed one could do a lot with persistence...and plenty of treats.
The trek down second hall was typically a quiet and slow one, though, especially with the numerous twists and turns. Not paying close enough attention could lead to an extra half-hour once finding yourself at a dead end. Tati wasn't in much of a hurry, considering she wasn't meeting anybody anywhere. She could do with a bit of excitement, though.
Every time Tatiana wished for that, however, she ended up receiving more than she bargained for. But what were the chances of something earth-shaking happening again? Dominic Constantine wasn't even around to run into her in the most inconvenient o circumstances! As long as she took care not to run into any malevolent librarians or Death Eaters with a death warrant, Tati would certainly be fine. Now, which way was down again? Tatiana came across a set of stairs that she knew led up to the second floor swimming area, so that meant she needed to...
...stop and think for a moment. There were a few corridors to choose from. Which one would lead to victory? And why couldn't they apparate inside school, for Merlin's sake?
Joined: Jan 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 941 Location: Your Thoughts
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #1 on May 23, 2007, 7:47pm »
Having life referred to as 'quiet' was one of those things that, if said to his face, may have forced Dominic to retreat to a corner and cry a while (if he were into that sort of thing). Life had been anything but quiet lately. He had spent the last month suffering through all manners of physical and mental stress. He had surely pissed off the London mafia. He had broken out of one of the Order headquarters.
Oh, also, he had a girlfriend now. Figure that one out.
Yes, it was true. As of, oh...less than a day ago he and Renée LaFayé had officially hooked up. Completely unexpected. All he had really been expecting to do was talk to her and then go to sleep- which he supposed was more or less what had happened, but there had been the extra condition of 'I love you's being exchanged.
As if being back at school wasn't surreal enough.
The morning had been filled with awkward encounters, the most annoying of which being with the head healer of the school. He'd needed that one, though. Since his arm had still been fairly battered from that asshole in the warehouse. Of course, she ridiculed the healing job and asked a lot of loud and intrusive questions, and eventually got around to fixing up his shoulder properly. However, he was still wearing a sling for the moment. Sincero had advised wearing it for a day or so, just to make sure the bones had a chance to strengthen before he 'got his ass busted again.'
What was depressing was that the healer actually had a point. Given his luck, the odds of getting his ass beat no matter the situation were alarmingly high.
It had been a day of sorting out his affairs, most of which had been dealt with by this point. Though, really, the worst part was many of his peers reactions, in the form of curious yet sickeningly obnoxious stares. Oh, of course. He had been officially 'missing' for a month. They didn't need to make a big thing out of it, right?
Right?
But they were anyway, and he had been trying to make the time pass faster by simply being quiet and unresponsive to any questions or interruptions. Other than Ren, there weren't many people he actually wanted to see, so he had only left the Spirito dorms for the sake of business...
Though, hold up a minute, there was a face that he wasn't repulsed to see.
"Tatiana," he acknowledge instinctively, coming up behind the girl as she seemed to be gazing thoughtfully at a set of stairs. Well, so, she knew he was present. Now what? His mind froze for a second, completely out of touch with what he should have been doing, before taking a stepping back uselessly.
Joined: Jun 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 337 Location: Two blocks past Tuesday
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #2 on May 29, 2007, 12:52am »
"Tatiana."
What was the world coming to? A girl couldn't even go off on a deeply reflective tangent of thought without being interrupted these days. So what if Tatiana had been telling herself she should have done her laundry yesterday because there weren't any clean clothes left besides the ones she was wearing now?
But wait a second; did that "Tatiana" belong to who she thought it did? Only one way to find out.
"Dominic? Dominic!" replied Tati, not quite exclaiming shouts of joy to the world yet still obviously excited to see him. How long had he been gone? When had he sent her that e-mail he'd never responded back to? Tatiana had never really worked well with specifics.
Smiling as she quickly absorbed his appearance, Tati stopped short of giving him a hug. Her observation skills were not all for pot around Dominic, so she settled for an amiable fist-to-the chin (quite softly, of course). That might be more acceptable than doing the touchy-feely thing, even though they'd declared themselves friends a while back. Things could change; besides that, Dominic didn't strike her as the hugging type.
The sling on his arm might have helped her decision along. He could talk with her about that later.
For the moment, Tatiana briefly thought back for any circumstances on why he had left. E-mail, don't worry, something about Donnelly, having a relationship, yadah yadha...Bingo. He'd had important Dominic business that he couldn't fill her in on. Tati never enjoyed being left out of somebody's trust circle, but typically e-mail wasn't the best modus operandi for spilling possibly treacherous secrets.
"So, we've got a lot of catching up to do. Let's walk," Tatiana said, which came out more like a request than a command.
"You could probably guess that nothing significant has been going on in my life lately," started Tatiana as she stuck her hands in her pockets and began to stroll. "So, what have you been up to? That e-mail you sent me didn't do much to keep me 'not worrying.'"
"Besides that, are you okay? Mentally, physically, spiritually?" The last one was said with a humorous grin as she glanced sideways at Dominic. She had dozens of questions for him, but she figured it was better to let him get it going.
Joined: Jan 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 941 Location: Your Thoughts
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #3 on Jun 14, 2007, 11:57pm »
Just about a month for the time, yes. As for the email...oops? He had been a bit distracted with the ordeal, and not really knowing what else to say to his Romanian friend, he had just let it drop. Well, he was back and alive now. Obviously she hadn't exactly been worked into a tizzy over his absence, so no harm done.
"Hey," he replied calmly to her original outburst, at a bit of a loss for where the conversation was supposed to be going. Well, she seemed...happy. Which was good. And punching him in the face- playfully, though, which was good, but still a touch surprising. Not that he let it show, he was a bit too distracted watching her for reactions.
Was he the hugging type? Who knew. He liked hugging Renée. But really, she was the only one he had tried it out with. Maybe sometime he would go there with Tatiana (oooh, scandelous), but for now it seemed best to avoid.
And her consideration for his arm was appreciated.
"Right," he replied simply, and walking ensued. His vagueness had nothing to do with her being outside his trust circle- like she had thought herself, email wasn't the best medium for such things. He didn't see the point in giving a lousy half explanation. He'd only done that for Renée because it was quite mandatory.
"Uh. Hm." How to put this? "Lot's of stuff. Went to London. Met a lot of 'delightful' mafia folk. Nearly died several dozen times. Broke several dozen laws." He coughed. "Don't spread this around, of course." It was more of a formality than anything. He trusted Tatiana enough to know she wasn't loose lipped. However, he wasn't sure how she would react to knowing he was a criminal or what have you.
"My leaving the school wasn't exactly voluntary, as I suggested in my email. I had to make a deal with this bloke to get out alive. Had to 'acquire' some things for him. After a lot of blood, sweat, and some more blood I managed to get what he wanted, and therefore earned my freedom." That was simple enough, right? Not exactly comforting, but it was what happened.
"I think this means that I'm okay. Exhausted in all ways that count, but I'm still living. That's enough for me these days."
Joined: Jun 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 337 Location: Two blocks past Tuesday
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #4 on Jul 12, 2007, 2:53pm »
Certainly Tatiana would have been in an uproar had she known what kind of situation Dominic had been. However, he'd just ran off providing her with little to no information on his whereabouts, so Tatiana had tried not to go all worried mother hen for the time being. And with everything happening in her personal life and no further information from him, he could have been off enjoying a vacation in the Riviera.
But Tatiana knew that wouldn't be the case, if she knew Dominic at all.
It also would have amused her to know that Dominic was still confused about how she'd react around him. Maybe Tatiana was just that difficult to predict, but she didn't think so. But just from her natural sense of observation Tati could calculate the way Dominic was appraising her. From the way he'd greeted her, his face, how he'd started the conversation...his apprehension with her was still a bit disappointing. Tati hated not being able to do what came naturally to her with friends, even if it was something simple like putting an arm around his shoulder to let him know she did care. He probably didn't get that kind of affection growing up, which could explain why he easily came across as cold or standoffish nowadays.
"That's some tale, Dominic. No wonder you're in that shape," Tatiana commented, still strolling slowly along. "I know you might not want to say, but if you don't mind me asking..."
"...about your freedom, exactly who or what were you trying to get this freedom from? And why?" He could just easily say it was none of her business and she'd be okay with that answer. Not happy, but okay.
With Dominic's dialogue Tatiana knew he was being vague. He did have many secrets, and by this point it wouldn't have surprised her to find out that he was a member of the mafia or something like that. Granted, he was physically forbidden from telling her about the Order, but that was impossible for Tati to know.
Joined: Jan 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 941 Location: Your Thoughts
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #5 on Jul 13, 2007, 6:36pm »
It was probably for the better, anyway, that she hadn't worried about him. Renée had done enough of that (and it had come from knowing close to the whole truth of the matter). Tatiana probably hadn't needed to know that he'd been on a time limit. She hadn't asked for the information either, and so he had been all too happy to not give it to her.
That was one difference between her and Renée. These days Renée seemed more prone to wrassling information out of him. Probably because he kept almost getting himself killed.
He sighed in response to her question, but it wasn't because he was annoyed by the fact that it was being asked. He was annoyed because while he would have liked to confide in her, it was an impossibility. It was a downer to realize that those he managed to call his friends would always just think that he didn't trust them enough to tell them, when the truth was that he was incapable.
He didn't always like being mysterious. He didn't always like being distant. It was just a very practiced behaviour, because before he had never had many other options.
But she had asked, and so he was going to try. It would come off as vague, but Tatiana was hardly daft. Maybe she would realize that he wasn't purposefully withholding information.
"You remember the thing with Morgan?" he began, choosing his words carefully. A wrong move and he would be suffering a killer headache. "It wasn't an entirely personal matter. This whole thing was related to that, though she wasn't directly involved this time..."
"I have a lot of baggage, and I guess the simplest way to put this is that I'm trying to earn my freedom from that." He pondered the concept for a moment. "Also there's the whole thing that when someone captures you and intends to kill you you generally want to escape. Both of those factors were present."
"I think that pretty much takes care of 'why'," he added with a shrug.
Joined: Jun 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 337 Location: Two blocks past Tuesday
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #6 on Jul 16, 2007, 12:04am »
Dominic wasn't making it easy for her to decipher. Tatiana could tell Dominic trusted her; or, she could as much as her observance could tell her. She had been wrong in the past about him, but this time it just seemed more real. Maybe their pact of friendship had gone past just being verbal? One way or another, Dominic seemed like someone she could depend on, no matter what he said- or didn't, for that matter.
And his sigh...it sounded more like a sigh of frustration than anything. Try as she may, Tatiana couldn't realize just how hard his situation was. What could Dominic do when he wanted to share with Renée or even herself, but was forced against it?
But Tatiana could try to read into what he was saying, so she listened carefully as he spoke about the situation.
"That thing with Morgan, related to why you left, but not directly...you mentioned mafia, but that isn't it. You had to bargain for your life, find something... and here you are now." All of these broken sentences were said in a slightly distant manner, while she tried to puzzle out the meaning behind them. Dominic was leaving out specific details, namely exactly who he nearly suffered death to and why he wasn't telling her.
It was a good thing Tatiana was keen on puzzling and mysteries and had such a healthy sense of curiosity, or she would have thrown her hands up in complete frustration at the boy. They'd agreed on trust, and Tatiana expected him to keep his word by now. She didn't just expect him to; she believed he'd trust her. Something about Dominic was different from the time Tatiana had first met him.
Dominic now seemed like a man of his word- at least to those people he did allow into his trust circle.
"You're in deep shit if you tell me everything, aren't you?" Tatiana replied. Sure, it was blunt and maybe a bit unexpected given her usual manner of speech, but there was really no other way to put it. She had remained in silence as they walked for at least half a minute, probably leaving Dominic feeling confused as to why she wasn't her usual talkative self. But this riddle he'd given her didn't have a quick answer.
"This must be some kind of secret. I don't see you as a hypocrite, and after all we've went through and our agreement to be honest with each other, it's not really registering for you to hide things just because you don't like me or something."
"Unless, that is, you've just realized how annoying I actually am and are trying to back out of this frienship post-haste," she added with a lopsided, roguish grin. Jokes didn't have to be taboo in a serious conversation.
Joined: Jan 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 941 Location: Your Thoughts
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #7 on Jul 16, 2007, 12:36am »
Dominic would have been glad, and honestly a touch surprised, to hear how much trust Tatiana put in him. Hell, he wouldn't have trusted himself in this situation. He would have thought that Dominic Constantine was a very shifty character, and that it was probably in his personal best interests to avoid him.
But he and Tatiana were very different people, something he was occasionally very grateful for.
At the least she definitely seemed to have an appreciation for the way he treated friends. Once they were in his circle, it was come hell or high water. Supposedly some of them wouldn't notice this, simply because he was usually so reserved. Tatiana had definitely earned her way into his heart, and once there it wasn't easily removed.
He nodded slowly, overhearing her mumbled phrases. They were all pretty much accurate, but he didn't respond because he realized she was trying to work it out in her head. He didn't mind the delay. She was welcome to take some time to digest that. If he ever hoped to have her understand, than she would definitely need to be given that.
"You're in deep shit if you tell me everything, aren't you?"
He nodded with a bit more vigour, wondering if he could dare to give anymore clarification on that. Hmm, what could he say. Right, he had an idea for something he could contribute.
"I don't speak in riddles because I like the mystique," he tried, looking at her honestly. It was true in more than one way. Then she had her joke, and while he realized that it was just that, it made him a bit nervous just because it hit so close to home about what his worries in the situation had been.
"Oh of course," he sighed, forcing a small, wry smile as he looked at her. "But honestly? If I were going to do that I think I'd be a lot more upfront about it. Because...believe me when I say this- if I could tell you about these things I would. It's not just because I'm scared that the information could get you or me hurt."
"There's more to than that." He just couldn't say what it was.
Joined: Jun 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 337 Location: Two blocks past Tuesday
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #8 on Jul 17, 2007, 4:16pm »
If Tatiana and Dominic were at all similar they would probably still be complete strangers. How else would they have met, talked, got into strange and revealing situations, and fought like dogs- then just found out that they really could get along? A friendship tested often ends up stronger than two people who just get along all the time.
In their case, Tati and Dominic had endured several- and neither knew what else would be coming, but at least Tatiana figured he had her back. Sure, Dominic's mysterious side often got her wondering, but she was just the type who usually liked people first, asked questions later.
Maybe being close to Dominic would send her life insurance through the roof, but hey- such was the price she'd readily pay for a good friend.
Something about Dominic speaking in riddles just because he wanted to be cool made Tati chuckle. "No, that doesn't fit you now. It might have fooled me when you started pulling the multiple personalities out to try and mess with my head, though," she commented.
"But look at you now, all grown up. Even though we didn't talk much during the year, it's not hard to see you've changed," she said in quiet approval. "Who knows? Maybe now things will calm down for a change- even if only for a little while," Tati added, having the idea that whatever this was, he was still concerned about it- or them. Maybe he'd gotten his freedom from Morgan and some other of her type, but that didn't mean they would leave it at that. Vengeance was a powerful motivator.
As Dominic explained himself further, Tatiana nodded slowly. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to say something, but couldn't. So it was more than just his own inhibitions? "What, are you under some kind of Oath? Like an Unbreakable Vow?" she asked after more intense though. It was the only thing she could think of. "Or could it be something to do with being a Secret Keeper?" There were spells for that sort of thing, to prevent people from spreading sensitive information. She'd passed over in some healing books about what happened to people who tried to break an Unbreakable- did they die, or go mad?
Tati wished she'd spent more time reading than scanning.
Joined: Jan 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 941 Location: Your Thoughts
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #9 on Jul 18, 2007, 10:23pm »
"To be fair, I was slightly drunk," he commented, amused by her comment. It was funny to think of that night now. Well, still not really funny since what happened hadn't been funny at all, but just plain strange. He had definitely been a different person back then. Still obviously a sarcastic git, but that was besides the point.
He had been hell-bent on just making her leave him alone. Now he sincerely enjoyed her presence. Who would have thought?
"I really wish things would calm down. I've had so much crammed into these last few months that it doesn't seem fair for it to continue." Not that life had ever been fair for him, but at the very least he could call the universe on it. It was very damaging to his lifestyle, after all.
"Hm. Maybe I have," he said with a small shrug. If he had, it was probably for the better. He was beaten up and tired, he he still felt better than he had while under the Order's control. He had been liberated, and some pain in return was worth it, in his opinion.
Okay, this was so frustrating. She was pretty much spot on (hell, she had even said the right word- 'Oath') yet he knew he wouldn't be able to say yes. The vow he had taken inhibited it. Yet, maybe...she was so on track that she would gather that he wouldn't be able to confirm for just that reason.
He gave her a meaningful look, which was meant to say 'yes.'
But he could try to clarify with negatives.
"Eh, no one trusts me enough to make me a Secret Keeper," he joked, but it did its joke of stating that Secret Keeper wasn't the case. Now if only she would focus in on the Oath, Unbreakable Vow concept. This was probably the closest he had ever gotten someone to figuring out his situation.
Joined: Jun 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 337 Location: Two blocks past Tuesday
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #10 on Jul 24, 2007, 10:46pm »
"True," replied Tatiana with a smile. "You ran out of there so fast if you'd been any more drunk I would have had to scrape you off the bottom of the staircase."
After that experience, Tatiana was somewhat convinced that it would be the most remarkable little occurance of drama that would happen to her during the year; a little ripple in her peaceful lake of a life. However, as the months rolled on and her experiences with Dominic grew, that assumption vanished. Her placid little lake had turned into a tidal wave pool.
Poor Dominic, though. Tati wasn't anywhere naive enough to think that her life was difficult. Sure, she had problems, but look at Dominic. His difficulties squashed hers like she couldn't believe. What made Tatiana feel bad, though, was the fact that he just seemed to take it in stride, while she hadn't or couldn't because her temper and inexperience got in the way. Sure, personality differences were like that, but Tati envied his calmness and even his tough side.
Oh, well. She could always imagine that maybe there was something good that others looked up to her for. Tati didn't really take time to think about it.
"Well, at the very least you've become a little bit nicer. And you have one more person that's got your back. Not too bad."
Then Tatiana let out a small "Oh...so you're under and Unbreakable, are you?" she inquired, interpreting his little clue. That was really the only option left. She hadn't realized the significance of an "Oath," as to her it was just a word.
Too bad for Dominic that such a word had meant everything up until now.
"How...difficult. That...exacerbates things. Guess I'll never know then, right? It's just going to kill me, though, not knowing who put you under this and why."
With that Tatiana looked down at the floor pensively as she walked.
Joined: Jan 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 941 Location: Your Thoughts
Re: Some Kind of Reunion {{Dominic}} « Reply #11 on Jul 30, 2007, 5:19pm »
Supposedly most people had original come to Anima Eterna with that expectation. That things would be normal, and that the initial few blips they faced would be the last. In his case, he had probably expected that he would probably be the most out of the ordinary thing there, aside from a few Death Eaters. Naturally, he had been wrong.
The school really had a way of redefining a person's definition of the status quo. Hopefully new students still to come would have learned already that Anima Eterna was not the usual school, nor was it going to leave you unscathed if you didn't watch your back.
Drama and death were the AE student's bread and butter.
But see? That was just the sort of thing he had been thinking of when he first met Tatiana. That any vain attempts at involving herself with him would only result in her getting pulled along into his crash course race through life. Of course, that hadn't been the worst of his worries at the time, but now that they were friends...
Well, it was troubling. Yet, he had to learn to not just blame himself entirely for these things. Everyone had issues and they weren't just because of him.
At her words about him having become nicer, he couldn't help but break into a little half smile, staring nostalgically at the floor. Nicer. That was what most would call a positive change, right? Maybe it had come about because he finally had people that he had a reason to be nice to. Tatiana was one of them. They were really on his side, too. It was a good feeling, even in the face of all the other bullcrap he had to deal with.
"Well, what can I say," he said, maintain the same surprisingly happy expression as he looked to her for a few moments. "Some people are worth brightening my disposition for."
Then she zeroed in on what was probably the closest to the right answer that he could have hoped for. The Unbreakable Vow was almost it. Not quite to the same scale as the Oath was, but it could potentially have the same properties as the promise he had made. She was on the money, there, and while he still couldn't confirm his lack of denying it hopefully implied that she was right.
"Maybe not," he sighed in response to her saying that she may never know. Odds were that she probably wouldn't, unless she either joined the Order (over his dead body) or he was somehow freed of his curse. Neither were very likely. This situation with the talisman was probably the closest thing he was every going to get. Close enough.
"It's just going to kill me, though, not knowing who put you under this and why."
"Well," he said with an offhanded sort of shrug. "Let's just hope that it doesn't kill me too."
It was joke, but a bit too close to home to be funny.
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