Closed RP Second Date

This RP is currently closed.
Slate

Slate

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An antler and a jewelry box were outside the Diamond when Lapis stepped out at five am. They were in the same place that all of the presents had been over the last two weeks. She smiled and sighed as she looked at them. She had received an assortment of antlers, different flowers, boxes of jewelry, and even a few handwritten poems. At first, she had laughed. He never said anything about the gifts, even though she had visited him several more times in the cabin.

Well, at first she had laughed. But now, now she thought it was… almost sweet. She walked over to the little gifts and picked up the box. She opened it and smiled even wider at the lapis lazuli necklace inside. It was shaped into a flower, and she could tell by the flecks of calcite and pyrite that it was just as real as the rest of the jewelry he had been bringing her. She had no idea where he was finding so much of it. Lapis lazuli wasn’t exactly a common stone, nor was it a particular favorite in terms of jewelry making.

Lapis picked the antler up and took the necklace made of her namesake back inside, walking up the stairs on the side of the building up to the front door of their home. She wasn’t sure if Connor knew that she started her days early enough to find the presents, or if he just assumed she would receive them somehow. She had no idea when he was leaving them either, or really how he had found the Diamond to begin with. All she knew was they had started showing up like clockwork.

She sighed as she set the antler on the shelf with the rest of them, now growing into a small pile. She took the necklace and removed it from the box, hanging it in her jewelry box. Alongside the two other necklaces from Connor, her collection of lapis lazuli jewelry was growing.

This left her in a peculiar position. She could continue to not address the presents. Honestly, that seemed like the best idea. Just pretending they weren’t happening, just pretend she didn’t find them endearing. After all, she was going to move on soon. While the sex with him was good, and Lapis had never spent this long with someone before, she couldn’t imagine staying too much longer.

Instead, Lapis pulled her phone out of her pocket, and pulled up Connor’s information. She looked at it for a second, then hit “Message”.

Hey there, big guy. Want to get dinner with me tonight?

She hit send and bit her lip. There was no guarantee he was awake this early, no guarantee she’d get an immediate response. But still, she stared at the phone and waited.​
 

Lapis did not open the door. Instead, a small woman– still taller than Lapis– dressed in a soft pink kimono top and white pants. Her dark hair was pulled back away from her face in a tight bun, a few stray pieces falling into her face. Her skin tone and nose suggested heritage in the realm of Pacific Islander. She looked up at Connor, her brow furrowing. Then, realization dawned on her face, and in a pleasant and deep voice, she exclaimed, “You must be Connor! Come in, Lapis is still getting dressed right now.”

She stepped aside for him to walk into the house. She waved him in, her face lit up with excitement. She practically vibrated with good energy, welcoming energy. Just beyond her, sitting on one of the chairs in the living room was a taller young black man, his hair in thick locs that were pulled away from his face. He had startling green eyes, and he rose to meet Connor near the door.

“Connor, brotha, welcome! Lapis has been talking abou’ you.”

While Hemie and Rhody welcomed Connor into the house, Lapis was upstairs, finishing getting ready. She had decided to wear the newest of Connor’s gifts alongside an almost matching pair of earrings. They matched her deep blue cropped blouse, the off-the-shoulder puff sleeves leaving her shoulders bare and most of her tattoos showing from the low neckline. She had paired it with a black, skin-tight short skirt, a pair of diamond fishnets, and a black leather jacket. She was double checking her moody makeup, complete with swirls of eyeliner beneath her eyes that spread away from them like butterfly wings when she heard the door open.

“Shit.”

She grabbed her purse and hurried down the stairs. She had just reached the bottom of them when she finally looked up and saw Connor standing in the doorway. He wasn’t only clean but dressed nicely in clean, neat clothing. Something strange happened to her chest then, an energy almost nervous in nature settling there. She had no idea what it was. She chose to ignore it in favor of sauntering over to the shoe racks situated near the door, grabbing a pair of strappy and tall black heels while she spoke.

“Sorry for the wait. Had to grab a few things, but I’ll be ready as soon as I get these heels on- Oh!” Lapis stopped and looked at the bouquet in Connor's arms. It was massive, and full of color. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked up. The nervous feeling fluttered through her chest again. "You can... You can set that down on the coffee table and I'll get in a vase before we leave."

​
 

When Connor knelt down in front of her and took her shoes, she was too shocked to really do anything other than let him. She stood there, sucking in a sharp breath as he took each of her legs in his hands, slipping the heels onto her feet, working the straps up and over her calves. She was quiet as he did so, stunned like a deer in the headlights. Her mind went completely blank, and a flush rose unwanted to her cheeks.

When he was done, she stood and blinked, her eyes wide. Then, in a quick motion, she moved forward, caught his jaw in her hands, and pulled him down into a kiss. Her mind stayed blank while she did it. Her lips moved against his, soft and slow, as opposed to the normal way she kissed him. Then, her brain caught back up to her, and she broke away just as quickly as she had started.

She stared at him, her cheeks flushed as her brain started to process what she had just done. She took a big step back, her heels clattering on the ground. There was a moment of silence, then she looked past Connor to Rhody and Hemie, who were standing together, whispering. She blushed darker and grabbed Connor’s hand and started pulling the mountain of a man toward the door.

“C-come on, we have a reservation.” She pulled him toward the door, which sat open behind Rhody. The older woman stepped out of the way and smiled knowingly, which left Lapis feeling… uncomfortable. She wasn’t entirely sure why.​
 

Lapis gave a small laugh as Connor admitted to not having driven in traffic in years. She climbed up into the SUV, using Connor’s shoulder to balance as she did so. She flashed a grin at him as she settled into the seat, her skirt riding up her legs just the smallest bit, almost as if by design. She closed the door behind her and waited for him to get in the passenger seat. Once he was in and buckled, she started the vehicle up and pulled them out onto the street.

She looked small, sitting in the seat of the SUV. She’d raised the seat and brought it all the way forward in order to drive it, almost like a child. But then, there were children that were taller than her, so it wasn’t all that surprising. As they drove, she kept glancing over at Connor, her eyes wandering over him like she was trying to place something. Then, in a direct voice, with just the hint of her usual flirtiness, she asked, “So, big guy, would you be opposed to cutting that hair back a bit? I would understand if you were, that’s a lotta hair, but I’d like to see that face.”

That statement carried a lot with it. Not only was it the first request she had ever made of him, it was one that implied vaguely a long-term commitment. You didn’t ask someone to cut their hair unless you planned to see them frequently and for a while. And you didn’t ask things of people you didn’t plan to see again. Lapis was, subtly, admitting she was planning to keep seeing him. Whether he got the message or not was entirely on him.​
 

She smiled a little, her eyes staying on the road. Was he suggesting what she thought he was? That she cut his hair? That was… surprisingly intimate and personal. Sure, she cut Rhody’s, Ethan’s, and her own hair, and sure she styled Hemie’s hair, but surely this man wasn’t agreeing to let her come at him with her scissors and sheers?

“I mean, if you’re comfortable with it, I suppose I could do it.” She looked over at him, giving him a subtle side-eye. Then, her eyes were back on the road. Lapis had never offered to cut someone’s hair outside the pack before. She didn’t know why she had offered that, not really. But something about talking to him was easy, and something about him, maybe it was his eyes, made her want to do… something. She wasn’t sure what, but it made her want to do something.​
 

Lapis smiled wide, a genuine look that she caught almost as soon as it had happened. His accent was cute. This was the first time she had heard it, and she found herself unable to stop the smile on her face. She sighed softly as she listened to him babble. She pulled the Rover into a parking space, parking the large vehicle with ease. She unbuckled and leaned over toward Connor.

A hand reached out and ran through his hair of its own accord. She felt how smooth the hair was compared to that first night that they had slept together. She still didn’t really know what she was doing here. Lapis had never, not in a million years, dreamed that she would ever be giving the wild man who shredded people with a sword the chance that dozens of people before had begged her for. She withdrew her hand and snatched up her purse.

“Let’s go, big guy. We’re right on time for our table.” Lapis got out of the car, sliding down against the leather seat. She tugged her clothes back into place under her leather jacket after she touched the ground. After giving Connor a moment to get out of the car, she locked the doors and turned on the car alarm. Sulphur would kill her, after all, if she lost this car.

Especially after the last one.​
 

As they were seated at their table, Lapis started to feel something in her chest. A weird fluttering sensation. It wasn’t unpleasant, but she wasn’t sure she liked the unidentifiable feeling. She slid into her chair, her legs crossing at the ankles as she did so. She sighed softly as the hostess gave them their menus before hurrying back off toward the front of the restaurant. She needed to spend some time thinking about this, when this date was over.

She opened the menu and started to leisurely glance through it. As she did so, she looked over the edge of the laminated pages and said, “Order whatever you want. It’s on Obsidian tonight.”

Connor didn’t need to know that that was because she’d stolen Ethan’s credit card. She looked back down at the menu, biting the corner of her lower lip. She wanted to ask questions. She wanted to know things. Lapis needed to know things, or she never felt prepared. She was still surprised when the first thing out of her mouth was, “So, where were you born? Your accent gave it away. You’re not American, right?”​
 

Lapis grinned at Connor’s order and at the reaction of the waitress, who turned to her, her eyes flickering back toward the mountain of a man a few times before finally fixing on her. Lapis ordered an Italian soda in the flavor of blood orange, a plate of Cacio e Pepe, and a plate of Ossobuco alla Milanese. The waitress nodded, took the order down, and then excused herself, hurrying back to the kitchen.

She turned her attention back to Connor, the grin still wide on her face, even as she thought of the question he had asked her. That question came with a lot of baggage. She sighed softly and looked down at the table when she responded, “I’m from Virginia. That’s what that drawl in my voice is. We moved to Philly a few years ago, and we picked Rhody up on the way.”

At that moment, the drinks arrived. The waitress set them out on the table and stepped away. Lapis took her soda and twirled the straw, mixing the syrup into the fizz. She took a deep breath, then looked back up. There was something sharp in her eyes then, as though talking about her past had brought out an edge to her. “Why move to the US? Ireland sounds like a great place, from all I know. Not bad for metas. I would have stayed there.”

She paused, then flashed a flirty smile and shook her head. “Not that I’m saying you should have. Then we wouldn’t be sitting here, would we?”​
 

Lapis’s eyes softened a bit at Connor’s explanation. She couldn’t sympathize with that. Not really. But she could empathize with it. The idea of being stolen at a young age– well anything would have been better than that fucking house. But for him, for him it was traumatic and it was horrible. So she smiled and she nodded her head and she asked, “Tell me what happened. Talk to me about it. It’s not good to keep that kind of thing bottled up.”

Something genuine, a genuine offer. Lapis really wanted to hear him, to listen to him. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling this way, but she was. Maybe she was just in a “human” mood. Maybe she was just feeling kind. Whatever the reason was, she leaned forward on her hands, folding them under her chin as she smiled.​
 

With every word, Lapis felt her smile falling. God, he was being trafficked. That made her so… angry. Although Connor didn’t know yet, Lapis’s main job was working with the shelters that Obsidian’s charity Crystals ran. She worked with young metas and women, and several of them had come to her– to the shelters– with these kinds of stories. And Connor had to deal with that all on his own, without any support.

Lapis’s hand was shaking when she reached across the table and took his hand. She could barely contain her rage behind her strained smile. A deep breath in, a long breath out. Then, “No one deserves that kind of treatment. But you don’t need to apologize for your trauma, Connor. Never apologize for your trauma. I–”

She paused, her voice trembling. It was then that the first round of plates began making their way to the table, the waitress carrying them with some difficulty on a tray clearly meant to service a table of four or five. She dished out their plates and Lapis flashed a sharp smile in her direction. The waitress balked a bit under her gaze before stammering out a quick, “Enjoy.”

She turned her attention back to Connor and sighed, softly. She chuckled a bit and then looked up at his eyes. After a moment of eye contact, she looked down at the table and ran a hand through her hair. She never talked about it. There was no reason to bring it up with him, no matter how gentle he was, no matter how much of his soul he bore to her, and–

“I went through some shit too. I understand a bit about being considered a monster.”​
 

Lapis searched Connor’s eyes for a moment. She hadn’t told anyone since they picked up Hematite. The Pack knew, but they were the only ones. She liked it that way. She didn’t tell people about what had happened to her. She never wanted the pity in their eyes. Still, as she looked into those green eyes, something in her heart softened.

“I couldn’t control my powers when I was born. You haven’t seen what I can do, but I make others feel whatever I want them to. Pleasure, joy… pain. And when I was young, I couldn’t control it. I was born like this, so my parents, they. They put me in a room and they kept me there. For twelve years.”

Her voice trailed off slowly and her grey eyes, looking very much like liquid silver as they began to shine, fell to the table. She was quiet for a moment before she continued. “The foster system wasn’t any better. People were afraid of me because I had no control. I could make you feel the happiest you’ve ever been. I could pull from you sorrow like you’ve never known. And I could break you with pain the likes of which you’d never experience again. No one would touch me. People didn’t want me around.”

Her smile finally faltered and she swallowed softly as she withdrew her hand from his. “Except for this one kid, when I came to the family I would eventually stay with for the last two years. He was the family’s biological son, and he. I don’t want to talk about him, but he was worse than everyone else, because he wanted me to stay. He wanted to– it doesn’t matter now. He broke me. And then Ethan found me, when I finally ran away from the home, and he took me in. They taught me how to control my powers, and then how to use them.”

She looked back up, and her eyes shimmered with unspent tears, tears she refused to allow to fall. “I know what it’s like for people to think you’re a monster. I know what it’s like for people to hate you for what you are.”​
 

“I’m not afraid to touch you.”

Those words rang out in the air and resonated through Lapis like a chiming bell. She felt the words settle somewhere deep inside her just as the first tear began to fall. Why was she crying? Why was that affecting her so much? Was it just because no one else, no one except for Ethan, had ever said that to her? Or was it something much deeper, some part of her she thought long dead crying in relief that someone could bear to touch her. Someone who wouldn’t hurt her the way that–

She pulled herself from the thought and realized she was fully crying. God, she was happy her normal brand of eyeliner and mascara were both waterproof and didn’t budge. She swallowed and carefully wiped her eyes. “Th-thank you. Thank you for… that.”

What else was she supposed to say to that? “I feel safe with you too, and it makes me uncomfortable?” That was harsh and admitted that she felt something, and she would never admit that. So instead she stayed silent for a time, and then, finally, she looked back up at him. Her voice was soft but had a hint of humor to it as she said, “So we’re both monsters. What now?”​
 

Lapis smiled in return and tucked into her food. She was quiet for a minute as she ate. She didn’t know how to follow up that kind of a statement. It was still leaving her slightly offset. There were still occasional tears trying to slip out. She continued to wipe them away and drank her soda while she tried to think of something, anything to say. In the end, she made it through the entire first dish before she looked back up at him.

“How did you get that scar?” She watched his face, hoping she was about to get some kind of crazy traveling story and not something else that was traumatic. Anything that got them out of the current situation they were in.​
 
There was a small pause, and then Lapis sighed dramatically and let her head fall back. Of course, it would be something unpleasant. She huffed and tilted her head back forward. Then, she did the only thing she could do.

She laughed.

Lapis laughed as she realized that this had locked them in, into a personal intimacy that made her uncomfortable. She wanted to run. She wanted to run far away and pretend like this had never happened, like she had never opened up to this giant of a man. But it was too late for that. She coil;d feel something in her that resisted the thought of running. She could feel something in her that wanted to soften and just exist.

“Maybe we save that for next time. I don’t know what people normal talk about on dates. I don’t do these.”​
 

With a bit of a nod, Lapis started to think. She rubbed the back of her neck as she did. After a moment she leaned forward in her chair and continued to eat while she answered. “I like sewing. I make my own clothes because nothing is ever just right. I go to a lot of concerts. I like to go shooting and swimming. I’m not sure that I do all that much else. I mostly spend my time working at Crystals.”

A small smile came over her face as she mentioned the charity organization she helped run. It was one of her biggest passions, the charity. She felt strongly for the young metas and abused women that they helped there. While she hated most humans, she had a soft spot for the women at the shelters. They deserved softness. They deserved her best.

Without her consent and as if it existed to haunt her, a face flashed through her mind. She shut her eyes and her smile faded for a moment as she banished the face of Jacob Blackwood from her mind. She wasn’t going to think about her days in foster care. She wasn’t going to think about that. That wasn’t going to happen. Instead, she opened her eyes and smiled at Connor.

“What about you, puppy? What do you do?”


The rest of dinner passed with soft conversation, and dessert passed equally calm and pleasant. Lapis had been determined to keep things light and surface level after that moment of too much intimacy. And she mostly managed that without issue. They had laughed a few times, and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Lapis found herself having a good time. Something in her chest seemed to flutter in his presence. It wasn’t a bad feeling. But she didn’t want it. She didn’t want to like him enough to keep him around.

On the drive home, she looked at him in the passenger seat and, her voice taking on a subtly suggestive tone, asked, “How do you feel about going back to the cabin instead of me heading straight home, hmm?”​
 
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