TEDDY AARONSON
Warlock
siphoner
Posts: 107
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Apr 28, 2024 17:33:46 GMT
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Post by TEDDY AARONSON on Nov 14, 2022 0:21:21 GMT
━ i started to dream again ━ WAS IT WEIRD TO GO TO HER PLACE? TEDDY THOUGHT it might be━rules of the Outside World and all━but he wasn’t sure what else to do. He didn’t have her number (Phoebe made sure of that) and Lawrence was in England, so… there weren’t a lot of options for him. Back in the coven, if they needed something, they only had to walk a short distance to another witch’s shelter… just like when the entire coven banded together to try to convince him and Octavia…
Teddy shook the memory away and considered (again) not going. Phoebe would likely make fun of him, anyway. She’d call him sensitive or cackle or make a mean-spirited joke about him━about his willingness to try━and it would all be a deflection for how she truly felt, but… well, that was just the point, wasn’t it? To speak to her about what’d happened. What she thought she was carrying alone.
Phoebe hadn’t accepted her loss (and the part she played in his death), and that’d turned her bitter, like it very well could’ve turned Teddy. It nearly did. But she had her brother now, and perhaps Teddy (if she learned to be a bit more pleasant), and that was cause for celebration in and of itself. Teddy would’ve gotten nowhere without his best friend, and he’d give anything to reunite with his sisters. Phoebe had many good things: a promising school career, a family, and friends━Goddess only knew how she made them.
No, no, he would be nice. Teddy was going to be nice.
Following the path he’d taken home (alone) that morning in the opposite direction━because he couldn’t remember the nighttime very well━Teddy arrived at Phoebe’s building and desperately hoped she’d be there. Or perhaps not; then he could use the excuse that he’d tried.
Nodding his thanks to someone who held the door for him, Teddy’s smile dropped as soon as they were gone, though it was because of his nerves, not impoliteness. He shuffled uncomfortably in the elevator, then paced outside Phoebe’s door for a moment. Finally, he gained some confidence, sucked in a breath, raised his fist, and knocked.
When the door opened, he felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight of her. He wasn’t exactly scared, but this felt weird, and he also didn’t enjoy being the one who had to reach out. “Hello.” Teddy said first, cleared his throat, and frowned. He was about to mention Lawrence’s trip, but Teddy was the one who lived with him, so of course he’d know. Teddy opened his mouth, hesitated, closed it, and sighed. It would be rude to just blurt everything in the hallway.
“Are you busy? Can I speak with you?” He wasn’t sure why she’d deny him━considering Phoebe was the one with the issue (an inability to be nice)━but he also wasn’t sure why Phoebe was the way that she was. Actually, that wasn’t true━he knew why now. Also, Teddy had asked her to leave his house (rightfully), so perhaps that would cause an issue. Either way, he hoped he could get this all out but, if not, then the roadblock would likely be Phoebe’s stubbornness.
PHOEBE MURPHY | no notes.
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PHOEBE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 76
Age:
102
Occupation:
DA Intern
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen May 1, 2024 18:11:42 GMT
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Post by PHOEBE MURPHY on Dec 5, 2022 22:50:55 GMT
’I hope you’re having an awful time’.
Lawrence was probably too busy dodging rare English sunbeams to answer, but Phoebe had sent the text anyway. Could he have extended the invite to cover her? On a private jet? Absolutely. Could she have invited herself? Yes, but, that wasn’t the point. She wasn’t going to sneak aboard just to get a taste of the world she hadn’t yet seen. There was an etiquette to it, and shockingly, Lawrence had broken it. The rat.
Phoebe stared up at her toes, the nails painted a shocking red, and wriggled them. At the very least he better bring her back something better than some ridiculous ’I went all the way to England and all I got my sister was this’ piece of junk. Knowing Lawrence some woman with a cut glass accent and a pretty smile would catch his attention and any notion of bringing her back anything in apology for leaving her hanging for a week would be forgotten entirely. He was easy and in nearly a hundred years that hadn’t changed a bit. It would’ve been depressing if it hadn’t left that warmth in her chest. Oh God, would it just stop!
The stare became a frown, her fingers rubbing almost fiercely over her ribs. There wasn’t enough left in there to ache, or there shouldn’t have been. Her emotions were intact, as they always had been, but for decades they’d been hidden behind those walls. No flipping the switch, just making conscience choices and not having to explain them to anybody. Lawrence had practically kicked at the wall until she’d given in. One little comment and the whole lot was blown open. Poor little Phoebe, so heart broken that you can skip out on her, she probably won’t even feel it, you know, under all that heartbreak.
’I hate you. Next time I’m coming with. Tell your boss that.’
She tipped her head back like she could see through the wall to Kitty’s room. The club wasn’t the same without Lawrence being there to mooch drinks off of, or with Raik probably still in the freezer. Phoebe squirmed her shoulders against the bed, setting the phone aside to stare up at her toes again. Maybe she should’ve just gone for a pedicure, compelling one of the nail techs into staying after hours for her. There was a chip on her left big toe, absolutely unacceptable and she wasn’t fixing that herself when there was someone a thousand times better at it a fifteen minute drive away. Anything to get her mind out of the club and away from her ringless rat of a brother.
Now, without him there Teddy was probably in rapture. Just him and Julian alone in the apartment. No lying sack of crap best friend, no possibility of the lying sack of crap’s despicable sister turning up. A dream for him. He was probably sending Lawrence photos of what they were getting up to, showing how much the two of them missed him. Whiskey eyes narrowing, Phoebe lifted up her phone and snapped a finger with her middle finger flipped up at the camera. Hopefully each of these messages was costing Lawrence an arm and a leg to read. They were probably costing her the earth to send too, but it was worth it. Phoebe set the phone down on her stomach. There were assignments due – the start of semester beasts they slapped down in front of you just to make sure you didn’t indulge so heavily during the summer that your brain had leaked out of your ears. No trouble with that for her.
Blow it.
Rolling, Phoebe sat up on the side of the bed. Maybe Kitty hadn’t blown off those assignments already. She could talk her into somewhere else in town instead, Campbell’s, or the Grill, somewhere without freezers stuffed full of her ex’s. Footsteps shuffled outside the door, lingering. Being psychic didn’t come with sprouting more hair than your average bear – and not just the kind that crapped in the woods around here – Kitty knew Lawrence was gone though, maybe she’d intuited the metric ton of boredom and jealousy being juggled behind the closed door.
Kitty wouldn’t have knocked though. Eyes narrowing faintly, Phoebe padded to the door and opened it. All those mental images of Teddy basking in the lap of the luxury of having the apartment to himself vanished with a little pop. Phoebe kept one hand on the door frame, one on the door itself, head cocked faintly, studying Teddy like he was about to sucker punch her. ”Hello,” Phoebe said sweetly, the corners of her lips twitching up into a smile Teddy wasn’t returning. Those dark brows were furrowing and it was so tempting to reach up and rub her thumb over those little lines that frown threw up. He’d likely bend over backwards to escape her, unlike that first time he’d stumbled right in through the door.
Patience evaporated in the moment it took for Teddy’s mouth to open and fall shut again without a single word making it off of her tongue. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, barely, Phoebe turned away at his question, crooking her finger at Teddy over her shoulder. She flopped back on her bed, taking up her position again, feet up on the wall, crossed at the ankle with those red tipped toes bobby. Her hands settled over her stomach as she eyed him. ”I’d say you already were. Let’s not do it in the hallway though.” Busy? Nope, but she wasn’t admitting that to Teddy. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out she’d been there practically twiddling her thumbs.
Fingers drummed on the bed beside her, a silent invitation. The last time had been a nudge, following him down, fingers anchored in those curls to chase the last salty traces of the fries from those pursed lips. ”I won’t bite, no matter what impression my brother’s given you. To what do I owe your presence? Don’t tell me you’re missing Lawrence that much already.” Like she hadn’t been. Phoebe dropped a hand to the covers to flip her phone over, all it needed was Lawrence responding just as she slipped on that mantle of ‘I couldn't give a damn’.
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TEDDY AARONSON
Warlock
siphoner
Posts: 107
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Apr 28, 2024 17:33:46 GMT
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Post by TEDDY AARONSON on Jan 2, 2023 19:49:37 GMT
━ i started to dream again ━ MAYBE THERE WAS A HEART UNDER ALL THAT… um, other stuff. Lawrence had one. He was a wild vampire with a lot of experience, but he still had that softness inside, one that allowed them to be best friends. Teddy wasn’t sure he could be friends with someone like that if they weren’t good on the inside. Though he’d come across Phoebe on his own, their meeting wasn’t his regular sort of thing━he didn’t go to places like that or drink so much or go home with strangers. In fact, that’s what Phoebe had called it━his night of firsts. Without Lawrence’s intervention, he would have likely never seen her again. Not only did that seem to be her plan, but he would’ve never frequented those places. They would’ve never ‘accidentally’ run into each other because… well, it just wasn’t possible.
But she would be in his life from now on, and Teddy knew he had to make an effort. Especially because they seemed to have experienced a similar thing.
He nearly flinched when the door opened, though he wasn’t completely sure why. Teddy was about to force a polite smile when she… spoke, and it wasn’t polite or friendly or anything of that nature. ‘I’d say we already were’? Who talked to people like that? Teddy’s lips pursed, crinkling around the edges as he watched her walk away. He would’ve never left a guest standing in the doorway.
Shuffling in awkwardly━as if he hadn’t been there before━Teddy hesitated, then turned in an awkward circle to close the door. “Um, no.” Teddy cleared his throat, taking a few nervous steps forward before finally relenting and sinking down at the edge of her bed━with a healthy distance between them. “Well, yes, it’s strange not having him around after getting used to his presence. But that’s not why I’m here.” As if she’d be a good replacement for Lawrence anyway.
No, no. Nice, He reminded himself.
“I wanted to speak to you about… well, Lawrence told me why you’re so… like you are.” He motioned to her, dark eyes skittering to her face before they trained anxiously on the hands in his lap. “And I wanted to tell you that I understand. I had a wife━Julian’s mother━and she died at my hand, too. I assume… well, she didn’t die… it wasn’t in a vampire way, I mean. Obviously.” His belly fluttered nervously, the feeling shuttering upwards into his throat as he inhaled. Teddy wiped his palms on his jeans. “In any case, I just needed to say that I understand how it feels when you have to live with that guilt for the rest of your life, and I can’t imagine how that would be amplified if my life was never-ending.” Finally, he got it all out. Teddy nodded curtly━almost like a job well done━with furrowed brows and a focused expression.
Eventually, his gaze went to Phoebe, and he forced that little smile, which was more encouraging than polite. He hoped she would be a little… better after this.
PHOEBE MURPHY | no notes.
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PHOEBE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 76
Age:
102
Occupation:
DA Intern
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen May 1, 2024 18:11:42 GMT
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Post by PHOEBE MURPHY on Jan 6, 2023 20:43:20 GMT
Oh, she would’ve laid money on it being Lawrence to cave first. He was monkey in the middle after all - or maybe she was. Their conjoined lives (finally!) tossed back and forth, over his head and out of his control most of the time. Alright, so she was definitely the one in the middle, watching it all, occasionally getting a hand to it so that they swapped places. Eventually it went back to the same position though, with Lawrence caught up between her and Teddy, or her just on the outside of the circle altogether. Alright, she didn’t actually like that analogy, it just stung and she wasn’t about to start rubbing at it, trying to do something to ease it. Lawrence was the one stuck and that was all, a man with the rock of his sister on one side and the hard place of his best friend on the other.
Under those circumstances would it have been any wonder that Lawrence started tearing his hair out in the end? Falling to his knees to beg for some end to the hostilities - the ones he’d help create, he wasn’t getting away with saying he hadn’t. He’d seemed to think that an apology would’ve made it all better, back before she’d turned up at his apartment to discover it was theirs. Phoebe still couldn’t believe it had just slipped his mind that he’d moved in with the man he knew his sister had slept with and hadn’t called the next day … or any other. It had been a ploy that had backfired. Perhaps in the end some sort of apology would be made, but only when one of them tired of the awkwardness enough to make it happen.
Shocker - it hadn’t been her rat brother in the end. Apparently Teddy’s soft centre had re-emerged instead, the one that had first appeared at the bar, revealed by the fries and the flirtation.
She could’ve poked at it again immediately, warming herself on it like she’d done her fingers on the fire back home. Holding them out, letting it all bleed into flesh that was always cold now. Just like she’d done when he’d been here that first time. Taking what she’d wanted, what she’d needed from Teddy before she’d walked away from him, just as she was doing now. Although, this time it was leaving him with a captive audience.
Phoebe watched him shuffle in, stiffly as though he was expecting her to slip a finger into the waistband of his pants (not as fun or as easily removable as the towel) to pull him close. She considered it still, but her hands remained flat on her stomach as Teddy sank down on the edge of her bed. Not too close, he wouldn’t want to tumble right back in after all. ”I was going to say that made two of us, but I’m not missing him,” she lied. ”I told him so too.” Texts that she hoped he was reading and crying over now. Teddy wasn’t entirely wrong though. After months of having Lawrence right there, just like old times again, it felt a little like she’d lost a limb with him gone - well, a finger at least.
Rolling on the bed, Phoebe dropped her legs, curling them up slightly as she dug an elbow into her pillow and propped her head in her palm. Light brown eyes narrowed at Teddy for a moment before her brows rose. Not Lawrence then … so that cut the list down to just her. Lovely. Was this going to be a demand for an apology? Or an ultimatum, one that meant her being given Teddy’s version of a restraining order.
His shoes had been under the bed as she’d bent to grab her underwear the morning after - she wasn’t about to ruin her La Perla by just leaving it tangled up - now they were on the rug beside the bed, on Teddy’s feet as he squarely kicked Lawrence under the bus. Since he would survive that she was going to run him over with a damn tank, crush him to pink goo for not being able to shut his mouth. Ever.
Oh, she wanted to interrupt, to let all that grief that still burned a thousand degrees colder than her temper well up in the question ‘like I am?’ Lawrence told him why she was a heartless bitch. It was so good of him, to take what had been the second worst moment in her life and pass it along like he was just discussing where she’d gone to school or how old she’d been when she’d taken her first steps. For a moment Phoebe had believed it could’ve been anything else Lawrence had blamed it on, but for only a second. The word wife slipped out and that was it, a knife in her back. Twisting and twisting as Teddy revealed his own grief to her. He couldn’t even look at her while she was doing it. They’d both had loves and they’d died tragically.
Phoebe swallowed hard, glad he wasn’t looking at her after the first second. She’d schooled her features into a frown by the time Teddy nodded, his piece said, his thoughts probably already getting out of there, picking Julian up from kindergarten or whoever he’d been left with. ”What do you mean? I don’t think I quite get the link,” Phoebe said levelly, falling back on that hint of confusion. At his hand too. ”I haven’t killed anybody I loved. Is that what Lawrence told you? I turned into an absolute bitch because I had a husband that I murdered?” She shook her head, not going so far as to laugh, there was no coming back from that. Just as there was no coming back from the grief of watching someone you’d shared something like that with withering day after day, eating from the inside out by something you were powerless to heal, or to stop.
Picturing Joshua on the edge of their bed the same way, offering something more than that tiny smile, fingers reaching out to brush her hair back as she smiled into the kiss that would erase the frown that started to bite deep. ”I think my brother needs to stop making assumptions, or at least learn to keep his mouth shut. It’s a good thing for him that he’s an ocean away right now.” There was a sharpness to the edge of her voice, one that thankfully seemed to be covering the way it wanted to crack. Having no daylight ring was going to be the least of Lawrence’s problems when he finally crawled home.
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TEDDY AARONSON
Warlock
siphoner
Posts: 107
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Apr 28, 2024 17:33:46 GMT
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Post by TEDDY AARONSON on Feb 6, 2023 20:39:34 GMT
━ i started to dream again ━ OH, GODDESS, HE’D GOTTEN IT WRONG. Teddy was trying to do a good thing, and he’d completely messed up. Well, had he? Or had Lawrence? Either way, Teddy was the one embarrassed now, sitting there with his… what was that weird expression? With his foot in his mouth? That seemed to be the correct usage.
She allowed him to get through his entire story, too, which made it all the more awful. Had Phoebe done that on purpose just to humiliate him? It seemed like something she would do. Like hearing his biggest regret was nothing more than a game. He should’ve never come here to try and make peace; obviously it was impossible with someone like her.
“Y-yes…” Teddy responded nervously, beginning to wring his hands in his lap again. Dark eyes ticked back to her face, his stomach twisting into knots over what might come out of her next. He wished there was some way to take back what he’d said, like a spell that would transport him back in time to spare Teddy from this awfulness. “Well, he said that you blamed yourself…” And Teddy had run away with the idea, trying to relate it to himself and find some connection with Phoebe that clearly didn’t exist. She was still void of humanity.
And he had still murdered the love of his life.
Standing suddenly, Teddy began to shrink towards the door. He spotted her underwear on the floor and felt bile creep up his throat━it felt like another betrayal to Octavia, to the man he once was. “Right. I apologize. I misjudged. I would appreciate it if you could keep this misstep between us, but I assume you want to speak to him about it. It was my fault.” He felt like a mouse scurrying through a maze, desperate to escape before the sharpness in her voice grew to something far worse and would likely be targeted at Teddy. Oh, who was he kidding━likely?! The only thing that saved him from Phoebe was the fact that he was Lawrence’s best friend, and now her love for Lawrence was on unsteady ground. Teddy thought he’d be lucky to leave here with his head.
PHOEBE MURPHY | no notes.
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PHOEBE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 76
Age:
102
Occupation:
DA Intern
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen May 1, 2024 18:11:42 GMT
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Post by PHOEBE MURPHY on Mar 1, 2023 20:19:50 GMT
”No.” With that one word she should’ve been able to unravel every tangled bit of a story Lawrence hadn’t heard half of. It should’ve loosened the fist around her throat, but it tightened instead.
That burn started in her sinuses, little supernovas of prickling heat that spread to the backs of her eyes. No. She wasn’t about to cry over what had actually happened to Joshua while Teddy sat there twitching like she was some monster who would eventually lash out. Joshua had been the one to deserve her tears, not a man who already thought the worst of her, or a brother who needed to pull his head out of his ass so he could start to hear clearly.
Phoebe pressed her lips together, her chin coming up like that could ward it all off. Her fingers were going numb, the tickle of her hair against them fading, it was every other damn part of her that was hurting. ”He got one part of what he was told right at least, I guess he’s not entirely deaf,” she huffed, not elaborating for the moment. Lawrence didn’t know what it had been like in those first few days after Joshua had died, the sobs that had wracked her for hours at a time, the agony of packing away a life that would just be a drop in the ocean of the one she eventually lived. A man like that had deserved more, but she was going to be the one walking out of the wilderness, the trouble magnet, the bitch.
Her expression settled into that cold mask, like someone had taken a look at the woman and had hastily carved her out of marble. All the life gone from it, just that frozen visage remaining. Teddy was already getting to his feet, unable to stomach being around her now that he knew she wasn’t just like him. He’d offered his olive branch when he’d realised how wrong he’d been and now if she didn’t take it, she was the bitch he believed from the moment she’d walked away, leaving him right here in her bed. ”I’d say it wasn’t you who misjudged,” she said, her voice holding despite the cracks that wanted to run through it. ”It was Lawrence. If he hadn’t gone shooting his mouth off, you wouldn’t have known. You would’ve carried on hating me, and kept what happened to your wife, right here.” Sitting up, she tapped her fingers against her temple, thumped the heel of her hand against her breastbone.
The tears she couldn’t swallow started to well in her eyes, her lower lip quivering, a show of emotion she hated. It was easier when they thought you were frozen all the way through. They didn’t pick at it all then, wanting to hear your sad story so they could feign a little sympathy over it. Heartless Phoebe, didn’t even feel it when the man she loved wasted away in front of her eyes, she just tumbled straight into the next bed … oh look, she’s doing it again. ”No, Teddy, he doesn’t get to walk on this. He opened the door and you walked right through it without having a clue what was on the other side. Do you wanna hear the whole story so you can stop feeling so guilty about putting your foot in it?” The thought of telling him what it had been like left her feeling like she was gonna throw up. How human of her.
Slipping off of the bed, Phoebe stood in front of him, the tears hovering on that brink of breaking over her lashes, but she wouldn’t blink and let it happen. Her lips pressed together so hard they were practically bloodless. It took a deep breath through her nose to loosen them to the point where they could twist wryly. ”He wasn’t my husband, but he might as well have been. He was with me for decades. We didn’t have a clue what it was when he started to feel ill, but it was cancer. That’s natural right? Couldn’t have had anything to do with the fact that I was feeding on him. We weren’t exactly surrounded by blood banks for me to snack from. It was the middle of nowhere and he’d tell me to take what I needed. He trusted me not to take too much. What if it was though? How many times can something like me feed from someone like him without causing some sort of damage?” She’d remembered them all in those last few months, those moments stamped on her brain over the ones that had been so much better, precious to her – their first time together, the moment she’d realised that it was more than just an extended visit from a willing victim, when he’d told her he loved her.
Stomach muscles quivering, she rubbed at them, fingers curling into her shirt like she could hold them down. ”Every mouthful could’ve taken his strength and I couldn’t give any of it back. You know what it’s like to see the life go out of their eyes, don’t you Teddy? You know what it’s like to wish you could’ve done anything to stop that pain.” And she hadn’t even been able to do that, chickening out at the last so Joshua had ended up dying in agony, because of her, there was no changing that part.
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TEDDY AARONSON
Warlock
siphoner
Posts: 107
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Apr 28, 2024 17:33:46 GMT
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Post by TEDDY AARONSON on Apr 11, 2023 20:46:39 GMT
━ i started to dream again ━ DESPITE HER STONE-LIKE EXPRESSION, TEDDY could almost feel the emotions beginning to rile up beneath Phoebe’s surface. He wondered if that was a witch thing or a natural instinct, something that told him danger was afoot. It was almost scarier that her face was unmoving, something about a leaden warrior’s fury. Teddy couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.
“I-I don’t hate you.” Teddy protested weakly. Well, he certainly didn’t like her. And he didn’t see the problem if it made him softer towards her, though he figured it was that her brother was spreading tales of her humanity. Either way, clearly Phoebe was upset, and he didn’t want to make it worse by claiming he had any issues with her.
He ignored the rest because, if Lawrence hadn’t said anything, Teddy wouldn’t have ever imagined he’d be in this situation. Trying to placate an angry Phoebe, yes, but sharing details about his late wife? No way.
Teddy saw the tears in her eyes, the emotion changing in her face, and he felt so bad. It didn’t make him any less terrified, but the guilt wormed its way up his belly and became bile in his throat. And he couldn’t even take all the blame and get Lawrence off the hook; Phoebe wouldn’t let him. He supposed that was fair, but he was thoroughly disappointed. And worried. Both Murphy siblings would end up hating him by the end of this.
“Um, n-no, no, it’s fine. You don’t have to…” Teddy trailed off as she stood, frozen in place on her floor and silently calculating his chances of dashing out the door safely. That was the thing, wasn’t it? He could make a run for it, but there was no guarantee he’d clear the exit. Would Phoebe lob her brother’s best friend’s head off? Perhaps. Teddy couldn’t definitively say one way or the other.
She breathed, and he watched as the air seemed to smooth through her, though the tears didn’t slip out from where they were stuck in her eyes. He tried to still the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of blood in his ears to really listen to her story as she went on despite his protest.
Somehow, it didn’t matter that he’d gotten it wrong. It still felt… relatable to Teddy, except instead of magic, it was blood. The cancer might’ve killed her partner in the end━some things were inevitable━but he was certain that feeding from the man wouldn’t have helped. Still, it was partially Phoebe’s fault and also not. He didn’t have a big grasp on modern medicine.
Teddy wasn’t sure when he’d begun to relax, but at some point, he had. His shoulder blades were no longer tense and flexing together, his whole body ready to flee. He was simply listening, and feeling bad for a woman he thought (once again) was incapable of deserving it.
“Yes.” He said softly, though it wasn’t the same. He knew he was the one causing her pain, but it was supposed to be a necessary evil. “You were a witch before. Did you ever hear of siphoners? A witch that can’t produce their own magic?” Teddy frowned, pausing for a moment to see if she’d come to the conclusion herself, then eventually giving it up. “That’s what I am. I was drawing from my wife━she was willing━when it happened. I was trying to protect her and Julian. I also took too much.” He didn’t want to take away from her story, but he also wanted Phoebe to know that maybe they weren’t so different after all. Except… she was still bitter, and he tried not to be. Though, he assumed much of that had to do with Julian.
He hesitated for a moment, shuffling awkwardly, before stepping in and wrapping his arms around her. Teddy held Phoebe for a long while━for as long as she’d let him━because it seemed to be what she needed. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t mean to, and there was nothing you could have done.” He said softly, rubbing her back in a way he hoped was soothing━it was the same thing he did to Julian whenever he wanted his son to fall asleep. It worked better when the boy was a toddler, but Teddy was sure it’d still have some effect. Hopefully.
PHOEBE MURPHY | wrap soon?
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PHOEBE MURPHY
Vampire
Posts: 76
Age:
102
Occupation:
DA Intern
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen May 1, 2024 18:11:42 GMT
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Post by PHOEBE MURPHY on Apr 23, 2023 17:20:27 GMT
Teddy was a terrible liar. He couldn’t even get through ’I don’t hate you’ without stuttering over it. Her lips twisted around the reassurance that he didn’t have to lie about it. The truth was that Teddy was here for Lawrence’s sake, not hers. He wanted to wave a white flag to make peace between the three of them so that Lawrence wasn’t caught between the two of them. Her he could barely tolerate long enough to sit here and find out the truth from her.
Phoebe clamped her teeth on her lower lip – not that it did much good in backing off the burn that was building behind her eyes – nodding slowly. The best she was gonna be able to ask for here was some sort of awkward crossing over, like divorced parents handing their kid off between them, trying their best to stay civil, but both knew what had got them to that point and there wasn’t any moving past it, no matter how many little white lies were told.
God, he didn’t even wanted to know what the truth was, what she had been capable of. His gabbled words had a bubble building in her chest, almost like the indigestion she hadn’t suffered from in the better part of a century thanks to what she’d become. Maybe if he saw her as someone capable of making mistakes and admitting to it, he couldn’t carry on hating her and that, it seemed, was nightmare material for the man whose ego she’d bruised. ”Oh, Teddy,” Phoebe hummed, narrowing her eyes against the tears she wouldn’t allow to break over her lashes. ”I really do.”
It was like the towel situation all over again – a game of chicken that Teddy wouldn’t tear himself away from, just in case he exposed some vulnerable part of himself. He suspected if he did, she’d just claw at it, the same way she had his tender little heart when he’d come to her bed thinking it was the start of something instead of the one time thing she’d had in mind. Years of swallowing back what she’d wanted, the knowledge of what she’d done, came in handy now, acting as a dam for the emotion that wanted to spill out on a sob. Her birthday had been the first time she’d allowed herself to uncover that wound, the foolish expectation that maybe airing it would allow it to start healing fading the minute Teddy had opened his mouth today. Eyes that shimmered with the pressure of the tears holding steady in them, remained on his as she told her story, every painful part of it – more than Lawrence had heard. They narrowed faintly, her lips pressing together as Teddy took her question and started to flip the story back at her.
Phoebe nodded slowly, a breath sniffing back through her nose like it would cool the burn in her sinuses. Siphoners were one of her parents’ bed time stories – be glad you’re not one of them. They were the pariahs of the magical world, poor creatures incapable of producing magic themselves, capable, though, of draining it from others to use it. They were dangerous and Teddy’s wife had obviously learned that. ”You blame yourself for it, as much as I do myself for Joshua. You were doing it to save them, I doubt she’d have blamed you for that, you and Julian would’ve been everything to her.” There wasn’t an ounce of accusation in her voice, but that deep, glittering thread of understanding. Joshua had given his blood willingly to her, had spent months trying to ease her guilt over his impending death. A good man trying to make sure the woman he loved wouldn’t carry the agony and guilt of his death with her for an eternity – as though it was even possible.
Her frown deepened, her body stiffening as Teddy stepped towards her. Phoebe let go of her shirt, dropped her hands between them with her fingers spread, like she was proving she wasn’t trying to win this game of chicken here. Was Teddy? She could see the side of his face from the corner of her eye, the dark curls she’d carded her fingers through framing it. For a moment she stared at him, like he was some sort of new species she couldn’t quite identify.
With a swallow that almost melted the lump in her throat, Phoebe brought her hands up, curling her fingers into his shirt to anchor herself tight. Her eyes slipped shut, tears finally breaking over her lashes as she rested her brow against his shoulder. He couldn’t see the cracks in her armour, the tears that slipped down her face, probably wouldn’t feel the sob she squeezed down so hard on. Lawrence had tried to relieve her of her burden, Teddy was doing the same. Another good man, one she’d hurt and walked away from, because it was easier to pretend as though she had no lasting effect on any of them. ”I should never have let him stay,” she whispered. Feed and release. That was the way it was supposed to be.
She sucked in a breath, felt the tears try to blow the dam in her emotions wide open. Drawing back, Phoebe pressed her hands against Teddy’s chest and pushed him back. Automatically she was turning away from him, hiding back behind that shield of rudeness. ”Guilt’s a bitch. Even when you don’t deserve to feel it. I guess we have one thing in common after all, Teddy. You can go now. Your job’s done. You can tell Lawrence that we kissed and made up if you want. It’s not like we’ll be doing this again.” Sharing their stories, trying to repair those bridges she’d burned. The pressure was off of Teddy’s conscience for now, and that was enough, wasn’t it?
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TEDDY AARONSON
Warlock
siphoner
Posts: 107
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Apr 28, 2024 17:33:46 GMT
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Post by TEDDY AARONSON on May 17, 2023 16:20:11 GMT
━ i started to dream again ━ PHOEBE HAD ENOUGH UNDERSTANDING TO SPARE for Teddy, but none for herself. She couldn’t see how similar the situations were, and while he understood the feeling, she also hadn’t directly killed her partner. Perhaps she made him weaker, but it… it had been over a period of time. Teddy didn’t think his grief weighed more than hers; he just wished she would be a little gentler on herself.
“I doubt he would have blamed you.” He said softly, only moments before Teddy slipped in and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t know if Phoebe would shove him away and claw his eyes out, but he had a feeling this was what she needed. Sometimes Julian would scream and cry, and all he really needed was his dad’s embrace.
He sighed softly at her whisper, wishing he could say something to make Phoebe ease up on herself. “Regrets can’t do anything but make us feel worse about the things we can’t change.” Teddy mumbled back, though he knew he should’ve taken his own advice. It was hard, but sometimes hearing that you weren’t evil made the pain ease somewhat. At least they both knew it had been an accident.
Teddy didn’t realize the change in Phoebe until it was too late. Suddenly she was shoving him back, and her expression had turned cold again, as had her demeanour. It was then that he really felt death radiating from her, as he sometimes did with Lawrence.
He frowned, dark eyes flicking over her face, searching for something behind her eyes. “You don’t have to… do that. I’m not going to use this against you. And trying to push everyone away before you grow attached will lead to a lonely life, especially when you’re immortal.” Teddy spoke lightly, and without criticism, trying to meet her eyes so she knew he had no bad intentions. “Goodbye, Phoebe.” He nodded, and turned, leaving her space to ensure she wouldn’t get even more upset. He’d certainly seen another side of her, and Teddy definitely felt bad that she didn’t know how to relate to others without growing upset. He just wasn’t sure she’d ever change, and it was difficult to keep her in his company.
PHOEBE MURPHY | zee end!
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