DYLAN COOPER
Werecoyote
Posts: 127
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 6, 2024 16:37:51 GMT
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Post by DYLAN COOPER on Nov 27, 2022 17:29:20 GMT
”There’s no hiding this anymore, Kenz. You can’t stuff it back in a box and pretend like it’s not happening. We’re having a baby. Please. Just call me, talk this through.” Dylan clamped down on his lower lip with his teeth as he hung up, dragging them over the already tender skin when he shoved the phone back in his pocket. If she hadn’t been listening to the messages her voicemail would’ve been full by now, so there was some hope – unless she was just deleting them.
It hadn’t taken a genius to find the house – Mystic Falls was a tiny spot on the map after all – but there had been some slight underhandedness in the way he’d done it. If it got investigated there’d be a slap on his wrist and a black mark against his name that he couldn’t really afford when his career was still in those fledgling stages. Reputation was everything right now and using your access to certain databases to try and track down your pregnant girlfriend wasn’t exactly reputable.
Dylan stared at the place through the windscreen of his car, scanning the windows to try and figure out which was Kenzie’s. She had a whole raft of siblings, most of which he thought might still live at home, parents who definitely owned the place. A twin too. Identical in looks, even if Kenz had told him they were miles apart in personality. He could just walk up to the door and introduce himself – ’hi, I’m the guy who knocked up your daughter, can you help me convince her to give me a chance with this parenthood thing here?’. Yeah, that was gonna go down real well. What was worse than getting caught misappropriating resources? Getting dragged away in a patrol car.
He cursed under his breath, slipping out. Maybe none of them would be home anyway. It was the middle of the afternoon and there was a pretty good chance even Kenz wasn’t. She could’ve been lurking around town, watching around every single corner to make sure he was nowhere in sight. Staking out the doctors office might’ve been a smarter move, Kenz would have to go there for something to do with the baby eventually, right? It’d be a faster route to the patrol car, but he’d have more chance of actually getting to talk to her about this.
Out on the sidewalk – purposefully not stepping onto the property itself – he continued to study the windows. Probably like his own, they were all nondescript, just dark holes in the surround of the front wall of the house. Nothing to tell one from another. Dylan’s gaze dropped to the first storey windows. He could stroll up, make out like he belonged there and look in them. Also less likely to succeed, far more dangerous. Cursing under his breath, he dragged his hands over his face and stopped, his eyes back on one of the windows in the upper floor. Was that his baseball cap? The one he’d had on at the Halloween party last year, way back before the baby. He’d tugged it on top of Kenz’s wig after. Yeah, it was red, it had to be it.
A quick glance around showed nobody in sight, no one to witness him pulling the same trick they used in every shitty teen movie where the boy had to try and get the girl’s attention. He picked up a handful of gravel from the driveway. The first shot went wide, pinging off the side of the house with a sharp rattle. Too hard. A bad angle. Dylan squinted in concentration, side stepped and tried again. Lighter this time, not hard enough to actually reach the window. The third and fourth tries were right in the sweet spot. Two rattles against the glass.
Dylan tossed the next pea sized chunk of gravel up and down in his hand, waiting to see if the first two did the trick. His fingers closed around it, hard enough to have its sharp edges biting into his palm as the door suddenly opened. He turned towards it, tucking both hands half out of sight. A half smile, about as guileless as he could make it, breaking out on his face as the sweat prickled at his spine. ”Uh, hi. I hope I’ve got the right place. Is Kenzie here? Mackenzie?” The right place, like he’d been ringing the doorbell instead of peppering the house with gravel until some unfamiliar guy opened the door.
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EVAN O'QUINN
Human
Posts: 12
Status:
Single
Last seen Jun 28, 2023 14:12:28 GMT
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Post by EVAN O'QUINN on Jan 14, 2023 0:33:14 GMT
Evan O'Quinn
He even knew his sister had been missing for a while now. He had done everything in his power to find her. They were usually so close and never kept secret unless they were for a good reason. Hell, he had vanished when the twins were murdered. He knew what it was like to escape your life, but Kenzie had been there trying to get him to see the truth, so he ran. He hadn't wanted to think about his siblings dying in a 'car accident' His family kept trying to get him to see the truth, and Kenzie had been locked away. He knew when you didn't want to face reality, the best way to deal with it was to run from it. Evan knew it caught up with you eventually, but those few weeks, months, and even years where you felt free were worth it. He just hoped his sister had enough faith in him to come to him if she needed it.
The human couldn't hold it against her for hiding in denial, but it still hurt to know she had just vanished without even letting him know. He had searched for her for hours upon hours. Wherever he thought she might hide, he had explored every millimetre of it from top to bottom. Evan was taking a bath to relax his thoughts about what could have happened. Of course, he thought the worst as he knew about vampires. He settled as much as he could when the water started to chill. So he returned from the bath, dressed, and went to his room. It wasn't as if his sisters were home very often. After getting dressed, he made his way downstairs when he heard a clatter on his sister's window.
Who or what was on her window? It wasn't the naughties anymore. It couldn't be a stone. Wasn't it the eighties it couldn't be a love-sick boyfriend with a boombox? Even if it were, they would be sorely mistaken. His sister wasn't home, and he couldn't help them. Evan had promised his sister that he would never enter her room no matter what he heard in there unless he wanted his ass on the street. He wasn't about to break that rule now. Mackenzie may not be there, but he was sure she would find out. Evan made his way to the front door to check the lawn. He wasn't expecting to see the hunk of a man he had only seen in a picture. "Dylan? I presume?" Damn, his sister was right; the picture didn't do him justice. But he also wasn't about to ruin his love for his sister; God knows it was rare for her. "Yeah, you have the right place, but she isn't here." He shrugged. "It hasn't been for a while now. I do hope you aren't the reason she has gone MIA."
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DYLAN COOPER
Werecoyote
Posts: 127
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 6, 2024 16:37:51 GMT
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Post by DYLAN COOPER on Jan 24, 2023 20:59:40 GMT
If the shoe had been on the other foot Kenzie wouldn’t have drawn the line at peppering his window with gravel, she’d have broken in. The law didn’t exist when it came to what Kenzie believed it was right. She’d have been there in his office when he walked in one more, or rushing him as he opened the apartment door. In his face, demanding that he tell her what was up, not letting him run from any of his issues, or theirs. Of course, she hadn’t given him the same opportunity. If he hadn’t caught her that day on the streets – looking out for him like she’d be able to run from him and the fact that she was pregnant forever – there was a chance he still wouldn’t have known that he was gonna be a father.
Dylan twitched as the door opened, his fingers closing hard enough around the gravel that he held that he’d probably be picking it out of his palm for days. Had she told her family? Did her – brother, he was gonna presume it was her brother and not her dad given how old the guy looked – brother know that she was pregnant? With how anxious about it Kenz had been, maybe she hadn’t opened her mouth. You could get away with burying your head in the sand for a while after all. At least until your bump started to show and then you had no excuses. The truth would spill out and then he’d have a target on his back, the guy who’d dared lay hands on her.
He forced his hand to loosen, gravel slowly trailing from his fingers, raining down in a rush when the guy came out with his name. Swallowing hard, dipping his head slightly like it would cover his embarrassment at not having just rung the bell like a normal guy – like the boyfriend of this guy’s sister instead of some sorta crazy stalker. ”Hey … uh … yeah, you presumed right.” That meant Kenz had to have mentioned him at least. Maybe it was in that ‘if he comes around asking questions tell him I left for the nunnery way’, maybe it was to tell them about the decent, hard working guy who’d bailed her out from a charge at the sheriff’s station and had tried to carry on being that good influence. Either way her brother knew more about him than the other way around.
Starting slowly u the path, Dylan held out his hand, like this was a proper meet your family moment and not some awkward encounter brought in by him kinda breaking the law. If her family were ready to pull a shotgun on him then stepping onto their property was probably a mistake. It was easy enough to call trespass or B and E, especially if he’d done any damage to the window. ”I’m glad … that it’s the right place, I mean.” Kenzie hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with those details either, maybe because she’d always planned on ghosting him eventually. The baby had just changed the timetable a little.
The frown cut in, worrying knotting up his gut again. He’d been about to ask if she’d been around, but instead the question died in his throat. His hands shot up, like that shotgun was there. ”I wouldn’t have done anything to hurt your sister,” Dylan promised. ”I came because she stopped taking my calls and she disappeared on me too. I saw her one time in town a few weeks back and then she was gone. You know, I was sure it was me, but it she’s run from you guys too … has she done this before?” Kenzie herself had warned him about how she was the wild triplet. He didn’t want to think this was par for the course, not when it wasn’t just him getting hurt in this now. It wasn’t like he’d had a fantastic father figure – Eric had been everything he didn’t want to be to his own kid – but he wanted to try and be something better, a solid presence in his kid’s life, Kenzie’s too.
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EVAN O'QUINN
Human
Posts: 12
Status:
Single
Last seen Jun 28, 2023 14:12:28 GMT
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Post by EVAN O'QUINN on Mar 5, 2023 22:02:46 GMT
Evan O'Quinn
Kenzie wasn't the one of the family to run off for extended periods; that was him. If his sister had disappeared, like the other times, there would be a reason for it. Evan had thought the worst to start with. The last time she ran away for a while was when he almost lost his sister. It wasn't the same as last time though Kenzie would have told him something was up. She was just her usual self but stressed to hell about something. The human knew that, in time, his sister would open up to him. They never kept anything like that away from each other.
Evan looked at the gravel as he heard it drop to the floor. He assumed they both knew his sister would have used a brick rather than rubble if she wanted to damage property. "So a lawyer harassing people? Is that usual for you?" He smirked. "No wonder you and my sister get on so well." He held his hand out and shook Dylan's hand. "Evan, by the way, youngest of the triplets."
Somehow, he found the place without his sister giving up the information. Did he use his job to get the data? That showed how much he cared about Kenz and was willing to break the law and risk his career to see her again. It was a little relief for Evan that he wasn't the only one she had ghosted. Even Billie had no idea, and that was worrying. "No, I'm the family runaway, not her." He shook his head. "She has in the past but not many times, a few days to a week, nothing this long." Evan had been the one to run away when his feelings got too much for him. He had avoided any talk about their younger twins until recently. Mackenzie was the one keeping him and Billie together most of the time.
"I believe you wouldn't hurt her. Or this would be a very different conversation." Evan pushed open the door. "Come in. Of course, it's not my place to invite you in, but if she didn't want you in, she should be here to tell me no." The human stepped back to open the doorway.
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DYLAN COOPER
Werecoyote
Posts: 127
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 6, 2024 16:37:51 GMT
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Post by DYLAN COOPER on Mar 18, 2023 20:25:50 GMT
While Kenzie had told him plenty about her family, and he’d done the same – short of the conversation about how his dad had returned from his absence to try and turn his son into just what he had become – but he hadn’t expected her to head back home to tell her family all about the guy she’d been seeing. Had it been a conversation before she’d become pregnant, or was it a last minute edition as she’d come clean with them about being pregnant?
Dylan winced at Evan’s jab about him being a lawyer. If there was some stink kicked up about all of this then his job would only make it worse. Cops didn’t always appreciate the other side of that legal line. ”Harassment? Nope. This is a first.” He settled his hand against his chest for a moment as he released Evan’s from the shake. It didn’t take super hearing to tell that his heart was racing under there. ”I’m usually trying to keep Kenzie out of trouble. It’s good to meet you, Evan, even under the circumstances. Kenzie’s told me plenty about you.” And the opposite was now clear, although the fact that he was still standing meant there was close to zero chance that Evan knew about the pregnancy. Guys weren’t that friendly when they found out that their sisters were pregnant by someone they’d never even met.
Kenzie hadn’t seemed all that happy about the pregnancy when he’d last seen her. Freaked was a better word for it. When you were like that you fell back on the people closest to you, but from the looks of things she hadn’t done that at all and it was setting off all sorts of fresh alarm bells in his head. Even while he frowned about it Dylan was giving her brother all the reassurances he could. ”I don’t know if that’s reassuring or not,” he said honestly. Tension was starting to ratchet tight across his shoulders as he slowly dropped his hands from where he’d raised them. ”Did she give you any sort of heads up before she went this time? Any way to contact her if there was some emergency?” Like this was getting to be.
Walking into her house felt a little like he was invading space Kenzie obviously hadn’t wanted him to be in, but as Evan was saying now, if Kenzie’s opinion was going to count she had to be here to give it herself – which she undoubtedly would when she came home. They were both gonna get it with both barrels of a verbal shotgun no less deadly than the one he’d imagined Evan was gonna aim at him. ”I appreciate that honesty,” Dylan murmured as he stepped inside. Back home the apartment had been littered with signs of every little success he’d had, from the paintings his mom had always hung on the front of the refrigerator, to the certificates that were framed and on the walls with photos of his graduations. Some of that had come with them, making it obvious that their apartment here was very much a family home still. He found himself looking for the same in the O’Quinn’s home.
Amusement finally creased his face as he glanced back at Kenzie’s brother. ”She’d probably read you the riot act for that. Did she tell you much about me before she lit out?” He should’ve been a little embarrassed about prying when Kenzie wasn’t here to tell him to keep his nose out, but he wasn’t. If he was any part of the reason why he’d run, he wanted to know it instead of staying in the dark about it all.
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EVAN O'QUINN
Human
Posts: 12
Status:
Single
Last seen Jun 28, 2023 14:12:28 GMT
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Post by EVAN O'QUINN on Mar 19, 2023 3:10:41 GMT
Evan O'Quinn
Evan knew that Dylan must have had something special about him for Kenzie to admit that she loved him, not just liked him. Had she acknowledged this to Dylan? He wasn't sure. He wasn't about to drop his sister in it for that. There had to be boundaries. The thing bugging him was that his sister vanished even from the man she loved without a word. Evan began to think he had done something wrong, but she didn't have to run away. This house was hers after all she could kick him on his ass without so much blinking. To find out that she had dodged both him and Billie along with Dylan lit up more red flags.
The human could tell that Dylan was nervous. Truth be told Evan would have enjoyed pressuring him a little if his sister was there to see when she would step in or give him the death stare but she wasn't. It was harsher and less fun to torture him now when his sister had vanished. He knew that she could look after herself, but that didn't ease the worry.
"Good luck to you. That is a full-time job and also impossible. I gave up trying years ago." He knew keeping his sister out of trouble was not easy and then his job would come in handy for any perks to make it easier. "I do hope its the good things she told you." How much did he know about his younger siblings? Had Kenzie told him about it or was she waiting until they were more serious? It wasn't exactly dinner chat.
Evan shook his head. "No." It had worried him that she left without so much as a letter. They had discussed after the last time that she at least leave a note to say she would be fine and would return. But, of course, it brought back memories of the twins' deaths. Evan wanted nothing more than to leave that in the past. As it had been brought up again, he tried to go back to the circus and distract himself from it but until Kenzie was back and he knew she was safe,, he couldn't go into his denial phase. His sister came first.
"There was only one time that she really went off the radar." He paused it wasn't his place to say if he didn't already know. "She promised me that she would never do that again without at least a note." He shook his head. "She just left. Left everything behind. The only reason I haven't involved the police is she doesn't need anything else added to her record." Evan walked Dylan further into the house. "I don't expect you to understand the triplet bond but it tells me she's alive and in no serious danger. If that reassures you at all." It was the only reason he hadn't involved anyone else. "Can I get you a drink or anything? Until I moved in here I lived on the road so as Kenzie isn't here there isn't much food but drinks. We have plenty."
Evan shrugged. "She should know that after the stress she's put me through recently it's the least I could do to get even. You were already here I didn't give you directions but if you want me to save your skin and say I did I will. I'm used to a Kenzie blowout. I get it more than Billie." He knew his sister would be pissed with him but she knew when siblings disappear and break agreements it made him want to deny the worry and go back to work to avoid it and yet he was still hanging around so he could read her the riot act instead. He had been so worried about her recently due to her history that he wanted to find her and kill her himself.
"Plus, she said I couldn't bring blokes back into the house but you were here on your own looking for her so...." He shrugged. "Loophole. Doesn't count" He knew his sister wouldn't be happy about it, but maybe if she had tabs on Dylan, she would come out of the woodwork. Even if she wasn't and she found out, she would hopefully come back; he would happily accept a bollocking if it meant he would at least know she was okay.
Evan sighed at the question. "She told me you got her out of trouble a few times and showed me a picture hense I knew who you were." He shook his head. "I know you two are an item but that was about it."
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DYLAN COOPER
Werecoyote
Posts: 127
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 6, 2024 16:37:51 GMT
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Post by DYLAN COOPER on Apr 7, 2023 21:33:47 GMT
Meeting the family had always seemed like it would happen eventually – you know, down the line with actually quantifying what was going on between the two of them. It was the normal way of doing things. You got serious with someone and you started to let them into your life a bit at a time. Dylan had pictured dinner with his mom and Kenzie, with Kenzie probably squirming with nerves, trying not to open her mouth the wrong way, like somehow his mom was gonna take offence at it all. After years with Eric, Dylan doubted that it was possible. The man had set the bar low enough that Kenzie could’ve crawled under it and still looked like she was a million steps up on him.
Maybe her family thought it was the other way around and somehow he wasn’t good enough for Kenzie, but from the sounds of it, her brother knew that he was a good guy trying to do his best by her. Dylan huffed out a breath, smiling wryly at the guy. ”It’s definitely not easy. That’s how I met her. The station called me in on an assault charge – turns out Kenzie was just protecting herself. They didn’t even charge her … but, you know…” It’d been enough for their paths to cross and then, while it had lasted, he’d been the sensible voice in her ear. Now it seemed Kenzie was being purposefully deaf to it all. Feeling his stomach pitch at the thought, Dylan bobbed his head at Evan. ”I’m assuming it was the good stuff. She told me how close you guys were.” And about their losses, although that sort of tragedy wasn’t the sort of thing you just dumped into the middle of a conversation.
After all that had happened to her family, it wouldn’t have been insane to think that Kenzie had taken off at some point before. People ran from things like that, ran for far less understandable reasons. Sometimes they gave their family a heads up, some sort of ‘I just need a couple of weeks on my own’ explanation. Sometimes they just vanished and those they left behind were scrambling to pick up the pieces. Dylan curled his hands into his pockets, his brows drawing together as Evan admitted she hadn’t done that this time. ”She just stopped picking up my calls after I last saw her in town. No explanation there either.” Just the sort of radio silence that was worse than anything.
Dylan’s hands came up again, just to waist height to indicate that he got it. The cops would look at someone like Kenzie and would refuse to believe that her disappearing had been anything but another bad choice by a flighty girl who constantly found herself in some sort of trouble. ”I wouldn’t wanna call them in either, but you know … if there’s nothing …” Then his brain would go straight to worse case scenarios – maybe he was already part of the way there.
Feeling that bubble well up in his chest like it was ready to burst, Dylan trailed after her brother. His lips twitched faintly as he got another look at Kenzie’s world inside the place. ”She told you I’m an only child?” Had maybe joked about it with her siblings like ‘look what it might’ve been like’. ”Honestly, I don’t entirely get it, but it’s kinda reassuring to hear it.” Kinda. His attention was dragged back from the walls at Evan’s offer, his brows knotting together again. ”A soda would be good if you’ve got it.” Being clear headed wasn’t a problem these days, not when his system burned off whatever alcohol he consumed almost instantly. He wanted to be clear headed though. If some call came in from a jail cell in Missouri or even LA, he wanted to be able to get there and shake some sense into Kenzie before he broke and just held her.
Awkwardly, Dylan perched on the edge of the couch, propping his elbows on his knees. It was easier to let the tension bleed away when they were able to joke about the way Kenzie was gonna react when she got back, like any minute now the door would slam open and she’d be there. ”Billie’s your other sister, right? Kenz always said how different the two of them were from one another. I guess me and you have got in common, her stressing us out in common.” Only it seemed that Kenzie’s brother didn’t have a clue what had really caused it. It wasn’t his secret to tell, he couldn’t just scream ‘I knocked your sister up and I think that’s what made her run’.
Brows rising, Dylan tilted his head for a moment, studying Evan. Oh, there were double standards when it came to her brother then, to him. ”Sounds like she lost the right to tell you that when she pulled her escapologist act.” That didn’t mean she wouldn’t freak about it when she got back. Dylan let out a sigh, dragging his hand over her face. ”That’s more than she admitted to me about what we were. I got her out of the station that first time and we spent plenty of time together after. I thought that things were getting serious, but I guess maybe it was too serious for her. You think me backing off is gonna bring her back? I’d do it if I thought it meant she’d stay somewhere she was safe.” Not out there on her own, looking for the sort of trouble that might find her all too easily. In her delicate condition. Shit. He grimaced faintly at that. They hadn’t even really been able to discuss it out on the street. How they were gonna do this, how they could raise a kid together.
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