KATJA DE LA CRUZ
Dragon
Posts: 53
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Kit Clarke
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 19:00:56 GMT
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Post by KATJA DE LA CRUZ on Aug 23, 2023 16:25:17 GMT
Little arms were thrown around her neck as Katja dropped to one knee for a last hug. She patted the little girl’s back, kissed the top of her head as she drew back and skipped over to her uncle. ”Be good for your mama on the way home, huch’uy t’ikayta.” Little sprout seemed fitting. The last time she’d seen her, she’d been small enough to tolerate being held, the baby smell that still clung to her breathed in, turning something inside soft. Kandace had seen it, laughing over her getting broody because that was how women were apparently. See baby, feel your heart expand to ten times its size in your chest, feel your ovaries explode, desperately want one of your own.
Somehow Katja doubted Copacati had ever felt that way. She’d rarely seen any sort of motherly instinct in her – except for the times her daughter had been in trouble. Then she had swept in to save her, love spilling out of a hard heart for just a single beat of it before Copacati toughened back up. Kandace was a different sort of mother entirely, one Katja had found herself watching, wondering if maybe, one day...
Kit’s niece peered over his shoulder at her, grinning. She smiled back and wiggled her fingers at the little girl before Kandace was there in front of her. Without hesitation, Katja stepped into the offered hug. ”It was so good to see you,” Katja murmured, drawing back when Kandace eventually let her go.
Meeting family hadn’t a consideration when a sea of sand had separated Kit from his sister. It had little more than a hook-up then, casual the connection severed every time once of them had gone outside the camp. After she’d arrived in Mystic Falls it had all been different. Hook-ups were different when there was nothing to drag you apart every few days, your lives started to intertwine. Her bedroom in Bernardo’s apartment ending up just gathering dust. Another had been sent to take her part for the most part, although Copacati still complained about it, the muttering in those long distance calls taking months to fade. Surely it was going to erupt again if they took a trip south instead of one west to make a return visit to Kit’s family.
She pictured it like the same sort of warm embrace Kandace had given her the minute they’d arrived, and again now. Maybe Kit’s mom would fall somewhere between that her and her own, but still, she wouldn’t be Copacati. Frank and his family had been the same when she’d arrived. Another of the waifs and strays that turned up on the doorstep here, not complaining too hard when the bottles and lotions had started to appear in the bathroom.
There hadn’t been any complaint about Frank packing up his office to turn it into a guest room for Kandace’s family either. The desk was cleared out, a cot bed set up in there for Kit’s niece, the sofa bed loaded with clean sheet, looking just like it’d always been that way by the time they’d arrived. It was a house for family, feeling right when the place was practically busting at the seams with people.
Kandace’s husband closed the trunk, the cases all packed away again. He made the same rounds that Kandace and their daughter had, hugging Katja, telling her they’d see them soon, sweeping his daughter up from her uncle to get her into her car seat. She waved to the little girl again as the back door of the car was shut, that little face lit up, her hands flying as she waved to her and Kit.
A few minutes later Kandace was doing the same, the car pulling out onto the road, leaving the two of them alone. She could almost feel their presence still lingering there, a warmth left behind that Katja trapped between the two of them as she wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up with eyes that were still a little soft. ”It’s gonna be so quiet,” she murmured, amusement curving her lips. ”Til Sunday at least.” Then Hazel and Bo would fill the house with that same energy. It wouldn’t be long now before Bo started to get into everything and it would be a race after him, trying to stop him from hitting every button on the washing machine or pulling every pan out of the cupboards. Kids could be wild, but there were moments …
Katja rested her chin against Kit’s shoulder for a moment, looking out it to the now empty road. When Bo had been small they’d lain on the couch with him, that small weight on Kit’s chest, cheeks pink, tiny fingers curled into fists. That had been when she’d known she’d loved him – Kit, not Bo, that love came with a first glimpse at the baby, something instinctual that tugged on your heart like it did your ovaries. ”I love you,” she murmured, turning her head to press her lips against his throat before she straightened up, chuckling lightly. ”I’m getting sappy … it’s your niece's fault.” A protest that bordered on a lie, but she had loved sitting down with the little girl, getting drawn into the world of princess’ tea parties and make-believe that always seemed to end up with a handsome prince swooping in to save the princess’ life.
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KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 136
Age:
33
Occupation:
Manager at The Ruby Slipper
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Katja De La Cruz
Played by:
Julia
"You make my cold heart warm with a touch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:01:45 GMT
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Post by KIT CLARKE on Sept 17, 2023 16:28:38 GMT
 ━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━
Kit scooped her up under her arms and swung her in a circle, watching her tiny features━a mirror of Kandace’s when she was a kid━light up with delight. She giggled until Kit lowered her to the ground and brought her in for a hug, kissing that soft tumble of dirty blonde hair. He was gonna miss her so fucking much.
He held Kandace extra long, too, and she didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t know what was up with him━they’d been here before, he’d been there, and it wouldn’t be that many months until he saw them again. But it just felt like so long. Like he’d been missing his sister’s love the same as he would a limb.
His brother-in-law got a hearty pat on the back, both of them chuckling instead of mentioning how misty everyone was getting. “You gotta let me drive you guys back next time,” He said, and Kandace waved him off, giving some excuse that he was busy and she didn’t want to burden him. Sometimes he couldn’t get the entire duration of their visit off work, and so he supposed it helped when they had a way to get around on their own.
Kit wrapped one arm around Katja’s waist to keep her pressed into his side, the other waving to his sister’s family as they finally departed. He missed them already.
“Yeah,” Kit mumbled his agreement, looking down at Katja and smiling softly, though there was a twinge of sadness left in it. “Thought my head was gonna burst open last Sunday.” He chuckled. Between all of the running around, the constant talking, and the consistent noises being made to placate Bo, it thought he’d never survive. But he did, and he almost missed it now.
Both arms encircled her waist now, pressing Katja against him as she drew in. “I love you, too,” He mumbled, feeling extra mushy now that they were gone. He thought Katja was doing this for his benefit, but it turned out that she was just as sensitive to it as he was. Kit chuckled, giving Katja a small squeeze before he began to walk, just barely lifting her, practically dragging her back inside. “Uh huh, just blame it on th’kid. You’re shameless, ya know that?” He snickered, tossing the door closed behind them.
Kit planted a kiss on her lips before he continued, trying to get them to the couch where they could happily sink into the cushions.
“I hate not bein’ close to ‘em, y’know?” He puffed, “I know movin’ here was good for me, but…” He couldn’t remember why he’d done it other than needing someone who really understood what he was going through. His mental state had been deteriorating, and he hadn’t been good for anyone then, especially not his niece, who was just a baby. “Hey, you wanna move to Texas?” He asked with a laugh, though he was really only half-joking. He knew he wouldn’t leave. Couldn’t leave, not after building a life here. They were close enough━still in the same country, at least━and he was sure Kandace liked having her space. He was just going through the same motions he always did when he had to leave them again━when it was just him and Katja, and all he wanted was to bring her back so he could build a life with her there, just like his dad had with them.
KATJA DE LA CRUZ |  |
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KATJA DE LA CRUZ
Dragon
Posts: 53
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Kit Clarke
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 19:00:56 GMT
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Post by KATJA DE LA CRUZ on Sept 25, 2023 19:15:58 GMT
Katja’s eyes were drawn to the little girl as Kit had her giggling. Maybe some of it had just been how Copacati and Bernardo had told it had happened, but the images whirled in her head as Kit did – light coming through the canopy overhead like laser beams, turning the leaves and flowers into a kaleidoscope that danced around her as she clutched at his shoulders and giggled. Had she ever sounded like that afterwards or had something been burned out of her? A heart left charred and as close to death as it was possible to come for all those years.
She swallowed hard, working her way towards a smile again as Kandace brushed off Kit’s offer of driving them the next time. That line that the blade had drawn time and again across her throat catching with every breath, like a barb in her throat, gathering the emotions like silvered fish on a line, flickering through her as the light had in the jungle.
It pierced through her chest as Kit gathered her in, bathing their life here as it reshaped itself again with Kandace’s departure. Hearts were supposed to work that way – like Frank’s dining table – expanding and contracting as needed, not staying crushed down to ashes the way Copacati’s had done. This weekend both the table and her heart would be a little smaller, but it would be plenty.
Katja’s fingers slipped into Kit’s hair, their tips tracing the lines of his skull beneath the tumble of it, as though they could chase that imaginary headache away. ”I’ll miss it though,” she admitted softly.
She’d miss having another woman in the house, two if you counted Kit’s niece. Freyja and Hazel did their best to chase the testosterone out, but most of the week the place felt like it was filled with – Frank and Kit taking up a lot of real estate, the feeling remaining even when she shut herself away in Frank’s office while he was out at work. It was like it scented every breath she drew in, maybe it was just the photos of them all in there. The men (and handful of women) they’d served with constant reminders, those shots of Kit that she presumed he’d put in there offering a glimpse of the life that had been his before he’d enlisted. Beaches, somewhere more rural in Texas. Family members she’d tried to point out to the little girl. Your mama, small like you, uncle Kit… A boy she presumed was a cousin she had yet to meet – the blue eyes running in the family.
Come Sunday Theo, Freyja and the kids would be back. Maybe Frank’s friend Dominic too. It wouldn’t be the same though. Subtle differences bringing on the ache of not being with a family that was Kit’s blood. Try as she could, maybe she couldn’t fill that hole in his heart. He filled hers though, three little words wrapping around her heart. Katja smiled softly up at him, tracing the shell of one ear lightly before they were moving back towards the house.
”And you never would?” she asked, her grin sharpening as she let him take her weight and carry her (if you could call her being drape over him that) inside. ”I’m pretty sure you’ve blamed some things on Bo a time or two.” Katja wrinkled her nose, tutting before she hummed and slithered down that hair’s breadth to anchor herself as Kit kissed her. ”I loved you before,” she murmured. ”More now.” For all that she had seen in him as he’d lit up around his family, for all that she knew he was and could be.
All that he hoped for left a faint ache in her heart as the brightness of the emotions began to tarnish. ”Yachanim, waway.” The words whispered out as Katja tightened her arms around him for a moment. ”You wish you were with them.” How many times had she felt the same about Copacati? For just a few seconds at a time when she was locked in a cage thousands of miles for her, desperately wanting even that tough love, care that would heal the wounds that had been carved so deep in her. They had scarred over now, the damage healed so far that it was rare she felt it anymore. They were better.
Dark brows rose as she began to draw him back towards the sofa. Katja bent a knee, blindly seeking the seat cushions out before she was sinking down, drawing Kit down with her. She draped her legs over his, one arm still curled over his shoulder. Her fingers traced the baby fine hair at the back of his neck as she studied her face. ”I’d go wherever you are, wherever you want to be,” she admitted hoarsely, one corner of her mouth lifted. She didn’t think they would be packing up the car yet, not when their lives had grown their roots here. ”You would leave the club? Frank? Although maybe he’ll be glad for the quiet too.” He’d felt like the third leg to their tripod, helping to hold them both up in those early days, as they’d held him up. A team, although it was one that had shifted as two parts of it had started to share more than just a bed. Maybe at first they could’ve parted and all remained upright, but now Katja couldn’t imagine herself anywhere else, with anybody else.
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KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 136
Age:
33
Occupation:
Manager at The Ruby Slipper
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Katja De La Cruz
Played by:
Julia
"You make my cold heart warm with a touch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:01:45 GMT
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Post by KIT CLARKE on Nov 6, 2023 18:02:08 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━
“Good.” He mumbled, still grinning, though his chest warmed at her admission. Perhaps he’d always loved her, but he’d been stupid about it for a long time. He’d never wanted to commit. But then Katja came here, wormed her way into his life, and he couldn’t imagine it with anybody else. He wanted this forever. His growing savings and recent search history (all for “jewellery”) proved that.
“Dunno what that means.” He grinned, draping one arm over her legs, though his expression softened, turning sad at the edges. He did wish he was with them━seeing his niece get bigger every day━and he couldn’t imagine how he’d torn himself away from them in the first place.
He’d only been joking (somewhat); he hadn’t expected Katja to agree. They had a life here. But, clearly, she’d spent a lot more time moving around than he had. Katja had been uprooted from her home early on, and perhaps she didn’t really feel like she had a place anywhere━except when she was with him, he hoped. He felt that to a degree, too, but leaving Mystic Falls seemed impossible. So did only seeing his family once every few months.
“Nah,” Kit mumbled, “Wouldn’t leave Frank… or the kids.” Or anyone else that’d become part of his second family here. “He wouldn’t be glad—he’d miss us too much.” He chuckled, and then frowned slightly as he thought about his options here. Either way, he was separated from his loved ones, but at least they lived in the same country, right? And he’d never be separated from Katja; she’d go anywhere with him. Unless she got tired of him.
“How about we get married instead?” He asked. He’d always imagined getting down on one knee and doing this right, and he still would the minute he had a ring. But part of him wanted to ensure she wanted that, too; that she was serious about going wherever with him.
KATJA DE LA CRUZ | |
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KATJA DE LA CRUZ
Dragon
Posts: 53
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Kit Clarke
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 19:00:56 GMT
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Post by KATJA DE LA CRUZ on Nov 10, 2023 22:21:28 GMT
If she hadn’t spent years on military bases filled with men who certainly didn’t make as much use of the hygiene facilities, sharing a house with two men would’ve been more of a hardship. It wasn’t like a primitive village out in the jungle, it was more interesting than watching a bunch of wild animals with that strange sense of fascination. When you had a connection, you looked past all of that because what was primitive about it all tugged at something deep inside you. It was all tempered by affection, by love.
That had come as more of a surprise than anything in the living arrangement had. A slow creeping change that had snuck beneath her skin, snapping tight around her heart in an almost shocking revelation when she’d seen him with Bo. Giving words that hadn’t been in her vocabulary before shape and breath. She felt no hesitation with them now, what was between the two of them sure enough that she no longer stumbled into Quechua with them to disguise those feelings.
Katja studied his face, so close to him still that she could focus on his mouth, the way it curled around mumbled words and flared out in that grin. She knew the way those wiry hairs that surrounded them felt against her skin, the heat of them as they met hers., she knew how the words from them could soothe her, fire her up, fall deeper for him. She knew him in all those small ways that joined up to make the whole that she loved.
Her hand rose, settling at his jaw. Katja dragged her thumb over the curve of his lower lip as his smile began to shift. ”It means, I know,” she said softly. She could see it even now and wished there was some way to give him all that he wanted. Having his family here for a few days wasn’t the same as having them there permanently. You could drive each other crazy when you lived in each other’s purses – this house had rung with raised voices often enough, hadn’t it? - but there was something to be said for being able to turn to those you loved when you needed them and know that they were right there.
Moving would mean taking that from Frank, but he had Theo and Freyja and the kids here, he would handle the loss. They’d come back the same way Kandice had, maybe with a car full of kids one day. The image stayed stamped in her heart even as Kit brushed off the idea of going. ”Eventually,” Katja murmured, bobbing her head slowly. ”First maybe he’d celebrate a little. All this space to himself, no fighting to get in the bathroom first.” Then the hole would be in the pit of his stomach the same way it was in Kit’s, in hers. How did you divide your life up that way without feeling as though you were losing some part of you? She rubbed her fingertips lightly under the hinge of Kit’s jaw, her thumb still resting in that dip below his lower lip. Maybe you couldn’t and it was just a matter of what hollowed you out the least.
Meditatively she kept up the slow skim of her touch, her gaze still on his lips as she tried to figure out some road through it for him, for them. They moved, forming words her brain interpreted before her eyes did. “Arí . We should.” There was no hesitation, no gap between his question and her agreement. Copacati had never known what commitment was. Oh, she had taken the father of her child to bed more than just that once, but there had been no ring, no decision to move in with her child and the man she supposedly loved. There had been no grief since either. Maybe she had taken half the men in the Order to bed, but her own child wouldn’t have known because the woman had to be a Sphinx. Lock up the fire that really mattered in her chest, all that she felt for others never spoken allowed. Did her mother love her? She had to have done in a way, she had spent all that time searching for her, had freed her, after all. Had it seemed all the lesser for what she had now? Absolutely.
Love wasn’t something you pushed aside. Happiness, excitement, contentment, pain, heartache and grief, you had to feel it all and fight for what you had because tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. Katja let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d drawn in and held after she’d answered his question. It tumbled out on an amazed laugh, her eyes back on his now. ”You really want to? With the ring and the church and …" And decades together if they were lucky. His family would definitely come back for that. His sister, his niece, that boy from the photo, his parents too maybe. At least he hadn’t mentioned asking her mother for her permission, that was a tradition here wasn’t it?
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KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 136
Age:
33
Occupation:
Manager at The Ruby Slipper
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Katja De La Cruz
Played by:
Julia
"You make my cold heart warm with a touch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:01:45 GMT
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Post by KIT CLARKE on Dec 16, 2023 21:19:25 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━
He just wasn’t sure how he’d been so desperate to fill a void that wasn’t even there, but he supposed you didn’t pick this kind of family, and all of it stemmed from his service. Kit and Frank were brothers before any of this.
He asked to marry her instead. Not on a whim, or because he thought it’d be funny to bring it up. He’d been thinking about it a lot, especially since they’d taken of Bo on their own a few times now. It made him realize how much he still wanted to be a dad despite the shattered vase his mind sometimes still resembled, and how good they would be at it. Plus, he’d never been able to picture Katja holding a baby before━she never seemed like the gentle, mothering type━but now he’d seen it, and that made everything so much more real.
A wide grin spread across his face as Katja answered almost immediately, and Kit felt a swell of warmth and happiness in his chest. He squeezed her legs softly to try to expend it, and found it was only expelled once he leaned forward to press his lips to hers. By the time he set his head against the couch again, Kit had settled, and was grinning warmly at her.
“‘Course I do. Been thinkin’ ‘bout it a lot lately.” His thumb slipped across her thigh in a straight line, back and forth, almost as though he were soothing her. “I think we’d be good at it. Bein’ parents and stuff, y’know? And I wanna do it right. Wanna give ‘em the kinda stable relationship I never got.” His White-Picket-Fence American Dream began with marrying Katja. Not only ‘cause it was the right thing to do, but because he loved her.
“Ain’t picked out a ring yet, been savin’ for one, though,” Kit didn’t wanna give up too much of the surprise, but he wanted Katja to know this hadn’t been thrown out on a whim. He’d thought of it before; he just wanted to make sure she was into the idea, as well. “You’re good gettin’ married in a Church? ‘Cause that’s what I was thinkin’. Don’t know if my dad would approve of anythin’ else.” He chuckled lightly, though he knew his dad wouldn’t care as long as a Priest officiated it. They weren’t Catholic, after all, but Kit liked the idea of doing it in a Church. Probably cheaper, too. “I’m gonna do this right, by the way.” He said as if cutting off all other thoughts, still grinning, “Like, get on one knee somewhere fancy, surprise ya, have a ring, all that. Just gotta get one first━and make sure it’s actually somethin’ you wanna wear.” He’d say he could ask for Frank’s judgement but, despite likin’ it up the back end, that guy had just as much of a clue as Kit did about fashion and style and all that woman shit.
KATJA DE LA CRUZ | wrap w yours mb? |
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KATJA DE LA CRUZ
Dragon
Posts: 53
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Kit Clarke
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 19:00:56 GMT
|
Post by KATJA DE LA CRUZ on Jan 3, 2024 18:53:15 GMT
She hadn’t seen it coming, not when they’d spoken of a life maybe in Texas, with Kit’s family, or of one day leaving Frank behind. Not when she’d wake in the mornings to that lazy smile and the feeling that bolting from Lima again had left her in the right place, or even when the words had started to slip from his mouth. Her life had been one spent flying from one situation to another, with no thought of going back to where she’d been.
Heat rose in Katja’s throat as he began to grin at her, a warm bloom rather than the scorching heat of anger or pain that could scorch everything. She’d never considered it, but now that the words were out there she realised how much she wanted it. A home, a purpose, that same man she’d seen through his first shift – not just because she’d been there to witness it, but because even then she’d been able to see who he was beneath the uniform. That man hadn’t vanished when an IED had destroyed his team, his career and for a time his mind. The Kit she had known then was still there beneath the cracks that littered the surface of him, and she could see that, feel that in the way he looked at her now.
Her fingers slipped to the nape of his neck as he leaned in to kiss her, anchoring him there until she started to feel dizzy with it. Was that the excitement kicking in? The nerves she usually would’ve hidden with the confidence she’d inherited from Copacati? Katja felt her heart fluttering in her chest as he eased back, her smile lingering just as broad as his. Kids. He’d been imagining them as parents in a way she’d never imagined she could be until Bo had come along and she’d realised history didn’t need to repeat itself.
”You’d be an incredible father,” Katja whispered, a hand settling on top of his forearm to squeeze lightly. He’d said they’d be good at it, his faith in her as bright as his smile. ”A family of our own, cousins for your niece.” Her gaze ticked up to the doorway like she’d see his family standing there, somehow aware of what had happened just minutes after they’d left. They’d have to come back for the wedding ... if they didn’t end up going there to do it with his family surrounding them.
Katja glanced down at the hand that was still settled over his forearm. That meant they would do this again maybe? Kit sliding to his knee in front of her, the way it always seemed to happen on American TV. Her throat thickened as she shook her head, but her smile was still there. ”I don’t need a huge diamond,” she promised. Just him and this life they’d pieced together, tiny fragments of what had been torn apart held together with shaking fingers and love.
”Because I’m a ... paganokuna ... heathen?” Godless, as the conquistadors had called them. That had never mattered though, not to Kit, as much as he had a faith that she hadn’t shared – Copacati’s head would have exploded at the thought of her child worshipping another. ”Definitely good with it,” she promised. Even if Bernardo had to drag her mother there and physically restrain her. The thought of him and her mother sat there in one half of the church, while her other family – her found family – filled the other side, left her feeling breathless again, as though she somehow didn’t deserve it. They weren’t hers by blood, and it had sometimes felt like she could lose them at any moment when her life exploded again, but it was different now.
His assurances filled the hole that tried to open up in her gut. Shifting on the couch, Katja lifted herself to settle in his lap, a knee either side of his hips. She cradled his face, drawing him in to her to press her lips to his. ”Sapa kutim allinta ruwarqanki.” Whatever he picked was going to be right, because he’d always seen her, had known who she was beneath the heat. ”I’ll say yes again,” Katja promised hoarsely. ”Every time you ask. I love you.” Feeling tears prick at her eyes, she squeezed them close and kissed him, sealing that promise between them. Their worlds might explode again, but the damage would never matter, not as long as they had one another.
Tagged: KIT CLARKE (finished) * Word Count: 748 Translation: You've always done it right |
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