KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 130
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 May 17, 2024 19:25:30 GMT
|
Post by KIT CLARKE on Mar 10, 2024 21:12:07 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━ THE WORRYING HAD COME LATER. KIT SPENT the rest of the morning with his brother━y’know, once he had the strength to release him from that bear hug━and things began to ease within a few hours. Kace wanted to go out to see some other people (yes, Kit made a joke about Cassie, but it was lighthearted), and Kit felt okay enough to let him go. In any case, he figured it wasn’t a good idea to have Kace around when Katja got home.
He’d been too nervous to text her at any point, worried that it would break the seal on her memories or… something. Had it hit her the same time it’d hit him? Or would she only remember when she saw Kace? His plan was to wait ‘til she got home and see what she remembered.
But the moment he heard the door begin to open, anxiety clouded his gut. He’d done a lot of fucked up shit before, but now they were engaged━that had to count for something, didn’t it? He hadn’t wanted to approach her before all this, not finding himself worthy of going back to her, but now he was forced to, and he wondered if that would change anything. If the fact that she’d nearly married him would’ve done anything to make her more willing to come back to him.
All it meant, though, was that she would’ve done it before. Erasing Kace had only taken out all of the shitty things Kit did to break her trust.
He rose from the couch and spotted her in the entryway, then slowly made his way over. “Hey,” Kit said carefully, searching her face like he could find an answer there. “How was your day?” He mumbled, shifting closer hesitantly, like he’d kiss her ‘hello’ if she let him near enough.
KATJA DE LA CRUZ |
|
|
KATJA DE LA CRUZ
Dragon
Posts: 41
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Kit Clarke
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Apr 25, 2024 18:12:18 GMT
|
Post by KATJA DE LA CRUZ on Mar 27, 2024 16:14:23 GMT
After that first flight from Peru each move had come with a stack of bags and equipment. Orders passed down, transport arranged, no room for argument or that feeling like you were leaving something. Eyes ahead soldier. She’d signed up for it, willingly going where the officers told her to go. It had only ever been Copacati whose control she had strained against. The woman had never understood what it was her daughter was flying towards, only concerned with what it was she had left behind.
Katja’s eyes had been on the road ahead instead of the rear view mirror and the door of the apartment building swinging shut behind her. The cardboard box sitting solid in the back seat of the car, an anchor she caught sight of out of the corner of her eye as she took the familiar roads, keeping that feeling in her stomach from fluttering away. It had started earlier that afternoon, as she’d done a last sweep of the place, like she was cutting herself free again. Mental fingers flailing like she needed to find a solid grip on a life that was shifting too fast.
Mierda. Three years wasn’t too fast. Her fingers had found the one solid thing in her life soon after she’d arrived in Mystic Falls. She’d held on, the strong shoulders and summer sky eyes becoming her bed rock. She’d flown from them once, carrying only the memory with her to help her hold on in that pit in the ground. Finding them again here, she’d never wanted to let go.
Why was it now that it felt like she was scrambling to hold onto them? Katja tightened her grip on the wheel, mentally chiding herself. It was because she was taking another step towards the future she wanted, the one Kit had offered with his proposal. The one she wanted above everything else.
The ride passed quickly enough once she shoved those welling doubts about faltering in that flight down inside. They settled as a knot in her stomach, but it didn’t matter. Bernardo had seen enough in her expression as she’d said goodbye to not make one last attempt at talking her into going with him. Copacati’s acceptance wouldn’t come as easily, but it didn’t matter. She knew where she was going and she could’ve driven there, to him, with a blindfold in place. Home. That house full of men and testosterone, the one that would feel like it was creaking at the seams come Sunday.
Pulling up outside, Katja swung the duffel over her shoulder, but hesitated at the rear door of the car. She looked at the door, the knot back, pulling tight enough that she wasn’t sure she could breath, let alone move towards the door. A dozen steps, so why did her feet seem reluctant to take them?
Waqati.
Slower than she liked, she headed for the door, ignoring the feeling that washed through her. They were happy, there was no reason for this and she’d realise that when she was looking into those eyes again. Katja opened the door, depositing her bag in the hall. She shifted on her feet, about to kick her boots off, when her gaze hit the stairs. Raking up them slowly like Kit would come rushing down them instead of padding his way over from the living room. The flinch rolled through her before she could stop it.
Dark brows furrowed, her gaze shifting to his face, catching him studying hers like he’d seen her start. ”Hi,” she said hoarsely. The knot in her stomach rose, pressing uncomfortably up into her chest. It had only been a handful of hours since she’d left here that morning, but it felt as though something had changed in the house in that time. In him. In them. Walls thrown up between them, pressing down on her until it felt like she could barely draw air.
Katja forced up one corner of her mouth, amusement puffing out on a stilted breath. ”Busy,” she admitted. ”Bernardo had plans. I guess he got a call from her and he was ready to go jogging to her.” Attached to a leash like he always would. The name stuck in her throat, an apology filtering in her eyes as though it felt like she shouldn’t say it aloud. ”We handed the keys on the apartment back.” It wasn’t like she’d used it in months. Each night she’d come back here, to Kit’s bed, to her fiance’s arms.
She stepped close now, wanting to feel them around her again, like she hadn’t in months instead of just a few hours. Katja wrapped them around his neck, her eyes locked on the staircase. He had[ rushed down them. The image was right there, twisting at her stomach again. His eyes hazy instead of clear, his hands reaching for her before she’d torn away. She didn’t this time, but her voice caught in her throat all the same. ”Is there anybody else here?” she asked quietly, not sure she’d phrased it right – had anybody else been here. Would she still smell that woman on him if she breathed in now? Her eyes closed, trying to fight back the feeling like some curtain in her mind had been pulled away to reveal a life she only half recognised in front of her.
Tagged: KIT CLARKE * Word Count: 893 Translate: Shit/Coward
|
|
KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 130
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 May 17, 2024 19:25:30 GMT
|
Post by KIT CLARKE on Apr 11, 2024 18:52:14 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━ THE FACT THAT SHE DIDN’T IMMEDIATELY POUNCE on Kit and rip his throat out was probably a good sign, right? He swallowed thickly, shoulders sagging a bit in relief as she seemed to step into the house, answering his question without any fight. She didn’t throw it back in his face like he’d dreaded, either━Katja’s voice in his mind said sharply, over and over, “Do you care? Or do you just want to know if you’ll have the place to yourself?” And other things like it. It’d been months since he’d done it, but they’d never actually… recovered. Worked through it. There was a magical shroud over their eyes, and now it’d been ripped off suddenly, and he didn’t know how it’d affect her.
“Busy before he left, then?” Kit clarified lightly. Fucking Bernardo. Half the reason he’d been so insecure that night, that week she’d been gone, and now he was just… running away. Back to Katja’s mom like a whipped fucking dog. Kit should’ve known better than to believe his loyalties laid anywhere but with her.
Fuck. Her apartment. The one she shared with him. Some small, surface-level part of Kit stiffened at the idea of her officially moving in, but he brushed it off. She was here every night. She was… going to marry him, maybe, so this was nothing. To be expected. He only felt bad because she was losing somewhere she could seek solace from him━from this. Where would she go when she inevitably remembered and decided she didn’t wanna look at him anymore?
His only response was a quiet hum, and when she wrapped her arms around his neck, he puffed out a quiet breath, wrapping his arms around her waist, cradling her small body into his. He didn’t know how long this would last━when she would finally remember and tell him where to go━but he was going to savour it until then. And if… if by some miracle, Katja never brought it up, Kit wasn’t sure he would.
She was looking at the stairs, though, then asking if someone else was home, and Kit tried to pretend it wasn’t about what he thought. Some sense made him aware of what she was asking, what she was remembering, but because he wasn’t sure, he could lie to himself about it. “Nope,” He said lightly, “Think Frank’s still at school. Maybe Theo and Freyja’s.” He’d had to get used to her bristling around here without Theo (or a Sunday dinner to shove in his face when the conversation got awkward), but Bo was a welcome presence and, yeah, so was she. Kit had always gotten along with Freyja━maybe something about two country kids growing up where they did━but she didn’t always like Frank. That’d changed recently and, yeah, they usually came here, but it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that Frank went there. And anyway, that didn’t matter; he was just distracting himself again.
“And… Kace is out. At the diner or… or visiting friends…” He spoke his brother’s name like it pained him, even if Kace coming back had been a gift he could never be more thankful for. But mentioning his name felt like it’d bring down the final wall of this ruse, and his fingers flexed around her shirt, tightening as though he could hold her there━as though he could stop the inevitable.
KATJA DE LA CRUZ |
|
|
KATJA DE LA CRUZ
Dragon
Posts: 41
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Kit Clarke
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Apr 25, 2024 18:12:18 GMT
|
Post by KATJA DE LA CRUZ on Apr 25, 2024 18:10:08 GMT
How was it that war was less of a wedge between them than Bernardo had been? Then you could vanish for months without a strain. Coming back together in that place like no time had passed at all. Here, it had been as though Bernardo was constantly inching between the two of them, her mother’s mouthpiece, meant to push her back towards a place that hadn’t been home since her father had been killed. For a minute she had thought that perhaps without that huge shadow he cast over them, things would be different, freer, but Katja thought that there was an edge to Kit’s voice even if his words were light. Her fingers curled into her palms, the urge to settle a hand against his chest in reassurance that there was no hope of Bernardo truly coming between them squashed down. Katja shrugged, her smile falling away again. ”Si,” she murmured, feeling as though every word was a landmine waiting to be triggered. ”Packing, cleaning. They wanted the apartment spotless.” As though Bernardo would’ve let it be any other way. In spartan monk style the apartment had been almost sterile. Any signs that she had lived in this town at all were here. And suddenly they felt out of place. Trying to flip the feeling around, to get back to the way she’d felt when she’d slipped out of Kit’s bed that morning, she wrapped her arms around his neck. The phantom sensation of the ring that would seal their lives together on her finger. Never any doubt about what would wait for her when she got home. Now it felt like it was all slipping away. Katja sank into the hug, hating the way it felt as though there was another world just out of sync with this one. A different house, a different homecoming, a different him, a different her. The question had burned in her throat, even though she was sure that asking it would bring more clarity to that other world and some part of her was terrified of seeing it. ”It must be so close.” she breathed, her voice almost distracted. Of course, it was close to Freyja giving birth. They’d seen her on Sunday, her bump practically a whole other person at the table already. Excitement filtering amongst them about the new addition, adding to the noise that she always basked in at the family dinners. Uncle Frank was probably counting down the days, ready to step in with Bo when the time came. They’d likely have him here then, that cherubic face charming all of them. The feel of that solid little toddler body in her arms, the sweet baby scent fainter now, but bringing on feelings she’d never expected to have before she’d come here. They hadn’t been her family – hers had been left in tatters in the jungle – but through Kit they’d become hers. Feeling like her grip on them, on him was slipping, Katja’s hands slid down a few inches, gripping at Kit’s shirt like she could stop it all from vanishing between one blink and another. Her eyes burned, swam for a moment before she frowned and looked back at Kit. ”Kace?” Another part of that family, brought back like a gift to the brother who had been devastated when he had killed him. The two of them smiling in all those childhood photos, so close even then. How had he slipped her mind? Shaking her head, Katja drew in a breath, felt the flex of Kit’s fingers on her and the instinct to pull away that she didn’t give in to. ”Not him. Not Frank.” Eyes that shimmered and finally saw herself here, Kit reaching for her, trying to hold on to her. ”Is she here? Did you bring her back here again?” Her mind raced, her breathing quickening as the memories slammed into her with all the speed and devastation of a mortar. ”What happened? I ... Was any of it real? Your sister? It feels like a dream.” One that had rapidly turned to a nightmare. Kace hadn’t been here then, just the two of them playing at happy houses while she’d been so clueless. All that hurt stripped away, replaced by the love that had been torn out by the roots when she’d bolted away from Bernardo the last time. Desperately rushing here towards the future that suddenly felt like it was crumbling like ash through her fingers.
|
|
KIT CLARKE
Werewolf
Posts: 130
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 May 17, 2024 19:25:30 GMT
|
Post by KIT CLARKE on May 17, 2024 18:48:40 GMT
━ nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky ━ IT WAS ALL JUST CHATTER, SMALL TALK with someone who’d always deserved more than he could give her. Katja shouldn’t’ve had to listen to it━be apart of it━but Kit was so scared he was going to lose her if he said anything more.
At least she wasn’t insulted by it. She gathered him in instead of shoving him away, demanding answers he couldn’t give. Kit skittered around each subject but, in the end, the inevitable happened. He should’ve known.
The moment Kace’s name was uttered, the veil dropped, and he saw everything flash in her eyes━smelled the stench of heartbreak in the air, in this spot, like it was happening all over again.
He kept her in his grip this time, determined not to let Katja run away. Not again. He knew she could turn him to ash in seconds, and he was pretty sure that same thought had slipped through his mind then, but he was mentally prepared to handle this now. Well, more than he’d been that night, at least.
Breath seized in his throat, and Kit shook his head slowly. “No.” He answered simply, not sure what else he could say. He added, “Never.” After a moment, but it felt wrong━like something he shouldn’t promise.
Kit’s hands flattened, smoothing over her torso lightly, like he could calm Katja as her breath began to quicken. He nodded twice, then swallowed thickly. “It was real. It… Kace was gone. Dunno who or what they were, but they took ‘im. Made us forget… everythin’ that came with ‘im.” It hurt to say, but it was prob’ly twice as hard for Kace━knowin’ all this stuff was caused by him. Nah, caused by what Kit did to ‘im. It wasn’t Kace’s fault at all, but if anyone knew guilt, it was Kit.
“Katja,” Her name was quiet, but it was a plea, hands flattening on her back like he was showing her two things at once: she was free to go, but he didn’t want her to. “This’s real.” His fingers flexed for a moment before relaxing, demonstrating his tangible presence. “None ’f that shit. Everythin’ we said an’ did an’ felt, that was real.” And if he were stronger, or his emotions were a little easier to crack, he would’ve said, You an’ me. We’re real. I’m with you forever. No matter what. But part of him was terrified, and he wanted this to be enough. He didn’t know how much of himself was left to risk━how much more he could lose when she walked away again.
KATJA DE LA CRUZ |
|
|