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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 11:47:02 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 11:47:02 GMT -7
@dominic </3 @kinsey (for eavesdropping purposes) -trigger warning. This takes place after her encounter with Adonia, where Diana was 'forced' to be with Adonia in a way she didn't want to.- Diana had been avoiding everyone for... days. She'd been an almost model student in classes, at least in the sense of that she wasn't questioning everything her teachers said. It was almost eerie, how deathly quiet Diana had become. One brave teacher had even asked her after class if everything was alright and to which all they got was a silent small nod. Never had Diana been so.... quiet in class. She was opinionated and vocal, challenging everything and anything she could. Even her friends had been getting the silent treatment. Since that night with Adonia, Diana had refused to speak with anyone close to her. Despite many attempts to coax an answer out of her, nothing worked and it didn't matter who tried.
So, Diana had started to drift towards places she was less likely to be disturbed or could come up with a reasonable excuse to ignore people. The Library was a current personal favorite. It was easy to find a secluded spot in the shelves, and easy to pretend she was studying so as not to be disturbed if found. Today though, she just couldn't fake study. She kept replaying what had happened,over and over again in her mind to the point where she just folded her arms and lay her head on the table, eyes closed as she tried to think about something, anything else...
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 12:02:12 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 12:02:12 GMT -7
Diana and Dominic didn't really make it a point to hang out every day, but he still felt like she wasn't around him as much as usual. It felt very, very strange. She was his best friend but he could tell that something was off. She would just walk past everyone or just go straight to her dorm, not stopping in the common room. She was distant and vacant and quiet. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
He finally found her alone in a place where he could talk to her. The library. Of course the library. Her head was down on the table. He slowly approached, not wanting to startle her. "Di? It's me," he said softly, moving to her side and bending down on one knee next to her. "Hey, hey. Look at me," he pleaded. He just needed to see her face. To see the color of those eyes right now...
@diana
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 12:29:47 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 12:29:47 GMT -7
Diana didn't move as she heard a voice by her. Maybe she could feign being asleep. Maybe Dominic would belief it if she didn't move or react in any way. But a part of her knew he wouldn't. He knew something was wrong, and as a good friend he'd want to find out what it was. He'd want to help her, much like she helped him when things were rough for him.
His pleading, begging her to look at him, made her move just a little. Enough that he'd know she was awake and heard him. But it took several agonizing moments before she finally turned her head and opened her eyes. Her eyes always went dull when she was upset. But... this was far more than anything else. They had practically turned gray, as if there was no color left to take from. There was no light there, even her hair and skin was duller than usual. While she could change her appearance at will rarely was her emotions strong enough to change more than her eyes....
@dominic
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 12:43:33 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 12:43:33 GMT -7
She turned to him and his shoulders slumped, his heart sinking. She looked so gaunt. Almost like a corpse the day after it died. There was no color in her eyes and her skin and hair was dull. Afer a beat he reached his left hand up, slowly, brushing the hair from her face and cupping her jaw just under her ear. His other hand floated near her knee, but he didn't rest it there. "You don't have to talk..." he said softly. "Just..." give me back those eyes he almost said. He was selfish. He was his normal, selfish self. He wanted his Diana back. Not this colorless, silent creature.
He had never seen her like this, especially her ability spreading more than just her eyes. Something very serious was going on. Something he had no idea about. He pressed himself up on both knees now, his left hand reaching up from above her knee to cup the other side of her face. He didn't know what else to say yet.
@diana
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 13:01:21 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 13:01:21 GMT -7
Diana saw the look he was giving her and she wished she'd feigned sleep. She knew that he was hurting because she was. Her friend wasn't known for his empathy but she could see it now. And she hated that she'd caused it. Almost as much as she hated herself right now for what had happened. She tried to convince herself that it had been nothing. That she should just move past it but she couldn't.
Dominic said he didn't need her to say anything, which was good because she didn't even know what she could say. But his hand on her cheek almost broke her. Because she didn't feel worth his attention. As his other hand raised to join the other Diana let out a sound. Not a word though, but a broken sob. Diana hadn't cried, not once in front of Dominic and not about what happened with Adonia. But she couldn't hold it back anymore. Not in front of her best friend. Those horribly colored eyes of hers squeezed shut as tears started trying to escape.
@dominic
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 13:14:06 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 13:14:06 GMT -7
That sound was enough to snap him out of being careful. He took his hands from her face and wrapped then around her instead, pulling her against his chest. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other best to gently hold the back of her head. "It's okay, Diana. It's okay..." but it clearly wasn't. He hasn't dealt with anything like this before. With anyone. He had no idea how to handle it. He just followed his instincts.
He made a choice right there, though. Whoever did this to Diana would pay. And they would pay dearly.
@diana (Welp say bai to adonia but actually Elaine o.o)
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 13:35:01 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 13:35:01 GMT -7
Diana should have felt comforted by his pulling her against his chest and holding her close. But all it seemed to do was open that door to her emotions more. Letting them out instead of helping her bottle them up once more. She couldn't hide them from him. She couldn't pretend everything was fine. Dominic was pulling back the mask.
Tucking her arms in between them she buried her face into his chest, unable to stop the quiet sobs. She just couldn't stop crying now that she'd started. And his words... that it was okay? Diana almost choked on a sob as she shook her head against his chest. No. It wouldn't. Nothing was okay about what happened.
@dominic
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 13:45:26 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 13:45:26 GMT -7
She was shaking her head and crying and he just held her, incredibly unsure of how to handle any of this. "Alright, maybe it's not okay. It's not. And that's fine. It doesn't have to be," where was this advice coming from? Where did he find those words? He realized they were true, though. It was fine not to be okay. "Eventually it will stop hurting," he added. He didn't know if he actually believed that, though. He had been dealing with pain his entire life, and hadn't gotten over it. He didn't think he ever would. So who was he to say that Diana could get past her pain? Especially since he didn't know what it was. Even if he did know, he was sure he couldn't save her from it. All he could do was try to be her... And destroy whatever had hurt her.
@diana
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 24, 2017 14:08:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 14:08:14 GMT -7
Diana just stayed there in his arms. Still crying. Letting out all the pent up emotions that had been suffocating her. She knew she had to get it out though. But more importantly she knew she had to let someone in. Tell someone what happened. To feel understood. There was only one person in her life she trusted to talk to about it though. And that was Dominic. But it wasn't.... it wasn't something she wanted to talk about. To anyone. And she felt terrible that her heart wrenching crying was causing such a reaction from him.
She didn't do anything but sob for a long time. Even after he spoke. Just cried in her best friend's arms and her hands curled into fists against his chest, as if desperately holding onto him. She hated crying. Hated feeling this vulnerable. What was worse was she hated herself even worse. Because she couldn't even blame Adonia for what happened. She couldn't say that Adonia forced her. It was Elaine. But to make it worse? She couldn't hate Elaine either. The bond between them made it impossible to hate the older girl. So all those feelings turned inward. Toward the only person left to blame and hate. Herself. And poor Dominic... he had no idea what was going on. And if he did... there was a pessimistic part of her that had her convinced he'd look at her different or treat her different if he knew...
It truly was quite a long time that she cried. Even after she seemed to have no more tears she still shook in silent but dry sobbing. Finally though she cried herself out to the point where she wasn't incoherently hysterical. "I didn't want to..." she forced out, hesitating only because she'd almost stuttered out the word 'to'. "But... I.... I didn't stop it.... I.... didn't say no." she forced herself to finish, her words muffled against his chest and strained by her own raw emotions. She didn't want to say what it was that had happened. What it was that she didn't stop or say no to. So she hoped he'd know so she wouldn't have to elaborate.
@dominic
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 29, 2017 6:39:00 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2017 6:39:00 GMT -7
Dominic didn't move from that spot. The only parts of him that moved at all were his chest rising and falling from breathing and his hand stroking her hair. He felt his blood boiling, the steam coming from his ears at the beginning of this. He was going to kill someone, he was sure of that. But as she cried he realized that he needed to focus on making her feel better now, not on who was going to pay. It was a hard transition to make, but the more she cried the easier it was for him to steady his own breathing in an attempting to steady hers. He just wanted that sound to stop. She was holding his shirt so tightly he was sure that her knuckles were losing blood.
They stayed there for a long, long time a she cried. He found himself slipping into anger more than once, and then convincing himself to come back to what was important. To Diana. After a while, he started to guess in his mind what could have caused this. He'd need more clues from her, but he had a few ideas... and most of them revolved around him finding whatever person had taken advantage of her and ripping their throat out with his bare hands. Eventually, she was still shaking, but she was able to make out some words. 'I didn't want to,' she started. That immediately proved, at least to him, that one of his guesses was right. He held her tighter as she said she didn't stop it. That she didn't say no.
In short, he had figured it out. And he held her even closer, if that was even possible, and his eyes were fixed on the book in front of him. If she didn't say no then how could he kill the person? Unless she just didn't say no because she was scared... or maybe she was forced not to. Either way, he wasn't going to ask for a name. He didn't want to make her say that. He took in a deep breath and then turned his face toward the top of her head and kissed it. "It's over now," he reminded her, his voice oddly harsh because of the anger inside of him still. "And it won't happen again," he promised. He had no idea that he couldn't make promises like that. That Elaine had a hold over Diana, and that he was now a part of the very group that had forced her into this feeling. If he realized all of that...
He pressed his lips against her head still, and left them there. A part of him wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to let her go, because as long as she was with him she was safe, right? He could keep the people who had hurt her away... he knew that was an insane notion, though. They'd have to separate eventually.
@diana
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Sept 29, 2017 21:48:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2017 21:48:56 GMT -7
Despite her friend's harsh words Diana felt comforted... At least a little. Because he didn't push for more answers. He had to know. That Diana.... that she'd been with someone she didn't want to. He knew that she hadn't been a willing participant, and instead of wanting to know who had forced her, what had happened specifically, or when it had happened, he'd reminded her it was over. It was. It was in the past.
But there was that nagging feeling. That Elaine could make her do it again. Or that she had to learn how to interact with Adonia without giving away what her real feelings were. Oh heaven above, what was she supposed to do about that? How... How could she keep up the front now that the task was done so she wasn't under Elaine's orders? Dominic's lips were pressed against the top of her head, and he wasn't moving or pulling away. And.. It made her feel safe. For the first time in days. Being held so tightly...
Diana wasn't shaking as badly now, and she'd finally seemed to cry herself out. She shifted just a little in his arms, trying to relax against him. "Dominic-" she struggled to say, still choking on her words a little. "What.... What am I supposed to do..? Every time I close my eyes...." She didn't finish the sentence, didn't feel she needed to. It was over, yes, but what about the scars it left? What was she supposed to do in the aftermath? How was she supposed to... feel normal again? How was she supposed to forget what happened, or stop reliving it?
@dominic
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Oct 6, 2017 18:31:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2017 18:31:16 GMT -7
Somehow, in some miracle of a way, Diana had stopped shaking so much. That was comforting to Dominic, in this crucial moment, that he had somehow come through. She shifted in his arms and he let her, even though he was awkwardly kneeling on the ground. He didn't break his position, though, or really even think of the discomfort his knees would feel when they were freed from the floor. She said his name, or rather choked out his name, and he listened intently as she continued on.
Everytime he closed his eyes all he saw was white hot rage, and somehow Diana safely guarded from all that. From anything. He was sure that he was going insane, but he wasn't going to let her know that. Not if he could help it... but he wasn't sure he could. She could see right through him, always had. He shook his head, somehow his lips never leaving her head. "Maybe..." he started, muffled against her hair, "think of something good. Something you care about... then close your eyes once you've really, really thought about it," he did that, sometimes, at home...
Usually that thought was of Diana.
@diana
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Oct 11, 2017 10:16:42 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2017 10:16:42 GMT -7
Diana was vaguely aware of the awkwardness of their positions but neither had complained yet or tried to move. It was... comforting being held like this. Especially by Dominic. He was one of her closest friends, despite how private they were about the relationship. Between the pair Diana was also more affectionate so the fact that he was the one holding her so tightly was a welcome change to their usual pace. He was also probably the only person she'd feel safe enough to be so vulnerable with.
The girl swallowed hard as her friend began to speak, his words muffled by her hair but understandable. Focus on something she really cared about. But what? There was so much bad in her life right now. What was left? A few things started to come to mind and the first one was Dominic himself. She slowly nodded against his chest just a little. "I can try." she'd make no promise that it would work. But she would try it. She was willing to try just about anything to get past what happened.
@dominic
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last online Apr 28, 2024 14:08:19 GMT -7
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Oct 19, 2017 17:05:54 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2017 17:05:54 GMT -7
Diana said she would try and Dominic nodded a little and then kissed the top of her head once more, "and I'll stay right here," he reminded. He didn't really worry about how long they were there for, or what she was thinking about. The truth was that all that mattered was that they were going to get her through this, at least in a temporal fashion. He couldn't make all the pain go away in one sitting, of course, and she would probably never forget it... but at least they had each other for now, that was all that really mattered.
"I love you, Di," he reminded her softly. She was his best friend in the entire world, of course he loved her, and of course she already knew that, but maybe it would help to remember. To remember that someone loved her just for her, and wasn't trying to hurt her by doing so.
@diana
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