Sound Of Silence (Dominic)

[Deleted]

February 26, 2025

Kinsey definitely felt better now than she had yesterday, but she still wouldn't consider herself at normal capacity. She felt sore and achy and sleepy, and more than a little jumpy. Her one consolation was that Riley didn't leave her. He'd stayed overnight, not leaving her bedside and Kinsey appreciated his presence. He talked her through most of the night when she was awake, but now he was asleep and she didn't want to wake him up. She smiled as she looked over at him and saw him sleeping peacefully, but didn't move. She sighed, looking up at the ceiling as her mind reviewed- once again- what happened yesterday. The attack. 

She never expected Priscilla to follow her and threaten to kill her when she was only trying to do her homework. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as she tried to focus on something else. If Riley was awake she would have taken his hand, but Kinsey didn't. She heard the door to the hospital wing open and glanced over, her eyes widening when she saw who walked in. Dominic Dippet. She felt her nerves rise, but Kinsey didn't make any sound. What was he doing here? 

@dominic

[Deleted]

Dom was feeling weird. First of all, it was a huge bummer for Priscilla that she had been dumped at her party, of course. Dom didn't think much of Riley Fudge in the first place, but even Dom thought that was a dick move. Dom preferred to do his harsh words in private anyway, and Riley should have done the same. Or at least given Priscilla some warning ahead of time. All these pureblood politics were also kind of irritating to him.

He didn't expect Kinsey to get hurt so soon after that, but anyone who knew Riley and Kinsey knew they were obsessed with each other so... how could two big things happen to them and not be connected? The question was, did Riley hurt Kinsey for some reason? Or worse, did Kinsey feel guilty and hurt herself? Either way, he was worried.

He didn't want to admit that to himself or to her, and paced outside the hospital wing for a good half hour debating whether or not to go in. What was the matter with her? Getting herself hurt so people were all concerned. She probably did it on purpose for the attention. She did a lot of stupid stuff, why not this too? But, on the other hand, if she had actually wanted to kill herself there were plenty of roofs to jump off of.

Finally, he gave in and opened the door. She was awake, and she looked right at him. He knew she was probably freaked out at the site of him. Heck, he was freaked out that he was even there at all. Riley was next to her, clearly asleep. Dominic cleared his throat, walking over toward her bed, but stopped a good five feet away. ”Heard you fell,” he started, his voice low and irritated.

@kinsey

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Kinsey wasn't surprised that yet another person came to visit her in the hospital. She'd had quite a few visits since she'd arrived. Cassia, Toby, Joe, and of course Riley wouldn't leave her side. However, the last person she expected to come see her was Dom. Kinsey's heart started to race. Surely, he wasn't going to drag her down while she was stuck here in the hospital wing? She thought about waking Riley up, but she didn't. Part of her was curious to see what Dom did. If he was very mean, maybe she would reach over and touch Riley. She was pretty sure that was all it would take to wake him. 

At Dom's comment, Kinsey frowned. "I was pushed," she answered, "down the stairs from the top of the astronomy tower." Did he really think this was her fault? She wasn't sure. He wasn't close and she was having a hard time reading him. His intentions were ... she didn't know what they were. She watched him, biting the inside of her cheek anxiously. 

@dominic

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As she said that she was pushed, Dominic felt a surge of energy rush through him. Was it anger? Who had pushed her? For a second he hesitated asking, but he couldn't help his curiosity. "You were..." He paused, then shook his head. His voice dropped to an incredibly low pitch and tone, his eyes falling to look at Riley. "Who pushed you?" He asked. There's no way it was Riley, especially since he was sitting right next to her, clearly still in love with her if he wasn't willing to leave her side. Dom looked back at her, "how bad is it?" He asked. He knew that him treating her with worry would be confusing to her, but he was too wrapped up in his emotions to care.

Some part of him, he wasn't sure how to explain it, wasn't comfortable with anyone else hurting her in any way. Not that he thought it was his territory or anything, but more that he knew how to get to her in ways that didn't break her physically for the most part, and he wasn't comfortable with anyone hating her as much as he did. Scratch that, anyone hating her more than he did. Because he had a lot of negative feelings towards her and if someone had even worse ones... well it was no doubt they would want to kill her. Maybe it was because of the bits of Cara and Diana he saw in her face, but he was not comfortable with anyone hurting Kinsey Bainbridge.

@kinsey

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Kinsey didn't understand why Dom cared, why he was even here. His intentions weren't the way they usually were, that much was clear. He didn't seem to be here to hurt her and tear at her emotions, but why else would he be here. He seemed stunned when she said that she was pushed, echoing her words for a second before he asked who pushed her. She noticed him looking at Riley, but didn't say anything about it. "Priscilla Rosier," Kinsey asked in a soft voice, hating that she had to say the words out loud. She hated that she couldn't keep that confrontation to herself, that she got hurt in a way people wouldn't ignore it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, glad that her ribs were healed now. She could actually breathe right. "I'm basically healed now," she answered, "but I had a few broken ribs, broken arm, a really bad hit to my head, and stuff." She didn't want to go into all the details. The echo of all the pain she'd woken up to just hours ago made her cringe a little, relieved that that didn't cause pain anymore. "I think they'll release me today," she added, though she didn't know why Dom would care. 

@dominic

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She said the name and he wasn't surprised. Rileys ex fiance and a Purifier, Prissy was not someone to mess with. It seemed their house had all the drama this year. Which was unsurprising to Dom. They had a lot of people with a lot of different backgrounds. He nodded his head once at the sound of the name, acknowledging that he had heard it. She mentioned what happened to her, her eyes closing. Since her eyes were closed he allowed himself to look down and shake his head, showing the slightest bit of emotion and discomfort at the bad news. She said they might release her today. "Hopefully," he paused, looking back up at her, and cleared his throat. "Priscilla shouldn't have done that. Her life will be over," he noted, trying to make it about Priscilla and not her. "At least as the victim you'll be able to stick around. She's screwed. How does he feel about it?" he nodded toward Riley.

@kinsey

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He nodded when Kinsey said Priscilla's name, but Dom didn't say anything else. Kinsey ... honestly, she didn't know what was going on. Why did he come here in the first place? Kinsey frowned when he talked about Priscilla's life being over. "What are you talking about?" She'd been too busy worrying about her healing and stuff to really think about the effect this might have on Priscilla. He mentioned that Kinsey would be able to stick around ... was he talking about school? Her eyes widened as she started to realize what he was implying, but Dom didn't give her the chance to think about it. He asked about Riley and Kinsey glanced over at him. "He's upset, I think. He found out with all the teachers around, so he kind of held it in. He won't leave me though. Like, he wouldn't let the professors or healers tell him to go." Which she appreciated. After everything that happened, she wouldn't want to be alone at all. She would have worried about another attack.

@dominic

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"You really think they'll let her stay at the school after trying to kill you?" he rolled his eyes, was Kinsey really this much of an idiot? She was in Ravenclaw, after all. Apparently all that brain power went into something other than common sense. As for Riley, she said he was upset and that he found out at the same time as the Professors talking. "Well, isn't that adorable," he suggested, brow furrowing slightly. He wouldn't have left Cara or Dianas side if something like this had happened to either of them, so he understood where the Fudge was coming from. Still, it would have been nice to be able to talk to Kisney without her little watch dog in position. If Riley woke up and he was there, Dom was sure it wouldn't be a pleasant conversation.

@kinsey

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When he said it like that, it sounded obvious that they wouldn't let Priscilla stay at school. Honestly, Kinsey hadn't really thought of it before. "I ... hadn't thought about it really," she admitted in a soft voice. It wasn't her fault though. She had to remind herself that she didn't want Priscilla to attack her, that whatever came of this, no one could blame her. She looked over at Riley when Dom did, shrugging when he said it was adorable. "I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all if I was alone, so I'm glad he was here." Wait. Why was she telling Dom all of this, of all people? Kinsey froze, feeling like an idiot and waiting for him to start berating her. There was no way this was going to end well. 

@dominic

[Deleted]

She said that she hadn't thought about Priscilla being kicked out of school. Well, maybe that was a little selfish. Or she was just distracted with healing up. Whatever. "Doesn't matter now," he muttered, shrugging. He hadn't ever really cared that much for Priscilla anyway. Not that he disliked her, he just didn't have an opinion of her. She was whatever. Kinsey said she wouldn't have been able to sleep alone, so she was glad that Riley was there. He just nodded once, his mind wandering to Cara and Diana. Even Peyton and Penelope had better relationships with him than Kinsey did, even if they were 'fake'.

He realized he hadn't said anything and he cleared his throat, straightening, "well I should leave you and lover boy alone," he suggested, his brow furrowing at her. "Guess I'm glad you're not dead," he added.

@kinsey

[Deleted]

Kinsey didn't know why Dom was still here. She didn't know why he came in the first place. He didn't seem to care by the fact that she hadn't thought about what would happen to Priscilla. He didn't seem to be caring about anything really. Why was he here? Kinsey shrugged back at him, not sure what she could say to that. He was right. It didn't matter whether she'd thought about it or not, there were going to be consequences for Priscilla and they weren't going to be very enjoyable for her. 

He stood up randomly, saying that he should leave and Kinsey nodded automatically. "Okay, y-yeah," she stuttered, surprised by how quickly he changed what he was doing. "Thanks?" She watched him nervously, wondering if he really was going to leave or not. 

@dominic
(you can end?)