cara-mrrsn

[cara-mrrsn]

THE LOVE WITCH (2016) dir. Anna Biller

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who: @walshparker when: very very early (haven't gone to sleep yet early) on march 22nd, the night morning before the last day of midterms where: parker's dorm room

Cara was risking a lot, considering it was the day midterms ended and everyone was abut to head off for spring break. Maybe Parker wouldn't even be there. But she found herself standing at the door of the girl who had grown up next door to the Morrison's, mascara tear streaked down her cheeks - something she had always found glamorous in a way - as she banged repeatedly until it swung open. She just blinked a few times, when it did, eyes settling on Parker as another tear slipped down her cheek. "I need your help."

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Cara swung open the door to see Milo, her expression registering none of the surprise she felt at him turning up at her door. She could never quite keep track of if they were getting along or not, any given day seeming to be different - totally because of him, not her moods that changed with the weather, of course. In less than a blank, she cast her mind over the last few times she had seen him, unable to recall a reason they'd be at odds at the moment. May as well hear him out, despite the oddness of his unannounced arrival, Cara leaning onto the door frame, one shoulder propped against it as she quirked an eyebrow up at him, her only greeting and the only indication he could go on. "Usually when someone turns up at my door spouting about how much they need me, it's not for talking," she said, a low laugh leaving her throat as she stepped back. Cara rolled her eyes at him, a hint of a smirk playing on her lips - amused, perhaps, by the turn of events that resulted in her having power in the situation, even if she didn't know what they were - before she motioned for him to come in.

Where: Cara's Dorm When: Some evening Who: @cara-mrrsn

Natalia could have answered the door and he would have accepted that as a sign from some higher power to go to her for help. He didn't think she'd even give him a hard time -- well, yes, she would give him a hard time. But not a bad one, just an annoying one. That being said it might be too easy, he didn't think G would accept that. So, while he would have given up the moment he saw Natalia at the door, that wasn't what the universe had in store for him when it was, in fact, Cara who answered. Sadly, that was what he had wanted. "Hey," he said, almost expecting her to just close the door in his face for one reason or another, just because she felt like it that day. Still he was standing here, so… He could be as charming as possible. Milo put his hand on the door frame (not that it would stop her from closing it on his hand if she so wanted) and leaned towards Cara to speak, "I need you for something. Could we talk?"

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Cara's eyebrows arched up, an unimpressed expression on her face as she sucked on her teeth. The derisive noise didn't clarify much, it seemingly equally possible that Cara disapproved of the actual concept as she did of the sarcasm. Even though one of those was more than deserved, considering how she had answered first. "I did," she answered a moment later, not offering anything else. It hadn't been that long ago she had thrown around Henrietta's name with Monty in discussing hers, not that she had much considered it. "I don't know anything about that. I don't even know if her car was still here when she left or if she had brought it back home. Maybe it wasn't working because she fucking ran someone over. All I know is it wasn't at the Hamptons yet when she..." Cara's voice trailed off, the younger Morrison shrugging up a shoulder. Ran away. Disappeared. Vanished. Whatever word she would've chosen, saying it outright still didn't feel right somehow.

"Oh, you know, I need an angle for my tell-all interview." The tone is deadpan, the intonation flat, sarcasm matching that of the younger Morrison sister. This was on her, was it not? To have thought she could get an actual answer out of Cara, without having to resort to playing social surgeon, piecing together microscopic pieces of information until she was left with something resembled the truth. In an instant, Heni decides it is probably easier to be honest. "Did you get one of those ... fuck, I don't know what to call them - Valentine's cards for G? Mine indicated that someone may have hit someone with Greer's car. Or been in her car when she hit someone."

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Cara nodded her head again, lips pursed out, irritation writing itself deeper into the lines of her face as she thought about it. A few sentences from Monty, and she was thoroughly convinced. Perhaps it was just that the suggestion made perfect sense - or perhaps it was just that she was highly suggestible. Either way, there would be no turning her mind from what he had just suggested, Monty even prompting the question of alternatives pointless.

Granted, part of that also may have come from the fact that she knew others may say that she was the answer. But she was never going to slot into Greer's place, those that had carved one out for her sister making it obvious how inadequate she was. She flashed him an impatient look, shrugging up her shoulders. "Heni, maybe," she said, teeth absentmindedly pulling at her lower lip, eyes turning distant again as she thought it over. Henrietta was close to Greer, right at her side - it would make sense, wouldn't it? "Or Charlie. But she's graduated, so..." so why would G still be tormenting her? What a horrible possibility to consider, that graduation wouldn't free them from this. She let her sentence trail off instead of saying it, her answers not all that convincing anyways.

There was a twitch of his brows, so subtle it practically hadn't happened at all, his face remaining a blank slate of open neutrality when Cara met his gaze. Her agreement surprised him, but it intrigued him even more. Monty couldn't help but nod, doubling down with the wry twist of a tired smile, "She really made out like a bandit this year." To claim that Parker was reveling in Greer's disappearance ignored a lot of knowledge he had. It dismissed the Portugal flight information that she'd willing shared, all the collaboration she'd done with Ollie, along with the journals compiling clues they'd began together. It completely contradicted her mourning that he'd witnessed in private, but in this moment, Monty found he didn't care. He wasn't trying to insinuate that Parker was G or anything that unhinged, just that… maybe, somewhere deep down, she hadn't actually liked Greer. That's what Cara had asked, right? And if she extrapolated more from that, then oops!

"Who else could you imagine taking Greer's place?" The proximity of Parker to Greer just made sense. It fit, clicking into place so perfectly that it was almost more of a shock no one had accused her sooner. The look on Cara's face had Monty wondering what her relationship with Parker was like, only just then realizing how little he'd ever seen them together, yet they had to have spent a similar amount of time together growing up. No one was ever truly knowable, huh? Inhaling sharply, he scoffed a short chuckle while sinking even lower in his seat, muttering, "How fucked."

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Cara's chin tucked towards her chest, listening to Heni's conspiratorial whisper before her lips curled upwards in a bitter smirk, a small huff of laughter slipping from her. "Oh, I don't know," she said, drawling out the words. "Maybe you should call up Jesse's dad to ask him to psychoanalyze you," she suggested, arching up one eyebrow at the other girl as she brushed off her shoulder. "And what does it say about me that my best response to that is to point out that there have been more than a few moments I've hated you?" Cara asked, her head tipping ever so slightly towards the shoulder Henrietta's fingers had just lingered over.

"Nor with me. At least not all the time." It's an admission of sorts – spurred on by the perception of their temporary confinement. Maybe she was labouring under the understanding that what was said in the closet, would remain there afterwards. Plus, it would surprise her greatly if Cara had never seen Greer and Heni fight. Had the two of them not been sisters in that more diffuse, non-biological sense? They'd been brought together as teens, with all the territory markers and petty squabbles that brought about.

"Ah, you see, here's the thing." Voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. In for a penny, in for a pound. "I tend to only have homoerotic subtext with people I fucking hate. What does that say about me?" She leans forward then, to brush a small piece of fluff off Cara's shoulder.

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"You've never made it up to me, darling," Cara crooned in response to Link, dragging the pet name out into multiple syllables, clearly sarcastic in every single one of them. "And you know what? You know how I liked you best? Because it wasn't on your knees, Link," she said, though she was still leaning back, her shoulders and head inclined back into the wall, one leg shifting outwards ever so slightly as their hands ran over her thighs. "It was when you showed exactly how horrible you were. When you were the exact type of person that my parents would hate. You know that's the only reason I ever dated you, right?" Cara let the words hang in the air between them for a few moments, an eyebrow arching up at Link, a cruel angle coming to her lips as she delivered the barb. "So it's funny, Link. That you chose Greer over me. Because she never would've chosen you over someone who was actually good for her image."

link didn't flinch when her finger touched his skin — though the slow drag of it along his jaw made his breath hitch, just once, sharp and involuntary. he hated that she could still do that. that even now, even after all the knives they've stuck in each other's ribs, one look from her made something in him twist tight and low.

"beg," she said.

and fuck if it didn't make him smile. not the arrogant, smug kind that he wore like his armor on campus — but the crooked, dangerous kind that meant he'd already made up his mind.

his voice drops, "of course you'd make me say it," he murmured, the corners of his mouth twitching as he leaned in closer, the air between them thick enough to choke on. "you always liked it best when i was on my knees for you." link let his hands rest on her thighs, not pushing, just settling — like someone getting comfortable in surrender. his eyes didn't leave hers, not even for a second. "forgiveness is too expensive a thing to ask for without offering something in return," he says, "so let me make it up to you the only way you've ever really let me." and then he stops, just staring at her and waiting for movement, a response — any sign of approval from her, before he even moved an inch.

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"Hypothetically?" Cara echoed, a furrow appearing between her brows as she considered it for a moment. She had done a lot of shitty things, but had never been concerned with her parents cutting her off. For the most part. There had been one time... "No," she answered after a beat. "I think my parents have always made it clear that they think the answer to a problem is throwing more money at it, not less. Seems to apply to me so far too."

she gnawed at her bottom lip, unsure exactly how much to reveal. "well, like, imagine if you got into a really big fight with your parents. and they thought they could make you do what they wanted because of the money. and so wouldn't you want to be able to tell them to fuck off and that you don't need the money?" she paused to breathe. "as a hypothetical."

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A slow shift of her eyes in Parker's direction was the only response Cara gave, waiting for her to continue, to explain whatever her words had apparently reminded her of. Her tongue pressed into her teeth once she started speaking, Cara sucking on it before she shrugged, breaking her gaze in the other girl's direction. "Never much understood the points Greer was trying to make, personally," she said, the words crisp in her curtness. "You're probably better off on figuring that one out without me."

it was clear in the way that cara's features shifted that parker hadn't gotten it right. the expression, though brief, cemented the assumption's failure before her words could, though they were quick to catch up. not that parker was unfamiliar with being unable to figure the other girl and her thoughts out. as much as she'd tried—which wasn't a ton, but also wasn't never—she could never enter the right passcode and gain entry into cara's brain. it stung especially now, with greer gone and parker imagining she needed someone to talk to about it. but, then again, maybe that was also wrong.

"that reminds me," parker started, the words trailed by a brief pause. her thoughts snagged on a memory like a sweater sleeve on the corner of a table. make a point, make a point. jesus, what was it? then, with a raise of her brows, it came back to her. "greer's and penny's texts. something like, to make a point you actually have to make the point. and greer said she would."

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Cara's thickly mascaraed lashes fluttered a few times, eyes not shifting away from Diego, clearly appraising him. She made a soft humming noise, though whether it was in agreement or the opposite was anyone's guess. Perhaps his door was always open to her - or perhaps he meant it was open so long as he and her sister didn't find a way to shut it. After all, Cara had found a door swinging shut in her face as Diego trailed after Greer more than once. She finally looked away from him, shrugging up a shoulder. "It's fine," she said, her voice flat - she could be as truthful as he had been. "Nothing I need to talk about."

He was sympathetic, but he tried to not seem like he was feeling sorry for Cara. She might not mind if it was someone else, but he felt like being gone, and having not really kept in great contact with her she might not be so willing to recieve too much sympathy from him. Maybe later, but not at this very moment in time. He was probably currently on thin ice, all the gifts in the world couldn't fix everything. Or at least he wasn't the sort of person who would try that. Even if it did help a little bit.

"Well," he started, "I know that I haven't been around, but I am here now to suffer through all this with the rest of you now. If you ever need someone to talk, or vent to about anything my door is always open to you, Cara. I hope you know that." Was it completely true that 'always'? Had it always been the case? Diego liked to think so. Despite the four to five years something (someone) had come between their friendship. He liked to think it had always been true. Cara may have had some other views on it though.

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no one appreciates that i could be a million times worse

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Cara shrugged up her shoulders, a slight roll of her eyes accompanying the motion. Something about the idea of it was appealing to her - not the living in the car aspect, she would surely only drive between 5 star hotels - but the...driving off into the sunset aspect, she supposed. She didn't bother explaining that to Heni, though. Or rather, didn't have a chance to, quickly pulled along to the apparent actual question. A scoff, a raise of her eyebrows, Cara shaking her head. "Sure," she said, sarcasm layered into the word, as clear of a non-answer as Cara could give. "Why are you asking me this, Henrietta?"

There it was – the first hurdle. Present and in the way for Heni to trip over, as usual. So Cara couldn't drive. That really did throw a spanner in the works, didn't it? Heni kicks at another small pebble in pent-up frustration, watching it bounce across the sandy dunes for a moment before grinding to a halt next to a similar rock. And it it this, the two pebbles in close proximity, that makes her think maybe all was not lost yet. Either that, or the sore loser in her refused to believe she'd wasted a line of inquiry on someone who knew nothing.

"What?" There's genuine horror in her voice. "Live in my car, visit unimportant landmarks, wear the same outfit several days in a row? Does that sound like something I'd suggest for fun?" At most, Heni believed she could last one night. Even the winter trips had been a stretch, and neither of those had been remotely off-grid. She composes herself, eyes meeting Cara's once more. "But she would drive you places, no? Did she ...." A beat. "Ever, I don't know, hit anyone?"

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Cara exhaled a snort of air from her nose, eyebrows flicking up at Monty's response. That was exactly what she meant. It felt...so frivolous, the way he put it. So stupid. Was that really what all of this was about. She thought for a few moments, before she shook her head. "No," she said simply, sucking on her teeth after she shut down his first suggestion. "Milo was...loyal to her. Trust me." She was a good person to ask, after all. He had chosen Greer over her enough times - he wasn't looking to overthrow her. She would've known.

Perhaps she was the right person to figure this out. Because anyone looking to take down Greer, to replace her...would've been on Cara's side, wouldn't they have? Her lips pursed as the realization came to her, eyes flickering back and forth as more thoughts than she usually had at once crossed through her mind, leaving her utterly unable to put them together.

A few blinks brought Cara back to the moment, shaking her head like an etch-a-sketch as she tuned back into what Monty was saying, his focus elsewhere as he was speaking - meaning he likely hadn't noticed her little foray into her own mind, his own thoughts having put something together far faster than she would've gotten there. She made a humming sound, eyes narrowing. "You know..." she murmured, turning to look at him, lips parted with the realization. "You're right." Cara let out a short laugh, nodding her head slowly. Parker had always played both sides, Cara seeing straight through it. "Do you really think..." she paused, jaw clenching, a flash of irritation crossing her face. "It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

Monty's head tipped back against the cushions as he slouched low in his seat, eyes glued to Cara's pouty expression while she ruminated on what to say, seemingly picking and choosing her words more carefully than ever. Maybe it should've made him nervous. Maybe he should've been on edge already. It was hard to be, though, when somehow he'd mostly always felt like he was on even footing with Cara. She was someone that he trusted and, in turn, she trusted him enough to begin a frank discussion about her missing sister. "Someone who wanted to usurp her as queen bee, you mean?" His brows arched in return, the curve of his smile practically teasing as he took a beat to think on it. Eventually, Monty gave into an unhelpful shrug. "Milo could've gotten sick of playing tennis with her." He snorted, demonstrating just how stupid he found sports rivalries, but there could've genuinely been something there, especially considering the potential sponsorships that hung in the balance.

"I haven't heard anything legit alarming." His gaze slid away from Cara, staring at the ground and chewing at his lower lip. Most people had clammed up pretty tight once the police began traipsing all over campus -- except for Monty. Just this time last year, with Parker, he'd been telling her that he was glad Greer was gone. Suddenly, his brain was lighting up, every synapses firing, and he didn't know what he was doing, but he was already saying it, suggesting to Cara, "But that's not say nobody's benefited from her absence." He blinked back to her, pausing for a moment, fingers drumming on the arm of the sofa. "Parker finally scored Homecoming queen this year. And she scored with Jesse" - another dull snort on his part - "who, y'know, before was just telling me all kinds of bullshit about fucking around with Greer and running away together the last time she came up, so…" He shrugged, not at all subtle in his implication.

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Cara's chin lifted up ever so slightly, her tongue darting out to run over her lower lip as she watched Link. Her eyes were fixed on him, not so much as blinking as he lowered himself to their knees in front of her. She didn't believe him - not for a moment. He could sweet talk all he want. She'd never trust him again, enough lies having come out of her lips for an entire lifetime in their brief relationship. It was part of what had drawn her to him, honestly - his complete inability to be trusted and yet charm someone into doing it regardless. It just wasn't supposed to be her that was charmed.

And though she had no intention of forgiving him...that didn't mean she couldn't play.

Reaching out, Cara ran her index finger along Link's jawline, eyes staying on his the entire time before she spoke, one word all she needed. "Beg."

"touché." he scoffs, crossing his arms over each other as he tilts his head, keeping his eyes trained on her. "it was certainly one of the things i liked about you. i do like about you." he corrects himself. with their personality, link was so used to having people wishing they were dead, or being mad at them — and he could not care less. with cara, however, they've been fighting for her forgiveness for quite some time now. she had a certain power over them, one that greer could never seem to have over link like she did with the almost the rest of the student body. "cara..." link brings themself to their knees in front of where cara was sitting, the room becoming too cramped for their liking. they look up at her with the same eyes that they have always looked at her with, since they met. "tell me what i can do to get you to forgive me."

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"Especially not with me," Cara responded, a dry laugh leaving her lips, no actual amusement in her words any longer, not with the subject at hand. It was too true, too bitter, too...personal for Cara to be able to laugh genuinely at it. Maybe if Greer was here, maybe if they had been able to grow up and get over their childhood of butting heads and tumultuous relationship with their parents. But they'd never be allowed to get to that point now.

With a sigh, her eyes drifted closed for a moment, regret and anger and resentment nearly physical in the force it felt like she was being punched with before she opened them back up to look at Heni - at least as much as she could in the dark, brushing past that moment and letting an insolent smirk lift one side of her lips. "God, I think she wanted to kill me when she found out about Link and I. I can only imagine her reaction if she thought we had hooked up." Cara paused, a snort of laughter following for a moment. "Then again, I'm still pretty sure her and Link had some weird sexual tension, so maybe not. Unless I seriously misunderstood your guys relationship."

It's a blessing, in a sense, to be in this closet. The lack of light means she cannot actually see Cara, can't see the features that had passed from older sister to younger sister. It was in the details, she thought - the glint of her eye, the curve where her lips met. It was diffuse, and intangible, and inescapable. When she looked at Cara, she saw Greer. And it fucking hurt. Gripped her and squeezed, leaving her momentarily short of breath whenever the thought hit her. Cara, through no fault of her own, was a reminder. Of what had been, and what likely would never be again.

Heni laughs, imagining Greer for a moment. Wonders what she would have said. Imagines the way her brows would knit together upon being told. "She was never good at sharing, was she?"

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A pause, Cara's lips parting ever so slightly as she gave Beck a look of confusion. "If you say so," she drawled, the words flat. She couldn't exactly relate - she'd charge her parents credit card over and over as payback for their horrific job of being, well...her parents. The least they could do is indulge her every financial whim. "I don't see the correlation between not needing them and draining them dry, if I'm being honest."

this was a delicate needle to thread; it was entirely possible the loss of the hoffman credit card might cause her to lose face with cara. however, it was also entirely possible that cara would be impressed by her middle finger to her parents. "i just think it's good to make some money on my own. you know, so my fucking parents can't tell me what to do with it." true, if not entirely comprehensive. "show them i don't need them for anything."

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Cara's eyebrows dipped inwards, a deep furrow appearing as she took in Parker's response, it taking a few moments to even figure out what she was saying, so far off the mark it was. A soft sigh followed as her expression smoothed out, shaking her head. "That's not what I meant," she said, a bone weary exhaustion settling over her. People missing her had not been the worse she meant. If anything, in Cara's mind...that was a pro. But she didn't bother explaining, unsure if she even could as she shrugged up her shoulders. "No," she said, ever the defeatist. "I think they'll stop when they make their point."

frankly, parker didn't expect cara to give any more details than that—than dropping out, maybe. everyone, it seemed, was more inclined to be sparse on the details of... anything, for the last long while. so, when she spoke again, parker's eyes cut towards hers with proper interest.

the space that followed the first few words allowed her mind to populate with potential answers. abandoning everyone, giving up on greer. but, as she should've expected, the explanation wasn't quite so damning or crystalline. "i mean, sure. i'm sure everyone would be sad at the idea of you leaving, but you have to put yourself first at some point." she sighed. "honestly, i'd really consider it for next year, if g is still poking around." the thought gave parker pause. "do you think they'll stop—like, after when greer would've graduated?"