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[carinaserafina]

DAVEY:

        david isn’t used to getting a good night’s sleep—or even an acceptable night’s sleep, which is more accurate to what he’s gotten here. it’s not every day that he isn’t lying awake in torment and waiting for exhaustion to finally pull him into fitful nightmares. but the nightmares, while still present, are hazier in his mind this morning than usual. “i’m sure we can spare a few more minutes…” he mumbles, voice still thick with sleep. “kids are never on time, anyway…” still, once carina starts to pull herself from the comfort of her bed, he prepares himself to sit up, too. thinks about it, at least. “maybe… do you have decaf?”

“For you, I’m sure I can find some.” Or she could stay in bed with him, then get coffee on the way to the aquarium... No! No. She needs to be a good mother and put Lottie before her sex drive. Making her wait in a queue at Starbucks when she’s excited to see the fish would be cruel. After pressing a couple of kisses to Davey’s neck, she finds the strength to drag herself out of bed. ���Or I can make you tea, if you want?” she asks, glancing back at him over her shoulder as she puts on his shirt. There’s nobody else inside the apartment, but being completely naked in front of Sebby while she’s giving him his breakfast feels wrong. 

[carinaserafina]

JANUARY:

“That’s wonderful! Well, for you anyway.” She laughs, taking a sip of her own mimosa. Levi is going to be devastated, but it’s no skin off her back at all; her baby brother can deal with the fallout and she can be there on the back end to pick him up off his ass. Or not. Who knows, maybe the therapy works after all. “Are you dating around? Price comparing, window shopping, or is this an ‘eggs in one basket’ situation? Did you introduce my niece yet or is that just… a nice surprise when you get to it?” 

“I thought I’d be dating around, we were initially friends with benefits. I haven’t slept with anyone but him, though. Even flirting feels like I’m betraying him.” Carina doesn’t know how David has managed to win her over, but he has. Maybe it’s because he didn’t try at all. He only has to be himself and she’s happy. His brooding darkness compliments her bright light. “They’ve met. It was an accident, though. My abuelo brought her home early one afternoon, and I had no choice but to introduce them. I’m glad I did, they get along well. Charlotte is a little sassy, but she’s like that with everyone. The whole finding her feet and personality thing. She takes after us very much,” Carina laughs.

[carinaserafina]

[carinaserafina]

JANUARY:

@carinaserafina​—

“Have you ever thought of dating again?” The light of a Sunday brunch is hardly something to scoff at, but she throws the question out easily. Of course, the answer either way is alright, but perhaps she can pass off the question as something else.

Carina feels fear settling in the pit of her stomach when she she hears January’s question. Is this some kind of trap? Did Charlotte blab to Levi, and now he’s getting his sister to do his dirty work? Will this be something he tries to use against her in court, if she tells the truth? “I... I’ve more than thought about it,” she says, preferring to be honest over January getting the truth out of her another way, should she wish to. “I’m sort of seeing someone. We haven’t labelled what we are, but I’m happy. His name is David, and I’m hoping that I’ll eventually be calling him my boyfriend.”

[carinaserafina]

closed starter // @nearcataclysm​

“I know I said we’d take Lottie to the aquarium today, but what if we just stay in bed, instead?” Carina grumbles, rolling onto her side to face Davey. Her bed is warm, comfy, and has an absurdly handsome man in it. Why would she ever want to get out of it? Charlotte is with Levi until lunchtime, but it’s already 10am, and they need to get ready. Eyes fluttering open, she leans in and kisses Davey. “Do you want coffee?” Carina asks, arms stretching above her head as she yawns. They should’ve slept earlier, but... there were more exciting things to do.

[carinaserafina]

[carinaserafina]

DAVEY:

         david nods, echoing her sentiment. children are uniquely… unimpeded when it comes to asking questions, and too many questions has always been a problem for him. most often, what people come to him for are easy answers. he doesn’t have anything easy to respond with when it comes to him and carina. spending time with her goes against everything he’s ever felt. attachments ultimately lead to suffering, and yet… easier to focus on other things. like sebby, their cat. even if he doesn’t envy them the end of his life. that’s something he’ll also keep to himself. there’s no need to sour things for anyone else.

         “whatever you end up calling him, he’s a very nice cat.” gingerly, he reaches out a hand for the animal to sniff. sebby, of course, is perfectly content to stay where he is, entirely unbothered by the stranger at hand. maybe if he smelled more like fish, he’d be more interesting. “looks like i did get a cat,” he teases ( not fully-hearted, but he’s trying ) leaning into carina’s touch. “you’ll just have to help take care of him for me.”

“Consider yourself lucky that she didn’t talk you into a dog,” Carina teases, looking up at him as she gives his waist a playful pinch. So far, things are going well. Charlotte hasn’t screamed about stranger danger or bitten David’s kneecaps, and he hasn’t said anything morbid or terrifying. Maybe she should’ve let the two of them meet sooner, but the time never felt right until now, even if she was kind of pushed headfirst into the situation. Better late than never, right?

Carina nods. Sebby is her best friend, she’ll always take good care of that spoiled rotten cat. “You just have to show up to pet him, I’ll take care of the rest, cariño. I’ll text you next time Lottie is home for the day, and you can get to know each other better, if that’s something you’d like? We could take her somewhere fun.” Eventually, Charlotte will spill the beans to Levi about mami’s good friend, but she’ll cross that bridge when she comes to it. For now, she wants to take baby steps towards being happy again. “No pressure, though.”

[carinaserafina]

DANNY​:

         “i don’t know how true that is. most people can just do it with their own phones.” sure, professional advice can be taken… and most people don’t want to do their own christmas and wedding photos, but still. he’s hardly essential! but more surprising than any reason she could conjure up for why his position is respectful enough is her own career choice. a model? well, she certainly looks the part! but now he’s even more nervous about talking to her. “a… model?” he asks, wondering if he’s missing a joke. wouldn’t be very funny, though. “like, actually?” he swallows. “…do you like it?”

“While that’s true, there’s something beautiful about photos taken the old fashioned way, you know? I have an old polaroid camera that I use to take pictures of my daughter, and my friends. It feels more... authentic? I think that’s the word I’m looking for.” Carina had dabbled in developing her own photos back in college, but her passion for that didn’t override her passion for modelling. Danny’s reaction to her job is a little strange — he seems genuinely interested and a little bit nervous. “For realsies! I went to school to study law, then dropped out to pursue modelling. I’ve been doing it for 10 years, so I think that means I like it. Some days I feel like I don’t, though,” she laughs.

[carinaserafina]

I'm tired of figuring out Whether you're in or you're not I see it as a warning I feel it in the morning I've got those lingering doubts Showing me with and without I see it as a warning I feel it as I'm falling

@surelevi​

[carinaserafina]

ANNIE:

“Oh,” Annie sing-songs. There’s a knowing smile on her face, and she nods. “This Davey character sounds special. Are you guys just… you know, messing around or whatever? Or is it that special?” Annie links their arms as she speaks, heading off in the direction of the nearest coffee shop. “Oh, it’s like innate to have super strength under five, I swear. Odette had a hell of a leg as a kid. My thighs were bruised anytime she slept in my bed.” Annie lolled her head to the side and just laughed. “Hardly. Not that I’m out there looking for them, but it was another lonely night of sleeping alone in my bed. Nothing out of the usual.”

“Truth be told, I’m not really sure. It was just messing around at first, but now I don’t know. We have this word, back home in Rio: it’s ‘saudade’. It’s for when you more than miss someone. For when you’re yearning for them and get hit with melancholy. That’s how I feel when I don’t see him for more than a couple of days.” Carina is still working through her trust and commitment issues; however, that doesn’t mean she can stop herself from feeling something for Davey. She’s always been a sensitive person who finds it hard to detach herself from certain situations and feelings. “Yeah, I hope she hasn’t left any bruises on my ribs. They might be weird to explain to photographers and the wardrobe department,” she laughs. Carina bumps Annie’s hip with her own, giving her a mischievous grin. “You should let me take you on one of my jobs sometime. I travel everywhere, so we could find you a nice Greek God or Goddess to hook up with, or a Parisian charmer, if that’s more your thing. Orrr! We could just sightsee and drink wine.”

[carinaserafina]

LEVI:

“ i think we could really trace it all back to the, uh… ” - what was her name ? oh, yeah ! - “ maleficent. her dragon form would’ve been enough to traumatize kids for years. ” then again, if they’d followed the real formula of sleeping beauty – the brothers grimm version – disney would’ve been out as quickly as it got in. thinking back on it… between sid, as carina had mentioned, and characters like claude frollo, horned king, ursula… they had a good roster of pretty terrifying villains. maybe it was for the best that charlotte wasn’t too much of a disney kid…

“ thank you, ” levi said with a nod as he took the water bottle. a subtle smile grew as carina explained the backstory of the bottle – of course she did. he would’ve expected nothing less ! “ it’s alright – i like it. it’s very… ” holding it out and twirling it around, he continued, “ sweet. ” a definite departure from the disney villains levi had just been thinking about. he would never be one of those parents who didn’t let their child watch a movie because it contained a slightly scary villain ( those had always been his favorite ones ! ), but the purity of mickey mouse provided a fine contrast to the mental image of bruce mauling dory and marlin.

glancing at his watch, as subtly as he could, he hoped and prayed charlotte would be getting home from school soon. there was only so much he could talk about with carina nowadays – so much that wouldn’t trudge up something from the past or further exacerbate something in the future. the love was not lost – as long as she was charlotte’s mother, and as long as she was a good one, at that ( he couldn’t picture her ever not being a good one ), it never could be. but the divorce had skewed his perception. when he looked at her now, he did not see a woman he had chosen to keep a secret from out of fear – no, he saw a woman who… quite frankly, looked like she fit all the bills a judge would want to see. he could accept that he didn’t deserve full custody, and he could even accept that he didn’t deserve half-and-half – it all went back to the bottle. but he could never accept that he didn’t deserve partial in any way, shape, or form. he didn’t even know if he should’ve considered his suspicions ‘suspicions.’ 

Carina smiles, nodding. “Charlotte is a very sweet little girl. We got lucky when we were blessed with her.” Considering both of her parents are mutants, there was a chance that she could’ve been born with a powerful ability. So far, she’s been the perfect, human daughter. Sure, she’s prone to temper tantrums like any other four-year-old, but she’s mostly loving, kind, and knows her own mind. She got the best parts of both her parents, luckily. They’ve done a great job at raising her, Carina thinks, despite their complicated circumstances. It would’ve been easy to let anger and hurt get the better of both of them, especially during the custody battle. They remained civilised and calm at times when they would’ve loved nothing more than to strangle each other. 

Noticing Levi glancing at his watch, Carina swallows and looks towards the front door. Hopefully, her abuelo will be dropping Charlotte off anytime now. She doesn’t like this whole polite conversation thing they currently have going on. They used to be able to talk for hours without getting tired or irritated with each other, and now they’re standing in her kitchen, forcing themselves to acknowledge each other because Levi pulled away from her and their marriage. Who knew that whisky could be such a homewrecking whore? “She’ll be back in the next few minutes,” Carina says, tapping her fingernails against the kitchen countertop. 

[carinaserafina]

[carinaserafina]

[carinaserafina]

Camila Queiroz on Instagram.

[carinaserafina]

XIOMARA:

It hurts to see Carina look angry. If she asks her to leave, Xio doesn’t think she could do that. Not without trying to explain.

“I don’t know—” she answers the question, finally. What kind of fucking mutant, Xio? The kind that meant she woke up in her own grave. That she threw up embalming fluid and rot and— Fingers gently brush her cheek.

Xio bites her cheeks. Eyes stinging. With a rush of relief, Carina gives her a warning and finally, finally, reaches out. Xio holds Carina tight. Pulling her in closer, burying her head in her shoulder.  “I—I woke up, I was already buried.” Her words are muffled into Carina’s shoulder. The true horror of it difficult to describe, at least without going into detail. All that would do is make her feel worse, “Being buried fucken sucks.”

Carina’s hold on Xio is tight. She’d usually worry about squeezing her too hard, but right now she doesn’t care. This is a second chance; something other people don’t get. When people you love die, they don’t come back. Xio is somehow an exception, and Carina is going to take advantage of having her back. “How did you get out? I’m so sorry, Xio. I wish I’d known, I wish I could’ve done something.” 

One of her hands moves to the back of Xio’s head, keeping her close. It’s the same way she holds Charlotte after she’s had a bad dream or hurt herself. “You’re here now, let’s focus on that,” she says gently. Any anger that she first felt upon seeing Xio has now completely left her. All she feels now is grateful, and upset that her friend went through something so horrific. “Was it him? I know people... I can ask Jan for a favour. If it was him, I can make him pay, Xio.”

[carinaserafina]

DAVEY​: 

         at first sight, death shrouds his vision. there it is. the day she dies. so clearly it’s like he’s standing witness to it. before it can show in his face, david gives his head a quick shake to waive off the song’s grip on him. “nice to meet you,” he says, crouching so that he can better hold his hand out for a shake. but instead of taking it, charlotte turns back to her mother and pops a different question. he doesn’t quite know how to answer that, himself. they haven’t ever talked about it. just… let things hang where they were. multi-colored eyes shift in her direction, david deciding to let her take the lead on… dodging ( or not! ) her daughter’s inquiries. “that’s right,” he says, pulling himself back up.

          right on cue, the cat comes running. do you like cats? “i’ve never had a cat,” he says instead, not quite an answer. it isn’t that he doesn’t like cats. or any animal, for that matter. but having a pet has always felt cruel to him. he can see the loss before he even gets to live in their life. the loss stings just as sharply without having truly experienced it. “what’s their name?”

Charlotte wriggles in Carina’s arms, eager to get down and pet the cat. “Thank God she’s easily distracted,” she says, smiling at David as she puts her daughter down. ‘I’ve never had a cat.’ Carina has the feeling that he hasn’t experienced much joy at all during his childhood and adult years. She’s going to change that, though. Determination is one of her strongest traits. Making David happy is on her bucket list, and she won’t stop trying to bring joy to his life for as long as he wants her around.

“His name is Sebby!” Charlotte beams, a gentle hand gliding over Seb’s back. “It’s Sebastião, but she struggled with that when she was learning to talk, so Sebby ended up sticking,” Carina explains. The cat usually stays away whenever David is over, but that’s mostly because she always shuts her bedroom door to stop him from disturbing them. “Get a cat.” Charlotte looks David in the eyes, like she’s ordering him to do it, rather than suggesting it. Carina laughs, moving to wrap an arm around David’s waist. “How about we share Sebby? Davey can give him lots of love when he visits us.” The little girl huffs, then nods her head.

[carinaserafina]

ANNIE:

“Well, that makes sense. Probably not an ideal sight to see when you first open your eyes.” Though, Annie has to admit, she’d give up her right arm to see her ex’s name pop up on her screen at this point. Anything to give her some sense of hope or, hell, even just direction. But, she’s not going to preach at Carina over Annie’s outlier circumstance. “But if coffee is all we need for that reset, let’s get that going, yeah? No reason to let you continue to wallow in the bad mood if I can help it.”

“Well, I’d have preferred to see Davey’s name, let’s put it that way.” Carina still doesn’t know what David is to her; she just knows she misses him when he’s not around. She’s still trying to get over her trust issues, so she doesn’t like thinking about it too much. Nodding, she takes hold of Annie’s arm and begins to walk towards the nearest café. “Sounds like a perfect plan. Lottie kept me up most of the night. That little bug really knows how to throw a punch in her sleep,” Carina laughs. “How was your night? Any hot guys or gals stay over?” she teases.