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princessaltheasolitarius:

Althea loved boxing, the seconds best thing after listening to music. Since coming to the castle, she hadn’t had her chance of hitting up the gym, however the time had come. 

To say she was expecting a bo staff flying to her face as soon as she walked in, would be a lie. Bless the vampire reflexes as she raised a hand, stopping it with the back of her hand. “Quiet a welcoming,” she chuckled softly, as she noticed the human hadn’t done that on purpose, “it’s okay. You seem pretty focused, hm?”

Katerina didn’t want to depend on others for protection. She wanted to learn how to defend herself, to protect herself. When someone blocked the staff, she lowered it. 

“I used to be better at this and I want to get there again,” she replied, keeping it at her side. 

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ofvcmpires:

“gotha … ah yes, your marriage was a lovely ceremony. or so i’ve heard, i’m afraid i could not attend, but i have sent a hamper of gifts to your household.” cornelia smiled. she’d loved weddings, except her own, and visited every ceremony she could to watch the beautiful service. it gave her hope that there was still happiness in the world. although with these arrangements, she supposed she didn’t know which were happy and which were weren’t. “how is married life treating you, dear?”

“The gifts were beautiful, thank you,” Katerina told her. She had wished she could have met and fallen in love with Atticus the old-fashioned way, but she wouldn’t change it for anything. For once, the Paragons did something right. “Married life is great so far, but it’s just the beginning.”

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thepippacampbell:

Pippa nodded. She could understand why Katerina was doing this. Ever since the new about the humans death, Pippa couldn’t help but feel so…weak and broken. “Will you teach me?” she asked. “Just basic things so I can defend myself…in case.”

If anything, she could learn and teach enough to give any attacking supernatural a nasty surprise. In Bulgaria, she had learned some self-defense. Fencing. Some hand-to-hand. How to stake a vampire, because it was the only supernatural that she could get close enough to kill. It was the ultimate irony that her people’s greatest enemy was her great love. “What do you want to know?” Katerina asked.

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thepippacampbell:

“Believe me, I know. It’s terrifying. But if we stay strong, stick together, then I know we’ll be alright. Plus, you’ve got that amazing husband of yours and I doubt he’s going to let anything touch you.”

Just once, Katerina wanted the protection to be two-sided, so Atticus didn’t have to worry about taking care of his very fragile, very mortal wife. “It’s why I’m here. Training constantly. I can’t just sit around. If I’m going into this, I have to be strong. Even if it means I look all...Buffyish.”

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thepippacampbell:

Pippa wasn’t sure she entirely agreed. “That’s eternity, Kat. It’s watching everyone you love die. I’m not sure I could go through with that right now.”

Katerina hadn’t thought of that. Knowing she would outlive her parents...possibly never see them again. Stuck forever at twenty-three. “I just can’t take feeling powerless.”

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thepippacampbell:

Pippa nodded. “I know, love. I’ll make it work. You know me, I’m not going to sit down and nod. I’m going to end up happy at the end of the day.”

“I know you won’t,” Katerina agreed. She needed to not feel so....terrified. Powerless. “Maybe turning wouldn’t be such a bad idea with this...this damn war.”

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thepippacampbell:

“I’ll be fine, Katerina, really. I can handle myself.” She could, she was confident in that. She would make things work no matter what. It just might take some time. “I’m not worried about it.”

As long as Pippa was certain, Katerina would let it go as requested. “I know you can. I’m just going to be my incredibly overprotective self because I want to make sure you’re as happy as you can be.”

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thepippacampbell:

“I know, Katerina,” she said softly. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that what was going on wasn’t entirely right. She’d wanted prince charming and ended up with Jack the Ripper. “I’m trying to work things out.”

Pippa deserved a man who would treat her like the absolute gem she was. “I hope you do. You deserve some guy who’s going to treat you like a queen.” Katerina wanted it for her. She wanted her best friend to be happy.

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thepippacampbell:

Pippa wanted to say yes. She wanted to believe that he did. But she wasn’t sure. He’d asked to drink from her, but that was the only thing. Everything else had been demand rather than question. “Sometimes,” she said softly.

It could be that Katerina was still stuck in the la vie en rose, honeymoon phase of her marriage, but somehow, she knew deep down that everything should be mutual. Choices, being turned. Nothing should be decided for someone else. “I think that respect should an all-the-time thing,” she commented, her tone as gentle as it could possibly be. 

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thepippacampbell:

“He’s just intense, that’s all,” she shrugged, even though she wasn’t convinced that was the case. Intense was one thing. Jack seemed to be something else entirely. He was…controlling. He had admitted to her that he was used to just taking what he wanted from people. “I don’t think anyone has ever told him no before.”

“Just...tell me one thing. Does he respect what you want? Is he willing to listen to what you have to say?” Katerina asked. Do you feel safe with him? was the real question she wanted to ask. 

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thepippacampbell:

“No, he’s never hurt me,” she replied honestly. She knew her friend well and she knew she wasn’t going to let this go. “Katerina, really, I’m fine. I know that face. Don’t feel the need to like, go all Buffy on him. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

“I’m not going to go all Buffy on him,” Katerina promised, though she would keep an eye on him. She was an overprotective control freak but she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from wanting to make sure she was safe. “I just...don’t want you hurt.”

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thepippacampbell:

Pippa looked down at her hands. She didn’t want to be afraid of her fiance. She wanted to be strong like Katerina. But she wasn’t. And she was terrified of him. “I’m being careful,” she said softly. She would never admit that she was scared. But she was very conscious of making sure her hair covered the bites on her neck.

Katerina knew Pippa well. She knew when she was putting on a brave face and she knew when to push. This wasn’t one of those times to prod her, but something about this Baumgartner didn’t sit well with Katerina. At all. She needed to get on her vervain ring and find this...Jack. “Is he hurting you?” she asked gently.

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thepippacampbell:

“Baumgartner,” she said. She didn’t know anything about the families. “His name is Jack. I don’t know about him, Kat. He doesn’t ask me things so much as he tells me them. Like he’s decided I’m going to Vienna with him when this is over and that he’s going to change me someday.”

Baumgartner. There wasn’t much that she knew about them, except that she now was afraid for Pippa. She knew about the Vadoll family and the Milano family. She knew about the Gothas and the Dumitrus, but not the Baumgartners. Any that she met gave her an unsettling feeling. “You need to be careful, Pip. He could get violent.”

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thepippacampbell:

“He’s…different,” she said, shrugging. “I can’t explain it. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before. He says he’s glad it’s us that got paired. But I don’t know, sometimes I can’t tell if he likes me.” Or if he just likes my blood.

“What family is he from?” she asked curiously. She knew of the other families from extensive research. It cemented her relief that she had been paired with Atticus. 

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damagedlivcs:

The news was devastating, obviously. People were dying left and right and there wasn’t much being done about it. The vampire hated that she had to sit quietly when she could be out putting a stop to everything. She made the decision to go to the gym, she figured it was the best way to relieve stress and temporarily take her mind off of everything happening. 

She knew it was Katerina pretty quickly upon entering. She remembered her scent from the wedding, and she still felt terrible for the girl. “Jesus, Katerina,” Millicent exclaimed as she lowered her weapon. “You should be more careful with those things,” she told her softly. “You could’ve hit someone who doesn’t have an accelerated healing rate.”

Katerina quickly set down the bow staff when she recognized Millicent. She recognized her from the wedding last week and immediately felt a flood of guilt. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. She was rusty and clumsy with self-defense and it was going to get her killed. “I’m reacting preemptively.” The absolute last thing she wanted was to be unprepared for an attack. 

“I think another war is coming...I don’t want to be unprepared for it.”

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thepippacampbell:

Pippa wrapped her arms around Katerina. “I’m fine. I had no doubts you would be, of course. I’ve been staying pretty close to my fiance. I met him at the ball. The benefit of this arranged marriage thing is now I have a big scary vampire boyfriend to help keep me safe.”

“What’s he like?” Katerina asked. It had been so long since she had spoken to Pippa. It felt like forever. 

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orionyoung:

 she nodded. ‘ usually the human defence kick comes post attack but it’s good you’re doing it preemptively. ’

“I’m not gonna get caught unprepared again.” After the first vampire attack, she had taken self-defense. She slacked until the news broadcast. There was no way she was going to feel defenseless again.