#( elif005 )

[itsronniebish]

Ronnie couldn't understand a word that Elif said, but she kind of got the idea. At least, she hoped she did, trying not to stare like too much of a fool. She slipped her arms around Elif's neck, more than a little absentminded as she murmured, "You have a really fucking pretty voice, you know?"

Blinking, Ronnie nodded as Elif spoke. She was just agreeing. She didn't even really know what to. Finally, her brain processed what she heard, and she kept nodding, more sincerely. "Yeah, yep, yes. We should stay here. Just like this is great. I'm actually super comfortable, so moving would be pretty lame, anyway." They could move later. She could move later, after Elif was asleep, around morning, hopefully slipping out and back in with breakfast. She didn't have any Eggos, and she couldn't cook for shit, but there was a twenty-four hour diner with great pancakes, and Ronnie could run there and back faster than most people could drive. And, in the morning, if it meant she could keep Elif around for a little bit longer, then that was nobody's business but her own.

"Bu mu?" Her eyes widened as she scooted even closer. Her nose nuzzled against Ronnie's as an iridescent smile she decided not to allow herself to question anymore broke across her lips. "Bu da gerçekten hoşuma gidiyor," She admitted in her native tongue as she reached out. Looping her arm around Ronnie's waist as she pulled her closer towards her until their limbs were practically intertwined. "I really like this too," She repeated what she had just said in english after her brain had a moment to catch up so that she could translate how it was she was feeling.

"We could, but," She feigned a sigh as she reached up to tuck a stray strand of hair out of Ronnie's face and back behind her ear. "That would require movement, wouldn't it?" She pointed out. Her fingertips all the while tracing the faintest of circles along Ronnie's jaw. "What if... what if we stayed here, just like this instead? You could tell me what your favorite movie is? And I could do this?" She offered up as she trailed her fingers down the nap of Ronnie's neck, leaving a line of kisses along the other girl's jaw where her fingertips had just been.

[itsronniebish]

With: @cantfightmoonlight (Elif)

Ronnie thought she needed to sleep for a week. Yeah, yeah, the necessity of sleep didn't apply to vampires. She didn't care. She needed it, and that was the end of the story. So what if it didn't do anything to get rid of the actual, literal exhaustion she was feeling? So what if it didn't get rid of the fear, or the worry, or the nagging idea that staying in this town was a death trap? Nothing mattered! Nothing mattered except sleeping, and occasionally rousing herself to go out, and sleeping some more. And blood. Blood mattered. But nothing else!

Except for the sound of the doorbell, and Ronnie was the only one home except for Shelia, and turtles couldn't exactly answer doors, so Ronnie stumbled out of her bedroom. "Just a sec," she grumbled, fumbling with the lock and getting the door open. "Yeah-- oh. Hi. Hey," she said, blinking owlishly at Elif in the doorway. "Hi."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

He gave her a look of tired warning right before she cut herself off, and grumbled. "Nice save. Just wish the tough ones would try putting other people first, people who worry about them..." Nico let out a soft snort as she cheered up, and gave her a rueful grin. "You're stuck with me, family-wise at least. Careful what you wish for, maybe they'll officially adopt you, right as I'm getting kicked out." He tied off the last stitch. "There, you're stitched, you did good." Beginning to clean up the supplies and stripping off his gloves for disposal, he reached over and gently mussed up her hair. "It's the leather jacket doing most of the work in my case. But enough comparing looks, tell me about the bakery. How's that going? Tired of being up to your elbows in flour yet?"

"I am, I am," She insisted, sitting up a little straighter despite wincing again at the sharp pain she felt across her cheek from the stitches and the rubbing alcohol to clean the wound. "That's because we are too tough. We don't need the hel-" She started to say only to quickly tact on, promising him with that of a small, yet, hopeful smile, "Outside of you that is. I'll always need your help. And I did?" Her eyes widened. Her smile growing at the thought. "I do look kinda badass, don't I? And your badass wife and I now match. It's like I'm really part of the family," Her smile grew a bit at the thought. "Now, if only I matched with you too. But, then again, you look so badass as is, it might be unfair if you had an action movie star scar on top of it all."

[itsronniebish]

"I--" Ronnie hated to see the disappointment on Elif's face. More than that was the fact that she hated knowing she'd caused it. It felt right, though. Of course she caused it. Disappointment was just a thing Ronnie did. She'd always disappoint everyone eventually. She'd been babied as a kid, as much as her distant parents knew how, making her spoiled and entitled. Ronnie knew that. She wasn't stupid. Even though she kind of was. Therein was a big part of her problem.

Her eyes drifted closed, lips against lips, Elif cutting off her words, all disappointment seemingly gone from her features. "Yeah, I like-- Yeah. It's all really nice." Her eyes opened, watching as Elif brought their laced fingers to her lips and kissed the back of Ronnie's hand. "The-- I mean, you know. The hanging out, and the more than hanging out, and the this. It's all-- It's all great." Maybe too great? She'd need to worry about that, later, when the realization of just what too great could possibly mean settled in. But she wasn't thinking about that now, as she looked over at Elif and smiled. "I mean, like, we really don't have to go to sleep. We could... Netflix and chill? Literally, without the innuendo. If you wanna."

"Oh," Her face fell. She didn't mean for her disappointment to show upon her face, but as Ronnie told her that she didn't have to, she figured that was an answer if any. Rolling onto her back, her own gaze drifted up to the ceiling as well, wondering if she should even be here anymore or if she should quickly get changed to go. "But... but what do you want me to do?" She asked quietly. Tilting her head to the side to sneak a peak at Ronnie once more.

The next few words out of Ronnie's mouth, had Elif scooting closer. Reaching over, her fingers trailed along the other girl's jawline as she brought Ronnie's gaze back to meet hers. Cutting Ronnie off with a slow and drawn out kiss before she could overthink it. "Mm, I want to too," She promised, kissing her on the cheek next and then again on her lips as if to make her statement all too visibly apparent. "I like being with you. I mean hanging out and all. Doing what all we just did and," She reached down to weave her fingers through Ronnie's. Giving the other girl's hand a lightly squeeze she brought the back of Ronnie's hand to her lips and pressed another light kiss against her skin. "This too. So, I guess I'm staying then, since it would be cool and all?" She asked, her eyes lighting up at she snuck another peak at her. "Though, I'm... not really tired yet? Are you?"

[itsronniebish]

"You don't have to," Ronnie said immediately. "If you don't want to. You don't have to." She was also squirming, wondering what the fuck she was doing. It's not like she hadn't stuck around on New Years, but she'd also... tried to go out the window and almost been burned by sunlight. And then she stuck around for waffles. Ronnie didn't have any waffles. She didn't actually know if there was food, so she'd have to rush out in the morning and pick up breakfast, and she could do that. She would do that, but also, wait. She was planning like Elif had already agreed to stay, and she hadn't, actually.

Ronnie's hand hovered, torn between wanting to continue to play with Elif's hair and be good, be normal, be distant like she was supposed to be. "I--" she started, trying to figure out the words. "I'd like you to. I want you to. If you-- If you want to." She swallowed, moving to stare at the ceiling. "I'm really happy you're okay. I'd like to-- I mean, it'd be cool to wake up. And you still be here, and be okay."

She knew the game. She knew their little routine. She'd show up at her doorstep with an infectiously bright smile and a carefree air about her. They'd wind up somehow or another in each other's arms as they indulged themselves in whatever hedonism that seemed fit. Today it happened to be in a bathtub and... around the rest of the house. But, that was what this was supposed to be. A happy sliver of indulgent. A moment where she didn't have to be caught up in her own thoughts or feel an ache of loneliness tugging at her heartstrings. It was fun. They were fun and that was as deep as it should have been. And yet, as they laid there, wide eyes starring all too deeply into each other's souls, Elif found herself nipping down on her bottom lip as she tried to resist the urge to squirm. Her breath catching her throat as Ronnie's fingers moved to tuck a few fallen strands back behind her ear. She could feel her chest tightening as her heart skipped a beat. The smallest of gulps breaking from her lips as she felt her stomach drop. Fuck. She shouldn't have come. Not when she had shown up wanting- well, she wasn't quite sure what she wanted, but whatever it was, it hadn't been this and, as distracting as Ronnie and her bathtub had been, now that their steamy antics were over, she was suddenly reminded about how these things went and how it was precisely time for her to go. She started to lift herself forwards, making a move to sit up, when Ronnie's soft words caught her off guard.

"Oh. I-" She bite down on her bottom lip as she snuck a peak over at the brunette once more. "I didn't think you'd want me to," She admitted as she slowly lowered herself back down. "Do you want me to?"

[itsronniebish]

It was super easy for Ronnie to agree to joining Elif for a bath, even easier to move with her through the house, grateful that Bri and Jonah were out with their boyfriends and likely wouldn't be home until after she picked up her clothes. Later. Much later.

After, laying in her bed, Ronnie turned her head to look at Elif and, quietly, just in her head, feel really fucking grateful that nothing had happened to the other woman that night. Not with the Catalyst, not out in the woods with the hunters. It's a really strange feeling, one that she's not used to, one that's been developing for a few months, now. Ronnie kept telling herself that she just didn't want to see Elif hurt. It didn't have to be any deeper than that. Ronnie wasn't worth anything deeper than that. Growing up, she'd never wanted to learn how to swim. There was a lot of things she hadn't wanted to learn, but swimming had always frightened her. Like, what do you mean, even if you get good at it, that there's still a chance you could drown? Fuck that. Someone joked she just didn't want to get in the deep end because she was so shallow. So, yeah. Ronnie was shallow. She got that. About as deep as a puddle. This didn't have to be deep. She didn't even think she could do deep.

All the same, Ronnie couldn't stop herself from reaching over, brushing her fingers through Elif's now clean hair. "You can stay," she murmured, "if you want. You don't have to, but you can." Ronnie would like her to. It didn't have to be any deeper than that.

"Look at you," She whispered as she unconsciously took a step forwards, over the threshold of the front door. Her arm looping around Ronnie's waist with ease as she guided her closer. The want to pull her completely up against her chest all too present in the forefront of her mind. "Making my wish come true," She murmured as her free hand continued to trace its way along her jaw. "Though, now that I think about it, it would be a bit of a waste to draw a bath in this sick tub of yours for just myself. You wouldn't happen to want to join me, would you?" She asked as her eyes couldn't help, but trail down the length of her before her brow lifted innocently upwards.

"But," She shook her head as if to shake herself from the momentary trace she had been caught up in the moment Ronnie's fingers slipped under the shirt she had nabbed from the lost and found and began to run their way across her skin. "But, I borrowed the shirt and everything so that we could-" Talk. Elif realized that, for once in life, she had actually shown up on someone's front stoop not trying to run from her problems, but face them and, yet, as she watched Ronnie's hands move to the hem of her own shirt, bringing it slowly up over her head, she realized whatever sliver of a want she may have had to try something different might have been for not. "Whoops," Her words were breathless as her gaze fell. The smile that typically burned so bright behind her gaze faltered for a flicker of a second as her own hands made their way to the hem of the crewneck, slipping it over her head with ease and tossing it to the side until she was standing there, physically completely exposed and, yet, her smile made its way back to her lips, she found herself feeling far less vulnerable than she had only a few moments before. Maybe it was for the best. They were good like this. Why make things complicated when everyone always seemed to prefer it when she was easy?

"Pants off," She said as she reached out and gave the hem of Ronnie's sweatpants a swift tug towards her. Her fingers worked to slip them off of the vampire's hips as her hands reached around Ronnie's backside, giving her bottom a tantalizing squeeze as she scooper her up bring her legs to her hips and looping them around her torso.

[itsronniebish]

"Yeah," Ronnie breathed. She didn't know if she was saying, yeah, she did have to be fine, or yeah, she knew she didn't have to. She wasn't really sure. She'd be fine eventually, the emotional and mental catching up with her body being undamaged. She'd just sleep it off. That was all that Ronnie needed to do; just sleep all of this off.

(And, if a part of her was still hoping, after all this time, to wake up in a world where none of this happened and she was still human, then that was no one's business but her own.)

Ronnie's eyes closed, and she leaned in, standing on her toes to keep close. "All good. No scrapes or bruises or anything..." She trailed off, pulling back but still holding onto Elif. As Ronnie took a step back into the house, she pulled Elif with her. "You don't have to go. You can stay." A small smile worked it's way onto her face. "I mean, you're gonna need to get a shower, but that can be fixed."

"You don't have to be," Her voice was all, but a faint whisper, but she meant it. Ronnie didn't have to be fine for her sake. Maybe they both could be not so fine together and maybe that would be okay. "Okay," She gave Ronnie a small nod as she tucked her hair back behind her eyes. Her fingertips lingering a tad too long against her cheek as she did.

Are you okay?

No. But, Elif never really was, so instead she simply shrugged. Her forehead returning to Ronnie's as the corner of her lips lifted as she watched the other girl pluck a twig from her hair. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't hurt, but," She trailed off, finding herself completely lost of words. She wanted to ask if she could come in, but rather than say those words exactly, she end up admitting in a breathless sort of murmur, "I don't want to go."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

"Not you too. Let me do my job or I'm gonna start howling," he chided. There was no heat behind the words, only tired resignation. He kept his eye on the needle, but shifted his hands a little so there would be less of a tug, gently guiding the flexible thread he'd found held best for wolves with their constant shifting. "I swear, half the people in this town think they're tough for not accepting help," he grumbled under his breath, "but they're just making things harder than they need to be. Almost done." He glanced to meet her eyes. "Thank god you got it right in the action movie star spot," he deadpanned. "Across the cheekbone so you look badass."

@nicocastillo

"Ow," Elif scrunched up her nose at the stinging sensation across her burned cheek as she continued to crane her neck so that Nico could continue to stitch her up. "Are you sure we can't just leave it as is?" She muttered under her breath, despite knowing the cut Kyle had given her was too deep for to just hope for the best. Even still, she found herself fidgeting from where she sat cross legged on the front stoop of the Wolf Den.