#lolololololforever

[averseunhinged]

wip wednesday 78273672: the progressening.

more soulmate au this week! i have developed a severe allergy to editing. so, hope you enjoy rambling first drafts.

if you want to read the snippets from this in an order that might potentially make sense at some point to someone:

this

this

then this week's

this

and then this

"Okay!" Caroline clapped her hands together and briskly moved to a top of the line minifridge. She opened it and packed a few blood bags into a waiting insulated bag. "I'm dressed. I have a knife for cutting things, blood for injuries--"

"And a really old bodyguard," Ivy finished, grinning.

"Yeah," Caroline agreed, eyeing Elijah, much to his amusement. "Probably overkill for normal hunters, but whatever. Maybe it'll be a quick in and out, but it's about an hour each way by car, and then however long it takes to track them through the woods and get Enzo out." She took out an extra bag and a large mug. "Let's say four hours total just to be safe. So, you should eat before I go."

Ivy crossed the room quicker than a human would be able to. "I want to do it myself. All of it."

Caroline held her by the shoulders, more reassuring than restraining. "Are you sure? It's not that I don't believe you can. I do. I just don't want you to get totally discouraged if it doesn't work out."

"Mistakes will happen," Ivy said as though she was quoting it. "Mitigate and move on. But I can do it."

"I know." Caroline nodded. "You can do it. And if you struggle, that's okay."

"Because you'll stop me if I do?" Ivy reaffirmed, sounding less confident than she had.

"Of course I will. I'm older, faster, and stronger than you. You won't get out of this room."

Elijah cleared his throat. "If I might also offer my services, Miss--"

"Huang," she replied, wide-eyed and more cautious than he'd seen her to that point.

"Miss Huang. It would ne improbable to the point of virtual impossibility for you to escape me, even were you not lost to your bloodlust."

"I guess that's reassuring."

"Don't think about it too much," Caroline suggested and moved to block the windows on one side, leaving Elijah to cover the door to the hallway on the other. "Just remember to breathe slowly, in and out, through your nose. Don't hold your breath, but don't breathe through your mouth, either, and don't let the smell overwhelm you."

The other woman did as she suggested before opening the bag. It was obvious, the moment the scent hit her. Her body went tense and still, like a hunting predator, but she didn't break. After taking a moment, she slowly poured the blood into her mug, put it in the microwave and started it with careful motions, the door shut and each button pressed gently. She didn't move while it heated, never taking her eyes from the spinning cup. When it finished, she waited a few seconds and then slowly removed it and brought it up to her mouth. When the blood hit her tongue, however, black veins webbed under her eyes and she gulped her meal down, groaning. Caroline shifted her weight, readying herself to leap for Ivy, but it wasn't necessary. She finished her portion and clutched the empty mug to her chest, panting. Slowly, her breathing eased as she calmed herself until she could breathe through her nose again. Her vampire face receded, and by the time she opened her eyes, it was gone entirely. 

"I did it," she said, wonderingly and set down her mug. She threw her hands in the air in triumph. "I did it!"

Caroline whooped and bolted to her, scooping her up in a hug. "You did it!"

Ivy clung to her. "My face changed."

"But you didn't totally lose it! You didn't need anyone's help this time. That's progress!"

"Yeah?" she asked, leaning back to look at Caroline for approval.

"Of course!" Caroline grinned happily and pulled her in for another quick hug. "You're going to be fine, I promise. You should be good until I get back. If your control feels too shaky--"

"Call Ric. I know."

Caroline scooped up a messenger bag. "And if anyone you don't recognize knocks on the door--"

"Don't answer it. Wait until they're gone and call Ric. If anyone tries to get in, stay calm and alert, and get to Ric's place as fast as I can without drawing attention to myself. I know."

"Good." Caroline stretched her shoulders back and massaged at the tension in her neck. "I know I'm being a helicopter parent."

"But it's dangerous, and there are a lot of hunters around, and I almost got myself killed," Ivy reasoned sheepishly.

"It's easy to do in the beginning. You feel like you're invincible until you realize, in a lot of ways, you're even more vulnerable than before. At least until you get a few decades on you." She turned and looked for the blood bags and realized Elijah had already picked up the little cooler. "Oh! Thank you! Jeez, that's weird. I've never pictured you carrying something before."

"Really," he replied, "how odd. The vast majority of my existence has been spent carrying one thing or another."

"Metaphor," Caroline stage whispered with a great deal of dramatism. "Symbolism."

"The years do drag on without a bit of poesy. It helps to pass the time."

"Vampirism is an ongoing lesson in surrealism," Ivy remarked.

Caroline hummed in agreement while doublechecking the contents of her bag. "Melting clocks or whatever. Hey, your bucket list. If you could do anything off it, what would you pick first?"

"Easy. I want to cliff jump off a waterfall in Costa Rica. I've been saving up to go since I graduated high school."

"I would not have pegged you for a thrill-seeker when we first met." Caroline made sure her knife was secure one final time and turned for the door. "We'll go. Once you're more comfortable and your control is good enough to spend hours flying through the air in a metal tube with a bunch of humans."

"You'll go backpacking with me?" Ivy cheered.

"Backpacking!?"

Caroline tried to turn around, but Elijah kept her on track and ushered her towards the door to the sound of Ivy's laughter. "Let's consider travel arrangements at a later date, shall we?"