cuddlecity | ( open ) ♕ ❝ a place in the clouds ❞

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( open ) ♕ ❝ a place in the clouds ❞

CHARACTERS: caroline forbes & you!
LOCATIONS: all around the city, ft: deja brew.
WARNINGS: none yet.
SUMMARY: catch-all log post for january & february.

♕ deja brew.

( first things first: caroline forbes cannot — will not — live in a shoebox apartment. not if she can help it, anyway, and a careful perusal of her cadelle welcome kit says that moving out is both totally possible and easy... provided she has the right funds. which, of course, she doesn't have here, because her bank account didn't exactly transfer over. normally, that wouldn't be too much of an issue, what with her enhanced abilities of persuasion at work... but for whatever reason, that hasn't been working out so well here. mostly, trying just gives her a headache.

so it's back to the old standard for caroline, and while the employment office had been quick to point out a few places that could likely use her help, she wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of coming to a new place only to venture into food service. not that there was anything wrong with waitressing. it just wasn't her idea of a good time.

the locations directory in her phone doesn't give her many ideas, so rather than linger in her tiny apartment any longer than necessary, caroline decides to do things the old-fashioned way. she'll just walk around and find places that seem interesting, and once found, she'll ask if they're hiring. how hard could that be?

well, fast-forward two hours later, and she knows exactly what it could be: exhausting, and boring, which is worse. sinking into a booth at deja brew with a freshly steamed latte is just the ticket to feeling decidedly less miserable about this entire thing, right? it might also help to talk to people. people like the person whose walking path just crossed into her field of vision. )

Hi. Do you work here? ( a pause, and she corrects: ) Not, like, here here. In the city. Do you have a job?

♕ wildcard.

( if you'd like something specific with caroline, please let me know! semicolons / hartbeat#2740 on discord / pm, whatever floats your boat! )

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[ His eyebrows lift with question when she says his name, the expression on her face suggesting she's about to say something he ought to pay attention to. He laughs a little when she finishes, nodding his head.

Consider her someone he can most likely trust. Something tells him that she may or may not have been hunted in her time, too. ]

I would never ghost on someone.

[ He pauses and has the grace to look appropriately sheepish. ]

...I don't know what ghosting on someone means, but I'll call you. I promise.

I'm totally going to have to teach you millennial buzzwords, aren't I? ( she's teasing, a bright burst of laughter bookending her statement as she wrinkles her nose in his direction. ) Ghosting is basically not calling. Disappearing. Like... 'I really liked this guy, we had a great first date, and then he totally ghosted on me! I never heard from him again!'

( a pause, and caroline shoots a pointed look in his direction. )

That better not be you.

[ Grimacing a little, Derek laughs again. That doesn't sound appealing at all, if he's honest, but she probably will have to, because if he wants to understand what half of the things that come out of women's mouths if he's going to use a dating app to start up conversations with them. ]

Probably, yeah.

[ He can't help laughing a little in addition when she not only defines the word for him, but uses it in a sentence, just in case he didn't get it without context. ]

Yeah, that's not me, I think we're good. It's not the kind of thing I do. If I lose interest, you'll know it. I don't really see the point in just disappearing. It's rude.

Good. ( and she does look pleased, too, as she settles back against the booth, a hand lifting to tuck an errant lock of her hair behind her ear. ) Though I guess the whole point is that you're not supposed to lose interest, but at least you have some class about it.

( she's only teasing, and the wink in his direction helps to reinforce that. she knows, really, that you can't force attraction or attention to it anymore than you can anything else. sometimes, things just don't work out that way. but caroline's an optimistic kind of girl, and she really likes the way she feels so comfortable around him. he reminds her of stefan, in a way that she hadn't quite expected when she'd gotten distracted by the brightness of his smile. )

I know you're probably not in the mood for another drink, but maybe you could walk back with me? If you don't have other plans, I mean.

( unless he's moved out, she guesses they likely live fairly close by. all the resident buildings seemed pretty close together. )

[ His chin lifts, a smirk on his face. Okay, she does have a point. Talking about losing interest on a first date when one hasn't actually lost interest is probably not a great move. Obviously, he's not so good at this. Thank God he's a good looking guy, because he needs something going for him. ]

I don't have any other plans, I can walk you back. Are you saying you're ready to go right now, or...?

[ And if she is, does that mean he's blowing it or just that she's done being in this place for now? ]

( his concern — entirely misplaced, really, she's having an entirely different but no less enjoyable evening than she'd expected — is incredibly endearing, and caroline doesn't hesitate to reach out, letting her hand drape over his for a moment and squeezing lightly. )

Oh my god, no, I'm not — no, listen, I'm having a great time. But this is a pretty big booth, and neither one of is going to have another drink, and part of me wishes this place had a dance floor so I could drag you out onto it... so I figured maybe a walk would be a good alternative?

( now she has the opportunity to look a little sheepish from her own confessions. )

I don't want to say goodnight, if that's what you're asking. I just, you know. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to get a good night kiss?

[ The reassurance that comes from her little squeeze of his hand smiles Derek smiles and he turns his hand over to give hers a quick squeeze, too, before letting go again. ]

Just checking. Walking, yeah. That I can do. Dancing, not so much.

[ It's more of a relief than she probably knows that there isn't a dance floor and he makes a mental note to keep this place in mind in the future for that very reason. ]

Do you want to go now? It's kind of cold out...does that bother you...?

[ He's wearing his leather jacket, but the cold doesn't really bother him that much, so he's happy to let her borrow it if it gets to her.

His bypass of the mention of a goodnight kiss isn't intentional, it's just that isn't what he thinks the focus of the conversation is just now, so much as he's mentally noted it as a green light for later. ]

I probably should have brought mine.

( does it bother her? well, a little, though not so much that she'd freeze to death — but caroline forbes is also the kind of girl who knows the entire script of the notebook by heart, and who would give her left arm for a life out of a nicholas sparks movie. she's not going to turn down the option of a loaned jacket on a first date. she might, however, squeal a little. internally. to herself.

as he settles it over her shoulders, caroline hums out a quiet: ) Thank you.

( she's having a hard time resisting the urge to grin ear-to-ear, even as they leave the quiet bubble of their booth and the warmth of mahogany behind. it's been a nice evening. definitely very different than she expected at first, but in a good way.

her boots make a soft crunching sound as they step out onto the sidewalk still covered in a thin layer of white snow. it's pretty, to be sure, and quiet at this time of night, just a few people here and there milling about. )

I wasn't really expecting to tell anybody here about... you know. But I'm glad I told you, at least.

[ As dense as Derek can be in dating situations now and again while he's trying to reacquaint himself with the process, he can take a hint. As they move outside, Derek shrugs out of his jacket and smiles a little, draping it over her shoulders. ]

You're welcome.

[ Leather suits her, but Derek doesn't mention it to her. It hadn't been terribly loud inside Mahogany but it's significantly quieter out here, he can't help noticing. That might be more to do with his hearing than the actual decibel level, though.

There's something about snow on the ground that makes it seem like the sound is being absorbed. Every night seems exponentially quieter since it had started snowing. It means that however much he prefers summer, Derek thinks winter is better in some ways, like this.

His eyes turn to settle on her again when she speaks. ]

It feels better to get it off your chest. I felt a lot better the first time I told someone. [ He pauses and laughs a little. ] Who, believe it or not, was Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. I swear to God. This place is so weird.

Like, leave before somebody drops a house on you, too Glinda? ( yes, caroline's seen — and adored — the wizard of oz. she can't help but laugh, a delighted little sound bubbling up in response. ) I cannot believe you met Glinda the Good Witch. That's... wow.

( she's stunned a little into silence, even. not that anything's ever really silent, now that she knows how to listen; the crunch of the snow beneath her boots, the faint echo of conversations in the distance from people wandering in and out of the storefronts that face out to the street, even the sound of their breathing, steady and in sync, provides a soundtrack to their walk through the city. )

I hope it's not a bad kind of weird, though.

Seriously, I swear.

[ He laughs a little, shaking his head. ]

I thought it was crazy, too. We went out a couple of times, but she disappeared on me. Didn't even say goodbye. Bummer, right? She would've been cool to hang out with; she was really nice.

[ He looks over at her and his amusement settles into something a little calmer but still warm; still smiling. ]

It's mostly a very good weird.

[ He'd be lying if he said it was all good, given the few issues they've run into, one of which displaced him from his apartment for a short while, but for the most part, it's a good weird. ]

I get to meet really cool people all the time. People I wouldn't typically have met back home.

[ He doesn't say it, but the way he looks back at her suggests that she ought to include herself in that bucket. ]

( a soft aww echoes between them as derek mentions glinda's sudden departure. she doesn't mean to interrupt him, but she does feel bad — the city administration had mentioned that people do come and go fairly often, some staying for longer than others, and while caroline didn't really anticipate staying forever, the more she learned about this place, the longer she wanted to stay. there were more reasons to stay than reasons to go home, in any case, and meeting people like derek definitely counted in the 'reasons to stay' column, as far as she was concerned. )

I guess a city that claims to run on cuddling and charity has to be a little weird, to be totally fair... ( she gives a soft shake of her head; her fingertips lift to run absentmindedly over the zipper on his jacket. ) But I don't know. I wasn't expecting anything like this.

( above her head, the canopy clears just enough to showcase the night sky above them. the stars are visible; that in itself is a nice surprise. even in small town mystic falls, the sky was often too cloudy to really see anything. )

I'm glad I came. I mean — ( a pause, and her tongue darts out to sweep over her bottom lip. ) — I'm obviously glad to not be where I was, but I'm glad I'm here too.

( he might not say things outright, but she's never been quite that subtle. )

I'm glad I met you, if nothing else.

[ Her fingers make a soft noise that has Derek's eyes moving to look as she moves them over the zipper of his jacket and he smiles a little. ]

I didn't really know what to expect, either. So far, I like it a lot here, though. But yeah, that's a good point. Besides, it's not like I'm a stranger to weird.

[ Derek gives her a significant look because considering what he is, it'd be a lie to act as though he were.

He appreciates the sentiment and smiles in response to it when she says outright that she's glad she met him. The feeling is mutual, but just in case she hadn't picked up on that, he figures it's best to reiterate it as the welcome district comes into distant view. ]

I'm glad I met you, too. It's kind of nice to know there are other supernaturals here besides myself and a couple from home.

Like your cousin. ( she's a good listener, okay. even if her attentions had been elsewhere, she picks up on the little things. like the small smile that's tugging at the corners of his mouth, and the way his eyes had lingered on her fingers as they tugged the zipper up and down. it's not his fault; it's practically instinctive. she hadn't done it on purpose, either, but caroline certainly appreciates the attention. ) It is nice to know that there's somebody here who gets it, but I didn't mean just because you're feeling a little wild once a month.

( a slight shrug of her shoulders as they make their way up the path that leads to beta building, and before they quite make it up to the doorframe, she stops under a streetlight, peering up at him. )

Normally, I'd ask if you want to come upstairs, but... ( she hasn't entirely gotten that bomb of a sentence he'd dropped on her earlier out of her mind; if he's even half paying attention, he might notice the uptick in her heartbeat, the slow swallow as she lets her gaze settle on his. there's an attempt to be casual, but caroline's never been very good at it. ) I don't know what I'm saying, actually.

Like my cousin. [ He nods and looks down for a moment. He wishes that Malia felt more like family than a friend, but they're working on it. The two of them missed seventeen years of bonding and they have a lot of catching up to do. It isn't going to happen overnight, but at least in a place like this, he has a chance without having to keep being interrupted by life and death battles to save their town.

With Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and Malia here, practically the whole pack is there and Derek doesn't really think they need him until they need him. He'd like to start building a pack of his own. If McCall can make a pack out of a ragtag bunch, a motley crew of different species before he'd become an Alpha, there's really no reason Derek can't do the same thing. He doesn't have to lead them, he just...wants his own friends. Caroline would be a nice addition to the few he's already met here, especially since she gets things the way he doubts the others could.

Derek smiles a little, a soft puff of white escaping his mouth when his amusement hits the cold winter air and he nods. He heard the uptick; he knows what he said and he imagines it's flashing back into her mind. ]

Another time, if you're still interested. I promise.

[ He imagines this is the part where he's supposed to kiss her, but Derek is so goddamn far removed from dating that he's really not sure what to do with himself at the end of a date that hasn't been a dangerous adventure that neither of them signed up for in the moment. That's where he excels. Quiet drinks and walks with pretty girls and no big bads on their tails? Not his forte. Derek clears his throat. ]

Is okay if I text you sometime?

( it's funny, she thinks, how he can say such blatantly hot — because there's really no other way to describe it, is there? — phrases, and then hesitate over something as simple as a goodnight kiss. but dating, hooking up, getting to know, whatever you wanted to call it... well, she had to imagine it wasn't very familiar to either of them, even in a place like this. but to his credit, at least he offers a reassurance of another time, and a question to follow it up. she can't help but smile, a soft shake of her head in apparent disbelief of his question. )

Yeah, text me sometime. I'd like that.

( with a quick extend of her hand, caroline waits for him to hand her his phone; when he does, she types in her number (and apartment number for good measure) before turning off the screen and slipping it back in his hand. easy enough. as for the rest of it? she could, if she wanted to, remain out here until one of them awkwardly decided enough was enough, or she could leave on a high note.

eternal enthusiasm chooses the latter, and so caroline lifts herself up on tiptoes as she darts into his personal space, pressing her lips to his cheek for a gentle brush before pulling back and turning towards the door. she's almost through the threshold when she turns her head again, peeking back over her shoulder to grin in his direction. )

I mean it. Don't ghost on me, Derek Hale.

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( open ) ♕ ❝ a place in the clouds ❞

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