Come See About Me (Lucah)

[Calliope Gallo]

Frustration was not an emotion that suited Callie. It never sat well on her shoulders; she was all smiles, sunshine and total optimism. She didn't usually get angry, she got sad. Annoyed at most. To those who knew her, anything else was completely foreign. And it usually meant something was really off with her own mentality. This frustration was an uncomfortable, unfamiliar feeling to house.

Callie's hands balled into fists and his the auditorium's stage as hard as she could manage. She raised one to wipe away the beads of sweat that had formed on her brow. Her hair was beginning to look a little more messy with each try and fail; it was clear she'd been there for a while now.

She fell, again.

On the same move, at the same turn and point. But it was a lot more than that. She just wasn't willing to admit it.

Calliope had heard her phone ring once or twice over the last few hours. She'd heard the occasional indication of a message circling the time as well. She was trying not to focus on it. Or rather, him. But she'd forgotten they that when he did catch her last, they had planned to meet up today. And that since she wasn't in her room, he would know exactly where to find her.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Why did this keep happening? He'd get close to someone and it'd all fall apart right as he fell hard. He had been so sure that things with Callie were different because they hadn't rushed into things. They took it slow and he hadn't even pressured her into being his girlfriend. Unfortunately, he was beginning to see how wrong he was. Things weren't different, he was still the same, screwing everything up and not realizing how.

They were supposed to meet up today, a half hour or maybe more had passed since they planned and he hadn't heard from her. The more he texted and called the more pathetic he felt. Maybe he should just get the hint? But he didn't want things to end, at least not like this. He just needed to know why things were crumbling. He needed to know what he'd done or hadn't done. He needed to know what was going on.

Lucah decided on finding her. She wasn't at her dorm, she wasn't in the student lounge, the only other place he could think of was the auditorium, but that was a long shot. Why would she go somewhere that he'd be able to find her easily? Either way, it was worth a try. He tried her cell once more, and when she didn't pick up, he headed into the building close to the auditorium.

Upon entrance, he saw a few stragglers around the halls, but no sign of her. Glancing around he finally made it to the closed doors and tried them to make sure they weren't locked. The far left one opened and he slid in to check. Luc looked to the stage and saw someone on the floor, haggard and stressed. He couldn't tell for sure from the distance that he was standing, but the blond hair gave him hope. Heading down the aisle, he watched the figure on the stage. The closer he got, the more he could figure out. It was a girl, athletic in build, tannish skin. From a distance he noticed her beauty.

That was when she lifted her head just enough that he could see her face. Luc stopped a few feet away and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to notice.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie pressed her palms down onto the floor, using the surface for some kind of stability. Why now of all times did this have to start getting to her? Niko was bad with relationship advice. Well, really, so was Eric. But at least he was used to putting on a brave face for his sister and pretending things could easily work out. But he was knee deep in his final exams and there was no way to get to him. Sure, he'd drop things for her, but she didn't want him to.

Slowly, she dragged herself back to her feet. She raised her hands and ran them across her head, smoothing down strands of hair that threatened to fly astray.

She reset her position, perfecting her initial stance and exhaling an exasperated breath before pushing off and trying again. Sure enough, she barely got into the section of her routine before stepping wrong and falling down, this time onto her shoulder. Callie instinctively let out a noise of unbearable frustration and slammed her curled fist into the ground. Her focus was wayward, so she barely had time to register he was there until that moment.

Turning her head sharply, her blue eyes settled their gaze on him. Her first thought was how unfair it was that he looked so good. Like she needed another distraction. "Oh, hey." She started, trying - and failing - to act like nothing was wrong. "Looking for me?"

[Lucah Ivaskov]

His eyes were locked on her, unable to look away. She was gorgeous, the way she held herself in all her technical perfection. It was clear she knew what she was doing, even if she did keep messing up. Lucah hadn't seen her dance much, but it seemed as though she was distracted by something and that was the reason she kept screwing the routine up. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed the likely option.

As she went to try again, she slipped up and came crashing down on her shoulder. Just as he was about to jump to her rescue, she slammed her fist on the floor and he stopped. She wasn't crying, she was angry, or frustrated maybe. But at what he still didn't know. His stomach was tightening and he got more uneasy as he watched. What if she was frustrated with him and now he was here and she didn't want to see him. Luc shook his head, he couldn't be thinking like that. It was all about being positive.

Easier said than done.

Before he knew it, her eyes snapped to his and he was held there a moment. It wasn't until she spoke that he was able to look away, almost shyly. His hand came to the back of his neck and he rubbed it while he looked down. What was it about being around her that caused him to be so nervous? She was beautiful, that didn't help. Her attempt to sound normal caught his attention which only made him feel more sick to his stomach. "Uh, yeah. I just thought we were meeting at your dorm, but uh Cam said you went out somewhere..." He muttered lamely.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie's fingers curled around her shoulder, running the line that would surely become a bruise in a day or so. It was embarrassing enough to fall and fail at something that was usually so easy, but knowing Lucah's eyes were on her made it a lot worse. Normally it wouldn't matter. However, there was suddenly a lot of weight behind his gaze, whether he knew it or not.

She dragged herself up again, looking away from him and briefly down to her feet as she tapped the base of her heel against the stage a few times. "Sorry, I forgot." She breathed, thinking back at that point to finally realise that they did, in fact, make plans. "It uhh, slipped my mind. Plus I figured you were really busy. Finals, right?"

Small talk. She could handle that much while she got her breathing under control.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

As she stood, he pulled himself up onto the stage and headed towards her. Seeing the way she'd held her shoulder, he was sick of the distance and decided to just get over the initial gut-wrenching feeling he was having. Lucah placed his fingers against her skin where she had held it before. Tracing the area lightly with his cool skin, he listened to her and gave a slight nod, only half believing her. It was hard for him to fully believe it due to his past with women lying to him. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

When she brought up finals, he shrugged. Sure, finals had been this week, but he was smart enough that it didn't stress him out. "I did, but it's nothing that I can't handle. I've been busier," He answered. He still wasn't sure about all of the small talk, but if that was what she wanted, he wouldn't get into the real issues. But he also didn't want to be strung along while he waited for her to get to the breaking up speech.

The physical contact between them wasn't necessarily what he wanted, but he didn't want to see her in pain. Even if she lost her feelings for him, he still cared for her.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie gave an involuntary wince when he crossed the distance between them and rested his fingers gently against her skin. It didn't hurt to be touched; the temperature of his skin actually helped matters. She stifled a quick laugh when he asked if she was alright. "It's not so bad," She began, "Though, I'm used to bones popping out of their sockets."

She offered a small nod to show that she'd been listening, but beyond that she wasn't entirely sure how she should respond. She couldn't deny that she liked being in contact with him, even if it was something as small as the way he held her arm. It clouded her judgement. "Must just be me then." She started again, shrugging her shoulder slightly. "But then, I've never been an awesome student. Or good enough to stay on top of studying and the usual work load."

[Lucah Ivaskov]

When he felt her wince, he nearly pulled back, but instead just traced her shoulder barely making contact with her. He nodded when she answered and really wished he could at least hug her. If this was it, shouldn't he be trying to memorize everything he felt with her? But that could come off creepy and that was not what he wanted to deal with. So he continued settling for a hand tracing patterns against her shoulder. It wasn't much, but it'd have to be enough.

Luc trailed his fingers down her arm and brushed against her wrist gently. He frowned slightly as she spoke and slid his thumb along her palm. "You do well enough," he said softly. Briefly he pressed his lips against her temple, his worry bubbling up to the surface. The way she was talking was off, negative and more like him than herself.

"Callie, are you alright? You seem, I don't know, off. I'm not trying to pry, I'm just...worried I guess," Luc shrugged. He could only hope that it was PMS or something along those lines, though it was highly unlikely.

[Calliope Gallo]

For Calliope, it was the total opposite. All of it was. She could have guessed that he was worried; her behaviour was erratically out of character, and she knew that to an extent that thought was true. It was a side of her she didn't let people see. The only ones who did were her brothers, and by proxy they were the only ones who understood how to get her out of such a head space.

Something in her mind was telling her that she should pull away; she assumed it was her better judgement that she was then acting against. Callie wanted to be closer to him. It became more evident with the way she leaned into his touch instead of pulling away. She took a small intake of breath when he pressed his lips to her temple. There was something incredibly special about being treated so well.

She snapped out of it a fraction when he started talking again, and her gaze traveled to catch his eyes. "Sorry, I-" Calliope started, but cut herself off until she had a little time to think it through. "Sometimes I-" No, she didn't want to start there either. "It's... Kind of. You." Her words caught in her throat. It was probably the worst place to stop talking in the history of the world.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah hadn't put it together that she was leaning into him, that she wasn't cringing and that she didn't mind the contact. He was more on edge now than he had been before and it was only getting worse. His heart felt as though it was in his throat, making it hard to talk. His stomach was flipping and his mind was racing. All of it was starting to get to him making him more and more nervous. Could he really lose her now after everything he'd told her?

Wasn't it usually him pushing hard against getting close? It was shocking that he hadn't started. Heck, it was shocking that he wasn't pushing away now. In situations like this his cold exterior defense mechanism kicked in and he said things that he didn't mean, but that he knew would hurt. But he didn't feel it necessary to. Even if things were ending, he didn't want Callie to hate him. Enough people did as it was, the last thing he needed to do was add to that list.

As he spoke, he couldn't look at her. His fear was making it impossible to look at once place. His eyes kept wandering, even when he felt her eyes on him. The more she struggled, the worse it got. And her last statement knocked the wind out of him, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak. For a moment, all he did was stand rigid, his hand dropping from hers. "Oh..."

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie immediately noticed the look on his face. Normally saying what she wanted was her forte, but this was difficult. This was the kind of situation she tried her best to avoid. And somewhere within that aversion, it got incredibly awkward. "No, wait." She said with conviction, lacing her fingers together behind her back. "I'm not good at this part, okay? Just... Give me a second." It took thought. But maybe he didn't have time for that.

"I'm not like, breaking up with you. I mean, if we were together I wouldn't be." She started again, but shook her head slightly at her own statement. She was probably firing off a million different signals each time she opened her mouth. She knew that, but it didn't make it an easy thing to fix.

Calliope finally looked over at him, chancing a look with apologetic eyes. "I'm not good at this. This part, I mean. Like... When things get more serious. I bail. It's a pressure thing. You make me nervous and I'm not really used to being nervous."

[Lucah Ivaskov]

His face slowly changed from her to distant. The last thing he needed was to show weakness to a girl that was about to break his heart. He'd done it once and he wasn't about to make that mistake again. If she wanted to break up with him he'd act as if it meant nothing to him. Luc folded his arms across his chest and watched her as she attempted to sort things out in her own mind. Meanwhile as she did that, he was figuring out his escape pattern. What was the best way out of here without getting stopped by someone?

She kept stuttering over her own words and he couldn't get a read on what she was trying to say. If she wasn't breaking up with him why was it so difficult? And the 'if' was a real nice slap in the face, too. He loved caring about someone so much when they weren't even together. He just stood there in silence, watching her.

"Then why don't you bail and get it over with instead of stringing me along?" He snapped impulsively. Instantly he regretted it though, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that...it's just, I get it. I get that you're nervous and I get the whole not being able to get serious thing. I've had that problem since I started liking girls. But if you really care, you get past the nerves...or you work through it." Not that he had much room to tell her what to do since he was pretty bad at working through things as it was.

Lucah looked up at her, "What do you want me to do, Callie? Give you more space? Time? What?"

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie's eyes narrowed when he snapped at her. She wasn't used to being on the brunt end of his outlashes, so the facial response was purely instinct. She did her best to draw the reaction off her face. But the confusion coloured her eyes when he started saying he actually understood where she was coming from.

"Well, for starters can you not snap at me? If you get where I'm coming from you wouldn't be like that." She explained, lacing her words with a defined sense of urgency and desperation. There was no room in her voice to sound angry. More... Upset. "I'm not giving you bad news. At least, I'm trying not to. I'm failing. But I'm trying." Her lack of eloquent sentences was definitely not helping.

It just wasn't like her.

"I... I get scared, okay? When I start to like someone. A lot. Like you. I-" She shook her head, wishing that she were a little more like her brothers. Things always seemed a lot easier for them. "I'm not making sense. But you look so sad and I'm really trying to explain that you shouldn't look sad. This is just what happens."

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Lucah really hated his defense mechanism. It was one of the worst possible defense mechanisms one could have. With a temper like his, it was just knee-jerk. With the way she was looking at him, he could tell she hadn't expected it and honestly he didn't blame her. It was rare that he ever was harsh or cold with her like he was with everyone else.

Her response had him ducking his head in regret and he bit the inside of his cheek. "I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to," He whispered softly. The way she sounded, the desperation, he didn't get it. She wasn't trying to tell him bad news and yet he didn't see where the good news was at. He was freaked out and worried that things were going to go wrong at any moment.

Luc looked up at her and reached out, cupping her cheek gently, "I'm scared, too, Cal. I like you a lot and it's freaking me out because I don't really do relationships well, clearly." He kissed her forehead, "I'm not sad, I'm not. I'm worried because I've never seen you like this and I just got scared that it was my fault."

[Calliope Gallo]

When he apologised, Callie offered a reassuring smile. She didn't want him to think he was in trouble for snapping at her. Or that for some reason she might hold it against him.

She glanced back at him when his cool hand made contact with her slightly flushed cheek. It came from falling down and working so hard to perfect what she was doing, but she was glad the contact might bring her temperature down a little. "Me neither." She admitted. Relationships had never been her forte. People tended to let her down, and it was easier to be let down if she didn't care so much. And so, that cycle continued to repeat itself.

"It's not your fault. At least, you didn't do anything to make it your fault. It's because I have, like, strong feelings for you. So I guess maybe it is a little bit your fault." She paused, her lips curling into a small smirk before she exhaled a stint of laughter. "I've never really been anyone's girlfriend before, y'know? People either like dating for a while, or they get freaked out by two super overbearing brothers."