An Inevitable Meeting (Carter)

[Aryana Darcy]

Backtrack May 18th

Rya, footsteps quick yet quiet, moved in the direction of her dorm in attempt to be unnoticed by any potential passerby's. She had went to the pool for some down time, to clear her head, after waking up to a purpled eye, cheek, and a few other scattered areas. To be fair, she had done significantly more damage to her pursuer than her pursuer had done to her; but then again, while Rya was drunk, the other girl probably woke up in an alley yesterday not even knowing how she had gotten there.

It really started when a man had snuck up behind her while she was dancing, hands snaking around her waist and pressing up against her as if he knew her, and Rya most definitely wasn't having that. A quick spin in his arms and a hard smack to the face was enough to send the drunken man back, startled. Normally, with the experiences she had before, they usually would continue to harass her if she stayed, but she didn't wait to find out to see what he would do next. She left the club with no other words, leaving a cursing, drunken idiot behind her. At least, that's what she originally thought.

Turned out, a few minutes later after she left the scene, a woman approached her, stumbling and pissed. Now, had Rya been sober, she would have probably been through with her in moments, but because of her slurred movements, the woman -the guy's girlfriend, apparently- was able to get a few hits. The first and hardest was a hit to the face, and then it seemed like the girl was just throwing randomly, obviously not seeing straight at all. It didn't take long for the Brit to get her down.

But here she was, two days later, trying to sneak through the hallway unnoticed, a hoodie covering all of her body minus her bare legs. Room 202...203...204, She made it without being noticed. Now to grab her key...

Fuck.

She didn't have her keys. She must have left them in the lockers.

"Oriel," Rya knocked on the door, hoping her roommate was still there. "Oriel, open up. Alex. Jasper. Open up!"

God dammit.

[Carter Chevalier]

Strangely enough, Carter spent less and less time in his dorm as the weeks went by. Not only did he try his best to adhere to the unspoken schedule he and Dom had set in place, but the dorm itself felt strangely overtly personal. There was obvious negativity on his shoulders whenever he wandered in for too long. Whenever he lingered. Still, he never slept in another place. Never did he stay in another person's bed - that was, and always would be a Chevalier rule, no matter how depressing usual comforts mightn't seem.

He'd left for coffee, refusing to give in to the habit by way of the cafeteria's piss pore excuse for it. The Velvet-tone wasn't much - it certainly wasn't special - but it was better and frankly, worth the drive to clear his head.

On his way back, he found himself idly pressing the lid of his cup to his lips, though it was relatively empty. He tapped it against his bottom lip as he walked through the halls, his attention on nothing in particular. Dom likely wouldn't be in his room, and if he was, he wouldn't come out for anyone's presence.

Not anymore.

Carter faltered on a step when he heard a familiar voice shouting, but by that point he'd already rounded the corner and was in plain view. The fault in his stride lasted barely a second as he continued through the breathless movement towards his own dorm. He glanced at her once - for a second at the most - and her face was relatively hidden from his features as he pulled up to his own door. His keys were in his pocket, and he searched for them slowly.

His teeth sunk into the plastic lid between his lips as he glanced down, searching for the key he knew all too well amongst the others.

[Aryana Darcy]

Fuck.

Really, that was the only word her mind would process when she heard footsteps approach, and then stop the next door over. She glanced up for a moment, a moment of idiocy, to look at the familiar figure standing a few feet away from her; his head was down and his lips were pressed firmly against a coffee cup, and even still, she knew that it was Carter. If it were Dom, there would be no reason to avoid her gaze, and if it were Dom, he wouldn't look so tense in her presence.

Looking at him like that, well, it hurt. It hurt because he used to smile at the sight of her and, for no one but him, did she return that smile. Now it was simply head down, don't speak, don't remind him of the day that everything went wrong. However, given her circumstances, she may be forced to ask to retrieve some clothes she had left there for emergency purposes, since the chill was seeping through her dampened hoodie.

"Dammit, aren't any of you bastards in there?" She knocked again, but no answer. Of. Fucking. Course.

She couldn't believe this; after practically two months of not speaking, she was put into this position. Well, really, she could have just as easily went to Tak's and asked for something, but that idea clearly wasn't present in her mind, quite possibly because she didn't want it to be.

The girl took a shaky breath before speaking up, not bothering to remove the glasses from her face. "Hey," she offered, her head turning and glancing at the Blonde, teeth chewing on the inside of her bruised cheek.

[Carter Chevalier]

Under any other circumstances, Carter would have had no issues responding to her open question. Her rhetorical statement about her roommates. He would have easily offered an answer akin to the fact that they were likely off pissing their time away. Or that they were afraid of a independent girl like Rya. Or that they were afraid of women in general.

Or that they simply weren't there like he was, and they never would or could be.

He felt the clear tension in his neck; the way he refused to turn and look despite the fact that he desperately knew he wanted to. He couldn't. It wasn't worth it, he decided. Not after she left in such a way. Not after she proved his point - the very thing he and Dom had known all along. The very thing he had tried to convince Dom to revolt against. The very thing he hadn't had the strength to fight with. Or for.

But she spoke to him, and he felt the tension run his spine as he straightened. He dropped his keys, and within that moment he paused.

"Mm." Was Carter's response, through the lid of his coffee cup as he made the move to kneel and find his keys on the floor.

[Aryana Darcy]

Fear, the very thing that kept her at bay for the past two months, or rather had her going out and doing idiotic things for the past two months, had been what was preventing her for starting the lighthearted conversation they once offered one another. Her jaw tightened, causing it to ache, but she didn't let up; the pain was far more bearable than the tension burning the air, making it as unclean and suffocating as smoke.

But he stumbled, and a Chevalier never stumbled, on his way to unlock the door, and her brow raised in surprise. He was feeling it as well, surely he was, because that subtle movement spoke for itself, even if he didn't have the tensed shoulders and his avoidance of eye contact, that moment of hesitation said all she needed to know.

"I know you haven't looked at me, but I'd just like to say air conditioning and damp clothing is not a comfortable combination." Her voice was sarcastic, but it wasn't at full strength, sounding almost hesitant in nature. How would he respond? She never could know.

"I need my clothes." She paused. "From your dorm."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter slowly drew the cup he held away from his mouth, his lips pressing into a hardened line as she spoke again. Primarily, he found himself caught on the way she denoted that he hadn't looked at her. As if that were truly an option. Her sarcasm caused his eyebrows to lower slightly as he picked up his keys, his fingertips pressing the necessary one between them as he moved to stand again.

He unlocked the door once she was finished, his fingers tapping along the cup he held for a moment before he finally completely drew it away from his face.

"Fine." Carter replied, pushing the door open and walking in. He left it open for her as he made his way to his room, finding the key with refurbished simplicity as he unlocked it as well. Pushing it open, he stood to one side to allow her to pass. Once she did he moved towards his closet, setting the coffee cup down on his desk as he pulled open a drawer.

Stepping to the side, he indicated to it for her with a wave of his hand. There, her clothes were. Cleaned, folded and waiting.

[Aryana Darcy]

"Thanks," Rya muttered, entering his room seconds after he, maintaining as much distance as she could without falling back. It was just clothes, Rya told herself, just clothes. The Hydro would simply change in the dorm's restroom and be on her way, Carter could go back to sulking while she went back to doing whatever it was she had been doing these past few months to pass the time; most days she pulled at strings to remember, others were vivid and clear, as memory by memory her brain weighed her options.

Get drunk. Have Sex. Cause Hell. Swim. Box.

Well wasn't that a life?

The Hydro grabbed the neatly folded clothes, offering nothing else other than a nod as she exited the room and proceeded to move towards the restroom. At one point in time, this walk would have felt normal, but now it felt shameful and alien; funny how a single place can change in meaning after a single, life altering event, if that is what you'd call it.

Changing was the least of Rya's problems, simply slipping off the dampened clothing and replacing it with the fresh was easy, however, looking at herself afterwards was what held her up. There was no way in hell she was going to put that hoodie back on, not wishing to ruin the fresh clothing already. With at least the long sleeved white top to cover the few bruises on her arm, the damage done to her didn't seem to significant aside from a blue and purple bruise peeking out from underneath her sunglasses and extending down to her cheekbone.

The Brunette ran her fingers through her hair, removing the excess moisture at the tips, hoping that her hair would be enough to cover until she went back down to the pool and grabbed her keys, if they were even there.

With a deep breath, folded, dampened clothes in her arms, Rya exited the bathroom with one final glance back in the mirror before closing the door behind her.

[Carter Chevalier]

As Rya thanked him, Carter still didn't look. He kept his gaze elsewhere, determined not to allow himself to get caught up in her. Everything she was. Everything she could have been. He assumed she would change and quickly be on her way without word. But as more time passed, he began to wonder what was taking so long. He stepped out to the doorway of his room, leaning against it with his shoulder. He couldn't leave, not while she was here, so he was forced to wait.

Until he heard the door open. There, he tilted his head to one side and looked towards her.

Carter was sure he only looked at her for a moment, but a moment was all his eyes needed. The colour of her face not hidden by her glasses was evident enough to cause him to push away from the doorway and walk towards her. He did his best to follow as she walked, determined not to let her leave.

"Stop." He said quickly, his tone already harsh.

[Aryana Darcy]

Head down, the Hydrokinetic continued forward in hopes of leaving without any confrontation, questions, or anything of the sort. She wanted to get away from the feelings stirring inside her, and she most definitely wanted the images -of that night, and others- to stop flashing through her head. It was hard enough as it were venturing in his dorm for clothes, when every time she looked at him it ached more than she could ever have expected.

Stop.

Immediately she stiffened; maybe it was the harsh tone, or the fact that she hadn't heard his voice address her in months that stopped her for in moment, but she obeyed his words without question. However, she didn't turn around, nor did she remove her glasses.

"So demanding," She offered him, not really sure of what else to say. What could she say? No. But really, she wasn't capable of doing that, and she knew it.

[Carter Chevalier]

Had Carter really been looking, he might have noticed the way she tensed up at the singular word. But his mind, and his eyes, were steadily focused on other things; his ability to read a person dwindled as his frustration and aggression grew. What he noticed was simply that she stopped. That she abided by the single word he practically gave as an order.

But she didn't turn around. And she didn't reveal her face.

He didn't even offer a sound when she spoke; it wasn't worth commenting to or even on in any capacity.

"Your face." The Chevalier stated factually, though his tone refused to shift. "Show me."

[Aryana Darcy]

When a breath was taken, she heard the ever growing frustration in each word he spoke and in response, her jaw tightened, causing her cheek to throb. This was what she was attempting to avoid, and it seemed as the world couldn't even give her that.

Clearly it hated her as much as she hated it.

"My face," She responded sharply, but she removed the glasses anyway. After all, what was the point in hiding it any longer? It was pointless to fight Carter, a fact she learned a very long time ago; a Chevalier always got what he wanted. "Is bruised."

The girl turned to face him, the black and blue standing out against her pale skin, decorating most of her eye and left cheek.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter watched her hand raise, fingers gripping the glasses she wore as a shield before she finally drew them away. With the current angle, there was no way he could get a decent look, but he also made no move to shift and see her properly. Carter stood still, allowing her sharpened tone to catch his attention and subsequently shred his hesitation.

"I can see that." He replied as she turned to face him. Black and blue; he felt his jaw clench involuntarily, and as much as he tried he couldn't settle the heightened tension he now wore. "Why?"

[Aryana Darcy]

"Drunken bitch," Rya's tone was smooth as she mentioned it. There was really nothing significant about the entire ordeal aside from the fact that she had received the loveliest of bruises across her face and body; but that was her fault, really. She shouldn't have been drinking as much as she had. Had Rya been sober when the entire went down, there would be no physical evidence of the altercation.

But of course, she was, which meant she also was hit pretty badly.

"I was drunk, some guy hit on me. I left, and his jealous girlfriend came after me." Rya almost wondered if the guy even came to look for his 'supposed' counterpart, because at the club, it really did seem like his attention was elsewhere. So much for devotion. Ha, she should have known.

Maybe she did her a favor.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter's mouth turned into a frown when she answered him. Well, at least she was offering honesty. He hadn't expected that. Despite the fact that a lie was easy, he somehow knew she wasn't. It didn't feel like a lie. She didn't feel like a liar. At his sides, he felt his fingers twitch with the desire to reach out; to gently trace the lines that coloured her face so unnaturally. But he didn't. He couldn't.

Pressing his lips into a line, he fought the urge to comment. To make a joke and watch the way she tried to resist a laugh, or even a smile.

"You're an idiot." Carter denoted sharply. "What've you been doing?"

[Aryana Darcy]

Rya laughed a sharp, sarcastic laugh. What had she been doing? "What haven't I been doing?" The Hydrokinetic didn't even offer a comment towards her idiocy because she knew she was an idiot. Half the things she had been doing had some sort of risk factor, including drinking herself to the point of blacking out. Those occasions had always been rare, but now they happened a tad more frequently. That, or to the point where she just didn't care about anything.

It was a great feeling until the morning after.

"I've been doing everything I've ever done, just a hell of a lot more often." The Brit had always drunk alcohol, went out to clubs, got into a few fights. It was normal, just not at the rate at which she was doing them.