Don't Ask! But Please Ask (Valerie)

[Calliope Gallo]

When Callie was struggling, it was obvious to almost everyone. She started failing at minor things. She actually got annoyed, or angry. Given that those were two shades that rarely suited her, it never came off right anyway. And it was awkward. Sure, it was bad for most people, but it was probably worse for Valerie. Given how much and how intensely they worked together, it was inevitable that they'd become as close as they had.

Things came to point when Callie fell to the rehearsal floor with an audible crack. It was her arm, giving way when she'd thrown it out to catch herself and cushion the fall. She opted to stay on the floor, flat on her back and seething at herself as she held her arm up and stared at it. "It's okay," She said quickly, before anyone could worry about her, "Just creepy joint powers being... Weird." Okay, that was a lie. She averted her eyes so she wouldn't get caught, but Callie's lies were always obvious.

"Can I just go home?" She whined, pressing her lips into a frown at her own request. "I hate to be that person... But I'm being that person. Kick me off the team. Send me... Packing?" Callie continued, determined to round off a few more obvious statements before she was done. "I so can't be here."

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie prided herself in the fact that she only needed a few moments with a person before she knew everything about them. Their tics, their weaknesses and their loves, it just took a few moments for Valerie to figure them out. Noah was an exception of course, but that was something she knew she didn't have to deal with when it came to Callie. Not because the blond dancer was predictable or easy to read but mostly because they spent a lot of time together. Valerie could even safely assume that she spent more time with Callie than she did with her boyfriend.

So when Callie started acting strangely, Valerie wasn't sure whether she should say something. She usually did, but that was only because she usually didn't care much about the other person's feelings. Not that she wasn't straight when it came to people she did care about but she was less callous about it.

They were midway into their routine when Callie fell and instinctively, Valerie ran to her partner's side. The blatant lie about being okay fell on deaf ears as Valerie picked Callie up so she could lean against her. "Can you move things? Everything intact?" Valerie asked, not wanting to jump into conclusions yet. She looked up at the other girls, waving them away with a smile. "I got this," she mouthed at the others.

[Calliope Gallo]

With a small huff, Callie blew the hair out of her eyeline. Her motivation to get back on her feet was completely shot; if she had it her way, she wouldn't get up for anything but to move herself out of the way. Or to go back to the school. But she wasn't allowed to be a defeatist - at least, not physically. Valerie practically hauled her to her feet and so she willingly got up, leaning against her. She held onto her own wrist, twisting it to either side to make sure everything was okay.

"It's okay. Definitely not broken." She replied, dropping it after a few more moments. "That was stupid, I'm sorry." Incredibly stupid. First for falling, and then again for being ridiculous enough to use her hands to try and brace for a fall. "Seriously though. I'm just not feeling that great," Another lie. Well, technically a lie, "I feel like I should just go home, or something. I can't focus on this today."

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie gave the blonde a small unsure smile, letting her lean as long as she liked. The weak response from her partner made Valerie roll her eyes. Typical Callie. Hiding her own discomfort just for the sake of others. And blaming it on herself.

"Why?" The brunette asked, carefully dragging the other girl over to the side so they could sit. Without another word, Valerie grabbed Callie's wrist and started to slowly massage it.

"I mean, you have no obligation to indulge me but, do indulge me as to why you can't focus. Something happen with Eric? Or Niko?"

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie didn't like getting a large amount of attention. At least, not when she'd done something wrong to deserve it. When asked why, she almost cringed at the simple question. Ugh, part of her really didn't want to have to get into it all. It was just another moment where she wished she was a half-decent liar. She sat down with a sigh, sinking her teeth into her lip when Valerie started working the tension in her arm. It hurt, but it wasn't the bad kind of pain.

"No, they're okay." She replied, but it was definitely an educated guess on her part. When Niko had gone missing she was a horribly emotional wreck. At least this time she wasn't crying. "It's really stupid, though." She started, because it was. Compared to what could have been going on, it was really, really trivial. But given the things she'd heard about Valerie's relationship, Callie was hoping she wouldn't actually think it stupid. "Y'know Lucah? The guy who plays piano sometimes?" She looked at her briefly for some kind of recognition, "We're... Something. But he's... It's way too complicated."

[Valerie Danner]

The nature of the relationship Callie was implying she had with the piano player surprised Valerie only because Valerie thought the blonde contortionist had a more sapphic inclination. She shouldn't have been though. She seemed to love everything.

"Vague, baby." Valerie chuckled softly, declining the pressure she was putting on Callie's arm. "What about this complication has made you into a klutz?" She asked.

[Calliope Gallo]

Unknown to Callie, she'd become something of a serial offender for assuming people knew what she was talking about. She was used to that aspect of the school. The gossip - telling someone something and having them already know before the words left her mouth. For that, she was thankful she had friends who were outside of that place.

So she laughed at being called vague. Because usually she wasn't.

"Have you met him?" Callie asked, half joking, half not. The guy was nothing like her. Anyone from a mile away could see that. "He's like... Cold. And kinda mean to people. And asks me to pretty please be his girlfriend." She raised her eyebrows. That was weird sounding, even from her. "But he lives with his ex-girlfriend now. Y'know Ravyn? And calls me drunk on the phone so, I dunno, he can ramble to someone? I guess I thought I should have found out a different way. Like... Not at 3am."

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie listened carefully to her now close friend, still kneading the girl's arm gently. A little smirk lifted her lips at the 'courtesy' Lucah had shown Callie. It dropped straight after at the mention of the name Ravyn.

Everything else after that was left unheard. "Ravyn? As in Noah's Russian ex best friend who brought him to Russia to essentially propose to him Ravyn?" She sputtered. She removed her hand from Callie's arm and looked at her in disbelief. "How the hell is this girl connected to so many people in my life?"

[Calliope Gallo]

Oh, shit.

How could she forget that? Callie and Noah had become quick friends when they first met, through having the same friends in the first place. He was like a brother, or something. And he expressed his... Issues to her from time to time. The thing in Russia hadn't gone unnoticed by the half-Greek, but she'd somehow forgotten about it.

Did that make her a bad friend? To both of them? She certainly hoped not.

"Yyyyes." She said slowly, glancing back over towards Valerie in the hopes that she wouldn't be mad. Or something. "Well, she's my friend too. Or she was? She kinda disappeared not long after the... Incident in question." Callie felt no need to further explain that. "Well... She's back? Surpriiiise. And it's just messing with my head. What if he's living with her to like, get me to say yes sooner? Like; oh careful Callie, if you don't become my girlfriend, my ex-girlfriend might become my girlfriend instead cause we're roommates now and we live in our tiny apartment and we hang out all the time and we're best friends."

She stopped quickly, taking a deep breath and shaking her head. She had to quit getting worked up and fabricating weird stories when she was nervously worried.

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie was seething as Callie went on her rant. The blonde was clearly disturbed with the Russian's presence, as was her.

Past insecurities started to creep up, even though she had felt so secure in her relationship with Noah lately. They had a good thing going, but with the Russian around, who knew what could happen? She could probably start to stir shit up again. Valerie hated drama and the Russian was a surefire way to be in it.

"Do you want to say yes?" Valerie asked quietly, trying hard not to let her anger get the best of her. Not yet. Especially not here.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie could have gone on more. She felt the influx of words circling in her mind, but she was glad for the ability to stop the flow. The story would have gotten a lot worse if she hadn't. She pressed her fingertips to her forehead, her palms covering her eyes as she worked to fight back whatever kind of headache was forming behind her eyes.

"I..." She started, stopping before she could say any more. That was the problem. "I don't know. I'm supposed to, I think. I feel like it's supposed to get easier if I do." Callie replied honestly. She wasn't even sure what that meant, so she dropped her hands and looked for some kind of confirmation. "If I said yes, wouldn't things be more... Secure? Wouldn't I worry less? Because, I mean... If he wanted to do something, he could. And I wouldn't be allowed to feel bad about it, because I didn't say yes."

[Valerie Danner]

Her anger was directed elsewhere then when Callie replied to her question. She couldn't understand Callie. It wasn't the blonde's fault, to be sure. But she was an enigma to Valerie. Was it naivete? Because Valerie was sure that Callie was not a damaged person that she didn't realise that she shouldn't do anything.

"But honey, you shouldn't have to feel bad about anything." Valerie said, grabbing her hand gently. "You're allowed to say no if you wanted to." Her anger made way for concern. And then the anger built more towards Lucah than Ravyn. What hold did he have on Callie that she thinks this was even remotely okay?

"How do you feel about him, Callie? You can be honest with me."

[Calliope Gallo]

The back hand of her own realisation, and the safeguard she'd left in place was that they weren't in an actual committed relationship. If something did happen, Callie knew she wasn't forced to feel guilt - even if she would anyway. The same went for him. The problem was, she didn't want him to have the option. She didn't trust his new circumstances.

Still, Valerie's words were comforting. It was always a relief to know someone understood - even to a small extent - what she was trying to explain. Someone to advocate for her when things got a little too intense.

"I like him. I do, really." Callie replied, almost instantly. Finally a question she could answer without jamming a lot of thought into an answer. "And I do trust him. I think. I mean, I know he's been hurt before and all that, so I know he probably wouldn't do anything? So that's not the problem, I guess." Did that make the problem his company? She didn't want to admit that she was worried about something like that. But they both knew how persistent Pilot Ridge girls could get. "I feel like I don't have any more time. Like it's yes or it's never going to happen."

[Valerie Danner]

Valerie nodded intently at Callie's answer, confident that she at least felt something good about Lucah, even though Valerie just wanted to punch him in the throat.

Somehow, Valerie still didn't trust the fact that Callie was somehow co-erced into making this decision. She was basically being given an ultimatum by the guy she just...really liked. And for Valerie, she didn't think it was enough. Not for someone who loved so easily, like Callie.

"Personally, and this is just me talking, you really don't need to take it to heart, but if a relationship has to start with an ultimatum...it probably wouldn't feel healthy." She sure wasn't an expert on a relationship but if Noah had given her an ultimatum like that, she would have probably dropped him in a second. Yes, she would pine for him like a lovesick puppy but she wouldn't have given him the satisfaction of knowing that he 'won' her.

Lucah sounds like a d-bag that wants to own Callie. And that is not something Valerie could stand for. Then again, she also had to admit to the fact that though she may mean well, Callie didn't have to listen to her. And Valerie did not have any right to persuade Callie.

"Do you honestly believe being given that choice is fair?" Valerie asked gently.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie offered nothing but a nod when she spoke at first. Yeah, she understood that. But she hadn't seen it as an ultimatum. But it didn't feel like the right time to mention that. Relationships with ultimatums happened when people were angry, and fighting. At least, in her mind that was how it worked. This hadn't been born from any ill feelings. That she knew of, anyway.

"It's not a choice." She replied, shrugging her shoulders at the cold fact. She paused briefly, realising she might have raised her voice with that rebuttal. Maybe she was in her head too much?

She had to explain that, right? Callie took another moment or two. She didn't know how to explain herself. "I don't like it when it's like... This." She gestured blindly, as if somehow the problem was staring her in the face. "I mean, I know there's no such thing as normal but wow, this is just... Not normal. Fine, call drunk. Whatever, I really don't care. But don't go to tell me that you think you love me and then fall asleep. That's like... Rude." Oh, hadn't she mentioned that part yet?

"Oh, because then other people come along and it's just... It's so easy to forget that this drunk guy might love you because that's a whole new set of problems. I mean, that's serious-serious." Callie shook her head at the thought. Love. The word felt like poison against her lips; "It's supposed to be easy when it's right. And it doesn't feel easy with him right now."