ameliecoombs | It's getting hard to be Someone [Open]

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It's getting hard to be Someone [Open]

The backseat of the car was cozy, a sort of last vestige of safety before she had to step back out into the real world, ie. Siren Cove.

Amelie has spent the last four months finishing up her degree and living in a tiny dorm room on campus, which had been one part relaxing and kind of nice, and one part designed purely to piss off her mother. She couldn't resist the car ride home though, and the personal driver that came with it. It had been sent to collect her last night, and she had been kind of surprised at first, and then realised that she was kidding herself pretending like it was a surprise at all.

"Just here will do fine," she said pleasantly through the partition, and the car rolled to halt outside the old family home. She was again struck by how big it was, having not seen it in a few months. The prospect of what awaited her behind those doors was a little daunting, but at the same time, she was itching to see Aoife. Months apart from her twin had felt like a year, and she missed having someone who knew what she was thinking with a look, someone who understood the family and how she felt at any given time.

In her handbag were presents for both of her sisters and her brother, a gold bracelet for Aoife, the two interlinking chains a cheesy little gesture of the two of them, and a necklace for Moira. As a bit of a laugh, she had also picked up a little something extra for her twin, which she was sure would be thrown back in her face in a space of about three seconds.

With a deep breath, she opened the door, and stepped out onto the sidewalk with her bags. Here goes nothing.

ooc: this is open to everybody, you can find amelie either on her way inside or around town later, whichever you like~

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Aoife had counted down the hours, while trying hard to look like she wasn't. When they were children, both of her parents had been amused by how close the two of them were, how they could finish eachother's thoughts and sentences. But time passed, her father - she swallows - passed, her mother probably felt like the Coombs twins were easier to sell to the outside world if they wouldn't cling to each other.

But her mother was out for the day (and what did that mean?) so Aoife didn't had to worry about being unabashedly thrilled about her sister coming home. Her more successful sister, she pushed the thought down deep. The sister that loved her, no matter what.

"AM! She waves at her, looks around for company before running over to her. "Amelie!"

She can't help the grin that breaks out on her face as she spots Aoife racing out the door to see her. At least there was always someone here she could count on. Immediately, she drops her bags to the sidewalk and holds out her arms to pull Aoife into a hug, laughing into her shoulder.

"How much did you miss me?" she asks, pulling back to arms length to smile at her sister. "Was it awful?"

She's barely waiting for a response before she's digging around in her bags to hold out a couple of wrapped packages. "Here, I got you something," she says, shoving them into Aoife's hands before she can protest. She's particularly proud that it was all bought with her own earnings, rather than the family money. It makes it mean more, she decides, even if her siblings will probably assume otherwise.

"I've been trying to get out of the house non-stop!" She lowers her voice, because it isn't nice to complain too loudly about one's family. "At least you were out there, making sure the Coombs name gets out for the world to know."

"Presents? You shouldn't have. How did you even come up with something for me?" Aoife hugs her again. "I missed you."

Amelie laughs, because if holing up in a library and studying her ass off means getting the family name out there, then no one will have ever heard of the Coombs family in a couple of years.

"Not at all, keeping my head down, you'd be surprised," she says, running a hand through her hair to push it out of her eyes. "Go on, open them. I'm the best at presents, what are you talking about." She nudges her sister playfully, smiling warmly. It's nicer to be home than she thought it would be. "I missed you, too, Iffy."

"Oh my gosh not the name I'm too old for that. We're too old for that."

Life's lighter and brighter with Amelie around, no matter how often she'll get a comparison slung at her head. Amelie doesn't care, so Aoife doesn't have to. "Keeping your head down? After you fell on it or something?" She presses the presents to her heart. "Maybe I want to savior the feeling?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm pretty sure I'm a whole two minutes younger than you, I'm fresh as a daisy, etc, etc."

Amelie is pleased that she seems to have happy, playful Aoife today. She'd been a little worried (probably ridiculously so) that Aoife would harbour some resentment for the way she consistently ran away from home to her studies, and she'd prepared a big speech about how now she was home to stay, but perhaps she won't need it after all. She's still half waiting for the other shoe to drop; she remembers the way Aoife can tend to withdraw into herself, like she feels like Amelie is sucking all of the life out of her, and she hates it. She hates being the one to make her sister feel awful about herself, even if it's unintentional.

Right now though, everything seems perfect, and she wonders whether maybe her time away has left her sister some time to grow in herself without being one-half of a whole all the time.

"Ha ha, I can be indiscriminate, sometimes." She shakes her head. "No, you have to open it now, I can't take the suspense of knowing if you'll hate it or not."

"Well, that sounds very promising." Aoife looks around, hates herself for always checking if she doesn't have an audience. "Come inside, or don't you dare?"

She gently puts the smallest one in her jeans pocket and starts walking until she realizes what she's doing. "Oh. Your - do you have luggage? Stuff? How permanent is this stay even, by the way?"

The present is a shirt, a bright pink one. "That's .." One of your eternal tries to get me to wear brightest colors. "Okayest? Excuse you?" She walks back, taps her sister's nose. "That's all, daisy? That's what I'm connected to?"

She grins back, though she'll admit it's a little strained as she looks at the front door. "I'm not afraid of anything, you know that."

She picks up her suitcase and her bag and holds her head high in some kind of stupid act of defiance before she follows Aoife. "Pretty permanent. I need a job, but otherwise, I had no plans to disappear again any time soon."

She rolls her eyes as Aoife gets all uppity about the shirt, like she knew she would. "Obviously not," she insists as she follows her inside, "open the real one, c'mon."

"You gave me a joke gift? Where did you get the money?" She follows her inside. "For real? Are you staying?" It hurts and it's amazing. She'll become the third Coombs again, instead of Aoife with the tea. Although that's not even hers completely, Amelie is a tea lover as well..

Aoife moves her smile back into place. "You know my mother thinks pastels and nudes are the best for me, when it comes to color. Give me a second."

The second present gives her heart a pleasant squeeze. "..That's us?"

"I've done a few little jobs while I was away, I have some money." She pauses, and then shrugs because if she can't say it to Aoife, who can she say it to. "It didn't come from mother, if that's what you're asking."

She pushes away the sudden feeling of doubt and inferiority that no one really trusts her to take care of herself without her trust fund, and smiles instead. She slings an arm around Aoife's neck as they walk to her old bedroom. "It's always us."

Edited 2014-06-18 10:01 (UTC)

"I didn't. I wasn't. You just know it's so ..easy to spend it. Like .." She shrugs. "It's not even real money, just some monopoly Coombs edition."

"It's beautiful, Am. Very sweet of you. First round of Pu-Erh on me, if you won't mind it being paid for by our mother. My jobs are still on a voluntary basis."

Amelie dumped her bags onto the floor - she would unpack them later, when she could be bothered. For now, she flops down onto her bed and revels in the soft mattress, the sheets pressing gorgeously against her skin. She's back home, which means all the luxury and comfort that comes with it, and she can't help but feel a little bit in bliss.

"Mother can pay for all the tea in the world, that's different," she muses, rolling on her back and tipping her head upside down over the side of the bed to watch her sister hover. "You can sit, I'm not going to bite."

"Hey, its your room. I know that there were months I wouldn't even let you touch my door because I was sure you'd infect it with smartassery."

She makes like she's going to jump on Amelie, only to roll her up and sit down next to her. "Eli wants me to make a schedule and action plan to streamline the gardens", Aoife smiles. "It's going to be ..really tough but he's very trusting. Patient. It's sweet of him. There's this new guy who I don't know to hate or like because he's weird and ..I skipped out on a witch come together for tea with the book store guy. That's what you missed in ACC's life."

She scrunches up her nose, the way she has done since she was a child whenever she's trying to think.

"Eli... He's the one you were volunteering with, right? Is the new guy cute?" She groans, rolling onto her stomach. "I haven't seen a properly cute guy in months, college is so full of uppity intellectual types."

"Oh yes, he is." Aoife blushes. "If you ignore the character. I can't get my finger behind it, but he's like ..dodgy? Dodging? And I haven't seen him for a few days, so maybe he's gone already."

She nods. "Eli's the bla- main man of the gardens. Has a lot of people around him."

Amelie laughs, because it's so like Aoife to push anyone away from her, especially a cute guy.

"Sure you're not just being hard on them all again?" She winks, but lets it rest before Aoife gets touchy. "You'll have to help me find a man, I haven't had sex in what feels like forever. I'm wasting away, Iffy."

Her blush burns brighter. "Wasting away? I guess I never even got started yet, if we're talking about that. And I wasn't being hard on him, he was being weird. Kept asking about the town's curse and old families and ..stuff no stranger should know of."

Aoife feels stubbornness settle on her. "You could always try Watersong, of course. Plenty of gorgeous people there."

Amelie raises her eyebrow and scoffs. "It has to be right, not just any old thing."

Her standards for men have always been impossible, because she'll never know whether she wants someone who will fit in with the family or someone who will be the exact opposite of that. It's tiring sometimes, the way she plays this balancing act, but its better than a falling out, she decided that a long time ago.

"Your standards. Our standards." She tries to rub the color out of her face. "We'll be satisfied with someone by the time we're eighty. Maybe I should try women some time."

The blush returns immediately, creeping down her neck as well. "I think someone was flirting with me at Watersong. Or maybe I'm just getting really desperate."

She shoves Aoife playfully and sighs, standing back up so she can head over to the window. It's a bit of an effort to crack it open, like it hasn't been touched since she left.

"You should have flirted back." She digs around in her pocket to retrieve a cigarette and a lighter and pauses a moment. Its a habit she picked up away at school, one she's sure her mother will never approve of and which she's managed to keep hidden for almost a year. The thought makes her sigh inwardly and she supposes she should ask.

"So how is mother?" She says, and lights up her cigarette to take a drag and blow smoke out of the window.

"You're smoking now?" She gets up to close the bedroom door, even though they're the only ones at home. "Where the hell did you pick that up?"

Aoife takes her favorite subject as an excuse to not touch the other question. She can't flirt with a girl, people would be shocked.

"The gala went really well. But ..Moira being gone and returning with James Thornton really hurt her. I think she'd prefer it if it was only his bo- they still don't talk, which doesn't sit well with her either. She's been traveling a lot, I think I heard her talk about independent authorities so who knows what's she doing, right?"

She shrugs and blows another breath out the window. "Sorry. Picked it up at school, last semester I think. There was this guy... Anyway. Moira and a Thornton? That's gotta hurt mum. Only his?"

She raises an eyebrow, having completely missed what her twin was going to say, unusual for her.

"His dead body. You know, which she chivalrously brought home, like Harry Potter and Cedric." She only knew that because of the movies. "It would have looked nice and there would be one less Thornton."

"It doesn't suit you. None of us smoke, Am. She's going to have your hide for this, just so you know."

Edited 2014-06-19 12:23 (UTC)

"She doesn't have to know," she says pointedly, but she stubs it out all the same, because if Aoife disapproves, she'll probably stop. Eventually. Maybe just one hidden here and there.

"Where and for what cause would Moira and James Thornton be running off to anyway?" she asks. Clearly she's been more out of the loop than she thought if suddenly her family is running around with the Thorntons.

".. of course not." Like the old days, silly little secrets away from their parents. Parent. Aoife bites her lip to keep the tears away. It's been years since dad died, she needs to start growing some tough skin by now.

"No, no, there was magic and - oh gosh, Amelie, bad things are happening. We even had a Hydra. Those two were just ..whisked away, I don't know. Moira didn't tell me, you have to ask her."

Daniel is walking down the street heading towards his fathers house. He's walking because he knows it pisses his father off. He's in that kind of mood today.

Of course the Coombs residence is a little way before the Thorntons so he always likes to spy the place out. He's used to seeing no one. He's not used to seeing his muse get out of a taxi.

She's a vision. Blonde hair in waves that fall below her shoulder, a figure to die for. When she turns back to get her bags out of the car he catches her profile and his knees almost go out from under him. She's just perfect.

Somehow he'd managed to duck behind one of the gate pillars and he's now staring round it like a total creeper as his Muse greets another of the Coombs girls at the door.

He has to draw her. He's going to find out who she is and then he's going to ask her if he can draw her. Or maybe sculpt. Or render in cold steel - anything.

But of course that means he'll actually have to talk to her. His mouth goes dry at the thought. There's no way he can talk to her. No way. He'll end up doing something horrifying. He can't do it. Maybe he can ask June to talk to her for him...he immediately dismisses the thought because that way madness lies. June would never let him hear the end of it.

No he needed something more subtle. He could slip a business card in her mailbox or something. If he had business cards...Anyway what would he write on it? "I saw you and I want to paint you."? "You're my Muse. Meet me at this address."? That's not fucking creepy at all.

He frowned as the girl went inside the house and his brain came back on line just in time for him to realise there was a security patrol car rolling to a stop beside him. The officer got out and eye'd him.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I ask what you're doing here?" He said.

Failing to meet the girl I want to spend the rest of my life drawing... Daniel thought, but luckily didn't say. "I was just...I thought I saw someone I knew." He finished lamely.

The officer lowered his sunglasses. "Gonna have to ask you to move along, sir. This is private property."

Daniel wanted to protest, he didn't want the girl to slip away but the look the officer was giving him said he wasn't going to be friendly for much longer. Reluctantly Daniel nodded.

"I'm going." he groused, and started up the street towards his fathers house. He was going to find some way to get the girl to notice him. He was. He'd think of something.

Moira is busy running errands for Coombs & Co. around town when she spots Amelie, apparently back from college. She has to pause, do a double take, before she realizes it really is the other twin, home to stay apparently.

"Amelie!" She calls out, making her way over to the woman and pulling her into a hug. "How have you been?"

Amelie returns the hug warmly, waving the driver away as she focuses her attention on her sister.

"Moira! It's so good to see you! I've been wonderful, what about you?"

Edited 2014-06-18 12:39 (UTC)

"I've been well," she says, deciding not to mention the events of the past few weeks, like getting kidnapped to a labyrinth or sleeping with James Thornton. "How was school? Congratulations, by the way! I'm so happy for you."

Its a small thing, but she appreciates the congratulations, a small sign of approval from her older sister.

"It was great, really." She feels a little awkward with the small talk, so instead she changes the subject and dives into her bag to retrieve Moira's present.

"Here its just a little something."

"Oh?" Moira raises an eyebrow when Amelie reaches into her bag and pulls out a beautiful necklace. "Oh, Amelie, thank you! It's gorgeous!"

"I'm glad you like it," she says happily, swinging her bag back onto her shoulder. "I saw it and thought of you, couldn't help myself."

"Thanks, little sister," Moira grins, "I'm happy you thought of me. So what are your plans now?"

She takes a quick look around them, at the town she's spent a lot of time avoiding, and shrugs. It's beautiful here, she's always known that. She came here truly intending on staying, if only because she misses her siblings, and she has no plans to disappear again. There's nowhere else for her to run to, now that school is finished.

"Moving back into the old house. Mother knows I'm here, she sent the car. Wouldn't dare to come herself or meet me here though, of course," she says this last a little bitterly, because it hurts even though she expected it. She'd never been as close to her mother as her father, none of them had, but she thought she held enough of a place to at least rank a welcome home.

"Anyway, I was hoping to pick up a job in one of the schools here, but I'm not sure who I should talk to. I never did go to school here myself."

"Well, we can't expect mother to actually fetch things for herself, now can we?" Moira says, sympathetic to Amelie. She's glad she's back to stay, it seems, but she hates that she's moving back into their family home, a place that has become nothing but toxic to Moira now. "And you know, my couch is always open, if you need it."

"Hmm, well, I think probably one of the principals or someone in administration?" Moira suggests, not entirely sure herself.

She smiles, thankful for the offer. She has a feeling Aoife is going to be the only thing keeping her sane in there.

"I will almost definitely take you up on that offer."

She's already stashed her things and caught up with Aoife, and it suddenly occurs to her that this standing on the sidewalk isn't the best place for sisters catching up. "Are you busy? Do you want to get a coffee or something?"

He's not watching where he's going, there's too much on his mind. Between working out all his follow-up appointments at the hospital and thinking about what the wine weekend at the Inn & Lodge with Joel will be like, he's overwhelmed. He's headed toward the cafe because he's still not allowed to come back to work--his boss has been frustratingly insistent about it, even though Spencer has tried to explain that the distraction would be welcome--and he's been finding it increasingly difficult to be home alone.

That's the reason why he's so stunned when he collides with someone, and he's bending down to grab the bags that have fallen to the ground as he stumbles over an apology. "Excuse me, I've got my mind on so many--"

He stops short when he sees who it is, not that it makes him any less culpable, and arches an eyebrow. He hasn't seen her face in quite some time but she hasn't changed much. "Miss Coombs! Always a pleasure."

She's trying to summon the courage to take the first step towards the house when suddenly the whole idea is taken away from her as someone collides with her and her bags go sprawling.

She takes a moment to right herself and is torn between an apology for standing so stupidly on the sidewalk and giving the person a verbal lashing for bowling her over when she hears his voice, that tone of almost disapproval, and looks up.

Spencer Waters, we could have had it all, she thinks to herself, remembering fondly the late nights spent poring over her studies in the library, the lights dim and Spencer in his own corner, occasionally sharing a smile. She remembers the way the town turned on him, how she had never understood how these people could think a man like that could do a thing like that, and she remembers the way she'd always been too scared of her mother's retribution to really pursue a friendship with him. Just those solitary library nights where they'd struck up a kind of bond without really ever sharing too many words.

And then she remembers the last time she had seen him, when he was revoking her library pass with a glare.

"Mr Waters! Can I have my library card back yet?"

He cringes when she calls him that--he knows for a fact that she's very well aware he doesn't like it--but he manages a wry smile. "Can I have my book back first?" It had been a first edition, very rare that he shouldn't even have let out of the library in the first place, but he hadn't seen the harm at the time. It's been long enough that any actual frustration had faded away but he knows their last exchange had left bitter tastes in both their mouths and it's harder than he'd like to admit to get past it.

The whole thing is very childish, he can admit that and it's not like him at all; but he thinks that the most biting thing of the situation is that they'd been fairly close at one time and to have his own stubborn anger get in the way of it makes him feel nothing less than foolish.

He sighs, bringing his good hand up to rub at the back of his neck as he tucks the one with the cast behind him. He's really not in the mood for arguments, especially considering he'll be beyond irritable because he's due for his next dose of pain medication soon, so he heaves a resigned sigh and nods toward the bags. "Do you need help?"

She can't help but hide a smile as he cringes; she's always known how to place a well timed dig, ever since she was a child. It's not a side of her that she's particularly proud of, nor one she brings out often, but she is, after all, her mother's daughter.

"You know I don't have it," she says in response. "I'm sure it's in the hands of some grateful child by now."

She notices the cast and considers whether to ask or not before she decides to hell with it, he can't hold any more disdain for her than he already does. "Doesn't look like you want to do much lifting with that arm of yours."

"I should hope the child is exceptionally grateful."

Amelie had never excelled at keeping herself from looking smug, though maybe that just comes with being a Coombs. He's never held any especially bad feelings toward the family in general, but he knows what Amelie's mother thinks of him after the accusations that had been thrown his way after the deaths of his mother and brother. It's one of the many reasons why he'd enjoyed spending time with Amelie, she hadn't let her mother's prejudices affect the way she'd seen him.

He supposes that's all different now, though. Spencer feels the flush rising in his cheeks when she alludes to his condition, though he isn't sure whether that's due to anger and frustration of being in this state in the first place or simply because he hates the idea of anyone viewing him as weak as he already feels.

"I'm fine," he replies through gritted teeth, jaw tense and working as he tries desperately to ensure the lie seems true. "I wouldn't offer otherwise."

She rolls her eyes, another bad habit, and shakes her head. She hadn't meant to irritate him this much, really she hadn't, but now it seems almost impossible to go back. She's too proud to apologise, so instead she holds out a bag.

"Fine, I'd appreciate the help then," she says. She wants to tell him she does miss his friendship, but he doesn't look like he's in the mood to accept any olive branches, so she picks up her other bag and pushes the thought away.

"Still working at the library then, obviously?"

He tries to ease the tension from his shoulders, a majority of which is actually coming from the pain in his hand and the throbbing in his temple. He's manifesting all of that into frustration and he feels a bit guilty about it but he doesn't know how he should speak to Amelie anymore. The openness they'd once had with each other doesn't exist anymore, though it causes a tightness in his chest to remember that.

"I do," he says with a nod, falling into stride beside her. "It's... Well, it's very much the same. No renovations, sections still a bit of a mess. I've managed to successfully transfer things to a digital filing system, though, so at the very least, we're the slightest bit more organized." He risks a sidelong glance, biting down on his lip before continuing. "What about you, what sorts of things have you been doing since we last spoke?"

For a moment as he talks it's as if they're friends again and she finds herself smiling, but it's ruined the moment he sneaks a glance at her like he's worried she'll attack him on sight.

"Finishing up my degree, mainly. I'm now officially certified to ruin the young minds of Siren Cove."

He laughs at that, ducking his head even though it's too late to hide it. "You'll at least ruin their minds with skill," he says, sincere even though his smile is teasing. "Grievous book stealing aside, I've always thought a leadership role would suit you well."

He keeps thinking it's easy to fall back into old habits, wonders whether maybe that can't be made true. Nearly being killed puts things into perspective, it seems, and the finger-shaped bruises that still litter his neck are a good enough reminder of that.

"Would you care to go for a coffee?" he asks before he can convince himself it's a bad idea. "I promise I won't bring up anything about, er, old grudges again."

She thinks about it for a moment and decides that if he's going to take a leap of faith, she might as well do the same.

"Coffee would be nice." She glances at her bags and shrugs. "Can you give me twenty seconds to dump these in the house?"

"Of course," he answers quickly, pleased that she's agreed to the outing because he hadn't been sure what to expect. Their friendship had ended rather abruptly and Spencer can acknowledge in his own way that he'd been the one to overreact; but one unreturned library book is hardly worth such a long span of resentment.

"You can have your library card back when I return to work, by the way," he tells her as they near the doorway to her home. "Provided you don't tell anyone about it. I have a reputation to maintain, after all."

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It's getting hard to be Someone [Open]

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