docmartens | (no subject)

I don't know

I just want you to know I'm on your side

[ He was already feeling awkward about the way he talked to Iggy, but now ... the boy feels dumb as hell. ]

Thanks That means a lot

[ ... ]

I can't really do anything with it though

you want me to throw it in the lake?

I mean U don't have to

[ It must have been expensive? Just like everything else here, but. ]

it's fine

[...]

you need me to come get it or do you have a way to get it to the lake and meet me there

Can u come get it?

ok

[He didn't really anticipate having to see Dom so soon after - everything. He thought leaving his ring might be enough of an olive branch, so they could just meet up the next time like nothing'd happened. Why that's his MO for navigating life- who knows. But it didn't exactly work and now he's stuck interacting with Dom face to face, which is oddly scary to Julian. He doesn't know how to healthily deal with emotion, nor how to properly apologize. Sooo...

He just shows up, knocking on Dom's door with an flannel shirt over a blank white tee and jeans - hands in his pockets.]

[ So... he guesses he's going out there now, so he's dressed for it, glad that there isn't a roommate around to ask why he was freaking out earlier or to run into the guy he's supposedly been beefing it for... two weeks now? ]

Hey.

[ Cue two awkward teens staring at each other, one of Dom's hands on the doorknob. He sidesteps, head turned to the table for a second. ]

Uhm, come in.

Hey.

[Julian seems tense, shuttered even, but it's just his Dumbass meter being so high. He doesn't quite know where to put his gaze and shifts into the room, trying to appear nonchalant. He moves in toward where he left the ring, staring at it for a beat before scooping it up into his palm. The urge to put it back on is there but he holds off. Gotta prove his point here, instead.]

... You weren't busy or anything, were you?

[ Eloquent as ever, Dom shakes his head, looks down and sets his jaw, arms crossed. He doesn't actually know what's gonna happen once Jules picks his secret weapon back up, but he'd like to think that the answer is closer to 'nothing' than not. ]

No. I was kinda holed up in my room for that whole week, then… uhm. I haven't really done anything since, so.

Hey, I got this stupid necklace stuck around my neck. [ He digs it from under his shirt to show the locket, then hides it again. Gold, thankfully. ] You too, right?

Hm? Oh, no, actually.

[He says after blinking, staring at Dom's neck before silently saying no more on the subject of... why.]

You need to get that off, though. You know how it works?

What? No, how — I've been trying to get it off [ badum ] this whole time, dude. I thought we all got one?

[ This is what happens when you self-exile and then sulk as an Olympic sport, apparently. Dom stops, sighs and rolls his eyes. ]

It's got something to do with sex, doesn't it.

I already got mine off. You gotta give away a first of something.

[He shrugs.]

Sexual firsts make it easier, I'll tell you that.

[ He just makes a face. ]

Sure. Why not. I don't know what else I expected.

[ A deep inhale, then he points his thumb at the door. At least it got them talking, rather than avoiding the real topic with awkward silence. ]

You wanna go?

Yeah, let's... go get this settled.

[Fist around the ring, he gestures with it before heading back out into the hall - and toward the lake. Buuuut, of course:]

... You know I can help you. With the necklace thing. Right?

[ Well— ]

You?

[ He's thinking about the disastrous encounter in the forest, he's thinking of the conversations he's had with Felix. The fight that's still recent enough to feel like it happened yesterday. All the ways he declared that no one actually cares about him, which actually did happen the day before. Cringe. ]

But. Why?

[It probably helps that they're talking about this - helps Julian dance around words he didn't know how to say without prompting. Heading out of the manor, he has his hands in his pockets again, feeling the familiar weight of his ring in his palm. Their fight still rings in his ears, too.]

... 'Cause I care about you?

[Ugh, he cringes a little.]

I don't know how to do that kinda thing. Care about people? Whenever I try to do shit for people, I fuck it up. You already know that much. I don't do that on purpose, though. I'm...

[ He's got a small frown, as uncomfortable as anyone could expect. Neither of them are good at this, let alone with each other; Julian was sort of at the center of the coven but Dom felt like the one hanging by a thread sometimes. The (boy)friend of a friend, the last piece needed to complete the circle rather than someone who was meant to be there all along, because... Dom was just the new kid who happened to be a witch, right? And barely even one at that. ]

Yeah. I-I get that.

[ Obviously. Blowing up at people, saying the wrong thing even when his intentions aren't bad. Saying the worst things when they are, only to regret it later. ]

Listen, uhm. I'm sorry I said all that stuff to you. It was messed up.

It's fine.

[That's his answer for most things - it's fine, he'll get over it, he's already over it, there's nothing to dwell on, what happened just happened, that's life, etc. He looks up at the sky from the path toward the lake, stride slow and lazy.]

I shouldn't have blown up at you either. That was my bad, too.

[ Poor Felix, being in the middle of all that. But they're working on things, so. Progress. Hopefully. (Can he delete all those messages he sent to Iggy now?)

Dom shrugs in response, gives Julian a smile that should also amount to an it's fine, wondering if it's normal to be more awkward about this than the hypotheticals of getting this necklace off of him. ]

How'd you end up handling it, by the way? With the sigil. People got weird around you too?

Yeah, a little bit.

[But it was weird, to him. For reasons he'll talk to the coven about later.]

I just tried to stay away as much as I could. Not so easy in this fucking place. But it's worn off, I guess?

Yeah, finally. I locked myself in my room for a while. Had to sneak into the kitchen because I was starving. And then my teeth got all fang-y and I had claws—

[ Looking down at his hands, he stops and remembers 1. who he's talking to 2. what's in his pocket, still, and readjusts his posture. ]

I wasn't transforming or anything, though. Not in a way where I lose control or whatever.

But you were... partially there?

[Also aware of that tension, just for a beat. He resumes looking forward, as they get near the lake. He stops by the edge, watching the breeze cast across the water - and whatever's hiding underneath it.]

[ Dom's a couple of steps behind, arms crossed to disguise his apprehension, looking over at what the lake reflects, past the surface to what it hides. Some days it's clearer than others, but he doesn't think he senses any non-animals lurking underneath today. Not like this house publishes obituaries, he doesn't think. ]

It's, uhm. It's what I wished for. To be able to do that, sort of. I think the sigil went crazy so it finally started to happen. Couldn't make it go away on my own, though. And I have no idea how to do it again.

So your wish did come true, huh?

[Not as - bitter as he could be at underlining that, but - it's a good thing, he thinks. Makes him think maybe his own wish might've also happened too. But he still thinks it didn't, on account of the fact he feels like a fucking failure. He tosses the ring back and forth between his hands. Then gestures to the water.]

Alright, watch.

[As he winds up to throw.]