Stuff I cut from today's post...
Mar. 11th, 2006 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unforthHere are some memorable moments from my scene with Dino. I've decided not to burden the rest of the universe with this, but remembering how much I like catalogueing and rereading the things I did with Dave, I thought I'd post it for my own gratification. Yes, a private post (gasp) take that universe!
...favorite moments include "the birthday present" (which I will be questing for the prop for all week, if I can't find it here I'll have to turn to the internet...), Armand's intervention ("I am a moron," says Dino, "I don't know what I wa...yes I do!"), and the signs that wait, he actually does care ("then you were on the banana boat, then you were on the rebel base, then you were in Prague..." and "wait, you were depressed after getting back from Prague..." insert dead serious tone of voice here - "what were you depressed about?" and more!)
Well, that's literally what I cut, but I feel like I should do what I did for Dave, and start from the beginning. That said, I should really be doing that now. But I'm going to anyway. Damn being too tired to not be dumb...
Kathryn met Dino first off, the very first Fae she met after Chrsalizing. He brought her to Willowgrove and introduced her to others - Kaye, Tam, and many more - and with them helped her to get out of her house, sort of. He started to work on legal paperwork that would show that Kathryn was 18 and able to be on her own. Meanwhile, Kaye's wedding was fast approaching, and on the day itself great deeds went down. Kaye was shot, and all those who felt they should have protected her but didn't - Dino included - felt down in the dumps. However, it really bothered Kathryn to see Dino so upset, and she realized that perhaps she was beginning to feel for him. It hurt her to see him hurt - not that it didn't hurt her to see others hurt, not that she didn't normally want to help, but it was different some how, in no way she could explain.
In the following days she came to realize that she had a crush on Dino, her first crush. However, his retiring nature - shy, unconfident, incredibly awkard, so smart - made it difficult for her to act on this. She ran away from home and moved into Willowgrove, where she started to get to know the other people who lived there - Messina and Ari, Satyr's, Liza ap Sharaev, sister of the Baron, Careg ap Dougal the craftsman, and Baroness Eleanor of Highground, and Gawyn ap Eilel, Kaye's husband, sidhe, Amelie and her uncle Tam, claricons (sp??), Kaye the Boggan, Dino the Knocker, Grendel and Torn, redcaps, and the many others who frequent that place - and she started to feel comfortable. Dino got her the fake ID, which claimed her birthday to be in July and her age to be 18, and Kathryn, thrilled to be out of her home and living some place with a forge, began to work hard to be useful to those around her by learning anything that they would teach.
Before Samhain
Before Samhain, Kathryn fully realized how she felt, and began to wonder what she could do to maybe get Dino's attention. He wasn't really the "go and get them" sort, so she wasn't really sure what she could possibly do to get him to notice her. Forlornly, she suspected there was nothing she could do. However, she noticed Amelie, who lived across the hall from her, was acting like she knew a bit about boys, flirting with Careg, a sidhe a few years older than her. The opportunity came, then, for Amelie and Kathryn to become roommates, and, taking it, Kathryn decided to ask for Amelie's advice.
Amelie was full of good advice, suggesting first and foremost that Kathryn stop wearing such loose, unflattering clothing, that she try following Dino around, and other such things. Amelie was embaressed that Kathryn had been able to tell that she and Careg were dating, and made it clear that it was a secret, but soon everyone had figured it out. Meanwhile, Kaye found out from Amelie how Kathryn felt, even as Karthyn made a stab at taking Amelie's advice, to no avail. However, it did cause her to grow more confident in her feelings. Dino was kind and smart and cute and ...she couldn't fully explain, but she was increasingly certain.
Samhain
The end of October, Samhain came, and as with everyone all of the darker things that Kathryn repressed came to the forefront, including her interest in Dino. While people came to her for help even on Samhain night, and she did her best, she made it clear that she wouldn't take all night, because she was going to sleep with Dino, sorry about that. Thus she found herself kidnapping the dashing Dale Derring, with Dale's permission, and then rescuing self-same damsel. As her reward, Dale Derring caused Dino to have a crush on Kathryn who, delighted, made good on her promise. She worried not at all, for all said that Samhain would be forgotten on the following night.
There is no need to go into graphic detail on the events of that night, though a few favorite scenes...
After an encounter with the beastly Liza (unseelie, of course) involving violence, sharp nails, and more, Dino and Kathryn found themselves dangling, chained, back to back from a dungeon, naked completely, as Andi came and stole their clothing. Thoroughly aggravated, Dino let out quite the string of curses, while Kathryn tried to explain to him how things really weren't all that bad - she might have succeeded but for the clothes stealing.
Approaching the unseelie Kaye, who had taken Dino's attention from, Kathryn boldly declared that it wasn't fair the way Kaye had Dino wrapped around her little finger, and that she would like it very much if Dino would come when she crooked her little finger, as he did when Kaye did so. OF course, both denied these allegations, but the smug look on Kaye's face spoke to more than just that.
So peeved was Kathryn at Dino's slight that she promptly went to find someone else to sleep with, as revenge. Though she had thought to sleep with the Baron of Muses, htis proved impossible for the Baron was not to be seen, so instead she went to the arms of the knocker Lexxander Lugnut, an encounter which she remained ashamed of for a long while afterward, for the use of the pommel of her sword in wholely unproscribed ways.
All in all, it was the best day of Kathryn's life.
After Samhain
The day after Samhain, Kathryn was horrified to realize that she could remember large chunks of the night before, especially the important bits like losing her virginity and having sex with people. Horribly ashamed (the first thing she said when she realized was that she had to go kill herself, though she promptly apologized, for saying that frightened the poor child Pinnochio) she wandered, desconsolate, until approached by the Sluagh Kanatori. Kanatori had (though Kathryn didn't remember this) promised during Samhain to help Kathryn to remember how happy she had been on Samhain night, and towards that end he approached her, bearing Kathryn's sword, Troy, with him. Desperate to get Troy back, Kathryn promised that she would owe Kanatori a favor, and he collected it: he said that all she had to do was tell Dino that she loved him. Horrified, but desperate for her sword and unwilling to break her word, Kathryn went to do so, taking long minutes to work up the nerve.
Finally, staring at her feet, she approached..."Uh, Dino?" she didn't wait for a reply. "I...um...I'm supposed...I mean...that is to say..." deep breath..."I love you." And without looking at all to see his reaction, she went of and curled up in a corner to cry.
Many people saw fit to reassure her, and she was starting to feel a bit better - though she couldn't stop her self from watching Dino every where he went, and she couldn't help but notice the way his jolted and looked away the one time he noticed her nearby - and thus ran to Liza's aid when she called for it. However, the situation was complex (and not for this post! tired Claire need bath badly!) and complicated, and she ended up on trial for treason against the Count.
All in all, it was the worst day of Kathryn's life.
In the days following Samhain, Kathryn was confined to Willowgrove. She avoided Dino as much as she could, and she couldn't help but notice that he did the same, and that he seemed uncomfortable whenever she was around. This was perhaps most marked when Kaye held a game night, and the two of them wouldn't be on the same side of the room, pointedly ignoring each other. Watching Amelie and Careg pursue happiness, Kathryn began in her heart to feel despondent, though she wouldn't let anyone know that.
Kaye, meanwhile, was doing the best she could. She had a heart to heart talk with Dino, and tried to assess what his position was on this issue. Though she didn't tell all to Kathryn, she did say that 1. Dino thought that she was cute, 2. that Kaye was trying to convince Dino to come talk to her, and 3. there was hope for the future. Trying to buck up her spirits, Kathryn started to work on a concepts for a sword that Dino had asked her about, a blade that would imbue insanity with one edge and sanity with the other.
Too afraid to approach him, Kathryn wrote up her thoughts into a note, including at the end of it that she was really sorry and that she would keep away from him if he wanted and she would understand if he didn't want her help (I'll post the actual note at some point, now that I think about it).
A few days later, she was rewarded by Dino coming to the forge. He thanked her for her input, and asked what she meant about not helping. She replied that she would understand, after, you know, what happened, but he was clearly confused, and he said that he didn't understand, and that he wanted her help, and then left. Kathryn wondered through it all if this was really going to work out.
Time passed, at it is wont to do.
Yule
Kathryn got help from Kaye in coming up with a gift for Dino for Yule, settling on antique drafting tools. IT took Kathryn a while to work up the nerve to give it to him, at which point he looked vaguely stunned, and she left hurriedly. However, later in the day she finally got to see things as she had always hoped they might be.
Pirates had attacked on Yule, and they were intent on shiny things that people had. One approached Dino and tried to take his ring. Kathryn, nearby, noticed, and came over hurriedly, pulling the pirate away from him, and making the pirate promise to leave Dino alone, as long as Kathryn gave them something. Agreeing, Kathryn gave them her necklace and the pirate left. Dino was shocked, clearly, but insisted that she didn't need to do that, and wouldn't be rebuffed by Kathryn's insistence that she really didn't mind - it was just soemthing her mother had given her, and she didn't really get along with her mother, and she couldn't just stand and watch them bother him. Meanwhile, the redcap Diezel, who felt she owed Kathryn because of the Yule gift that Kathryn had given her, retrieved the necklace, and both Diezel and Dino - seperately - insisted that Kathryn shouldn't let people push her around. She laughed them off.
AS the day progressed, and Dino came accross problems, Kathryn did her best to help, and was rewarded with a thank you that treasured more than any gift that she received that day.
Later, the mortal police came, and things got very messy (another story for another post, it's getting late!!)...later, Kaye, who had left before the police could catch her, told Kathryn that Dino had been most concerned for Kathryn's safety, and had gone to great lengths to make sure that Kaye was personally making sure that Kathryn made it out of the police's custody safely. Hugely pleased (though still completely lacking in self confidence), she followed some advice that Diezel had given her and asked Dino to go to a movie with her.
The movie...er...date...
In late December, Dino and Kathryn headed out to the movie, Chronicle of Narnia. They talked sporadically about the trailers, little comments on the movie and the like. About 2/3 of the way through, Kathryn started to edge closer, deciding to take a chance, but when Dino noticed about 3/4 of the way through, he pulled away, and Kathryn did too. Then, to her shock, he edged in a little bit, and, not sure how she felt, Kathryn followed suit.
Afterwards, after a very quiet drive, Dino asked Kathryn if it had been a date, to which all she could say was that no, it hadn't been, but it sort of was, in that she didn't think he'd say yes if she asked him out on a date, but that he might say yes to a movie - which he did - and so that's why...She asked the question she burned to know the answer to, for he was such a secluded person and she cared so much that couldn't bear to be a bother to him, and thus she asked if she should just leave him alone, to which he replied that he just wasn't sure, that he was confused, and Kathryn was like, I really like you, I just need to know...things got complicated from there, but ended as well as could be expected, and afterwards they were on speaking terms.
Almost two months passed before there were any further developments, however, until, finally, near the end of February, Kathryn asked Dino out on a date, and she called it such. It was so hard for her to work up the nerve, and she decided two things: If he decided he didn't want her around, she would leave Willowgrove, and that if, after their next date, he did not approach her on his own within a month, she would also leave. She couldn't take the heartache of watching others so in love find such happiness while she pined away, better to remove herself to Emberhold, the home of the Baron to whom she was warded (another story for another time!) than to live so close to something she could never have.
Because she wanted! She wanted to be with him, she wanted him, she grew increasingly depressed as time past. Only the fact that he had said yes to the date kept her happy...
However, she had to quest, and so she found herself in outer space fighting monkeys, and then in Prague, where her depression hit hard as she watched the Knocker, Petra, her friend, courted by a man who seemed to truly love her, and in the course of the night they came to be so in love that they wed. How come, she wondered, such things happened to others but not to her? Thoroughly depressed, she returned to Willowgrove feeling like rock bottom, the more so for her birthday was but three days away, but she had told no one and expected nothing and was somehow satisfied that way.
Much to her shock, though, the very next day Dino approached her about a date for their next date, and when Kathryn said she didn't have one, he suggested the 1st. Amazed and thrilled, she looked forward to it, her mood greatly improved even as she worked day and night to complete some forging projects she had promised to others.
Kathryn's Birthday
Ah ha, the matter at hand! Now I'll just have to update in the future and all will be well.
Kaye approached Kathryn the morning of her birthday and made it clear that 1. she knew it was Kathryn's birthday, 2. she had told Dino it was Kathryn's birthday, 3. it had been his idea to ask her out, and 4. that Kaye was determined to help Kathryn have a great day. Towards that end, they went shopping and found Kathryn a stunning outfit, got her hair done, etc., which Kaye secretly set up for a limosuine to pick them both up and take them to dinner and, with Kathryn's consent, to a dance in Louiseville. Kaye packed up Dino with a suit and set him to wait for Kathryn, and glamoured Kathryn's clothing so that she always looked her absolutely best.
The look on Dino's face when she came down the stairs was enough to make the night perfect for her - jokes to Kaye about shag carpeting aside, all she wanted, really, was for Dino to want to spend time with her. She didn't care where he wanted to spend or how he wanted to spend it, as long as he actually wanted her there, as long as he felt that her presence added something. To see his jaw drop slightly at the sight of her, then, made her night.
They got into the limo and drove, playing with an erector set that had been left for them. Dinner was relatively quiet - they plotted further things to erect, and Dino, shyly, produced a box for her, saying it was for her birthday. Opening it, explaining that she wasn't used to getting gifts, thank you, thank you, she withdrew from inside a shining piece of dross, a necklace with a crystalline anvil pendant. More happy than she could say, she thanked him repeatedly, and (being Dino) he got shy and clammed up.
The drive to Louisville passed with the playing of puzzles and construction. Kathryn, knowing that Dino was a far superior architect, and knowing that she loved just watching him work, sat and watched, making occasional suggestions, as Dino forced the puzzles into the forms he wanted. He was pleased enough with his work that he protected it with a runic circle, lest it vanish as the erector set had done.
In Louisville, waiting for them, was a Vienesse Waltz. Dino was a consumate dancer (a place he could know the rules and not feel awkward!) and Kathryn had been secretly learning to dance from Kaye, and they danced from the time they got there until it closed. Dino was all the gentlemen he normally wasn't sure how to be, bowing, extending his arm to her, leading her in circles across the floor while she blushed and smiled and beamed. They won a trophy ("Best new couple") and headed back to the car, where quickly the awkwardness began again.
Dino got nervous and quiet again and, feeling herself doing the same, she forced herself to tell him that he needn't feel worried, that nothing he did would offend her, that she didn't mind anything he did, and he looked surprised, and asked if she truly meant anything. To this Kathryn replied that she more meant anything he would do, which is to say that there are things she knows he wouldn't do, like burning down Willowgrove, that would offend her, but she knew he would never do such a thing, and so he needn't worry. And Kathryn had to ask if he knew the answer to the question she had asked; when he said he didn't understand, she explained. BEing Dino, he clammed up, but, after much prodding and pushing, he acknowledged that he didn't want her to go.
So happy she couldn't say, the conversation didn't get easier from there, though, as Dino remained confused about so much, and constantly tried to excuse himself by saying that he didn't know the right way to handle such things. Kathryn, meanwhile, was insistent that she didn't care about the right ways, all that mattered was if he wanted her around, and he should figure out if he did. This, sadly, only confused him more. However, eventually they reached a point where things seemed to be pretty much okay, for Dino demonstrated how he cared in ways that Kathryn truly noticed, his knowledge of her whereabouts over the past week in particular. Dino kept turning in his head to Armand for advice, highlighted ultimately when ARmand briefly took over, stating flat out that "I am a moron, I don't know what I want..." to which Dino turned to himself and said, "yes I do!" in an offended tone, though Kathryn never did actually find out. :)
The topic of Prague came up (another story of it's own), and when Dino found out that Kathryn had been injured - even minorly - in a fight there, the look on his face was indescrible, and, cursing, he muttered darkly about what he would to Mad Tess, who had sent her there. Alarmed, Kathryn tried to calm him, but it didn't work, and as he thought back on the last few days, he remembered how sad she had seemed. He insisted that she explain why she was depressed, even though she tried to fend him off by saying she wasn't really supposed to talk about what had happened there. Finally, she said that it was because of Petra, watching Petra fall in love, and watching him fall in love with her, that they could be so happy. She felt very bad, because she didn't want Dino to feel pressured, but she didn't ultimately think he really understood, which she was secretly happy for, because she hated to be jealous of her friends and to have others know she felt that way.
The evening grew later, and Kathryn convinced Dino to tell her about the many things that he was confused about, and she did her best to help (she was the 8th listed thing, though it was in no particular order)...however, she was so exhausted from her hard work in the forge of late that she finally fell asleep, her head in his lap. He noticed after a little while, and had the driver of the limo take them back to Willowgrove, where he gently woke her. Though he still didn't help her out of the car, he went to the door, opened it, and bowed formally to her, as he had at the dance, and, with a blush, she curtsied and went through the door he held open, then waited for him.
Kaye had sat up and greeted them (though she insisted she wasn't waiting for them) and she asked if they had fun, to which Dino said he did, and, glowing, Kathryn said the same. though there had been no kiss at hte door (which she had sorely hoped for, damn hormones) he still had had fun, and she really felt that they had gotten somewhere, and, more than anything, she'd had the best birthday ever. Dino, growing more unsure by the minute, quickly excused himself and headed upstairs, while Kaye went with Kathryn to help her out of her dress. In brief discussion of events, Kaye was disappointed to learn there had been no kiss, but happy that htings had gone well. She also insisted, though, that Kathryn start to care more for her own happiness - for Kathryn insisted that all that really mattered to her was knowing that Dino had had fun.
Other stuff:
-Dino's discomfort in part tended from his being 27 and Kathryn being but 16 when this all started.
-Dino's things get complicated by ARmand, a porn star whose soul shares Dino's body, and who tends to get involved in social situations when Dino finds them over his head.
That was fun! Expect more private Changeling (and other game!) rants in the future. :)
...favorite moments include "the birthday present" (which I will be questing for the prop for all week, if I can't find it here I'll have to turn to the internet...), Armand's intervention ("I am a moron," says Dino, "I don't know what I wa...yes I do!"), and the signs that wait, he actually does care ("then you were on the banana boat, then you were on the rebel base, then you were in Prague..." and "wait, you were depressed after getting back from Prague..." insert dead serious tone of voice here - "what were you depressed about?" and more!)
Well, that's literally what I cut, but I feel like I should do what I did for Dave, and start from the beginning. That said, I should really be doing that now. But I'm going to anyway. Damn being too tired to not be dumb...
Kathryn met Dino first off, the very first Fae she met after Chrsalizing. He brought her to Willowgrove and introduced her to others - Kaye, Tam, and many more - and with them helped her to get out of her house, sort of. He started to work on legal paperwork that would show that Kathryn was 18 and able to be on her own. Meanwhile, Kaye's wedding was fast approaching, and on the day itself great deeds went down. Kaye was shot, and all those who felt they should have protected her but didn't - Dino included - felt down in the dumps. However, it really bothered Kathryn to see Dino so upset, and she realized that perhaps she was beginning to feel for him. It hurt her to see him hurt - not that it didn't hurt her to see others hurt, not that she didn't normally want to help, but it was different some how, in no way she could explain.
In the following days she came to realize that she had a crush on Dino, her first crush. However, his retiring nature - shy, unconfident, incredibly awkard, so smart - made it difficult for her to act on this. She ran away from home and moved into Willowgrove, where she started to get to know the other people who lived there - Messina and Ari, Satyr's, Liza ap Sharaev, sister of the Baron, Careg ap Dougal the craftsman, and Baroness Eleanor of Highground, and Gawyn ap Eilel, Kaye's husband, sidhe, Amelie and her uncle Tam, claricons (sp??), Kaye the Boggan, Dino the Knocker, Grendel and Torn, redcaps, and the many others who frequent that place - and she started to feel comfortable. Dino got her the fake ID, which claimed her birthday to be in July and her age to be 18, and Kathryn, thrilled to be out of her home and living some place with a forge, began to work hard to be useful to those around her by learning anything that they would teach.
Before Samhain
Before Samhain, Kathryn fully realized how she felt, and began to wonder what she could do to maybe get Dino's attention. He wasn't really the "go and get them" sort, so she wasn't really sure what she could possibly do to get him to notice her. Forlornly, she suspected there was nothing she could do. However, she noticed Amelie, who lived across the hall from her, was acting like she knew a bit about boys, flirting with Careg, a sidhe a few years older than her. The opportunity came, then, for Amelie and Kathryn to become roommates, and, taking it, Kathryn decided to ask for Amelie's advice.
Amelie was full of good advice, suggesting first and foremost that Kathryn stop wearing such loose, unflattering clothing, that she try following Dino around, and other such things. Amelie was embaressed that Kathryn had been able to tell that she and Careg were dating, and made it clear that it was a secret, but soon everyone had figured it out. Meanwhile, Kaye found out from Amelie how Kathryn felt, even as Karthyn made a stab at taking Amelie's advice, to no avail. However, it did cause her to grow more confident in her feelings. Dino was kind and smart and cute and ...she couldn't fully explain, but she was increasingly certain.
Samhain
The end of October, Samhain came, and as with everyone all of the darker things that Kathryn repressed came to the forefront, including her interest in Dino. While people came to her for help even on Samhain night, and she did her best, she made it clear that she wouldn't take all night, because she was going to sleep with Dino, sorry about that. Thus she found herself kidnapping the dashing Dale Derring, with Dale's permission, and then rescuing self-same damsel. As her reward, Dale Derring caused Dino to have a crush on Kathryn who, delighted, made good on her promise. She worried not at all, for all said that Samhain would be forgotten on the following night.
There is no need to go into graphic detail on the events of that night, though a few favorite scenes...
After an encounter with the beastly Liza (unseelie, of course) involving violence, sharp nails, and more, Dino and Kathryn found themselves dangling, chained, back to back from a dungeon, naked completely, as Andi came and stole their clothing. Thoroughly aggravated, Dino let out quite the string of curses, while Kathryn tried to explain to him how things really weren't all that bad - she might have succeeded but for the clothes stealing.
Approaching the unseelie Kaye, who had taken Dino's attention from, Kathryn boldly declared that it wasn't fair the way Kaye had Dino wrapped around her little finger, and that she would like it very much if Dino would come when she crooked her little finger, as he did when Kaye did so. OF course, both denied these allegations, but the smug look on Kaye's face spoke to more than just that.
So peeved was Kathryn at Dino's slight that she promptly went to find someone else to sleep with, as revenge. Though she had thought to sleep with the Baron of Muses, htis proved impossible for the Baron was not to be seen, so instead she went to the arms of the knocker Lexxander Lugnut, an encounter which she remained ashamed of for a long while afterward, for the use of the pommel of her sword in wholely unproscribed ways.
All in all, it was the best day of Kathryn's life.
After Samhain
The day after Samhain, Kathryn was horrified to realize that she could remember large chunks of the night before, especially the important bits like losing her virginity and having sex with people. Horribly ashamed (the first thing she said when she realized was that she had to go kill herself, though she promptly apologized, for saying that frightened the poor child Pinnochio) she wandered, desconsolate, until approached by the Sluagh Kanatori. Kanatori had (though Kathryn didn't remember this) promised during Samhain to help Kathryn to remember how happy she had been on Samhain night, and towards that end he approached her, bearing Kathryn's sword, Troy, with him. Desperate to get Troy back, Kathryn promised that she would owe Kanatori a favor, and he collected it: he said that all she had to do was tell Dino that she loved him. Horrified, but desperate for her sword and unwilling to break her word, Kathryn went to do so, taking long minutes to work up the nerve.
Finally, staring at her feet, she approached..."Uh, Dino?" she didn't wait for a reply. "I...um...I'm supposed...I mean...that is to say..." deep breath..."I love you." And without looking at all to see his reaction, she went of and curled up in a corner to cry.
Many people saw fit to reassure her, and she was starting to feel a bit better - though she couldn't stop her self from watching Dino every where he went, and she couldn't help but notice the way his jolted and looked away the one time he noticed her nearby - and thus ran to Liza's aid when she called for it. However, the situation was complex (and not for this post! tired Claire need bath badly!) and complicated, and she ended up on trial for treason against the Count.
All in all, it was the worst day of Kathryn's life.
In the days following Samhain, Kathryn was confined to Willowgrove. She avoided Dino as much as she could, and she couldn't help but notice that he did the same, and that he seemed uncomfortable whenever she was around. This was perhaps most marked when Kaye held a game night, and the two of them wouldn't be on the same side of the room, pointedly ignoring each other. Watching Amelie and Careg pursue happiness, Kathryn began in her heart to feel despondent, though she wouldn't let anyone know that.
Kaye, meanwhile, was doing the best she could. She had a heart to heart talk with Dino, and tried to assess what his position was on this issue. Though she didn't tell all to Kathryn, she did say that 1. Dino thought that she was cute, 2. that Kaye was trying to convince Dino to come talk to her, and 3. there was hope for the future. Trying to buck up her spirits, Kathryn started to work on a concepts for a sword that Dino had asked her about, a blade that would imbue insanity with one edge and sanity with the other.
Too afraid to approach him, Kathryn wrote up her thoughts into a note, including at the end of it that she was really sorry and that she would keep away from him if he wanted and she would understand if he didn't want her help (I'll post the actual note at some point, now that I think about it).
A few days later, she was rewarded by Dino coming to the forge. He thanked her for her input, and asked what she meant about not helping. She replied that she would understand, after, you know, what happened, but he was clearly confused, and he said that he didn't understand, and that he wanted her help, and then left. Kathryn wondered through it all if this was really going to work out.
Time passed, at it is wont to do.
Yule
Kathryn got help from Kaye in coming up with a gift for Dino for Yule, settling on antique drafting tools. IT took Kathryn a while to work up the nerve to give it to him, at which point he looked vaguely stunned, and she left hurriedly. However, later in the day she finally got to see things as she had always hoped they might be.
Pirates had attacked on Yule, and they were intent on shiny things that people had. One approached Dino and tried to take his ring. Kathryn, nearby, noticed, and came over hurriedly, pulling the pirate away from him, and making the pirate promise to leave Dino alone, as long as Kathryn gave them something. Agreeing, Kathryn gave them her necklace and the pirate left. Dino was shocked, clearly, but insisted that she didn't need to do that, and wouldn't be rebuffed by Kathryn's insistence that she really didn't mind - it was just soemthing her mother had given her, and she didn't really get along with her mother, and she couldn't just stand and watch them bother him. Meanwhile, the redcap Diezel, who felt she owed Kathryn because of the Yule gift that Kathryn had given her, retrieved the necklace, and both Diezel and Dino - seperately - insisted that Kathryn shouldn't let people push her around. She laughed them off.
AS the day progressed, and Dino came accross problems, Kathryn did her best to help, and was rewarded with a thank you that treasured more than any gift that she received that day.
Later, the mortal police came, and things got very messy (another story for another post, it's getting late!!)...later, Kaye, who had left before the police could catch her, told Kathryn that Dino had been most concerned for Kathryn's safety, and had gone to great lengths to make sure that Kaye was personally making sure that Kathryn made it out of the police's custody safely. Hugely pleased (though still completely lacking in self confidence), she followed some advice that Diezel had given her and asked Dino to go to a movie with her.
The movie...er...date...
In late December, Dino and Kathryn headed out to the movie, Chronicle of Narnia. They talked sporadically about the trailers, little comments on the movie and the like. About 2/3 of the way through, Kathryn started to edge closer, deciding to take a chance, but when Dino noticed about 3/4 of the way through, he pulled away, and Kathryn did too. Then, to her shock, he edged in a little bit, and, not sure how she felt, Kathryn followed suit.
Afterwards, after a very quiet drive, Dino asked Kathryn if it had been a date, to which all she could say was that no, it hadn't been, but it sort of was, in that she didn't think he'd say yes if she asked him out on a date, but that he might say yes to a movie - which he did - and so that's why...She asked the question she burned to know the answer to, for he was such a secluded person and she cared so much that couldn't bear to be a bother to him, and thus she asked if she should just leave him alone, to which he replied that he just wasn't sure, that he was confused, and Kathryn was like, I really like you, I just need to know...things got complicated from there, but ended as well as could be expected, and afterwards they were on speaking terms.
Almost two months passed before there were any further developments, however, until, finally, near the end of February, Kathryn asked Dino out on a date, and she called it such. It was so hard for her to work up the nerve, and she decided two things: If he decided he didn't want her around, she would leave Willowgrove, and that if, after their next date, he did not approach her on his own within a month, she would also leave. She couldn't take the heartache of watching others so in love find such happiness while she pined away, better to remove herself to Emberhold, the home of the Baron to whom she was warded (another story for another time!) than to live so close to something she could never have.
Because she wanted! She wanted to be with him, she wanted him, she grew increasingly depressed as time past. Only the fact that he had said yes to the date kept her happy...
However, she had to quest, and so she found herself in outer space fighting monkeys, and then in Prague, where her depression hit hard as she watched the Knocker, Petra, her friend, courted by a man who seemed to truly love her, and in the course of the night they came to be so in love that they wed. How come, she wondered, such things happened to others but not to her? Thoroughly depressed, she returned to Willowgrove feeling like rock bottom, the more so for her birthday was but three days away, but she had told no one and expected nothing and was somehow satisfied that way.
Much to her shock, though, the very next day Dino approached her about a date for their next date, and when Kathryn said she didn't have one, he suggested the 1st. Amazed and thrilled, she looked forward to it, her mood greatly improved even as she worked day and night to complete some forging projects she had promised to others.
Kathryn's Birthday
Ah ha, the matter at hand! Now I'll just have to update in the future and all will be well.
Kaye approached Kathryn the morning of her birthday and made it clear that 1. she knew it was Kathryn's birthday, 2. she had told Dino it was Kathryn's birthday, 3. it had been his idea to ask her out, and 4. that Kaye was determined to help Kathryn have a great day. Towards that end, they went shopping and found Kathryn a stunning outfit, got her hair done, etc., which Kaye secretly set up for a limosuine to pick them both up and take them to dinner and, with Kathryn's consent, to a dance in Louiseville. Kaye packed up Dino with a suit and set him to wait for Kathryn, and glamoured Kathryn's clothing so that she always looked her absolutely best.
The look on Dino's face when she came down the stairs was enough to make the night perfect for her - jokes to Kaye about shag carpeting aside, all she wanted, really, was for Dino to want to spend time with her. She didn't care where he wanted to spend or how he wanted to spend it, as long as he actually wanted her there, as long as he felt that her presence added something. To see his jaw drop slightly at the sight of her, then, made her night.
They got into the limo and drove, playing with an erector set that had been left for them. Dinner was relatively quiet - they plotted further things to erect, and Dino, shyly, produced a box for her, saying it was for her birthday. Opening it, explaining that she wasn't used to getting gifts, thank you, thank you, she withdrew from inside a shining piece of dross, a necklace with a crystalline anvil pendant. More happy than she could say, she thanked him repeatedly, and (being Dino) he got shy and clammed up.
The drive to Louisville passed with the playing of puzzles and construction. Kathryn, knowing that Dino was a far superior architect, and knowing that she loved just watching him work, sat and watched, making occasional suggestions, as Dino forced the puzzles into the forms he wanted. He was pleased enough with his work that he protected it with a runic circle, lest it vanish as the erector set had done.
In Louisville, waiting for them, was a Vienesse Waltz. Dino was a consumate dancer (a place he could know the rules and not feel awkward!) and Kathryn had been secretly learning to dance from Kaye, and they danced from the time they got there until it closed. Dino was all the gentlemen he normally wasn't sure how to be, bowing, extending his arm to her, leading her in circles across the floor while she blushed and smiled and beamed. They won a trophy ("Best new couple") and headed back to the car, where quickly the awkwardness began again.
Dino got nervous and quiet again and, feeling herself doing the same, she forced herself to tell him that he needn't feel worried, that nothing he did would offend her, that she didn't mind anything he did, and he looked surprised, and asked if she truly meant anything. To this Kathryn replied that she more meant anything he would do, which is to say that there are things she knows he wouldn't do, like burning down Willowgrove, that would offend her, but she knew he would never do such a thing, and so he needn't worry. And Kathryn had to ask if he knew the answer to the question she had asked; when he said he didn't understand, she explained. BEing Dino, he clammed up, but, after much prodding and pushing, he acknowledged that he didn't want her to go.
So happy she couldn't say, the conversation didn't get easier from there, though, as Dino remained confused about so much, and constantly tried to excuse himself by saying that he didn't know the right way to handle such things. Kathryn, meanwhile, was insistent that she didn't care about the right ways, all that mattered was if he wanted her around, and he should figure out if he did. This, sadly, only confused him more. However, eventually they reached a point where things seemed to be pretty much okay, for Dino demonstrated how he cared in ways that Kathryn truly noticed, his knowledge of her whereabouts over the past week in particular. Dino kept turning in his head to Armand for advice, highlighted ultimately when ARmand briefly took over, stating flat out that "I am a moron, I don't know what I want..." to which Dino turned to himself and said, "yes I do!" in an offended tone, though Kathryn never did actually find out. :)
The topic of Prague came up (another story of it's own), and when Dino found out that Kathryn had been injured - even minorly - in a fight there, the look on his face was indescrible, and, cursing, he muttered darkly about what he would to Mad Tess, who had sent her there. Alarmed, Kathryn tried to calm him, but it didn't work, and as he thought back on the last few days, he remembered how sad she had seemed. He insisted that she explain why she was depressed, even though she tried to fend him off by saying she wasn't really supposed to talk about what had happened there. Finally, she said that it was because of Petra, watching Petra fall in love, and watching him fall in love with her, that they could be so happy. She felt very bad, because she didn't want Dino to feel pressured, but she didn't ultimately think he really understood, which she was secretly happy for, because she hated to be jealous of her friends and to have others know she felt that way.
The evening grew later, and Kathryn convinced Dino to tell her about the many things that he was confused about, and she did her best to help (she was the 8th listed thing, though it was in no particular order)...however, she was so exhausted from her hard work in the forge of late that she finally fell asleep, her head in his lap. He noticed after a little while, and had the driver of the limo take them back to Willowgrove, where he gently woke her. Though he still didn't help her out of the car, he went to the door, opened it, and bowed formally to her, as he had at the dance, and, with a blush, she curtsied and went through the door he held open, then waited for him.
Kaye had sat up and greeted them (though she insisted she wasn't waiting for them) and she asked if they had fun, to which Dino said he did, and, glowing, Kathryn said the same. though there had been no kiss at hte door (which she had sorely hoped for, damn hormones) he still had had fun, and she really felt that they had gotten somewhere, and, more than anything, she'd had the best birthday ever. Dino, growing more unsure by the minute, quickly excused himself and headed upstairs, while Kaye went with Kathryn to help her out of her dress. In brief discussion of events, Kaye was disappointed to learn there had been no kiss, but happy that htings had gone well. She also insisted, though, that Kathryn start to care more for her own happiness - for Kathryn insisted that all that really mattered to her was knowing that Dino had had fun.
Other stuff:
-Dino's discomfort in part tended from his being 27 and Kathryn being but 16 when this all started.
-Dino's things get complicated by ARmand, a porn star whose soul shares Dino's body, and who tends to get involved in social situations when Dino finds them over his head.
That was fun! Expect more private Changeling (and other game!) rants in the future. :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 04:28 pm (UTC)Valentines day, following Amelie's advice, Kathryn got Dino an antique book with architectural images of Venice, and went with him to Columbus, IN, to look at architecture. As is usual with Dino, he was much more OK while in his element, and when he could pretend it wasn't a date, and things went fairly well.
(this wasn't actually run as a scene, so there is sadly just not that much detail.)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-23 05:47 pm (UTC)...but otherwise, a surprisingly thorough summary of what happened. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-23 07:35 pm (UTC)