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"Hurts just a tad," she admitted as she jerked her head for him to follow the man. "And Demitri isn't exactly a slow walker, so I'm swallowing my pride for a bit and asking you, if you'd be so kind, to help me just until we get to the safehouse."
"Shoulda used the wheelchair." Karkota joked, and started walking, Making sure to help her and not walk to fast. "Don't be afraid to ask for help, Tessa. Even at the safe house." He narrowed his eyes at her.
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She stuck her tongue out at him for the wheelchair comment, keeping up with him with relative ease—though, her leg throbbed with each step. She then rolled her eyes at his second comment. "I don't ask for help. It's not what I do. I prefer getting things done on my own—it's how I survived on my own."
"Its hard to survive on your own sometimes. Besides your friends seem more then willing to help you." Karkota kept staring at her as they walked, trying to get his point across.
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She sighed, begrudgingly relenting. He had a point, and she knew it. She was just too stubborn for her own good sometimes. "Fine, you might be right," she grumbled.
(Sorry I've been gone so long! I've had trouble finding motivation to come on.)
"Might?" Karkota challenged. Though there was a hint of a laugh in his voice. He spead up slightly and made sure his arm was secured around her. He didn't want them getting left by the man, and he deffently didn't want her falling cuz he decided to walk a bit faster.
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((It's alright! I've had the same issue. I unfortunately won't be on for much longer, as I'm going to be gone for a week starting tomorrow))
"Yes, might. Be glad that's all you're getting." They soon reached the car, where Demitri was already getting into the driver's seat with the back door open for Tessa and Karkota. Tessa went to detach herself from Kota, feeling like she's accepted enough help for the time being.
(Oh gosh. Like on vacation or something?)
Karkota hesitantly pulled his arm back. He didn't want to over step his boundaries, and Even with Tessas leg, he was sure she could still totally hurt him. Karkota slid in after her, making sure to close the door correctly, and not slam it like an idiot.
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((No… More like going to a college campus 3 hours away from my parents and surrounded by strangers, learning how to run a business))
Tessa sighed and sank into the car seat, stretching her bad leg out as far as she could and resting a hand on her stomach. Demitri started the car and glared at Tess. She stuck her tongue out at him while she put her seatbelt on. "Am I at least allowed to sing?" she asked him.
"As long as you do it while sitting at your desk and not in the actual studio," Demitri answered.
(Dear gooosh, That sounds… scary.)
Karkota followed suit, and clicked his own seatbealt into place.
"Sing?" He asked looking at the two a bit confused. He wished he knew Tessa well enough to know what they where talking about, but much to his disappointment, he didn't.
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((Yeah, I'm really nervous, but I've been told the program is fun, so here's to hoping. I'm gonna have'ta go after this post. See you when I reappear!))
"Along with dancing, I sing on the occasion," Tessa said, looking over at Karkota. "I can show you once we get to the house," she then slowly offered with a tilted head.
(Sorry I've been gone so long! Work has been kicking my butt. I'm off this the rest of this week though, so I'm finally free!!!!!)
"I'd love that." Karkota was surprised at the offer and it showed on his face. "Hey, maybe we can have a karaoke night." He added jokingly. He for one, could not sing. But it was still a fun idea.
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((eyy! I totally get it. Business camp had me working from 7 in the morning to 10 at night, and that was only for a week))
She grinned. "Karaoke's always fun. I have a small setup in my room that I use when I'm just singing to do something or run through an idea I had," she explained. "And since I'm banned from doing anything physical," she added with a spiteful glance over at Demitri, which he pointedly ignored, "I guess I'm stuck there."
(Dear goooosh. Yeah no. I only work from 9 to 3:30. But I'm on my feet all day so I get pretty tired. I couldn't imagine working all day-)
"With good reason," Karkota rolled his eyes at the fact she was glaring at the other guy. If he hadn't ban her then Karkota would have at least tried. Keyword, at least. he didn't think Tessa would actually listen to him. But hey, what's to stop him from trying?
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((blech, staying on your feet all the time has to suck. I was the opposite, usually sitting down as I was automatically assigned to advertising since people saw me doodling through the lectures… anywayyy, the worst bit I had to do was work on the floor, which was tile. My knees were bruised for a few days from doing that))
She huffed and sat back in her seat, wincing from the slight jolt of pain the movement caused in her stomach. She tried to hide the wince, of course, with a smile tossed Karkota's way, but she wouldn't be surprised if he caught what she was trying to hide. "Maybe, but I'm no stranger to working while injured."
(Oh gosh yeah. The one time we weren't on our feet was when we had to kneel. Which sucked cuz we where out side and had to kneel on concrete. It was also kinda stressful cuz we where manning games for kids, and had to make sure they didn't decide to run off with any thing. Honestly I'm just so glad to be off for most of this week. But sad that its only a summer job and is almost over.)
He could have sworn he saw her wince, but couldn't be to sure as he was looking for anything wrong. "Didn't the hospital send some pain meds' for you?" Karkota eyed her suspiciously as he spoke. Looking for any other indications that Tessa was in pain.
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((ahh, concrete. I feel bad for you. I can't handle kids to save my life, so props to you my dude))
"Can't," she said with a shrug, her fingers tapping her stomach in a random pattern that only she seemed to be able to follow. "I just got clean about a year ago, and that was after my relapse. I can't have any sort of drug, even the medical kind."
(I didn't know I'd have to deal with kids. I can barley handle them. Rip.)
"Oh gosh." He groaned. Not really knowing what he had expected. Though it certainly wasn't that. Of course most people in their lime of work had a drug problem at some point or another. But maybe he hopped she'd have been able to stay clear of it.
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((oh no. at least you survived))
She shot him a look that was none too happy. "Hey, I didn't get into that shit on purpose. I had no choice in the matter. As you've seen, the only 'bad' choice I've made is my precious alcohol, and that's only because of my shitty life. I'd rather pretend everything is fine and dandy without a care in the world than this." She threw her hands up vaguely.
Demitri looked back at her through the mirror and cut a disapproving look her way. "Tess," he said, the warning clear in the one word. "Don't take it out on him." Tessa just grumbled something in Italian at him and flipped him off.
((I'm sorry, the drugs is a touchy subject and she has horrible mood swings))
(No its totally chill! I'm probably gonna push that at some point, just to trigger a fight between them. Muhahahha. Unless you'd prefer not- then I wont-)
Karkoat found himself pushing away from her. His side pressed against the car door. He wasn't gonna lie, when Tessa got angry he did feel a bit of fear. Especially since he knew her past. What she was capable of. "Sorry." He found himself saying, even though he really didn't know what he did wrong.
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((nah, it's all good if you do))
Tessa glanced over at Karkota and ducked her head slightly, avoiding his gaze as she fell silent. She felt a twinge of guilt for getting mad at him, but she didn't like being judged for her drug use. It was forced on her and something she had no part in causing. She hated the looks people gave her after she said that she couldn't take medicine because of it. They judged her without knowing the full story.
After a few seconds Karkota relaxed. Though he did send Tessa a glance every now and again. Not really sure if she'd lash out or not.
(Skip to them getting to the safe house?)
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((Yeah))
Tessa was silent for the rest of the ride, occasionally tapping her wrist to the beating of her heart. Her gaze was either trained on the window or her lap or wrists. She was more upset with herself for lashing out than she was at Karkota. He hadn't done anything wrong, but she repeatedly had the talk with the doctors at the hospital about her drug use, and she was sick of being judged. She knew he hadn't outright expressed his distaste, and her backlash wasn't justified.
They eventually reached a relatively large two-story house that could be argued to be a mansion. Demitri pulled the car into the gravel driveway. The mossy stone fence surrounding the building left an arched entryway where the driveway passed through, and Tessa looked up as if she could see the arch through the roof of the car.
The large yard wasn't spectacular, but there were some things that most people wouldn't expect to be in it—and they were all littered about without any particular order. To one side was a set of high monkey bars and a simple beam suspended just a little lower off the ground as the monkey bars. To the opposite side of the house, there was an inground pool with a covered concrete patio. Behind the house was a barn with a wired-off pasture taking up the entirety of the backyard. Directly against the front of the house was a small garden with both food and flowers.
Through out the rest of the car ride Karkota looked out the window. Not really bothering to look at Tessa. It wasn't the fact he was upset with her, nor that he was disgusted by her drug use. Heck it didn't even bother him that much, it was just the fact he wished there had been something they could have done for the pain.
Karkota only noticed the house when they passed though the stone entryway. "This is a safe house?" He found himself asking in surprise. If he'd have had to guess, he'd have thought it a mansion.
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"Technically it's just a normal house, albeit a bit big," Demitri answered, as Tessa was still silent. "But for us, we use it as a safe house or just a home away from home. Cinthia owns the place, and the rest of us come and go as we please."
Tessa finally spoke, unbuckling and leaning through the gap between the front seats despite the stabbing pain in her stomach the movement caused. "Can I–"
"No."
"But just–"
"No."
She huffed and leaned her cheek on the side of the passenger seat. "Ass."
Karkota nodded his head. He didn't know why he was so shocked. He had seem plenty of houses like this one before, heck even lived in one at one point. But only because his father moved him and his mom into it before moving him to the main land. Of course it was all against his and his moms will, but he feared what his father would have done if he hadn't listened.
He zoned back into reality, completely confysed at their conversation and wondering if he missed something. "What?" He found himself asking before he could stop himself.
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"Demitri's being an ass," Tessa said as if that explained everything, flicking her gaze over to Karkota. Demitri just rolled his eyes and focused on parking the car in front of the front porch. After a bit, Tessa sighed and turned so she was fully looking at Karkota, her own sort of apology for being a bitch. "He won't let me go for a swim or go on the bars."
"You can visit the horses," Demitri said, shutting off the car and getting out without another word.
Karkota was a bit surprised Tessa was talking to him again already. If anything he suspected to be ignored for at least a few more hours. "You're still healing, you shouldn't want to do those things." He slid out of the care as he spoke, "besides, like he said, horse's!"
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She huffed again and slid out of the car as well, hopping on her good leg while she shut the door and leaned on it, letting her bad leg adjust. "But I can't just sit around and do nothing," she complained, tentatively easing more and more weight on her bad leg. "That's boring, and I'll go even more insane."
He made his way aroynd the car to her side and offered assistants. "I'll keep you company then. You can harass me about whatever informant your boss wanted, and I can completely deny you that informant. It'll be fun." Of course it was just a joke, but at least it would give them something to talk about.
