Night Out (Trenton)

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

(This takes place after the Stronger thread)

She'd been forced to go to this stupid fund raising event. Mostly because she had to go up and say a few words to folks about how important the Foundation was. Hell there weren't even any foundation members here. She was just accepting a check from them.

She turned to slip back stage. Holding up her gown and trying to walk in heels for the first time. She was doing alright and she should have asked Diana to help her learn but she was still too ashamed. The purple gown was modest and she grabbed up her silver and purple shawl as she prepared to leave when she caught her heel she had to catch herself on the door frame. Cheeks flushing she saw an elderly woman look at her sympathetically and nod. Collecting herself she prepared herself to head out into the night and into the car for the ride home.

She was stupid for coming here. Stupid for even trying. Her stomach was in knots and she wanted to be sick with all the stress she'd been under lately. Closing her eyes she rested her head on the doorframe slightly as her car was brought around.

[vampireking]

Trenton didn't even know why he was here. This was one of Marina's Seraphim functions and he had no use for them, though he usually went with her to make her happy. But he was here and Marina was probably here as well. He headed for the entrance and as he did so, he heard the faint sound of someone tripping and then continuing down the halls. From the scent, he could tell it was Marina. Marina. The fight that they had had the previous night raced through his mind. Did he really want to see her? He was still mad about the fact that she had slept with Phillip, but at the same time, he was worried about her. Angels were almost always a target of demons and vampires.

Seeing her exit the building, Trenton blurred up to her.
"Hello, Marina," he intoned.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

She just about jumped out of her skin when Trent suddenly appeared in front of her in a blur. Her hair teased the nape of her neck from the breeze that followed him. Her dark eyes were wide as she placed her hand to her chest, "Hello, Trenton." she said as she let her hand drop and she folded her hands in front of her, her shivers evident from the cold as she exhaled and bit her lip she ducked her head down and closed her eyes. Anyone who saw them would think nothing was amiss as she spoke softly. She knew better than to make folks wonder as people filed past them and she automatically greeted some friends who were walking past her to their car.

[vampireking]

Trenton paused as Marina greeted some people who passed them and he gave a silent nod of acknowledgment. Now that they were facing, he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say to her, though he was no longer feeling guilty for yelling at her. No, he had pushed that emotion aside. Now there was just the anger. The anger and the concern for her.
"I am sorry for appearing here unannounced but I know that functions such as these can be a prime target for vampires and demons," he he told her. Best to get the explanations out of the way. It would save on time and he wouldn't have to make pointless chitchat. But then again, what did he care if she knew the reason why he was here? They had made no promises to each other and besides, she was an-all powerful angel. She could take care fo herself. Or maybe she'd just have Philip protect her.

Trenton's attention was momentarily distracted by a woman in a black evening gown. She was Caucasian with long, blonde hair and had blue eyes. Ah. The all-American girl. She should be tasty, he thought to himself. He then grabbed her arm and turned her around so that they were facing each other.
"Hey what are you---" she began to ask.
"You're going to go to 4468 Downing Lane and let yourself in. There's a key under the mat. You'll wait for me there," he said smoothly, letting his pupils widen as he gave her his address. She nodded her consent and he let her go and she continued to her car.
"Now then, I know these type of parties aren't really your thing, but I've never known you to leave one so early," he continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. And really, nothing had. He had just garnered himself a meal or possibly a new toy. There was nothing wrong or strange about that. It was who he was after all.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

"You don't have to apologize. I'm only here briefly to pick up a check for the foundation and then heading home. I wasn't planning on staying." she said softly. She saw him coerse the girl and bite her lip, pain flashed across her face,

"Trent, you don’t understand. When I was a werewolf I could not feel a connection to the powers that be. I didn’t have a quasi road map laid out in front of me going “This is good, this is the grey area, and this is evil-- don’t go there.” That compass was completely gone. I tried to hold onto it; Tried to cling to what I thought it was. I tried weighing my options and being logical but after 2 hours of my body taking control and my mind being in the passenger’s seat it was impossible to just flip back to “Intellectual”. " she whispered softly. Her head was downcast and it was obvious she wasn't trying to be smug. Her body seemed to curl into itself a bit.

"I was exhausted. I’d vomited out all of my stomach contents and managed to drag myself into the shower. I smelled like a freaking newborn and felt like one. It was like being shoved through the fun factory of life and remembering it. It wasn’t thinking at all, half the time. It was pure instinct. I’m not saying it was right and I tried to hold onto my intellect but Philip kept talking to me and I was in emotional crisis. I felt like I had died and come out the other side and the only one there was this guy who treated me like crap, only I now understood why part of him had snapped. I handled the change, Trent. I crawled out the other side. He never fully did. I’m not saying what he did was right, it wasn’t, but when all my body shifting was over, he apologized. Honestly apologized. Hell, he even told me that he was glad I hadn’t been there for him shifting. Even knowing that he couldn’t handle it he was glad that I was alright and that I had someone to help me. " she exhaled softly and brushed her hair over her shoulder.

"I had no guarantee you would even want me back. I was the enemy. You’d made it pretty damn clear that you hated werewolves and I was one. A few nice words with Daryl weren’t going to suddenly change that and me showing up looking like a red wolf and wagging my tail wasn’t suddenly going to make you flip that switch and go kumbaya. And hell part of me resented that I’d gotten dragged off and locked in a house with an insane ex instead of going home with you. Yes, you protected people and that was good but when the chips were down your instincts said “Kill.” Not “Protect my mate.” His did. Maybe its spitting hairs but it was how I felt at that moment. It wasn’t like I could call you and go “Hey honey I know I’ve got this problem and I might kill you but can you come get me from the one person who can actually get to the same mental level as I am?" she pleaded softly as she tried to explain to him. To make him understand.

"I’m not saying you don’t have the right to be mad. You have every right to be pissed off but you need to understand that for you being a vampire will ALWAYS come first. Until you stop running on your instincts and you understand how you were created, why you act the way you do, there is no way I will ever come first in your life. THAT was why I didn’t push to get married. Apart from the issue of possibly getting my ass dragged back to heaven there was the knowledge that you were already under stress and ten years of being with me, a mind healer, has just STARTED to make a dent in your locked off memories. Can you say with absolute certainty that if you and I had sex you wouldn’t accidentally kill me? Can you swear it? Cause I am going to be honest, I don’t think you can. Sex and feeding is inextricably linked in vampires. It’s what feeds the addiction and the hunger. Its what helps you find your food. You ARE sex personified. So yeah, to my mind all those times you fed were us being intimate because last time I checked I didn’t exactly go handing out pints of A- to just anyone. I don’t go “Hey, Robert feeling like some vita de sang tonight? I got a pint I can spare, just give me a sec…” I only ever fed you. I figured it was just your way of not triggering my panic attacks. I mean hell it never occurred to you that the fact that I needed a shower afterwards meant I enjoyed it? I thought that if that was what you could do to my brain in five minutes from BITING me that actual sex would be overwhelming and my brain would leak out my ears. So yeah for me feeding was win win. No panic attacks from triggering me accidentally from my abuse, no risk of coitus interruptus, and no risk of me being critiqued because I didn’t memorize the karma sutra. I mean its not like you’re going “You know, you need more B12, Mari. You’re just not getting enough and it’s a buzzkill.” Or “Darn it Mari, you know I hate it when you eat a hamburger before I feed. It makes you taste like your char broiled. And onions are disgusting.” You feed, you get a rush everyone is good AND you learn discipline like How not to feed like people are giant sippy cups. I mean yeah you’ve had your good days and your bad but it was kinda nice knowing I was your little blood teddy bear when you needed comfort food. she exhaled tiredly.

"I’m sorry I didn’t know what you wanted. I’m sorry I didn’t ask and I’m sorry I tried to cheat my way out of being intimate with you by just opening a vein with you and then using me being a werewolf as an excuse to do things with someone else. I never intended to sleep with Philip but it happened and I'm sorry for it."

"Trent, please. If you're angry at me take it out on me. Don't punish others for my mistake." she touched his arm softly, her eyes pleading with him.

"I don't have anyone to go with. I didn't have the right to ask you to come with me and I don't want to go with anyone else." she admitted as she looked at the ground shyly, "Its like settling for hamburger after you've had steak. It might be the same but the quality is so different how can you settle for less?" she flushed and didn't meet his gaze she didn't have the right to ask anything of him.

[vampireking]

Trenton's eyes flickered as Marina explained that she had only come to pick up a check.
"I see," he said, keeping his voice neutral. He didn['t really care about Marina's reason for being here. At least, he was trying not to care. He then fought the urge to roll his eyes as she started talking about being transformed into a werewolf. He didn't want to talk about that anymore. They had said all that was needed to be said the other night. Though he was surprised to hear that her connection to the Powers had been severed after her change. "That must have been frightening," he murmured. And it probably was. He knew that she treasured her connection to the Powers and to have them ripped away...Trenton pushed the feeling down. He didn't care about that! It was all in the past.

He then forced himself to listen as she went on to say that she had been exhausted, having thrown things up and that Philip had apologized---truly apologized---and she could see why he had snapped the way he had.
"So he apologized. Good for him," he said a bit dourly. His fist clenched when she mentioned that she had gone with Philip because he had gotten her out of the building while Trenton had just gone into kill mode and that she wasn't even sure that he would even want her back after she had turned. "Do not turn this around on me. I am sorry if I made you feel like I wasn't protecting you, but that is exactly what I was doing: destroying a threat to you and countless others," he bit off. Really? She thought that he wasn't trying to protect her? Fine! Whatever! Let her believe what she wanted! He didn't even care anymore.

Trenton waited until Marina's next tirade was over before responding.
"i don't need you to tell me how much sex and feeding are intertwined. I know that very well," he said, unable to keep the sharpness out of his voice. For a moment, he felt guilty, but he pushed it down. He didn't need that emotion: all it did was get in his way, turned him into a sap who took crap from other beings. "And I only fed from you because you allowed it. If you didn't want me to, you could've said so at any time," he continued, ignoring her comment about sleeping with Philip. He didn't want to rehash that again.

When she told him not to punish others because of her, he let out a scoff. "You think it's about you? Maybe I just want a meal. Maybe I just want to taste something different," he retorted. Really? She was going to tell him how to feed now? Like she could actually stop him! When she admitted that she didn't have anyone to go with and that she hadn't wanted to ask anyone else, he just shrugged. He ddin't care. She could do what she wanted.
"You could've. It wouldn't have made any difference to me," he told her casually. "And speaking of steak, I have a hot little blonde waiting for me. So if you'll excuse me..." With that, he turned around as a cruel graced his features as he pushed the last remnants of his feelings down and turned everything off. It was good to be back.

[Marina Anne Sinclaire]

She cringed as she felt his rage as if it was a thousand daggers inside her, she turned greenish from the feel of so much anger,
"I'm not trying to blame you. I am trying to explain to you what was going on in my head. I never said it was right or that you were to blame, Trent. This is my fault and I accept that fully." she got out in a stammer as he internally raged and she winced as if struck.

"I didn't want to say no." she said softly, "Again I'm not blaming you. Just explaining my thoughts. I felt like what we were doing was sexual and it wasn't something I did with anyone else. I am trying to explain to you why I misunderstood things." she seemed to fall into herself with each harsh word, her shoulders drooping and her eyes looking down.

She exhaled softly and nodded, "Of course. I'm sorry for presuming anything." she wrapped herself in her shawl and turned her head away, trying to appear as small as possible.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she bolted, a sob coming from her throat at his words. She stumbled down the stairs as she pushed past him and fell. She felt herself falling as her heel broke and her foot slid, seeing her falling down the stairs Robert rushed up to catch her, if Trenton didn't. Her ankle turned black and blue and she cried out in pain.

[vampireking]

He saw her cringe as he raged at her, but he was beyond caring. In fact, he just wanted to get out of this conversation. Why had he initiated the talk? He was silent as she stated that she wasn't trying to blame him only explain what had beeing going on inside her head and that she know it had been wrong and that it was her fault and that she accepted that fully.
"Good," he said shortly. Okay, can I go now? he wondered.

He then rolled his eyes as she went on to say that she hadn't wanted to say "No" and that it had felt sexual and it wasn't something that she wanted to do with just anyone and that she had misunderstood things.
"I don't care. You can do whatever you want," he told her. He no longer cared. When she apologized, he just shrugged, and then walked away, shutting out the sounds of the girl crying. He just wanted to visit that blonde he had compelled. She'd make a great meal....

[Robert Alexander Lovelace]

Mari felt her body land against Robert's as he caught her. She shivered and shook, her ankle throbbing painfully as she closed her eyes and felt him lift her up. Resting her head against him he murmured, "I'll take you to Logan. I think your ankle's broken. It will be alright, Princess." he said quietly as he moved past Trent, not even acknowledging him as he brushed passed him and eased Mari into the car, settling her carefully before he closed the door and slipped into the drivers seat. Gently he shushed her as she cried in a very paternal fashion as he mentally tried to soothe her.

Without a backwards glance, he sped off in the car, moving towards her home and trying to get her tended to before the rest of her evening went badly. Mari dried her eyes and tried not to hiccup too much while Robert helped her into the house. She managed to fix her ruined makeup luckily before she entered the house. Robert set her down on the couch in her part of the house. He gently slipped her shoes off carefully and looked at the ankle as it swelled, "Don't worry, Princess. Trent will come around. He's just...being jealous. Give him time to realize you didn't mean to hurt him and he'll come around. he said gently.

Mari just burst into tears, the pain of her ankle and the discussion with Trent having distressed her horribly. "He hates me." she gasped out as she finally let go of the pain she'd been feeling.

"I suspect he hates Philip and himself for not rescuing you. He just doesn't know how to articulate that. I thought he had more self esteem but I guess even he has his week spots." he said as he offered her a hankerchief, "Just give him time. He'll come around." he said as he gently patted her hand and smiled at her.