Name's Quinn. I'm just a girl trying to live a normal life--normal, completely ordinary, not chased by religious zealots who want your kind eradicated, you know how it goes.
It's too bad I was never really ordinary in the first place.
[[INDIE OC rp blog. Will interact with anyone. Please see OOC Info and the READ THIS page before interacting!]]
”It’s not as easy as that and you know it, Cap.” Andi sighed, dropping Quinn’s hand to lift her own to her face. Pinching the bridge of her nose, ignore the jab of pain, she ran her fingers through her hair.
The thing that got Andi was the fact that she was strong enough to walk away from Sid, but she had next to no desire to leave his side despite the terrible treatment she received more often than not; she believed in him, he made her feel alive. For some odd reason, that was enough.
Slumping against the couch, she buried her face in her hands.
Andi knew very well that she was going to have to walk away from Sid before things got really already had—not that they already weren’t. Every inch of her was aching for a break but with a heart as dead set on the hockey player, it was easier said than done.
It was a riot and internal conflict, one that was taking her apart faster than his hands.
Quinn had to fight to keep the scowl from forming on her features.
She wanted to yell that it wasthat easy, that Andi could walk away and avoid all this pain and hurt, that Sidney fucking Crosby was less than worth it. She wanted to scream that no one, not even herself, was worth physical and emotional abuse.
But the torn look on Andi’s features stopped her.
Her expression softened as she watched the younger girl pinch the bridge of her nose, bury her face in her hands, and all around look about twenty years older than she should. Andi knew that no one was worth that kind of pain; Quinn could see it. Andi knew that she was strong enough to walk away from it all. Hell, Quinn could practically feel the stress and indecision and a cacophony of too many emotions all at once coming from Andi.
So, instead, Quinn simply nodded, patted the younger girl’s knee affectionately, and stood up. “I’m gonna go make you some hot chocolate, ya goober. Sit tight.”
“That sounds great, actually.” Especially considering Quinn really had nothing else to do, aside from hide and hope the Paladins didn’t pick up her trail. Thankfully, running into things this way happened quite often on the road, so generallyshe would wind up with something to keep her entertained while she waited for the next time she had to run.The siren’s head tilted, an eyebrow quirking upwards slightly at the look on the other woman’s face; like she was pained. “Ah, I’m Quinn.”
“Oh, good!” At least she had been of some help. Quinn—the woman hadn’t offered a last name, but perhaps Emily was just too used to being introduced to people in an academic setting. “It’s nice to meet you, Quinn. Maybe I’ll see you on campus.”
“Definitely. Nice to meet you, too!” Quinn allowed a broad grin to appear on her face, somehow both genuine and forced, considering her first thought after responding in the affirmative was the hope that she wouldn’t be driven out of town by her pursuers prior to her classes.
Quinn blinked as the words spilled from the other woman’s mouth, half of them sounding like gibberish and the other half not helping clear things up. She was street smart, but given she’d been on the run since she was in her preteens, book smarts were not her forte.“It—sounds fascinating, I just wish I had some idea of what half those words meant.”
“Heh.” Emily shrugged self-consciously. “Well, if you want to drop in a few classes while you’re here, I’m sure no one would mind.” People audited classes all the time; no one would notice one more person. This was the longest conversation outside work she’d had all week; Hyde must have had one tiring night to be this complacent today. The thought was not reassuring. Emily tried not to grimace. “I never got your name.”
“That sounds great, actually.” Especially considering Quinn really had nothing else to do, aside from hide and hope the Paladins didn’t pick up her trail. Thankfully, running into things this way happened quite often on the road, so generallyshe would wind up with something to keep her entertained while she waited for the next time she had to run.
The siren’s head tilted, an eyebrow quirking upwards slightly at the look on the other woman’s face; like she was pained. “Ah, I’m Quinn.”
You n’ me both, sister. Quinn thought to herself, subconsciously reaching up to make sure the scarf around her neck acting as a cover-up was in place properly. More like ‘long 24 hours’, but the sentiment still applied.
Still, Quinn didn’t buy it. She kept a smile on her face, though, nodding. “Sure thing. Mind if I ask what you’re researching?”
“Neuroscience,” Emily answered immediately. “I organize and carry out projects—mine, and the university’s whenever they need a study done. Right now I’ve been asked to help with an experiment detailing how the brain acts when focused on a single stimulus, so that pharmaceutical studies can use the results as a basis… for…” She bit her lip sheepishly. This young woman was not even a student and likely had no interest in all this. Just being polite. “Sorry. I… start rambling, sometimes.”
Quinn blinked as the words spilled from the other woman’s mouth, half of them sounding like gibberish and the other half not helping clear things up. She was street smart, but given she’d been on the run since she was in her preteens, book smarts were not her forte.
“It—sounds fascinating, I just wish I had some idea of what half those words meant.”
”I need you to listen to me, okay? Please.” The final word came out in a quiet, quick breath. She was both scared Crosby, more so him than Quinn and what she was capable of; she was also scared for herself when Crosby saw it fit to level the field.
”Please, just…” Andi shook as she inhaled deeply, shaking her head.
Ignoring her body’s protest as she moved to the edge of the couch and closer to Quinn’s still crouching figure. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she licked at her cracked lip carefully before forcing herself to explain what happened; it was either Andi told Quinn or Quinn become increasingly upset with being forced to make assumptions.
”I’ve been spending a lot of time with Alex.” She started, not wanting to start with who was at fault right off the bat. “He asked me to spend less time with him a-and I couldn’t—I can’t. He found out…”
Quinn was a smart girl; smart enough to know who she was referring to. Leaning forward, she took a hand of the blonde’s in her own, holding with a gentle grip.
“I’m fine, I’ll be fine.” She promised quietly.
Quinn’s mind ran laps as she listened to Andi, quietly—too quiet—and as as the words ‘he found out’ left the younger girl’s mouth, Quinn caught on. So many things could happen in so short a time period, and not for the first time Quinn swore inside her head at the lifestyle the Paladins forced her to live.
If the Paladins hadn’t forced her on the run, she could have been here—
—and she could have kicked Crosby’s ass for laying a hand on Andi.
He may have been one of the most talented hockey players around, but she had supernatural powers on her side, and unlucky for him, she was not opposed to using them.
Her temper flared, eyes and markings beginning to glow dimly, until Andi took hold of one of Quinn’s hands, squeezing gently and snapping the siren out of her sudden rage. Tattoos and eyes dulling once more, Quinn let her expression sink into something bordering disappointment and worry.
She knewAndi could take care of herself, that she’d be fine—but that didn’t make her feel any better about the knowledge that Sid had hurt her while she’d been gone. “If he hurts you again, I want you to leave him.” Quinn said, firmly.
“That’s alright, thanks. I’ve got a pretty good sense of direction.” She answered, gray eyes narrowing slightly at the woman standing in front of her. Quinn was neither stupid nor unobservant, and she easily picked up on the uncomfortable demeanor of the other.She was a siren; a talented manipulator, among other things. It wasn’t difficult for her to pick out lies.
Putting a bright smile on her face, Quinn asked, “Everything okay? You sound upset.”
Emily blinked, then formed a smile. “Oh! I’ve just had a long day. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.” The least she could be allowed was inside jokes, so long as no one else was going to understand them. “It’s my research project. It’s taking up a lot of time.” She pushed her hair back, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Thank you, though.”
You n’ me both, sister. Quinn thought to herself, subconsciously reaching up to make sure the scarf around her neck acting as a cover-up was in place properly. More like ‘long 24 hours’, but the sentiment still applied.
Still, Quinn didn’t buy it. She kept a smile on her face, though, nodding. “Sure thing. Mind if I ask what you’re researching?”
She knew it was coming, but a pang of guilt came with Quinn’s sound of shock. Cleaning her jaws, she swallowed the lump that was building in her throat as she continued to push herself up stiffly. Slumping against the couch, her fingers loosened its grip on the blanket.
Chuckling quietly, she shook her head at Quinn’s question, “No, no.” Andi reassured her, knowing that Quinn’s mind would jump immediately to the correct conclusion. “They—no, it wasn’t them. I’m fine.”
Pulling the blanket towards her, Andi opened her eyes to find Quinn’s own gray ones on her.
She didn’t want to go down this road. Andi knew that Quinn’s anger would flare immediately and there would be a desire to punish Crosby has much as he did to Andi; there was no way of her stopping it once the siren had her sights set no matter how hard she fought and pleaded.
Quinn felt her shoulders sag with relief at the simple answer to her question; not paladins, which meant she hadn’t left too late, they hadn’t caught wind, and her only ‘family’ was safe.
More or less.
Her brows knit together. If the Paladins hadn’t hurt her, then what—or who—had?
Her eyes flicked back up to meet Andi’s, mouth opening to form a question…but it died on her lips. Andi’s eyes were silently begging, pleadingQuinn to not ask the very question she was about to, and if she had been anyone else, Quinn might have complied. As it stood, her levels of alarm spiked back up immediately.
“Andi,” Quinn began, slowly, “What happened?”
“Like I said,” Quinn responded, running a tattooed hand through her hair, “just passing through. It seems quiet enough here. I’ll probably stay for a little while before moving on.”
“It’s fairly quiet,” Emily muttered, the act of lying making her almost inaudible. She continued in a more natural voice to cover it up. ”I’m Dr. Emily Jekyll. If you need directions or anything…”
“That’s alright, thanks. I’ve got a pretty good sense of direction.” She answered, gray eyes narrowing slightly at the woman standing in front of her. Quinn was neither stupid nor unobservant, and she easily picked up on the uncomfortable demeanor of the other.
She was a siren; a talented manipulator, among other things. It wasn’t difficult for her to pick out lies.
Putting a bright smile on her face, Quinn asked, “Everything okay? You sound upset.”
“Uh, no. Just passing through.”“Sorry. You looked new.” Emily fidgeted with her purse strap. ”It’s not a bad neighborhood to pass through. Mostly students.” It was fairly safe, except for her.
“Like I said,” Quinn responded, running a tattooed hand through her hair, “just passing through. It seems quiet enough here. I’ll probably stay for a little while before moving on.”
It had been at least a week, maybe two (it was hard to keep track of time when on the run) since she’d left the small place she shared with Andi. She hadn’t had time to leave any sort of indication she’d left voluntarily aside from a hastily scribbled note on the counter saying ‘paladins; stay safe’, and so Quinn wasn’t exactly certain what sort of greeting she was going to get from her surrogate sister.
Honestly, she was a little afraid of what she was going to find. Andi’s boyfriend had worried her from the start—nice enough guy, just possessive and had a few temper issues.
Shifting her weight to her other foot, Quinn checked that the scarf around her neck—hiding the bite from the vampire that had attacked her—was in place before digging out the key to their shared home and stepping inside.
“Hey, goober, you here?”
Exactly the opposite of what she both needed and wanted right now.
Hearing Quinn step into the front door, Andi’s eyes snapped open and she froze in spot. How exactly was she going to hide this? In the past, Crosby hadn’t been so aggressive and even then, she’d done a reasonably okay job at cleaning herself up. Even if she had the time this time around, she doubted she’d be able to clean up what he had done anyways.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she clenched her jaw as she pushed her small frame up into a sitting position on the couch. There was absolutely no way around this; she was gonna have to take the yelling and objections of her relationship.
”Yeah, I’m in here.” She called back, trying to even her voice as she grunted in pain.
Quinn may have been a stranger to her own ability to socialize—if she wasn’t manipulating, she had no idea how to hold herself—but she knew enough to hear the carefully controlled sound of Andi’s voice, and her ears were sharp enough to catch the small grunt of pain.
Her face drained of color as the worst case scenario played through her mind—paladins had found her, she was hurt badly, they were using her as bait—but she forced herself to swallow down her fear of her hunters and head towards where Andi had called out.
This was the girl she considered a sister, after all.
Stepping into the room Andi occupied, Quinn’s teeth clicked together, a hand raising to cover her mouth at the sight that greeted her. “Jesus.” The entire left side of Andi’s face was a colorful bruise, and judging by the stiff, uncomfortable set of her position the siren could tell that it was more than just her face hurting. Stepping forward, Quinn dropped to her knees next to the couch Andi sat on. “What happened? Please tell me Paladins didn’t…?”
“…yeah? Y’need something?”
“Er, no. It’s just that I work at the university here, and… Are you a student?”
“Uh, no. Just passing through.”
