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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 12, 2016 19:52:19 GMT -5
She was startled by his touch and jumped. When her mind reconciled itself to his presence she reached for him unaware of his current state, the memories of the evening before lost on her.
"Christian!" she gasped, "Christian, Oh Godric..." she buried her face into his side, "I can't bear it! It can't happen again." she wasn't making much sense, and her words were muffled by her talking against him.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 13:38:56 GMT -5
Christian was confused, beyond just the simple confusion that came with the world's most intense hangover. He didn't know what was happening with Diana. Did he do something to her last night? He tried to remember but he didn't even remember getting home. The last clear memory he had was him sitting in the private room with the stripper, Christian cursing as he realized his vow to belong only to Diana was in full effect and then drinking in an attempt to counteract the magic's effect.
But Diana's muffled cries didn't seem related. Again. Something was happening, something bad that had happened before and was making Diana distraught now. What was it?
Christian shifted on the bed, forcing himself into a sitting position. The action caused more pain in his head but he pushed through. He opened his eyes and found her, then lifted her face up to his. The light of the room was too bright for Christian, it streaked across Diana and blurred her face. If it weren't so painful it would have been beautiful.
"What's going on?" he asked in a hoarse voice. He needed water, painkillers, and to sleep for several more hours but Diana needed him more.
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 15:11:21 GMT -5
"Let's just run." she told him, "Please. Let's just run away from here. Let's find Alyx and go." she begged burying her face once again and sobbing. She forgot his hangover, as well as the fact that he had been with another woman in theory.
She gripped his shirt her nails digging into his skin slightly.
"Please...please...please" she kept crying.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 16:23:07 GMT -5
Now he was certain whatever was happening had nothing to do with his behavior last night. But was it the remaining board members or Diana's paranoia that had sent her into such a state?
Her voice was piercing and her sobbing beat at his head like a jackhammer. Her nails dug into his skin but he hardly noticed thanks to the pounding in his skull. He couldn't focus clearly, everything was too loud and too bright. His mouth was dry and his throat felt like sandpaper. She kept crying and set him on edge.
"Stop crying, Diana and tell me what happened." He didn't yell but his tone was no less demanding. He loved her and he would do anything to help her but he was in no condition to endure her wailing. To soften the impact of his words he pulled her closer to him.
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 16:50:28 GMT -5
Diana had never fully dealt with the trauma of losing Alyx in the carriage accident. She rebelled and fought against the knowledge that her child was dead and gone, and tried to kill herself. She was sent to therapy, but nothing helped. Finally she was able to relieve some of the tension and anger in her life by killing the men that were after her, but she had never simply sat down and mourned the loss fully.
And the idea that it could happen again was a sobering heart breaking realization. She wouldn't survive it.
She stopped crying as he asked her to, at least stopped making noise, though the shaking was still there.
She didn't know what to tell him though, and it was starting to hit her that he wasn't fully there.
Memories from the night before pierced through her mind and she pushed away from him. He couldn't help her right now, even though he wanted to. She left the room, closing the curtains magically as she did so that no light could get through.
It was a small courtesy after clinging to him the way she had.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 17:21:26 GMT -5
He attempted to follow after her but the sudden movements caused his brain to pound furiously and doubled over near the end of the bed, holding the footboard for support. "Oh f*ck," he cursed to no one in particular.
Diana was gone and there wasn't anything he could do at that moment. He needed to manage this hangover some before he could help her with whatever it was she was dealing with. He looked around the now darkened room, thanking Diana silently for mercifully closing the curtains as she left. He need water and a potion at the very least. But first he needed his wand. Christian looked to the bedside table but there was nothing there. Then to the dresser and still nothing. He realized then that he was still wearing the clothes from last night and he checked his pocket.
Finding his wand he conjured a potion to relieve most of the pain in his head and a glass of water. A few minutes later and he was feeling much better, though there was still a chronic, dull thumping against his temples. It was manageable. He began to change his clothes, throwing his dirty shirt on the bed. As he began unfastening his pants he saw the lipstick mark on his collar and froze.
"F*ck."
Shirtless he left to find Diana. He needed to explain.
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 18:48:34 GMT -5
Diana cared about that red mark, but it wasn't at the forefront of her mind. She had left the bedroom and went to the kitchen to make some tea and try and calm down. It hadn't worked. She was still extremely upset and as she became more coherent the more she gave credence to the idea of running away.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 18:57:06 GMT -5
He checked the spare room first, but it was empty. He headed downstairs next and found her in the kitchen. The room was bright and hurt his eyes but nothing compared to earlier. The potion he had taken didn't completely remove his hangover, but it helped make everything more tolerable.
"Diana," he said as he stood in the doorway. "Talk to me."
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 19:08:30 GMT -5
Diana's hands were shaking which - had Christian been able to notice - would have been the biggest sign something was seriously wrong.
He spoke and at the same time the tea kettle whistle went off. She was startled and knocked her mug to the ground where it broke in half. "Damn it!"
She tried to conquer her nerves and handle the most pressing issue - the pinging whistle of the tea kettle. She moved the kettle off of the fire, but then stepped on a shard of ceramic porcelain which tore through her sock and into her skin.
She yelped and reached for her foot hobbling to a chair.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 19:25:12 GMT -5
The whistling tea kettle was enough to bring back the throbbing in his head, but it lasted only a moment as Diana moved it off the fire.
"Jesus, Diana!" Christian cleared the broken shards of mug magically and moved to her side. "Let me look at it." He knelt at her feet and pulled off her sock. He couldn't see any stuck pieces of porcelain but she had a sizable cut from which she was bleeding. He stood and moved to the counter, grabbing a hand towel and wetting it in the sink in order to clear away the blood before bandaging her foot.
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 19:31:31 GMT -5
She didn't protest when Christian took her foot, it was hard to protest when he wasn't shirtless and being tender toward her, so she didn't stand much chance in the state she was in.
She watched him through glossy eyes as he bandaged her foot.
She had enough time that morning to somewhat come to her senses, but that didn't make anything easier. She was still scared. They hadn't talked about the baby, but she wanted it, and she wanted to do it right this time. They couldn't do that if they were on the run, but she couldn't keep going on these missions, and neither could he. It wasn't just their lives on the line, but the life of their unborn child.
And Christian had come home with lipstick on his collar.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 19:38:36 GMT -5
He stayed in his crouched position at her feet, looking up at her. Diana's expression was unreadable, she looked angry and sad and scared all at once. He couldn't tell which she was feeling more of but he understood the reason for at least one of the emotions.
"Nothing happened," he explained. "We went to a club, there was a dancer, I had too much to drink and Derek brought me home."
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 19:47:13 GMT -5
If it weren't for her nightmare and the startling realization of impending pregnancy, Christian's confession about going to a strip club might have actually amused her. But now it was a front, an excuse to cling to rather than face the truth.
"It's fine." She said closed off.
She dropped her foot to the ground and tested putting some weight on it. It was tender but bearable.
"It's not as though this is a real marriage. You're free to do as you please."
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 19:58:09 GMT -5
"Dammit, Diana, sit down! It's obviously not fine and don't act as though you don't bloody care. We both know we f*cking care about each other."
Christian was not great at having real conversations about such personal matters. It was easier to yell at her or to just screw her, but he knew they'd have to learn to handle their problems differently. Burke's advice the night before was not well received at the time, but it was no less true.
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 20:07:05 GMT -5
Diana sat petulantly, her nose in the air.
"Well if you knew that I would bloody care, then why would you do it?" she countered with heat.
The truth was Diana didn't care, not really. She knew the truth. Christian wasn't the same man; he wasn't going to leave without a trace. But the fear was there. Here they were seventeen years later, she was pregnant and he was going to a strip club. What if he did leave her? What if she was alone again and something happened to the baby?
The fear and panic made her angry.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 20:15:44 GMT -5
He rose and stood in front of her as she sat. "I did it because I bloody wanted to. Because I'm married now and I didn't have a f*cking stag night. And mostly because I wanted to see what this damn vow I made would do, and basically it's a whole lot of nothing!"
Had Christian been made aware of her pregnancy, he might have done things differently last night. He would have definitely handled things different today. But yet again, Diana was holding all the cars and keeping an ace up her sleeve for good measure.
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 20:33:20 GMT -5
"Well then it's fine to f*cking hurt me if you want to!" she yelled at him.
"I'm so sorry you're bloody married now and didn't get to finish sowing whatever oats you have! I'm really sorry you were so impotent at it!" she finished on a yell.
"Maybe I should call Derek and test my vows too." she said, using Derek as she knew it irked him.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 20:49:08 GMT -5
He could have been fine with her remarks, even her offer to test out her own vows, had she not brought Burke into it. Christian was gradually coming to terms with Derek and Diana's relationship and although Derek had flat out told Christian he wanted her, he knew deep down that it wasn't a problem because Diana didn't want Derek. Or so he thought.
"You want to go f*ck Burke, then go! Like you said, this isn't a real marriage. You're free to do what you want, and that obviously doesn't include having a f*cking civil conversation with me."
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Post by Diana Ward on Nov 13, 2016 20:58:33 GMT -5
"If you wanted a civil conversation this morning maybe you shouldn't have gone to a strip club last night and drank yourself into oblivion! I didn't realize being married to me was enough for you to try and kill yourself through alcohol poisoning, but in case you forgot we're bloody bonded, and I'd appreciate it if you'd hold off until we weren't." she sneered at him.
She didn't even know what she was saying. Arguing came so easily for her, for them. She yelled because she was frightened and uncomfortable.
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Post by Christian Ward on Nov 13, 2016 21:03:28 GMT -5
"What the bloody hell else was I supposed to do there?" he yelled back. "All I could do was think about you the whole f*cking time. Drinking seemed like the next best option." Drinking now also seemed like a good option but the pounding in his head reminded him that it wasn't.
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