meadowlarklogs | you learned to breathe underwater

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you learned to breathe underwater —

WHO: caroline forbes & you!
WHERE: the safehouse
WHEN: october 10
WHAT: an impromptu birthday celebration.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: excessive cheeriness.

[ by mid-day, a new message appears on the network from a new user, @caroline.forbes: ]

It's my birthday, apparently, so I made cake. Please don't make me eat all of it!

[ it's a fairly short message, but it's at least accompanied by a few photos of a cake, surprisingly delicious looking for being made of everything but chocolate.

those in the safehouse will have likely heard caroline baking up a storm all morning, and may be aware that the photos show her fourth attempt at this extremely finicky futuristic cake. by the time she posts her photos, all the evidence has been scrubbed clean from the countertops (and dishes and floor and tabletops and trash cans) of the safehouse kitchen. ]

—

ooc note: feel free to have your character reply on the network, come by in person, or a combination thereof. this post is a combo pack because i didn't feel like making a network and log post on the same day. #lazy

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Nice meeting you, Caroline. [he shakes his head. could he have been a professor? probably, but deans tend to frown heavily when their staff are late to class.

not to mention that the only suit that he wants to wear is spandex and covers his whole body. he isn't sure he could rock the leather elbow patches and jeans look.] Do I look like I'm professor material?

No. Not a professor. [ha!] But that's a really funny thought.

I'm just someone who's really good at it among other science-y things.

In those clothes? [ a quirk of her brow and the slightest of grins highlights the slight sarcastic tone in her words. ] You look like a homeless guy.

[ but then, they all do. she'd been wearing scrubs for the better part of the last few days until someone had brought her something new to wear, after all. she can't exactly expect new amsterdam's next top model material out of the displaced. ]

This is probably a good place for a science-y homeless guy, though. You know, since we're in the future and all.

[he drags a hand over his face. oh the long suffering sighs.] You know what? Not the first time I've heard that.

[peter could fire back that she doesn't look like she's stepped out of the pages of a magazine, but it'd be... well, kind of untrue. though her clothes aren't fresh from the runways in milan, there's an obvious aesthetic there. almost pageant queen-like. without much stretching, he could see her practicing the perfect princess wave.

so rather than lob a weak insult, he nods in agreement to her follow up statement.] We're all kind of homeless if you think about it. I mean, I'm glad I'm not trapped somewhere being poked, probed, and prodded in the name of science or whatever reason.

[he grimaces, recalling that fateful day in new amsterdam when he'd first learned of the plight of the displaced.] But a safehouse isn't a home, no matter how much they try to pretty it up.

I'm gonna find out more now that I'm free to leave. Speaking of, why are you here on your birthday? No bars to hit up? Dancing?

[ the real answer is i can't go outside in the sunlight or i'll catch on fire and die, but that's probably tmi for a new friend and also very suspicious to people who don't know she's a vampire. and considering caroline's really trying not to just drop that bombshell on everyone right away, she figures it's probably better safe than sorry.

so she goes with the excuse she came up with while on self-imposed house arrest back in mystic falls, back before bonnie had done her witchy magic and summoned up a fancy ring to soothe the sun. ]

I have really bad allergies. To the sun, I mean. I used to have a cream back home that would help, but apparently they don't make it here?

[ she shrugs, trying not to look too bent out of shape about it. but still just enough bent out of shape to seem like it's plausible. a fine line. ]

It's okay, though. There's a million things to watch online nowadays, and I can always go out at night.

[sun allergies. he's not a doctor, so he's got no reason to doubt the statement, but the idea that someone's missing an essential item for their comfort gives him an idea.]

You know. I might be able to help you out with that. [peter purses his lips. he'll need a lab, some blood samples. more importantly, though, she'll need to agree, and most people aren't keen on being guinea pigs.] The sun cream that is. I think you can handle burning through your Netflix queue on your own. Unless you're down for a documentary or two, which I could be down with.

Oh? [ damnit. now she has to actually go through with this. but it's too late to back out now, so caroline feigns enthusiasm. ] That'd be great. I mean, I don't know anything about how it's made or what it's made from, and maybe they don't even have those weird ingredients here, but...

[ a shrug ]

If you can make it work, I'd be super grateful. I really miss having a tan.

We'll need to do some bloodwork. [peter, brain whirring away, looks the most in his element that he's been since arriving.] You're okay with needles, right? Might get a little tricky otherwise.

If all goes well, you won't have to live your life like a vampire or some other creature of the night. [casual statements. peter knows nothing about vampirism other than what he's gleaned from popular media: no sun, no garlic, and 'i vant to suck your blood' in all its glory.]

[ he mentions blood and needles and caroline grimaces, mouth tight — though not for the reasons he probably thinks. there's no telling what her blood might reveal, what differences it might hold. she thinks it might be the same, but she hadn't exactly sat through vampire physiology 101 back in mystic falls, so it's a risk.

but she has people who know her secret now, so maybe they can help. if peter draws her blood, perhaps they can help her replace it. keep her secret a little longer.

and then he mentions vampires, and caroline splutters out a cough. ]

Like what? [ act cool. or don't. act like a freaked out teenage girl, that might sell the story better. ] Oh my god, I'm not — that's disgusting.

[his brow raises in concern, assuming she's managed to choke on a piece of cake or something. peter moves to pat her back, but stops once he realizes she's just grossed out. hand dropping awkwardly to his side, peter laughs off his ridiculous suggestion.]

Hah. Yeah. No kidding. I wouldn't ever want to be one.

The taste of blood is awful. I bit my tongue once and just... yuck. [his face plainly telegraphing how grossed out he is just thinking about it.] Good thing that vampires aren't actually real.

[ oh, yeah, totally disgusting and not at all a thing she's pretty much constantly craving. she can at least play that off from memory, all too aware of how revulsed she had been by that first mouthful of thick, coppery blood from a hospital bag. ]

Yeah. Good thing. [ why is this her life ] Hey, do you want some more cake?

[ he seems like the kind of dude who can be distracted by offers of food ]

Uh. Yeah. [don't mind him as he helps himself to a generous slice. oh and also a swipe of that icing that didn't quite make it off the cake stand. he takes a bite, offers up a muffled thanks before considering...]

Aren't you gonna have some?

[he doesn't want to eat it all, okay? no matter how tasty it happens to be.]

[ should she eat some? technically, she's had some of the earlier attempts, but she hasn't had any of this cake beyond a small dip into the batter with a tasting spoon. not that she needs to. ]

I had some. Earlier. [ totally selling it! ] I mean, I tried to make it like three times before, and this is the only one that came out okay, but I'm good.

[ she gestures for him to help himself. seriously. ]

I don't want to get fat on my own birthday cake.

[ a great joke. ]

I've had my share of failed experiments. [no matter how smart he might be, every invention went through it's fair share of rigorous r&d, ample field testing, and tinkering before he'd been satisfied. he's eaten a lot of so-so cakes too.] But I always feel like you should at least enjoy the fruits of your labor a little.

[which is why he's grabbing another plate at cutting a much tinier slice for her.]

You just told me it's full of healthy things. And I'm pretty sure you could probably eat this entire slice and not gain an ounce. [she should trust that the guy in sweatpants is probably the expert here. he's very familiar with the effects of high caloric intake coupled with low activity.]

Eat. [#jewishgrandma motions and all] I'm not taking no for an answer.

Okay, okay. Relax, grandpa, I'll eat.

[ but she does smile a little, just the hint of one at the corner of her mouth, as she digs a fork in to pull a first bite.

and, honestly? it's pretty good cake. she's proud of herself for making it, and really pleased that everyone else seems to like it too. it's nice to have found a way to make herself useful, even if she's stuck here during the day. ]

Hey! Just how old do you think I am?

[don't actually answer that, caroline. his ego is fragile and the subject of his age is a sore one. peter takes one last bite of his cake.]

Thanks again for the cake. Give me a few days to ask around about a lab and we can work on the other thing, okay?

Yeah, okay. [ all she can manage out until she actually swallows down a bite, and then: ] I'll be here.

[ during the day, anyway. at night, she's started to explore. she could, in theory, be nocturnal — but caroline doesn't need to sleep, not really, and she's never gotten more than a handful of hours of it when there were better things to do. so during the day, at least, caroline will be here, easy to find. ]

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you learned to breathe underwater —

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