claim it as your own [marlence]

[SPENCER GRAHAM ZIMMERMAN]

[style=padding: 5px; height: 200; text-align: justify; font-size: 9px; line-height: 100%; overflow:auto;]There was something about Marley that made Spencer curious. He was curious about everything: where did she come from? Was she from Manuka or did she move here from somewhere else? What did she do for a living and did she like it, or was it more of the kind of job one did for the money. There were hundreds of questions going through his mind, even now, that he wanted to blurt out at her just to ease his curiosity, but he knew it’d be too much and she’d shy away from him or think he was a maniac. So he kept them all to himself and silently suffered with not knowing a single thing about her except the fact that her name was Marley and she had a dog named Dexter who was absolutely adorable and silly as can be.

He wondered if Marley had ever wondered about him or if it was more of a one-sided thing. Usually people felt comfortable enough around him to be able to ask whatever they liked, but it seemed as though she either didn’t care to know or she did and still didn’t feel comfortable enough around him to be able to ask about him. But Spencer wanted to change that at any cost. He had this insane attraction to her that he couldn’t push away—hell, he didn’t want to push it away. He wanted to explore it and see if there was anything at all that could blossom between them. But he knew it would take time with her. She had showed her somewhat skittish ways, so he knew that she was the kind of person who had walls built high around her, which he completely understood. He knew a lot of people who were the same way. Spencer was a patient guy. He could wait a lifetime for someone.

After his little episode, they began walking to her apartment. He thrust his fists into his pockets and clenched his fists. He would not let his vampire side come out again. Spencer wanted nothing but to get rid of that side to himself, but he had no idea how to permanently do so. He could manage most of the time as long as he drank blood at least every other day though occasionally he still came through. Spencer didn’t know exactly how he had gained control again because it was so hard to take it back that it almost never happened until after he had already fed on or drained someone dry. It had happened on more times than he cared to remember. And every time he woke up, he never remembered much from the night before, just little flashes and blurbs of conversation or screams as he or she was held down and fed on. He would often wake up covered in blood with no body in site. He was afraid that he was going to one day get caught, but if the police found him, he wouldn’t resist arrest. Actually he knew that Jackson Duval was not only a well-known hunter, but also a cop and if Mr. Duval found out about him, he’d for sure be dead.

But he didn’t want to think of that now. So instead he cleared his mind of everything and focused on his surroundings. There wasn’t much going on today, he thought. The streets were unusually sparce of people though he could hear the horns and sirens and chattering of the city just a few blocks away. He wondered if anything special was happening today or if it was just an ordinary day in Manuka. Before he could go through a list of possible occasions, they arrived at her apartment. Spencer moved to open the door for Marley, but she pushed it right open before he could get to it. He smiled.

Dexter came running towards them and Marley crouched down to greet him and the dog licked her face. Spencer crouched next to her and pet his head and he turned to lick him right across his lips. “Oh, gross,” he laughed and used his arm to wipe away the slober. He stood and stayed put. He looked around her apartment and found himself smiling without a reason. It felt kind of like intruding in on her privacy though he was invited in. He felt a little weird though like he didn’t yet belong.

He pushed the feeling away and walked into the kitchen where she was still putting groceries away. Dexter trotted in after him and went straight to Marley’s feet. “Looks like he knows it’s time to go out,” he said. “You want me to take him out while you finish up?” he asked.

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[MARLEY EVERLEIGH REYNOLDS]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #fff; width: 450px, bTable] RIGHT ON CUE! It was strange, having Spencer in her apartment. Marley typically hated having people over at her place, especially people she didn’t know. As far as the witch was concerned, the apartment was her place, the one spot where she didn’t have to worry about keeping her walls up, where she could be who she was. And Marley has always thought that a person’s space told more about them than a person ever could. You set up your living space in a way that was comfortable and pleasing to you and the way you maintained it could tell a lot about your personality. If you were a disorganized person, the lack of order would show. Or if you read a lot, there’d be books all over the place. To Marley, it was like giving someone a manual on you. Hence, why Marley tried to have the least amount of people over as possible. She didn’t want anyone to have that insight into her life, to be able to see and analyze certain things about her when she wasn’t even sure she was comfortable with them knowing it. For example, Marley had a stack of notebooks piled up on her tiny kitchen table and even though Spencer already knew that she wrote, she didn’t really want him to know how strong of a hobby it was. And the pile of medical textbooks near her chair was another thing she hoped he’d miss. Marley hadn’t told anyone of her dream to be a real doctor. It was stupid and unrealistic, but it only seemed like that if someone else knew about it. But the most glaringly obvious thing that the witch didn’t want Spencer to pick up on was the lack of pictures of people. Most people had portraits of their families adorning their walls. Not Marley though. She didn’t have family and it wasn’t a fact she advertised. It tended to cause unwanted pity. At least she had Dexter there to distract Spence’s attention. She had gathered that Spencer was an animal person – or at least a dog person – and she thought it was kind of hard not to fall in love with Dex. Of course, the witch was a little biased since it was her dog. If Marley worked fast enough at putting her groceries away, he wouldn’t have too much time to take in her apartment and then all would be okay and she wouldn’t have to stress about Spencer being in her apartment. She pulled her backpack off and placed it on the counter, quickly sorting through her groceries so she’d know where to put them. Though it seemed Marley’s worries were a little over the top; within a few minutes of being in the apartment, Spencer was offering to take her dog outside while Marley finished what she was doing. Normally, Marley wouldn’t trust her dog with anyone. Dexter was the most important thing in her life and you couldn’t expect a stranger to understand that or assume that responsibility. But Dexter seemed to love Spence and since Marley was getting the feeling that the sentiment was mutual, she figured she could trust Spencer. Besides, he hadn’t really done anything that would indicate he was a bad guy and she figured just this once, she’d be okay, especially since it meant they could leave even quicker. “Yeah sure. Make sure you grab his leash though,” Marley said, pointing to the leash sitting on the counter. “Otherwise, he’ll run off. He knows he isn’t supposed to but his attention span is a little short.” The witch had learned that lesson. In general, Dexter really was a well behaved dog that listened for the most part. But he was always so friendly. As soon as he saw a person or another dog or a kid to play with him, he was off after them. Marley only had to run after him once to know that. Now she kept him on a leash when she knew there was the chance of him getting distracted. After Spencer left with Dexter, Marley went about putting the rest of the groceries. It wasn’t like it was all that hard. The girl rarely had her kitchen stocked. She had her basic needs settled and had enough food that took awhile to expire so she had something in case it was needed in a pinch. But even with all that, a majority of her fridge was empty and a lot of the cabinets were unused. It wasn’t like it was hard to find a place for everything. With all that settled, Marley made sure she had her phone, her keys, and her wallet and then waited for Spencer and Dexter to come back. She’d love to take Dexter with them because the exercise would’ve been good for her hyperactive dog, but she wasn’t sure if she’d be allowed to take Dexter into Spencer’s place and she wasn’t about to tie him outside. Marley would just have to take him for a walk when she got back. CODED BY LADY RAINICORN @ CAUTION NOTES| GAH <333 WORDS| ENOUGH CLOTHES| HERE MUSE| THE LUMINEERS

[SPENCER GRAHAM ZIMMERMAN]

[style=padding: 5px; height: 200; text-align: justify; font-size: 9px; line-height: 100%; overflow:auto;]Sharing an apartment was actually not as bad as he thought it was going to be. Ruben was a good guy, and he knew how to have a good time (though Spencer thought he had too much of a good time sometimes). But living alone had always been something he wanted to have a go at. He was a neat and tidy person so his room wasn’t cluttered with clothes or nick knacks. He had a few pictures on his bookshelf and a few posters hanging on his walls, but everything was framed and lined up straight. He wasn’t at all surprised to find that Marley’s place was kept up nicely like his own because she just didn’t seem to be the kind of girl to throw things around. His sister was a complete slob and he was more than happy about not living with her anymore. They had had to share a bathroom for 17 years and he hated every minute of it because he was always the one cleaning it up, tossing her dirty clothes into her already disgusting room and moving her makeup and other personal items into their appropriate drawer. He only wished he would eventually find a girl to settle down with like him who wasn’t messy.

Because he felt like he was invading her privacy, he wanted to get out of there so she could put her groceries away in peace. He was grateful that she trusted him enough to let him take Dexter out for a walk. He figured, from how she acted around most people, she didn’t often do that. It made Spencer smile a little inside knowing that she trusted him, even if it was a little. It was a stepping stone to something more, and he hoped that they eventually got to that. But for now he knew it was going to have to be as slow as simply having a small portion of her trust. When he thought she would be willing, he was going to ask her out. Spencer found her interesting and wanted nothing more than to get to know her.

He clipped Dexter’s leash onto his collar and lead him out to the street. There were patches of grass here and there for your animal to take a quick pee or poop, but nothing big enough to go running in. But Dexter seemed more interested in finding that little patch to go pee in because right when they hit the street he pulled Spencer along until he got to a patch of dead grass under a little tree bare of any leaves even though it was springtime. Spencer watched the dog until he was finished. Then Spencer walked to a nearby bench and sat down. Dexter put his front paws on his lap and Spencer grinned widely. “You’re just the absolute most adorable thing I’ve ever seen, buddy.” Dexter licked his face as if to say thank you and he scratched the dog behind his ears while wiping his face on his arm.

When he felt that it was finally enough time that she would have been able to put everything away, he stood up and followed Dexter back up the stairs to Marley’s apartment. He stood at the door for a moment and didn’t know whether or not to knock on the door or to just go in. Dexter looked up at him wondering what he was doing, but Spencer was frozen where he stood. He didn’t want to barge in on her, but he did have her dog. Oh God, what was he going to do? Dexter scratched at the door, so Spencer knew he had to do something. He took a deep breath and opened the door, knocking on it at the same time. He figured that was the least he could do. Spencer took off the dog’s leash once the door was closed. He handed it to Marley, smiling a little. “Ready?” he asked when he noticed that there were no longer groceries littering the countertops.

He led the way to his apartment where her journal was. Most of the walk was silent, though not an uncomfortable one. It was hard to find someone that you were comfortable enough with to be able to not talk whether it be on a walk or on a date. He knew it was probably also that he was still a little on edge being around her. He just didn’t want to step on her toes and make her shut down on him, which he knew was a possibility. He had known people similar to Marley that had walls just as high and he knew that one wrong thing could get you back to square one.

When they arrived, he warned her about the mess blaming it all on Ruben, who was likely out with friends. He opened the door for Marley that lead into his apartment. He passed her and walked towards the back of the apartment to where his room was located on the left. He had a couple of window that let in enough light that he didn’t have to turn on the lights and run up the electric bill. He opened one of the windows that had a fire escape running down it. He grabbed her book from his bookshelf and walked into the living room where she stood. He handed it to her and ran his other hand through his hair.

He felt a little lump in his throat and his heart beat a little faster. He couldn’t think of a better moment than now, while he had her here, to just do it and ask her out for dinner. So he sucked in a quick breath and held it for a second before finally asking her. “So Marley, are you free tonight?” He bit the inside of his lips. Why the hell was he so damn nervous? He had asked out plenty of girls. He cursed himself inwardly before going on. “I mean I don’t have food here and if you’re free too we could go get something to eat…together. If you want.” Spencer crossed his arms under his chest and looked at the ground, trying to think of a way to recover from that pathetic move. Nothing came to mind.

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[JURATE]

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