you don't know happily ever after -- Giselle/Damon

[TARQUIN FINLEY ELLIS]

Quinn honestly had never expected this whole betrothal thing to actually come to anything, yet now there can be no mistaking it. He had to figure out how exactly to deal with it, though. He'd been asked to come over to the mansion to meet Giselle, and the family had been informed they could stop by if they so wished. It was like an ambush. Still, Quinn had to suck it up and push onward and figure out what to do about this situation. He had agreed to it back when Nikki and he had broken up; at that point, why not? And now it was a little crazy and uncomfortable. Had things not been so shaky, had Amery still been alive, Quinn probably would have refused to take it any further than this. As it was, he couldn't do that without raising suspicion. Or so he believed. So far no one had caught on at all. They all thought some hunter had murdered Amery. Quinn had been in jail for breaking into a store that night. All done on purpose, of course. A cover up.

So much had been happening, and Quinn was starting to lose track of changes within the clan. Pulling away to do his own thing, and he had been for awhile. It was nothing new. He had been trying to make an effort to keep up with Calan, but even then he was falling short. Quinn needed to call more, since hospitals bothered him, and he couldn't just show up at that witch's house. It was a sore spot, and probably would be for a very long time. Furthermore, Quinn seemed to have an over-abundance of sore spots when it came to other people and/or situations. He held grudges and did not take slights very well. Prone to violence at the wrong word spoken from the lips of a stranger. Or not a stranger; it depended. It might be getting worse in a number of ways since Amery's demise. Quinn was cracking under the surface. But no one was suppost to see it.. let alone family. He could not let that come to be.

So he stands there in his mother's mansion living room, kinda leaning against the wall and giving Giselle a small smile. He was wary, but he won't let her see it. He'll act the perfect even between happy and collected and see how she responds to it. Scotia had introduced them and left the room -- probably back in the kitchen to get drinks or something -- and let them get to know each other a little. Though by this time, what was the point? They were suppost to have a lifetime to get to know each other. Quinn was internally borderline panic, but externally he was as calm as could be. He had to get through this. Maybe string it along for awhile and find some reason for Giselle to break it off.. It didn't matter; the whole thing sucked. He'd have to tell her what was going on and everything, he figured. Just not now. He had to decide how he felt about her on a 'what is this person even like' kind of level. Who knows, she could be a bitch and tell everyone what he told her. And then what happened? Bad. All bad. So he stands and waits for her to say something.

[GISELLE ARIN BLACKBOURNE]

Giselle was to put it bluntly, quite dreading today, knowing that probably wasn’t a good sign, but she knew that it probably wasn’t going to be fun for Tarquin either. Arranged marriages supposedly worked out in the end, but at this point, she felt like she might kill the next Ellis she saw. After everything with Damon, she was ashamed to be around them, more of herself than anything else. That was the other part, she hoped to god that he was not close with Damon at all, but she had a feeling she would be seeing Damon’s face soon enough. She probably would have to make some awkward conversation. The idea made her want to just blow this whole meeting off, but she knew she could not do that. She sighed and murmured to herself, “What the hell…” She figured why not and get this over with. She opened the door to the mansion and stepped inside, moving into the family room and sees Tarquin instantly.

Giselle remembered him a few times, but could not exactly remember from where or at which family occasions. “Mmm so Tarquin, what exactly are we supposed to be doing here? Just talking, getting alone,” she asked, clearing her throat softly, arms crossed over her chest. He wasn’t exactly her type, not that she had a type, but if she did, it would be more like Damon. She tried not to roll her eyes at the thought, especially since she was off limits as far as that area goes. She wondered what exactly they expected of Tarquin and her in this moment, or even how it was for all the other couples who had gotten arranged. For her, she could live without the beforehand meetings like this. “I think I remember you from family stuff,” she said with a weak smile, knowing that wasn’t very impressive, but the Ellis family was rather large, so the fact that they never really had talked before made sense. She had talked to his brother once before, Roman, but she knew he was dead now, or so they thought. He didn’t strike her as the type that wants consolation anyways.

Giselle then wondered how much he knew about her, her eyes resting on his, “So you are a fighter, right? Or am I thinking differently? It’s been a while since I’ve been in state and what not.”

[damon]

[/style][style=width:370px; height: 10px; font-family: Open Sans Condensed, sans-serif; font-size:14px; color: #f4f4f4; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: center; background-color: navy; padding: 15px; ]FUCK YOU AND FUCK HER TOO

Damon had this really bad habit of just showing up at homes and hoping they were home. He had been drinking, so that didn’t help his influencing idea. It was early, some might have said. Was it? Damon didn’t even know what was early and what was late at this point. It wasn’t as if he were wasted, mumbling and stumbling around all over the place. No. He was just a little buzzed. Not even anything that would show. There was some smell that lingered in his breath, he was sure. Other than that, he walked fine. He talked fine. His ability to make decisions was a little lower, but honestly, for Damon Ellis, they weren’t that high to begin with. The man was going through a rough time. On the verge of a breakdown. Not the type of breakdowns that some people did, where they cried for a night and were fine the next morning. This type of breakdown was going to be life changing. He was offered a job the other day. Can you believe it? Damon at a job. But this wasn’t something at the counter clerks or anything. This was a job hunting and killing off humans. Lower the population in Manuka at least.

It was tempting, but there were so many things he had to think about. His best friend was human, even if by technical means, she was a hunter. However, think of all the humans that had caused him harm. A hunter had killed his brother- a hunter he had not yet identified. He was on the dark side because he was an Ellis. There was also the only woman he had loved before Rosabella. Both of them ended up breaking his heart, but one of them did it because she was a damn human. What would have happened if he hadn’t told her about the firetaming thing? Would his life be much different? There was a point where he was glad he did that because being single was so much better, but there wouldn’t be this mess he was in. Being single was fucking awesome, but he wouldn’t have fallen for her. He wouldn’t have went over and gotten Kentley pregnant. His family was on his case about proposing to her since that was the right thing to do. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Marriage. No, he couldn’t do it.

He decided to get his mind off of things and went to one of his family members who was different than most of the stuck up shit heads walking around. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his family, but this was too much for him to handle right now. Going to Quinn was logical. He couldn’t go to Calan. Still hadn’t been sure of his little cousin. He didn’t have time and the last thing he wanted to do was cause that kid more stress. Quinn was a pretty relaxed guy. Someone to have the rest of his drinking with and just hang out. He would have done it with Annette, but considering that she was busy with a baby and all, he didn’t think she’d go drinking with him. He asked her once and she just started at him. Oh yeah, that. Must have sucked. The time you should be drinking the most, you couldn’t because of damn health reasons. He understood, he supposed. At least Annette’s hadn’t been his fault.

He parked outside, walking with his hands in his pockets and his signature leather jacket on his shoulders. It was starting to become warmer, but not yet warm enough to go without. He’d always carry around that jacket if he could help it. Damon clung to it, having a cigarette between his teeth and knocked on the door. If the answer didn’t come, he’d go and try again another day. If he did come, Damon would probably ask if he was at least able to come in and didn’t have any company coming over or anything. A bad habit of Damon’s but hopefully it was one that his family was used to at this point. Just him showing up for occasions. He was lucky enough he went to family events still, though little by little he was missing them. Suddenly, he looked over to see the other places parked there. Was that?... No, that wasn’t her car. There were plenty of cars like that. Shaking his head, he backed away from the door, going to knock again before it opened.

thanks!

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[TARQUIN FINLEY ELLIS]

Quinn could not fathom this betrothal working out at all, to be honest. Firstly, because he wanted it to fail, and secondly, because his heart was someone else's now. He did not see that ending anytime soon, not unless Nikki took a bad turn when it came to learning about Giselle, anyway. Not something that Quinn was looking forward to, not at all. But he would have to tell the mermaid what was up and hope for the best, and hope that Nikki would understand the spot he was in, and why he had to go along with it for a little while. Then again, he would have to speak to her about a number of things that had happened. Like Amery, and Roman, and he just wasn't sure it was good to go back into those things. Quinn was not sure that Nikki could deal what had happened with Amery. It worried him, and he knew it was not something most people would even give a thought to. Yet the mermaid knew he wasn't exactly normal even for a firetamer or otherkin creature.

He supposed that he was close enough to his family as any less then social person might be, and other then Damon giving him crap about his hair, he did not mind his cousin much. However, he wasn't sure how his cousin would act around him if Annette had told Damon about that one night... and Quinn wasn't looking for another awkward sort of moment. He had enough of them as it was. And he had no idea how awkward it could get soon, either. Perhaps he was not nearly interested enough in what the rest of the family did or the relationships throughtout it. Quinn barely had a clue on those things. He did not feel he needed to, of course. He knew about Calan and the witch, and he'd known through his parents about Roman while his brother was alive. That was good enough for Quinn. He did not even want to know about Roman's life in those years. It had bothered him to hear about any of it, and he usually walked away from any such conversation.

Strange enough to be dealing with this situation, and he could hardly think about anything else but how to stay calm and get this meeting over with. At Giselle's words on what they were suppost to be doing, Quinn gave a shrug of his shoulders to her. "I guess so. Formally meet and whatnot.." He responded evenly, keeping his voice steady and without a tone of dread. More words from her, and he gave a faint nod. He really did not remember her much at all, though he did have the feeling that he had seen her before. Probably from one of the family things or something. There was a banquet thing the Ellis' had for friends and family and all that before. Could be it, though of course he had been in some corner area and hating the whole thing. But he was sure he had glanced around and could have gotten a glimpse of Giselle there, if she had indeed gone to it. It did not matter to him, as it would not have changed a thing here at all. It would still feel the same.

Again she speaks, and he knows full well that perhaps he should say more, but he has no clue what to speak on. He doesn't need to know about her life, not really. And what if he didn't like something in that life? It would make things worse. It was better not to know. Quinn will listen to her and answer her questions, of course. "Yeah, I have a few different martial arts classes I go to." He replied, before he was distracted by a knock on the door. Great. People to gawk and stuff. Just what he needed right now. Not. With a sigh and a hand running through his hair, Quinn opened the door. Seeing Damon there -- and noting the liquor on his cousin's breath -- he lifted an eyebrow and stepped aside to let his cousin in. He pondered on if he should introduce Giselle to Damon or if they'd met at a gathering thing. In the end he decided to attempt to be polite. "Giselle, this is my cousin Damon. Damon, this is my betrothed, Giselle." All formal and all, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes over the entire matter.

[GISELLE ARIN BLACKBOURNE]

Great.. Giselle thought, knowing now that every response that Quinn was giving made him seem as if he was not interested. From experience in relationships, it was bad enough having one person who wasn’t really wanting to be in one, but when two people did not want to be together. Really, what was the point? Her parents both told her that this would be good for her, that she would come to love him one day. Giselle rolled her eyes at that sort of nonsense. Did they realize that maybe she didn’t want to love again? Things had grown so complicated with the other Ellis family members. She had heard that Roman had died and well she had never heard of anything with Damon which was good. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he had gotten killed, then again she knew he probably would never die easily.

Then she heard a knock at the door figuring it must be the mail man or one of his immediate family members which would be slightly embarrassing. When Quinn opened the door, her eyes widened for a moment, thinking, SHIT!!!There was no better word for what she was feeling now as her eyes rested on the door, waiting for him to walk in, and as he did, she was breathless for a moment. This was like a horrible dream, her eyes flickering between them, trying not to panic which was rare for Giselle, but it was happening right now. Then the introduction came and she felt sick to her stomach and looked at Quinn. “We used to date, no need to introduce us,” she said softly, her eyes resting on Damon’s for a long moment then, wondering how he would react.

Giselle particularly no idea what to say after that, wondering how Damon would be after this long, but he had only gotten better looking which would be an issue for her. Giselle wondered if it was even appropriate to talk about what happened in front of her fiancé. Hell, why would she care? “Damon, I’m sorry,” she said softly, immediately, needing to apologize to him after all these years. She knew she had no right to say anything to him. The only thing she was probably allowed to do was leave and not bother him, but she would never do that. She was just too stubborn.

[damon]

[/style][style=width:370px; height: 10px; font-family: Open Sans Condensed, sans-serif; font-size:14px; color: #f4f4f4; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: center; background-color: navy; padding: 15px; ]FUCK YOU AND FUCK HER TOO

With all of his family starting to disappear, it only made sense he would go off and visit his cousin. Word in the Ellis family, the man was engaged. Ha, sucked to be higher in the totem pole, didn’t it? First it was Aiden, and everyone knew that because of Damon, that didn’t really work out. Now it was Quinn? Funny. Damon never took him for the type to just lay down and take it, although he would imagine dear Uncle Conley if something went wrong. The man was a wicked old coot. But he was fucking powerful. Damon wasn’t even sure his own family could have brought him down. Not that he wanted them to. Right now, the Ellis clan all needed to stick together, no matter what. Despite whatever differences or bickering became of them, they were the Ellis clan. It’s what happened when you put a bunch of firetamers together. It made him do the most drastic measures to make sure they were safe.

Except they could be great assholes sometimes. Even himself. Damon gave a sheepish signature grin. He didn’t know Quinn all too well, but if he didn’t know any better, he’d say he didn’t look so well. Maybe that was just him. Damon always sucked at predicting those things. The only thing he could really tell was when someone really wanted him. Even that was bound to mess up pretty often. ”Don’t look so sick man, it’s just me.” The usual way he hid things. A joking smile with a side of humor to go along with it. As he walked in the door however, he froze. There were some things not even he could really hide very well. Seeing Giselle was one of them. He never thought he’d see her again. She made it quite clear to him when she pushed him away after watching her house burn down in flames. The tears rolling down both their faces. That was only after she had screamed names at him so fierce, he lost control and started spitting rapid cursed fire all over the place.

And why she was in Quinn’s house, he didn’t have a fucking clue. Nor he actually cared why she was here. It was the fact that she actually was here. Standing in front of him. Quinn was saying something, but Damon blocked everything out. Something about introductions and stuff. It was Giselle who spoke first, breaking Damon out of his trance. His shocked face was now replaced with anger, feeling his hands starting to burn already. Thankfully, he had trained himself in control since then, but it was still hard to keep them from burning his cousin’s house down. At her words, he scoffed loudly, ”Use to date? You made it sound like we went to the fucking movies one time.” His voice raging, everything that he had been holding now showing. His muscles tensed up, looking over at Quinn, ”You’re betrothed to her? She’s a human!” Also very offended that his cousin was set up with the ex-love of his life.

It didn’t occur to him that she would be a firetamer and all this time she didn’t know it. Or was a firetamer and did know it, in which case, why? Damon stood there, staring at her. What was supposed to be a random visit to his cousins was now in the middle of some twisted game that life was continuing to throw at Damon. It wasn’t enough he was the father of two children with two different women, but whoever was out there had to bring this bitch back into his life? He was fuming. No, more than fuming. There wasn’t any words to describe how betrayed, confused, and ever so furious he felt. His hands lit up in flames, but that’s as far as they went. Just continuing to be covering his hands, wanting to strike at her. Burn her down for whatever she did. Damon had been heartbroken over this woman for so long that he never realized how pissed off he was at her. Then she stood there and said sorry. Damon looked at her as if she just confessed the murder to his brother. ”Sorry? You’re fucking sorry?” He asked, not even sure where to begin with that statement.

thanks!

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