View Single Post in: The Scumthorpe Files
#8595
16th Jan 2018 at 9:05 PM
16th Jan 2018 at 9:05 PM
Posts: 4,622
No problem! :D
Here we goooo
Quote: Originally posted by TigerAnne
| I'd like to see Marcus' proposal, and what was going on in Nalini's head when she accepted. |
Here we goooo
The shift was only halfway done, but Nalini had left her lab and made it to the Main Level anyway. Unsurprisingly, with everyone else still working, it was completely deserted. The plan had initially been to go to the Captain's private quarters and lie down on the bed with a book until her aching back and ankles eased up. But the Main Level was filled with benches that while were definitely less comfortable, were also closer.
She flopped down onto one with an audible "oof!" and sighed. Her hands absent-mindedly rested on her stomach, which was heavily swollen from pregnancy. Only a few months left to go until the big day, and she was trying not to think about it. She was used to physical pain, was certain that childbirth would not be anything beyond what she had already experienced over the centuries, but she was still not looking forward to it.
A little girl. She and Marcus were having a daughter together. She wondered how she would be as a mother. Nalini had never felt a single maternal instinct in her life until she fell pregnant. As soon as she knew about the baby's existence, there was no other option in her mind other than going through with it, but she still worried. Would she make a good mother? Would she be able to do right by the baby? On the plus side, a crying newborn infant would act as a great buffer between her and Marcus. An excuse to physically withdraw from him because the baby needed feeding or changing or hugging.
She tried to not think about her relationship. She knew it was a sham, she had told Marcus it would be before they even got "together". Not that he paid the slightest bit of attention; he seemed utterly convinced that once she finally said yes to him, that would be it and everything would magically work out. The only reason she had agreed to be his girlfriend in the first place was because he wore her down. Her constant stream of "no" had been ignored, as he escalated to get her attention. He had, in the past, told her about how he did not want to die a rich man who had never experienced love, how he wanted to help her feel love again. "Again". She could not remember ever loving a single person in her life, how could she experience it again? But no, that was not a fact that meshed with Marcus' own personal "reality", so it was something he discarded. He had it in his mind that she needed help to regain a sense of love, and that it was down to him to do so.
She could remember finally giving into him. The exasperation of after all the yelling, the threats, the anger - on both sides - him still trying to woo her over. Feeling herself die inside as she realised that the only way to get him to stop hounding her was to give him what he wanted. She did not feel as though there were any other options. Yes, she could have quit, but the entire reason she was there in the first place was because she had hoped to find a cure for her vampirism. If she left and the chemicals department was successful, she would be denied it.
There were other reasons, too. Living at ORTOS was far from great, but at least there was no escaping some sort of social interaction. She may have still felt moments of loneliness, despite being in a facility filled with people, but at least she no longer ever felt out of her mind from it, starved for company other than herself and her hateful thoughts. That was the life she had lived before the facility, completely isolated. No other person to talk to. If she left, she knew she would isolate herself again, and not know how to put herself out there. She felt too socially inept to make friends. Sure, there were a few people around that she had the occasional pleasant conversation with, but she was hardly stupid. Everyone knew she was the Captain's girlfriend, who was going to be anything other than friendly to her? She guessed everyone thought that if she demanded to Marcus somebody was fired, he would do it. She imagined that the other employees thought it was career suicide to shit-talk her. No, if she was going to leave, the time to do so had passed. Now that she was pregnant, she had no choice but to stay. It would not be fair to her daughter, to take her away from her father.
The vampire was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of somebody else entering the Main Level. She glanced up and saw Marcus approaching. She forced a smile as her heart sank.
'What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be in your lab,' she greeted. '...I know, I should be too, but I'm in a lot of fucking pain.'
'I thought you were, that's why I came over,' Marcus replied, sitting down beside her. Nalini gave him a confused frown. 'I saw you here through the cameras,' he added, pointing to one.
'Oh,' Nalini said. Creepy. Even when he was supposed to be working, he was watching her.
'Our bed would be a lot comfier, you know,' he said.
'I know, but the bench was nearer. I just wanted to sit down as soon as possible. I was going to go and lie down once I'd had a few minutes off my feet,' Nalini replied.
'If we go now, I can rub your back for you,' Marcus offered.
'No, it's okay. I'll be fine, just let me stay here a bit longer,' Nalini told him, shaking her head. His hands on her made her skin crawl.
'If you're certain,' he replied, and kissed her. He then placed a hand on her bump. 'How's our daughter doing?'
'She's fine,' Nalini said, resisting the urge to shove his hand off and wash her mouth out with soap. 'She's not been very active today, there's been minimal movement. I guess she's resting. Much preferable to kicking me in the fucking bladder.'
'I bet,' Marcus chuckled. He looked down the Main Level, and saw that the corridor was still deserted. 'I know this is a little out of the blue, but...'
He slid off the bench and got down on one knee. He produced a small ring box, which he proffered to the vampire.
'Nalini... Will you marry me?' he asked, opening the box to reveal a very expensive looking engagement ring.
'Jesus Christ,' she gasped. Her eyes had widened in shock, and her blood ran cold. She hesitated, remembering the first time she had said no to him.
They were in Strangetown, at the facility that was secondary to the primary one in Midnight Hollow. Marcus had already twice quietly declared his love for her, albeit under his breath both times. She had been curious about the smaller facility in the desert, and her desire to see it was stronger than her desire to be nowhere near him.
An argument had broken out, and he blocked her exit.
'I know I have a lot. I have money and power, my own facility. But ultimately, they don't mean anything. In the grand scheme of things, being rich and powerful doesn't matter, at least not to me. Do you know what does? Love. That is what I want most in the world, it is one of my biggest driving forces in life. To find love, someone I can spend the rest of my life with, and I love YOU, Nalini.'
'And what if I don't reciprocate?' Nalini snapped, her face contorted into an expression of rage at both being trapped, and her boss making inappropriate declarations. 'Love requires trust, and do you know what happened the last time I trusted someone? I got fucking burnt - literally! I'm never putting myself in that situation again, and if you think I'm going to make an exception for you, you can fucking forget it! For all I know, you're just putting on an eloborate façade, waiting for me to let my guard down just so you can stick the knife in! WHY should I trust you?!'
Marcus sighed, his head bowed. His expression had turned mournful at her words.He reached into the top of his labcoat, and pulled out a pendant that had been dangling around his neck. The gem was a moonstone, and it was cut into the shape of a crescent. Nalini glanced at it, and had to admit it was beautiful. He took the necklace off, and held it out to her.
'This is a family heirloom. My father gave it to me when I was eighteen, over my siblings because he thought I would take the best care of it. He knew my sister wouldn't have respected it, and my brother wasn't that interested, so it fell to me. I wear this every day. It's the most sentimentally valuable item I own. I want you to have it. You can do with it as you please. If you won't trust me, then I will trust you first.'
He grabbed Nalini's arm and gently placed the pendant in her hand, closing her fingers over it. Stunned, she held it up for a closer inspection. She looked horrified, which made Marcus frown in both irritation and confusion. The enormity of the gesture was not lost on the vampire, and it made her sick. She understood that he wanted her to realise how strongly he felt, but it was wrong for her to keep the necklace. So completely, utterly wrong.
'...You should take this back,' she said, once she finally found her voice again. 'I don't want it, it's wrong for me to keep it.'
The rejection stung. It felt as though she had ripped out his heart and stamped on it. His own expression was aghast, but he took the pendant back all the same. He looped it over his head again, tucking it into his labcoat. As he did so, he stared into Nalini's eyes. She met his gaze, arms crossed in front of herself, and her expression back to its usually irritable expression. She did not want him to know how uncomfortable she felt.
He turned and left. He got out of the way of the facility exit, and headed back to Midnight Hollow, as the hurt from her rejection boiled over into anger.
'...Jesus fucking Christ,' Nalini groaned, once she lost sight of him. She held her hands over her face, feeling emotionally exhausted. What a fucking mess. She began to head back to the main facility as well, just wanting to spend the rest of the day hiding in the bunkers with a book.
But when she made it back, the facility had been plunged into chaos. There was an unusually large group of techs in the Main Level, and all of them looked frightened. Some of them were wounded, and there were signs of a struggle on the walls.
'What the fuck happened here?' Nalini demanded.
'The Captain!' one answered. 'He came charging in here, screaming in a rage and started hitting and kicking things! Some of us tried to calm him down, and he turned on us instead!'
'...Holy shit,' Nalini muttered. All this because she had rejected him? Because she did not want his necklace? Had no feelings for him? She knew it was illogical, irrational, but she felt guilty. She was perfectly within her rights to turn him down, but seeing blood on the walls, people holding a wounded arm, or nursing a bruise, she felt incredibly guilty, as though it had been her that had thrown the punches.
'...Well?' Marcus prompted, interrupting her thoughts. He looked worried, and Nalini realised she had been silent and staring.
'S-Sorry, I was... in shock,' Nalini replied, squashing down the memories. She forced herself to smile. 'Of course I'll marry you.'
Again, a gorgeous piece of jewellery offered to her. Again, alongside Marcus' love. His face broke out into a giant grin as he slid the ring onto her finger. He pulled her into a tight hug, and with her head on his shoulder, her expression fell. She had no choice.
She flopped down onto one with an audible "oof!" and sighed. Her hands absent-mindedly rested on her stomach, which was heavily swollen from pregnancy. Only a few months left to go until the big day, and she was trying not to think about it. She was used to physical pain, was certain that childbirth would not be anything beyond what she had already experienced over the centuries, but she was still not looking forward to it.
A little girl. She and Marcus were having a daughter together. She wondered how she would be as a mother. Nalini had never felt a single maternal instinct in her life until she fell pregnant. As soon as she knew about the baby's existence, there was no other option in her mind other than going through with it, but she still worried. Would she make a good mother? Would she be able to do right by the baby? On the plus side, a crying newborn infant would act as a great buffer between her and Marcus. An excuse to physically withdraw from him because the baby needed feeding or changing or hugging.
She tried to not think about her relationship. She knew it was a sham, she had told Marcus it would be before they even got "together". Not that he paid the slightest bit of attention; he seemed utterly convinced that once she finally said yes to him, that would be it and everything would magically work out. The only reason she had agreed to be his girlfriend in the first place was because he wore her down. Her constant stream of "no" had been ignored, as he escalated to get her attention. He had, in the past, told her about how he did not want to die a rich man who had never experienced love, how he wanted to help her feel love again. "Again". She could not remember ever loving a single person in her life, how could she experience it again? But no, that was not a fact that meshed with Marcus' own personal "reality", so it was something he discarded. He had it in his mind that she needed help to regain a sense of love, and that it was down to him to do so.
She could remember finally giving into him. The exasperation of after all the yelling, the threats, the anger - on both sides - him still trying to woo her over. Feeling herself die inside as she realised that the only way to get him to stop hounding her was to give him what he wanted. She did not feel as though there were any other options. Yes, she could have quit, but the entire reason she was there in the first place was because she had hoped to find a cure for her vampirism. If she left and the chemicals department was successful, she would be denied it.
There were other reasons, too. Living at ORTOS was far from great, but at least there was no escaping some sort of social interaction. She may have still felt moments of loneliness, despite being in a facility filled with people, but at least she no longer ever felt out of her mind from it, starved for company other than herself and her hateful thoughts. That was the life she had lived before the facility, completely isolated. No other person to talk to. If she left, she knew she would isolate herself again, and not know how to put herself out there. She felt too socially inept to make friends. Sure, there were a few people around that she had the occasional pleasant conversation with, but she was hardly stupid. Everyone knew she was the Captain's girlfriend, who was going to be anything other than friendly to her? She guessed everyone thought that if she demanded to Marcus somebody was fired, he would do it. She imagined that the other employees thought it was career suicide to shit-talk her. No, if she was going to leave, the time to do so had passed. Now that she was pregnant, she had no choice but to stay. It would not be fair to her daughter, to take her away from her father.
The vampire was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of somebody else entering the Main Level. She glanced up and saw Marcus approaching. She forced a smile as her heart sank.
'What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be in your lab,' she greeted. '...I know, I should be too, but I'm in a lot of fucking pain.'
'I thought you were, that's why I came over,' Marcus replied, sitting down beside her. Nalini gave him a confused frown. 'I saw you here through the cameras,' he added, pointing to one.
'Oh,' Nalini said. Creepy. Even when he was supposed to be working, he was watching her.
'Our bed would be a lot comfier, you know,' he said.
'I know, but the bench was nearer. I just wanted to sit down as soon as possible. I was going to go and lie down once I'd had a few minutes off my feet,' Nalini replied.
'If we go now, I can rub your back for you,' Marcus offered.
'No, it's okay. I'll be fine, just let me stay here a bit longer,' Nalini told him, shaking her head. His hands on her made her skin crawl.
'If you're certain,' he replied, and kissed her. He then placed a hand on her bump. 'How's our daughter doing?'
'She's fine,' Nalini said, resisting the urge to shove his hand off and wash her mouth out with soap. 'She's not been very active today, there's been minimal movement. I guess she's resting. Much preferable to kicking me in the fucking bladder.'
'I bet,' Marcus chuckled. He looked down the Main Level, and saw that the corridor was still deserted. 'I know this is a little out of the blue, but...'
He slid off the bench and got down on one knee. He produced a small ring box, which he proffered to the vampire.
'Nalini... Will you marry me?' he asked, opening the box to reveal a very expensive looking engagement ring.
'Jesus Christ,' she gasped. Her eyes had widened in shock, and her blood ran cold. She hesitated, remembering the first time she had said no to him.
They were in Strangetown, at the facility that was secondary to the primary one in Midnight Hollow. Marcus had already twice quietly declared his love for her, albeit under his breath both times. She had been curious about the smaller facility in the desert, and her desire to see it was stronger than her desire to be nowhere near him.
An argument had broken out, and he blocked her exit.
'I know I have a lot. I have money and power, my own facility. But ultimately, they don't mean anything. In the grand scheme of things, being rich and powerful doesn't matter, at least not to me. Do you know what does? Love. That is what I want most in the world, it is one of my biggest driving forces in life. To find love, someone I can spend the rest of my life with, and I love YOU, Nalini.'
'And what if I don't reciprocate?' Nalini snapped, her face contorted into an expression of rage at both being trapped, and her boss making inappropriate declarations. 'Love requires trust, and do you know what happened the last time I trusted someone? I got fucking burnt - literally! I'm never putting myself in that situation again, and if you think I'm going to make an exception for you, you can fucking forget it! For all I know, you're just putting on an eloborate façade, waiting for me to let my guard down just so you can stick the knife in! WHY should I trust you?!'
Marcus sighed, his head bowed. His expression had turned mournful at her words.He reached into the top of his labcoat, and pulled out a pendant that had been dangling around his neck. The gem was a moonstone, and it was cut into the shape of a crescent. Nalini glanced at it, and had to admit it was beautiful. He took the necklace off, and held it out to her.
'This is a family heirloom. My father gave it to me when I was eighteen, over my siblings because he thought I would take the best care of it. He knew my sister wouldn't have respected it, and my brother wasn't that interested, so it fell to me. I wear this every day. It's the most sentimentally valuable item I own. I want you to have it. You can do with it as you please. If you won't trust me, then I will trust you first.'
He grabbed Nalini's arm and gently placed the pendant in her hand, closing her fingers over it. Stunned, she held it up for a closer inspection. She looked horrified, which made Marcus frown in both irritation and confusion. The enormity of the gesture was not lost on the vampire, and it made her sick. She understood that he wanted her to realise how strongly he felt, but it was wrong for her to keep the necklace. So completely, utterly wrong.
'...You should take this back,' she said, once she finally found her voice again. 'I don't want it, it's wrong for me to keep it.'
The rejection stung. It felt as though she had ripped out his heart and stamped on it. His own expression was aghast, but he took the pendant back all the same. He looped it over his head again, tucking it into his labcoat. As he did so, he stared into Nalini's eyes. She met his gaze, arms crossed in front of herself, and her expression back to its usually irritable expression. She did not want him to know how uncomfortable she felt.
He turned and left. He got out of the way of the facility exit, and headed back to Midnight Hollow, as the hurt from her rejection boiled over into anger.
'...Jesus fucking Christ,' Nalini groaned, once she lost sight of him. She held her hands over her face, feeling emotionally exhausted. What a fucking mess. She began to head back to the main facility as well, just wanting to spend the rest of the day hiding in the bunkers with a book.
But when she made it back, the facility had been plunged into chaos. There was an unusually large group of techs in the Main Level, and all of them looked frightened. Some of them were wounded, and there were signs of a struggle on the walls.
'What the fuck happened here?' Nalini demanded.
'The Captain!' one answered. 'He came charging in here, screaming in a rage and started hitting and kicking things! Some of us tried to calm him down, and he turned on us instead!'
'...Holy shit,' Nalini muttered. All this because she had rejected him? Because she did not want his necklace? Had no feelings for him? She knew it was illogical, irrational, but she felt guilty. She was perfectly within her rights to turn him down, but seeing blood on the walls, people holding a wounded arm, or nursing a bruise, she felt incredibly guilty, as though it had been her that had thrown the punches.
'...Well?' Marcus prompted, interrupting her thoughts. He looked worried, and Nalini realised she had been silent and staring.
'S-Sorry, I was... in shock,' Nalini replied, squashing down the memories. She forced herself to smile. 'Of course I'll marry you.'
Again, a gorgeous piece of jewellery offered to her. Again, alongside Marcus' love. His face broke out into a giant grin as he slid the ring onto her finger. He pulled her into a tight hug, and with her head on his shoulder, her expression fell. She had no choice.