[It starts to snow as they make their way to dinner on New Year’s Eve, and Lydia is trying not to dwell on the fact that their trip is coming to an end. Returning to the life they’re building in New York also means dealing with the Erica of it all, and what Lydia is supposed to do about that, exactly.
The girl did try to kill her once. Sure, it was in high school and Erica did die in between, but she thinks she’s entitled to have mixed feelings about it.
She did reach out to Ethan, on the off chance that Aiden was among the returned, but it seems like they weren’t so lucky there. It’s probably for the best. How do you process your twin suddenly being on a completely different page from you?
She also has been texting with Allison, trying to sort out her feelings in that respect, but she’s not upset Erica is alive again. She’s just not sure she wants to deal with it. Maybe that doesn’t really matter.
She pauses outside the restaurant, watching the snow swirl around her, and Harvey says something that draws her back into the present, rather than the future, and she shakes her head.]
( Allison assures her Erica isn't like what Lydia remembers, but makes it clear her feelings are valid. She reads everything and asks the appropriate questions. She is there for it where she needs it, but she is also juggling all these new people in the Beacon Hills house. Between that and the time difference, she is helpful, but it's not as constant as she'd like it to be. She hopes Lydia feels a little better in the back and forth.
Harvey has had his first vacation since he can remember. His feelings have deepened to a degree he didn't even see coming. )
I don't know, did I?
( He takes her hand, stepping close. ) Where are you right now?
Beacon Hills, junior year, sitting next to a blond who wanted me dead.
[Lydia shakes her head, trying to wave it off. It's complicated, she knows, and she's not meant to feel perfectly about it, but it's probably for the best she's not back in Mystic Falls, trying to sort all of this out with her friends.]
Just ... thinking about Erica.
[She's mentioned the part about her coming back from the dead, and maybe a little about how Erica died, but probably not much about their actual history.]
( His look goes from curious to sympathetic, here to listen. The snow makes it more poignant, he decides, as he steps closer to let someone else into the cafe. )
You said you went to high school with her and she was in Isaac's pack. You didn't mention she had a yen to kill you. Why you?
[It was a little bit teenage girl stuff, probably, but also not.]
After Peter bit me, these weird murders started happening - murders committed by a kanima. They thought that I could have been the kanima, because I was immune to it's venom. We didn't know I was a banshee yet.
[She pauses for a minute, because she knows this wasn't Erica's fault.]
She was just listening to her alpha. Derek wasn't in a great place. So I'm not mad at her, exactly, but her coming back is dredging up thoughts of a time where I was intentionally kept out of the loop and it led to messed up things happening to me instead.
Research on banshees is really hard to come by. I've tried. And David does seem to know a lot.
[She still isn't sure she wants to waste a favor on that, though. She might need it later.]
Bonnie's grandmother seems to know a lot too. Maybe we go to her before David. Just in case I find myself with another reason to have a powerful witch in my corner.
[She looks up at him on that last word, it catching her by surprise, but in a good way. This vacation has been intimate and romantic as a vacation to France with your boyfriend should be. And as much as she has been feeling things, been deciding more and more that Harvey is something she truly wants to keep in her life in the long term, she wasn't sure where he was landing.
He could have misspoke. She'll give him the chance to be sure.
Her hand threads into his, and she takes a step closer, drawing his attention back to her because she very much doesn't want to talk about David anymore.]
( Her fingers intertwine and his eyes find her again, because he spoke with passion, but he did not misspeak. He steps closer, closing the very small distance between them. )
I do, if I'm not speaking out of turn. I'm also not trying to change the subject. I know Erica's return has you rattled. I'm here for whatever you need. For strategization, to talk, personally handing over a restraining order...
[She'll save him the ramble he seems to be sliding into. And she doesn't need a restraining order against Erica. She and Erica will sort their stuff out on their own.
This is a moment she wants to sit in, just for a little.]
I haven't been here in a long time, but I always did like it here.
[The last time she was here, was when Allison was recovering from the nogitsune. Something that Lydia can still feel the echoes of in her bones when she thinks about it too hard. Almost as though she feels something was averted and she's so grateful for it, but it's stretched, like a rubber band that could snap back at any time.
She hadn't wanted to let her out of her sight. Sometimes, like after New Orleans, she still doesn't.]
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on vacation (lydia, harvey) | paris
[It starts to snow as they make their way to dinner on New Year’s Eve, and Lydia is trying not to dwell on the fact that their trip is coming to an end. Returning to the life they’re building in New York also means dealing with the Erica of it all, and what Lydia is supposed to do about that, exactly.
The girl did try to kill her once. Sure, it was in high school and Erica did die in between, but she thinks she’s entitled to have mixed feelings about it.
She did reach out to Ethan, on the off chance that Aiden was among the returned, but it seems like they weren’t so lucky there. It’s probably for the best. How do you process your twin suddenly being on a completely different page from you?
She also has been texting with Allison, trying to sort out her feelings in that respect, but she’s not upset Erica is alive again. She’s just not sure she wants to deal with it. Maybe that doesn’t really matter.
She pauses outside the restaurant, watching the snow swirl around her, and Harvey says something that draws her back into the present, rather than the future, and she shakes her head.]
Sorry. Did you say something?
no subject
Harvey has had his first vacation since he can remember. His feelings have deepened to a degree he didn't even see coming. )
I don't know, did I?
( He takes her hand, stepping close. ) Where are you right now?
no subject
[Lydia shakes her head, trying to wave it off. It's complicated, she knows, and she's not meant to feel perfectly about it, but it's probably for the best she's not back in Mystic Falls, trying to sort all of this out with her friends.]
Just ... thinking about Erica.
[She's mentioned the part about her coming back from the dead, and maybe a little about how Erica died, but probably not much about their actual history.]
no subject
You said you went to high school with her and she was in Isaac's pack. You didn't mention she had a yen to kill you. Why you?
( And don't tell him, teenage girl stuff. )
no subject
After Peter bit me, these weird murders started happening - murders committed by a kanima. They thought that I could have been the kanima, because I was immune to it's venom. We didn't know I was a banshee yet.
[She pauses for a minute, because she knows this wasn't Erica's fault.]
She was just listening to her alpha. Derek wasn't in a great place. So I'm not mad at her, exactly, but her coming back is dredging up thoughts of a time where I was intentionally kept out of the loop and it led to messed up things happening to me instead.
no subject
( Or, it's just triggering her. )
Because they won't again. Allison wouldn't let them.
no subject
[She pauses as she tries to figure out why she is feeling the way she is.]
I guess there's just a lot I still don't know, about being a banshee. I've come far since the girl I was then, but I still have a lot of questions.
no subject
( When they're not working regularly. )
You know what a lawyer dow when they have questions. The same a genius nationally renowned mathematician does. Research.
no subject
[She still isn't sure she wants to waste a favor on that, though. She might need it later.]
Bonnie's grandmother seems to know a lot too. Maybe we go to her before David. Just in case I find myself with another reason to have a powerful witch in my corner.
no subject
( He looks past her, his grudge still apparent, but that's still one of his older friends. And, actual friend, not negotiation tactic. )
no subject
He could have misspoke. She'll give him the chance to be sure.
Her hand threads into his, and she takes a step closer, drawing his attention back to her because she very much doesn't want to talk about David anymore.]
You love me?
no subject
I do, if I'm not speaking out of turn. I'm also not trying to change the subject. I know Erica's return has you rattled. I'm here for whatever you need. For strategization, to talk, personally handing over a restraining order...
no subject
[She'll save him the ramble he seems to be sliding into. And she doesn't need a restraining order against Erica. She and Erica will sort their stuff out on their own.
This is a moment she wants to sit in, just for a little.]
And I'm really glad we took this trip.
no subject
Me, too. After everything, you deserve it. It was high time the others took over the witch wars. ( he gives her hand a squeeze. ) Paris suits you.
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[The last time she was here, was when Allison was recovering from the nogitsune. Something that Lydia can still feel the echoes of in her bones when she thinks about it too hard. Almost as though she feels something was averted and she's so grateful for it, but it's stretched, like a rubber band that could snap back at any time.
She hadn't wanted to let her out of her sight. Sometimes, like after New Orleans, she still doesn't.]
And this has been a much better trip.
[No offense, Allison.]
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( And her father, he assumes, if he has his facts right. )
Well, next time I'll invite your best friend. We could double date. She has Sam Winchester on her arm.
( he's mostly, mostly kidding. )
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I think it's a bit soon for a couples vacation. But maybe if I can get them out to New York, we could at least have dinner.
[If Lydia is going to start to get serious with someone, Allison is going to want to meet them.]
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( He looks back out at the door to the cafe. )
You want to go inside?
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Yes. But after, maybe we could just walk around the city for a little while?
[She wants to just soak in the ambience for a little while longer.]
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( Bear with him. )
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We could. It is a feat of modern engineering that it hasn't fallen apart yet.
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( He loves Lydia's mind, is that not clear yet? )
no subject
[But maybe that might be a nice place for a New Year's Eve kiss. But she does love that he loves her brain.]
Then we'll see about mathematic feats.
🎀
( But, how can he say no? He leans down to give her a public, romantic, lingering kiss, before leading her into the cafe. )