Taylor is sat with a plate of latkes, ham, some veggies, stuffing... she's not sure when Chrismukkah started resembling Thanksgiving, but she's not complaining. She will go for a second helping from the Chinese food.
She's heard about Ryan's girlfriend from afar, mostly from Summer's context and a little of Sandy's when he had a legal question. But, she was told Caroline had a family emergency. She was hoping to meet the woman who stole Ryan's heart. She is happy with sweets, but she'll always hold a torch.
As she's scanning the crowd for the very blonde (she was told she's coming back in time), fate intervenes and she sits next to her. And damn it, she is pretty. Good for Ryan. )
Well, hello, Caroline, I'm Taylor. ( Ryan's ex-girlfriend, but she doesn't want to lead with that if he hasn't. ) I'm so happy you made it back in time, I've heard a lot about you.
[She sits with a smile, and does not recognize the name (2). Maybe Ryan hadn't gotten around to that particular ex yet. Either way, she's grateful to meet another person who seems about her age.]
I don't think I've been around long enough to leave a bad impression but Kirsten is a little hard to read.
( Marissa is the ex that made the biggest impact, and then Theresa. Taylor - well, Taylor's an entire story and sort of dovetails into Marissa. He was getting around to it. )
All vague things, and, to be honest, slightly scandalous if you care about office power dynamics, but I do not. I think everyone should fly their freak flag. ( She gives a cute, coy smile. ) Basically, Ryan met you at a charity, started working with you, and then started dating you. And basically fell off the planet. Very The Proposal except I see no signs of ice in your veins.
[Caroline blinks, and then, suddenly, it's as though a lot of the tension she's been holding herself with falls out of her shoulders. It had been in a while since she's been in a party that didn't at least have an open supernatural policy. As she talks to random Cohen family members, she's been trying to make sure she didn't let the V-word slip.
But if Taylor already knows Emma, odds are high she doesn't have to be as buttoned up.]
She's a colleague. We're both in the same line of work. Well, one of them. ( She says, a gleam in her eye. ) I'm a therapist. Dr. Gilbert referred a patient to her who then referred him to me. Small world, huh?
( AKA, yes, she works with Emma Tig who works directly with the supernatural. She then says it like it's the lightest thing in the word. )
[She relaxes the rest of the way, settling back into her seat with her drink.]
You know, of the various supernatural combos I've done dating wise, which hasn't been one of them.
[Witches don't really go for vampires, though, not generally. Or unless they're looking for the dark-and-sexy combo, which Caroline has moved on from.
Mostly.]
Very small world though. And also, thank you. I've been so worried I'd slip to the wrong person and then have to answer a bunch of very awkward questions.
I didn't mean to. I was on this whole Eat, Pray, Stop Being Such a Controlling Bitch thing after high school. And he was just so...
( She wants her to guess something, only to say: )
French.
( Nothing at all wrong with dark and sexy! )
I would think it's pretty easy to keep a lid on what you do. You work outreach for a school, right? Just say recruitment. Nobody cares enough to ask about recruitment... No offense.
Oh, no, totally. It's just ... been a long time since I've been to a party where I was hiding so much of who I am. I guess I'm just not used to it in a non-professional capacity.
[But she's handling it.]
It's worth it, though. Things with Ryan are really good and I'm enjoying getting to know his people.
( She narrows her eyes at that, because, she hasn't put two-and-two together.
As soon as recognition crosses her face, Ryan, having vampire heard from the other room, leaves his little sister, Sandy, Kirsten, and Julie Cooper, and swoops in. As nonchalantly as Ryan Atwood can do.
"You found Taylor.")
Yes, Ryan, your ex-girlfriend found your current girlfriend, but didn't stalk her, or follow her with a dummy Instagram. She's going the old-fashioned ( Her eyes fall on a piece of jewelry on Ryan's finger, which stops her sarcasm in it's tracks as her words trail off. ) conversation... route.
( She glances to the hand holding a glass of wine. Caroline's. )
[Caroline's head tips to the side, because she assumed (perhaps wrongly) that someone who knows about her school is aware that it has a vampire for a headmistress. But she doesn't have time to bring that up before Ryan is there and this is his ex girlfriend, and then Taylor makes the vampire connection and oh no.
Fresh air with Ryan Atwood, mon ami. And Caroline, cherie.
( She smiles through the awkward, not making a scene as she knowingly glances away from both hands, whisking herself and the two following back across the living room and out the back to the pool.
Ryan closes the door behind them, and turns.
"Okay, go.")
When!
("Last year. I was hired under false pretenses and held... captive," he says, not liking how it sounds but that's how it happened. "And, instead of letting me live, they - didn't.")
Ryan...
("I'm okay, Taylor.")
Well, I know that. You don't work with the Salvatore school without knowing Caroline Forbes' reputation. You hit the jackpot in more ways than one. I do think you smile even less as a vampire, but Atwood beggars... ( her being one. ) I just - I didn't know.
("How do you know?" She gives him a look. "Not about us, Taylor. About what we are. About vampires.")
Well, Henri-Michele was a witch. ( And that slides off the tongue like it's nothing. ) And from there, a lot of my academic interests lent themselves well to certain kinds of research. I started getting into dead languages... I made the right friend at the right conference... I even met a guy in DC and he already knew about the supernatural, too. It felt good. Like, the rest of the world wasn't in on this big secret.
When I realized you knew Emma and about the school, I thought you also knew about my vampire-ness. So that was totally my bad for assuming.
[She pauses before shrugging.]
So yeah. What I was saying about how our relationship is a consultant-consultee situation isn't actually really the case either. It was just a ... convenient cover story for when I was helping Ryan acclimate.
[She can tell? Caroline doesn't really know what to say to that. Are they all good? Is there something Caroline should be worried about? But before she can stumble into something awkward, the door opens behind them and an unfamiliar face pokes his head out.
Sweets had been off talking with Seth, but he had been given a signal, and he's going to to fulfill his role as Boyfriend:]
Hey, honey, you wanted me to let you know when a new batch of latkes were ... out ...
[It's also at the end of the sentence when he realizes he may have walked into something awkward.]
( She can tell that he's happy. That he's with the right person, or a person who feels right now. And, thanks to extenuating circumstances, he has more than enough time to find more people who are right. Later and so on. Or, this is it. She could see Ryan settling down. He deserves it. It was a wonder he didn't for so long. But, he threw himself into his work. When not working for the his firm, he did things on the side charitably. )
Not at all. Dr. Lance Sweets, this is Ryan Atwood ( whom she's discussed. Taylor is nothing if not a talker about all things including exes and pregnancy scares. and train trips. and what-if's at friends' weddings. ) and Caroline Forbes. Of the Salvatore School.
Like I said, small world. Emma Tig referred me to a client who I am thirty percent sure is six degrees of separation away from you.
( To Caroline. )
Which now making a connection to the name to the face to the school, is really neat. It's like we all have own little secret club at Christmas. ( Turning to Sweets. )Ryan got himself turned.
("Turned?" Sandy Cohen comes up, rounding the house with a plate of something he's going to put on the grill. "Julie brought veggie burgers, I completely forgot." Kirsten had nudged him. Never mind the dessert was already out. "What'd you turn?" he asks Ryan, expectantly. )
[Sweets flashes Sandy a grin, sliding in just a bit quicker than Caroline with a smooth reference back to his and Seth's conversation in the house (17).]
World of Warcraft. Seth has been trying to get Ryan to play with us and we were trying to decide whether we wanted to be Alliance or the Hoard. The Hoard is infinitely cooler, and Ryan is just starting to see the light.
( Caught off guard, Ryan inexplicably rolls an (18) to continue the deception. Sandy is several beers in (8). )
There is finally daylight in my schedule to give it real thought and as many times as I told Seth that World of Warcraft is his thing, his kid is too young, so I gave in. Honestly, whatever they say, Alliance or Hoard, I'm just going to go with.
( Sandy just doesn't process much of that because he doesn't quite care. There is something at the back of his mind, the 'us,' if Seth and Sweets knew each other through Taylor - but, this is Christmas and when his son has a bone he does not let it go.
"Well, I hope your hoarding proves successful," he says, taking his tray of veggie burgers and beer over to the grill. "Caroline, you want to come help me?" he calls back. And even though it's a lovely, nice ask. It's clear. Not an question. )
[Caroline lives to be helpful. She turns to follow Sandy and once his back is turned, she mouths "thank you" to Sweets, who nods in return. She then turns back, looking over the grill setup before turning back to Sandy.]
("Have you ever grilled before?" he asks, without waiting for an answer as he sets the temperature he wants, letting it heat up. "There's an art to it. A timing. You put the patty on. You watch the flames, the juice. You flip - once - so it doesn't get too dry. There's thought behind it." He holds a hand over the griddle, dropping the top so it can heat up.
"How are you liking a Newport Christmas, Caroline?")
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Taylor is sat with a plate of latkes, ham, some veggies, stuffing... she's not sure when Chrismukkah started resembling Thanksgiving, but she's not complaining. She will go for a second helping from the Chinese food.
She's heard about Ryan's girlfriend from afar, mostly from Summer's context and a little of Sandy's when he had a legal question. But, she was told Caroline had a family emergency. She was hoping to meet the woman who stole Ryan's heart. She is happy with sweets, but she'll always hold a torch.
As she's scanning the crowd for the very blonde (she was told she's coming back in time), fate intervenes and she sits next to her. And damn it, she is pretty. Good for Ryan. )
Well, hello, Caroline, I'm Taylor. ( Ryan's ex-girlfriend, but she doesn't want to lead with that if he hasn't. ) I'm so happy you made it back in time, I've heard a lot about you.
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[She sits with a smile, and does not recognize the name (2). Maybe Ryan hadn't gotten around to that particular ex yet. Either way, she's grateful to meet another person who seems about her age.]
I don't think I've been around long enough to leave a bad impression but Kirsten is a little hard to read.
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All vague things, and, to be honest, slightly scandalous if you care about office power dynamics, but I do not. I think everyone should fly their freak flag. ( She gives a cute, coy smile. ) Basically, Ryan met you at a charity, started working with you, and then started dating you. And basically fell off the planet. Very The Proposal except I see no signs of ice in your veins.
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[Caroline can very quickly clear that up, because she doesn't want that kind of reputation either.]
With is the key word there. It's really more of a consultant-consultee situation. I'm not his boss.
[Zero power over him in that respect, though Ryan technically is doing more dating her than actual architecture work these days.]
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Consultee. Got it.
( She sizes her up, sitting back. )
Emma Tig 1099's for your school, doesn't she?
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But if Taylor already knows Emma, odds are high she doesn't have to be as buttoned up.]
You know Emma?
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( AKA, yes, she works with Emma Tig who works directly with the supernatural. She then says it like it's the lightest thing in the word. )
You date one witch...
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You know, of the various supernatural combos I've done dating wise, which hasn't been one of them.
[Witches don't really go for vampires, though, not generally. Or unless they're looking for the dark-and-sexy combo, which Caroline has moved on from.
Mostly.]
Very small world though. And also, thank you. I've been so worried I'd slip to the wrong person and then have to answer a bunch of very awkward questions.
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( She wants her to guess something, only to say: )
French.
( Nothing at all wrong with dark and sexy! )
I would think it's pretty easy to keep a lid on what you do. You work outreach for a school, right? Just say recruitment. Nobody cares enough to ask about recruitment... No offense.
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[But she's handling it.]
It's worth it, though. Things with Ryan are really good and I'm enjoying getting to know his people.
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( She narrows her eyes at that, because, she hasn't put two-and-two together.
As soon as recognition crosses her face, Ryan, having vampire heard from the other room, leaves his little sister, Sandy, Kirsten, and Julie Cooper, and swoops in. As nonchalantly as Ryan Atwood can do.
"You found Taylor." )
Yes, Ryan, your ex-girlfriend found your current girlfriend, but didn't stalk her, or follow her with a dummy Instagram. She's going the old-fashioned ( Her eyes fall on a piece of jewelry on Ryan's finger, which stops her sarcasm in it's tracks as her words trail off. ) conversation... route.
( She glances to the hand holding a glass of wine. Caroline's. )
Oh, my god, Ryan...
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This conversation needs to be somewhere else.]
Maybe we should take this outside?
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( She smiles through the awkward, not making a scene as she knowingly glances away from both hands, whisking herself and the two following back across the living room and out the back to the pool.
Ryan closes the door behind them, and turns.
"Okay, go." )
When!
( "Last year. I was hired under false pretenses and held... captive," he says, not liking how it sounds but that's how it happened. "And, instead of letting me live, they - didn't." )
Ryan...
( "I'm okay, Taylor." )
Well, I know that. You don't work with the Salvatore school without knowing Caroline Forbes' reputation. You hit the jackpot in more ways than one. I do think you smile even less as a vampire, but Atwood beggars... ( her being one. ) I just - I didn't know.
( "How do you know?" She gives him a look. "Not about us, Taylor. About what we are. About vampires." )
Well, Henri-Michele was a witch. ( And that slides off the tongue like it's nothing. ) And from there, a lot of my academic interests lent themselves well to certain kinds of research. I started getting into dead languages... I made the right friend at the right conference... I even met a guy in DC and he already knew about the supernatural, too. It felt good. Like, the rest of the world wasn't in on this big secret.
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[She pauses before shrugging.]
So yeah. What I was saying about how our relationship is a consultant-consultee situation isn't actually really the case either. It was just a ... convenient cover story for when I was helping Ryan acclimate.
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( "I've always kept my personal life private," he says. )
Except, when the subject of said personal life was on the tip of everybody's tongue.
( Not the time, she still doesn't harbor resentment toward Marissa Cooper. )
And now...
( "Now, I handle a lot of the infrastructure. Zoning laws. Light construction. And some vampire tutelage, eventually." Eventually. )
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[She's a vampire, she already has a very loose relationship with power dynamics to begin with.]
But I've been taking really good care of him. Promise.
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( "I know you, Ryan Atwood," Taylor says, knowingly. "I can tell." And that's coming from someone who always wanted the best for him. )
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Sweets had been off talking with Seth, but he had been given a signal, and he's going to to fulfill his role as Boyfriend:]
Hey, honey, you wanted me to let you know when a new batch of latkes were ... out ...
[It's also at the end of the sentence when he realizes he may have walked into something awkward.]
Sorry, am I interrupting?
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Not at all. Dr. Lance Sweets, this is Ryan Atwood ( whom she's discussed. Taylor is nothing if not a talker about all things including exes and pregnancy scares. and train trips. and what-if's at friends' weddings. ) and Caroline Forbes. Of the Salvatore School.
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Stiles speaks very highly of you.
[Caroline's eyes brighten. "You know Stiles?"]
We worked together at the FBI. Nice to meet you both.
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( To Caroline. )
Which now making a connection to the name to the face to the school, is really neat. It's like we all have own little secret club at Christmas. ( Turning to Sweets. ) Ryan got himself turned.
( "Turned?" Sandy Cohen comes up, rounding the house with a plate of something he's going to put on the grill. "Julie brought veggie burgers, I completely forgot." Kirsten had nudged him. Never mind the dessert was already out. "What'd you turn?" he asks Ryan, expectantly. )
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[Sweets flashes Sandy a grin, sliding in just a bit quicker than Caroline with a smooth reference back to his and Seth's conversation in the house (17).]
World of Warcraft. Seth has been trying to get Ryan to play with us and we were trying to decide whether we wanted to be Alliance or the Hoard. The Hoard is infinitely cooler, and Ryan is just starting to see the light.
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There is finally daylight in my schedule to give it real thought and as many times as I told Seth that World of Warcraft is his thing, his kid is too young, so I gave in. Honestly, whatever they say, Alliance or Hoard, I'm just going to go with.
( Sandy just doesn't process much of that because he doesn't quite care. There is something at the back of his mind, the 'us,' if Seth and Sweets knew each other through Taylor - but, this is Christmas and when his son has a bone he does not let it go.
"Well, I hope your hoarding proves successful," he says, taking his tray of veggie burgers and beer over to the grill. "Caroline, you want to come help me?" he calls back. And even though it's a lovely, nice ask. It's clear. Not an question. )
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[Caroline lives to be helpful. She turns to follow Sandy and once his back is turned, she mouths "thank you" to Sweets, who nods in return. She then turns back, looking over the grill setup before turning back to Sandy.]
What do you need?
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"How are you liking a Newport Christmas, Caroline?" )
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