skipping // juliet

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

One of the conditions on being at the academy was these stupid therapy sessions that he was forced to go to. The sad thing was that Acton didn’t even want to be at the Academy, but since the Academy now had legal custody of him he was forced to stay there until he turned 18 and could leave the stupid school. Sure Acton has made plenty escape attempts, which would have succeeded if he was any other student at the school. However unlike everyone else at the school Acton had Guardians watching him all the time, they were warned about him and his well conceived escape attempts.

Today was another day that Acton was scheduled to go to the therapist. The sessions were pointless though. It’s not like Acton even said anything during these sessions. All he did was sit there silently during those sessions. Ever since he got back he hadn’t even uttered a single word to the lady that was his therapist, not even a hello or a how are you doing? There was no way that he was even going to give her a chance to open him up like a little book and try to find out his deep dark secrets. Yes, she did know about his general past, Kirova had made sure of that, but she didn’t know the details because nobody else but Acton knew them and there was no way in hell that he would tell anybody else.

Since today Acton was supposed to be going to a therapist session he made his way toward the building that contained all of the offices, but instead of walking in the door he walked around to the back and slouched against the wall. It was almost laughable that they expected him to go to therapy, well actually they didn’t. At least two thirds of the times that Acton is supposed to go to these sessions Acton tried to skip out. Eventually it came down to them sending Guardians to come and get him and forcibly take him to his sessions. However right now Acton knew the perfect place to hide and that was the closest place possible. They all thought that he would go far away, but they didn’t figure that he could possibly be touching the building.

Sighing Acton leaned his head against the wall behind him and let his eyes droop closed. The night before Acton hadn’t slept at all. It wasn’t abnormal for him to not sleep at all during the night because of what haunted his dreamland. Every single time that he closed his eyes to drift to sleep a horrible image would appear before his eyes, images of his past. This time when he closed his eyes there was a Christmas tree toppled down in a living room, a group of men huddled in a corner, a crying woman, and blood everywhere. This wasn’t just a picture anymore though, it was a full blown nightmare. Usually Acton didn’t allow himself to fall asleep in public because he never knew what he could say or express while he was asleep, but due to a lack of sleep when his head made contact with the wall he was out cold.

It was as if a slideshow was being played in his mind, images flashing threw each on getting bloodier and more gruesome as they moved along. In his sleeping state he kept mumbling No… no… no… over and over and over. His body was shaking ever so slightly, barely even noticeable but yet he was still trembling. The images kept progressing and he knew that he was dreaming but his mind wouldn’t let him wake up. It was as if it was some kind of punishment that he would have to watch this every time he fell asleep. Oblivious to what was going around him Acton didn’t hear someone approaching because his mind was preoccupied by images of the past.

WORDS // 658
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

After the events only a few days before, Juliet had found herself more paranoid than usual. She found herself having to wear long sleeve shirts to hide the large, dark bruise on her arm left from that Dhampir. No one had asked questions, no one had even noticed.

Classes had ended for the day, and Juliet couldn’t get out fast enough. With a stop by her room to drop off her school materials, she quickly repacked the bag with other means of entertainment. Tennis balls, a notebook, her ipod, anything that she might think of using while she was out. But what was she going to do?

She wanted to stay in her room, there was no question about that. If she stayed, there wouldn’t be any chance of anything bad happening. But she didn’t want to cower in her room like a terrified puppy. No way was she going to let herself become a hermit. For the first time in a couple years, she felt like running away from the school. There weren’t mentally psychotic Dhampirs around every corner in the real world. There weren’t annoying Moroi royals running around thinking they are better than everyone else. She wanted to meet at least one normal person. Well, maybe not ‘normal’ as in human, but normal as in they did do idiotic things to get rid of anyone they didn’t deem worthy of speaking to.

That was probably what irked her the most about that Dhampir. How he’d blown up over something so small, and then had the nerve to treat her like all the other Royals did. If she weren’t utterly terrified over that freakish strength of his, she would have tracked him down days ago to go and give him a piece of her mind.

Finally, she sighed, shaking her head as she left her room and locked it behind her. She hated this.

She’d reached the lounge of her Dorm at this point, slipping out into the ‘day’ with little to no one noticing. Once outside, she stopped. What did she even plan on doing? It wasn’t dinner yet, and no way would she go see one of those feeders just to distract herself. She didn’t have anyone to go and talk to, and no new books that she was interesting in reading. That left only one thing. The only thing she seemed good at.

Juggling.

Reaching into her bag, she snatched up the three tennis balls. Bag back on her shoulder, she tossed the balls into the air, catching them and tossing them into the other hand or into the air. She went from left to right, her left hand the one to bring the balls air born, her right to catch the ball and pass it back to her left hand. It wasn’t that complicated, but some people seemed to think so. Juliet though, she’d had years of practice. She took slow steps as she juggled.

If she were paying attention, she’d notice just where she was heading and turned around. When she did, she stopped. She knew that huge towering figure. It was that stupid Dhampir. Almost grumbling, she decided to ignore him. Better to not provoke a response from him. Eyes narrowed, she changed directions just a tad, enough that he might see her if he was paying attention, but hopefully wouldn’t provoke any unwanted attack.

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

The nightmare that Acton was currently experiencing was one of the most frequent and most terrifying ones. This nightmare was the one that replayed the beginning of the end, the downfall to Acton’s bright happy future. Nobody knows the details of that night but Acton because… well there was nobody left to retell it. There was no way that Acton could tell anyone what happened that night. It was the worst night of his life and the days that followed were equally as bad, but of course these were the days that kept replaying in his head over and over and over. Why couldn’t he dream of pools of pudding or flying or something amazing and happy?

It started with the door bursting open while the whole Benson brood plus Acton’s best friend was sitting by a Christmas tree surrounded by presents and the room filled with laughter. However the laughter died when they saw who had burst into their house that happy Christmas morning, it was the father to all Benson children that had been absent for the past 12 years. Now they knew why he was absent, his eyes were rimmed with red and he looked… evil and so did his friends. Within seconds the family of dhampirs sprung into action, trying to take down the Strigoi while trying to protect Acton’s moroi best friend Teddy. In the end two of the Benson children died and the rest were tied up. The days that followed were horrible. Each day one more person would be taken away and assumed to be drained to death. The last day there were three left Joss, Acton’s mom, Acton, and Teddy. Joss was taken away and that was when Acton leapt into action. He had loosened the ropes that bound him over the days and grabbed the axe that was used to chop down the Christmas tree and a stake that one of his brothers had left behind. However the only person that made it out was Acton because the rest were… turned.

The last thing that Acton saw before he jolted awake was the red eyes of his entire family staring at him hungrily. It took him a while to realize where he was and to hold back the strangled scream that had built up inside of him. Running his hand through his hair Acton still didn’t realize that there was someone else near him, someone that he had run into just a few days ago. Taking deep breaths Acton wiped the cold sweat that had built on his forehead off with the bottom of his shirt revealing his chiseled and scarred abs. Finally he realized that he was behind the office buildings sitting in the grass leaning against a wall. It was just a dream Acton, just a dream Acton told himself then looked up to finally notice he wasn’t alone.

His cold blue eyes widened when he saw the girl that he had attacked a few days ago. Right when he saw her he became worried immediately. Did he say anything in his sleep? And if he did, did she hear anything that he happened to say? Could she see the cold sweat that he had broken out in? Could she see that his hands were still shaking? Could she see that his eyes looked more tired than usual? All these questions were swimming in Acton’s mind and for the first time in god knows how long what he was feeling was playing across his face, panic.

What are you doing here?! Acton said trying to keep his usual calm in his voice but after reliving some of the worst nights of his life it was hard to keep the shaking out of his voice. How long have you been here? Acton asked figuring he could’ve only been asleep for 15 to 30 minutes tops. He just couldn’t have her hear or see him like this, this could do horrors to the image he had made to keep people away.

WORDS // 670
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

Well, that plan was thrown straight out the window. Why did he have to notice her right then? Stilling her steps and hands, she plucked the remaining tennis ball from the air before finally turning her full attention to him. Great, just great. But she wasn’t as worried as she had been on their first encounter. He was the worried one now. She could see it in his eyes. A part of her wanted to laugh. He hadn’t been expecting to see her again, had he? Of course, she hadn’t been expecting to ever see him again either. Well, most of her hadn’t. Her paranoid side had kept seeing him around every corner the past few days.

Now though, she couldn’t see why she’d been so worried. He almost seemed…. Vulnerable. Was he? Mentally, maybe, but most definitely not physically. He was a Novice after all. He’d be a Guardian soon, and Guardians were anything but vulnerable.

“Can’t you tell? I’m juggling, and you plenty of space when you juggle. There just happens to be too many people everywhere else.” She paused for a moment. “Unless it bugs you…. I can always go find somewhere else……” She hesitated a little, in case he felt the urge to try to continue his assault on her from the first time they met.

Suddenly though, she couldn’t help but feel a little pity for him. She tried to hide it. She knew that expression, whittled across his face as if set in stone. “I told you you’d relive it if you were alone, if you remember. You should be more careful where you fall asleep, so it doesn’t happen where others can see.” Should she have said that? Probably not…. He might just decide bruising her arm like before hadn’t been enough punishment.

After a few moments, she sighed, shaking her head. “Only a minute or two…. I didn’t even realize you were asleep until you woke up…” Would he believe her though? It wasn’t clear. She wished he would, but after their first encounter he didn’t seem to like or trust her that much. “I was just passing by anyway…”

Oh, God. There was that stupid reluctant part of her again, as if waking up and telling her ‘oh, you should stay and see how angry you can make him!’. Well… maybe not in those words, but it didn’t matter. It was telling her to stay until he was so angry he stormed off or she fled in fear. Great. I’m totally suicidal!

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

Why was it that this girl seemed to bring out the worst in Acton? First Acton almost killed her, now she sees him like this. Nobody has ever seen Acton like this, with the wall that he had built around him weaker than what it usually is and it was all because of sleeping. Even though Acton looks like he is sleeping in classes in reality he just has his head ducked down and ignores what is going on around him. He just couldn’t risk his nightmares popping up in the middle of class and him waking up screaming. He should have been more aware before he went to sleep earlier, but due to getting now sleep for two nights in a row it was kind of hard to stay awake.

Whatever Acton mumbled and pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on top of them. At this moment he probably looked like an oversized child, but he was just trying his best to regain his composure. Just like the last time that he had encountered this girl Acton just wanted her to go away, but this time it wasn’t because of anger this time, but because he couldn’t have someone see him like this. The last people that saw Acton feeling any kind of emotions besides anger are the Guardians that found him all bloody and beaten with a faint smile on his face. However those were the last people that saw anything like this on Acton, well until this girl kept appearing in front of him.

Shut up Acton mumbled and buried his head into his knees. Its not like he needed reminding that every single time his eyes closed another image of his past flashed inside of his mind. He didn’t need to be told that he relived what he has done every single day, that it won’t get out of his head, that it haunts him every single day. It felt as if she was rubbing it in that his mind subjected him to this kind of torture each and everyday. Hell sometimes Acton didn’t even need to go to sleep to be reminded of what he has done, about what had happened, so this girl reminding him that he couldn’t go to sleep without having nightmares mar his dreamland.

Only two minutes? Acton said to himself, reassure that she surely couldn’t have heard or seen that much in that short of time. Good. Acton said and pulled his head out of his knees and rested his chin on them instead. Now he just had to get this girl away now, but Acton still wasn’t sure if he would be able to scare her away after she saw him like this, so he’d have to find another approach, an approach that he had no idea what it was. All Acton has relied on was the fact that he could induce fear to keep people away, but what was he to do when someone saw that he wasn’t completely as frightening as they may have thought. What if she told other people about this? Before Acton could keep worrying he got another flash of red, just deep red that caused him to duck his head back down and try to push it out. Why do you keep showing up? Why can’t you just leave me alone? Acton asked, his voice muffled threw his knees.

WORDS // 570
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

“You still hate me huh…?” Of course he still hated her. She’d hit him with one of these same tennis balls, on accidently, but still. It hadn’t helped that she’d gotten so annoyed with him after, and he at her. And it definitely didn’t help that she’s pushed him so much. But now, it didn’t seem to matter. When she saw that look on his face…. Her heart had hurt. It wasn’t that she cared for him, but a part of her just wasn’t able to pull herself away.

Juliet flinched, unable to stop the response when he snapped at her. How many times had he told her to Shut up? Three? Four? She had absolutely no idea. Of course he hadn’t had the same menacing tone and glare as the first time, but she couldn’t help but remember them. She knew better then to ask what he would do if she didn’t. She’d already gone down that road once before, and she was not going to do it again. “Sorry….” She also knew he wouldn’t accept any of her apologies, he’d already made that quite clear the first time.

Sighing, she smiled softly, the first smile she’d let him see, hoping it would lighten his mood just a little. Maybe he’d settle down just a little. “I don’t do it on purpose… If I’d known you’d be back here I would have just stayed in my room.” Juliet paused, unsure if it’d be safe to say something else. Doubtful, but that wouldn’t stop her. “You okay…?” She blinked, suddenly remembering what he just might say in response. The same thing he said the first time. “Nevermind… You’re just gunna say something overly sarcastic, again.”

With another sigh, she shook her head. If he planned on verbally attacking her again, she’d rather just leave now- If it weren’t for that suicidal part of her that had her feet super glued to the ground. Why can’t I just leave him alone?! “Um…. I know you probably don’t care… But I really am sorry…. For what happened the other day.” A short pause. “And I don’t care if you won’t accept it or not.”

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

Did he still hate her? Well honestly Acton didn’t hate her, just people in general. It wasn’t as if he hated every individual person in the world that would be impossible because how could he hate people he has never met? However what Acton does hate is how people in general can affect you and ruin things for you. So it wasn’t as if just because some stupid tennis ball happened to hit him the other day that he hated her, that would be idiotic to hate someone for a reason like that. However what he did hate was the fact that he had lost control in front of her and now she was seeing him like this with his wall barely up.

I hate people Acton said in response, not necessarily saying that he hated her specifically, but just on concept. Of course he couldn’t bring himself to actually say that he didn’t hate her because that would mean that he would be giving up part of the truth and indirectly part of himself. He couldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t lose even one bit of control over himself because he knew that was all he had left. He couldn’t control the world around him but he could control his actions. This is why he hates it so much when he goes on those rages or succumbs to his memories, because they were uncontrollable and it shook his world.

Stop saying sorry so much Acton said, his chin still resting on his knees that were tucked tightly to his chest as if he could physically keep himself together by doing so. There was just something about apologies that made Acton mad. He never believed that anyone was truly sorry about anything that they did because at the time that they did whatever they were apologizing for they truly did mean it. So how could a few words take back something that they already had done? It was simple, they couldn’t. Just saying that you are sorry can’t change anything, it didn’t mean anything. All that that saying ‘I’m sorry’ can do is nothing, because they are just words, words that can’t do anything at all.

The next words she said kind of struck a nerve for Acton, but it didn’t show on his face that was now regaining its usual emotionless state. The fact that she asked if he was okay was something new to him, well not necessarily new but something that hasn’t happened recently. The last time someone asked if he was okay was a year ago, nobody bothered anymore, not even when he showed up in the infirmary because they were so used to seeing him there. I’m fine Acton grumbled as the red stained images kept reappearing in his mind. What made him mad was that she was acting like she knew him, like she knew what he would do and why he did it. This girl knew nothing about him, hell he doubted that she even knew his name You don’t know shit about me, Acton said emotionlessly, not looking at her because he was scared that he would go into a rage if he did. I doubt you even know my name. Acton added for emphasis.

Stop saying sorry already! Acton said yet again getting seriously fed up with her saying sorry. How many times did he have to make his point that the word meant nothing? He had heard it so many times. He had heard it from people trying to plead for him to not beat the crap out of them; he had heard it from people that were running away from him; he had heard it from the Guardians that knew his past; but the most eerie thing of all, he heard it from his twice dead father in the most emotionless and sarcastic tone that Acton had ever heard. It is just a word for fuck sake! It doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t change anything! Acton said a vague sense of anger in his voice that wasn’t nearly as horrifying as it was the other day.

WORDS // 687
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

So by default he hated her? That was one messed up concept. You didn’t know the person, so you instantly just hated them? “I guess that includes me then.” Juliet sighed. If you didn’t know better, she almost sounded depressed by the fact. She didn’t like people hating her. Not at all. It hurt. She couldn’t see why he had such a hatred for everyone. Of course she wanted to ask about it, but feared he might explode if she did. She did not want a repeat of their previous meeting.

“I will when you actually accept my apology. But seeing as you don’t like them… I don’t see that happening in a while.” She smiled softly. Once again, she found herself wondering if this would put him over the edge…. Like just about everything else she said. Great, he really did have her paranoid. How was she supposed to do anything if she was always worrying about her own words? It was almost infuriating. Man. Why couldn’t he be a little more normal?

Oh, so he wasn’t going to be totally sarcastic this time. That was good. Or bad….. Actually, it was almost a little weird. His next comments though, made her flinch. “I don’t think that’s fair. I know plenty. You hate people, you don’t like being touched, even by tennis balls, you have a huge appetite, and you’re short tempered.” She shrugged. “Other than that though, you’re right. Don’t know a thing. I’d ask for your name, but you hate me, so would you even give it?” Right then though, she knew they wouldn’t get anywhere if one of them didn’t give way. “I’m Juliet. Juliet Jophenza. Now we’re not strangers.” She didn’t know why she was so willing to share her name with him. Maybe it’d soften his mood a little. Probably not….. But it was worth a try either way.

Oh great, he was angry with her. AGAIN. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise to her by now, but still…. She didn’t like it, and she doubted he liked it either. “You’re right. It’s just some word… A replacement for inexpressible feelings. It’s the only thing that can come even remotely close to conveying those feelings. So sometimes you shouldn’t think of the word, and more the meaning behind it.” With a sigh, she decided to try and distract herself, so she wouldn’t stare into that cold, emotionless expression of his. Tossing the balls up into the air… She started to juggle… Again. “And what’s wrong with apologies? Sometimes people do something stupid. You don’t think they deserve to try and redeem themselves for it?”

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

Whatever. Acton said at the remark that the girl made about him supposedly hating her. Whatever was Acton’s default word. He said it whenever he knew he should respond but didn’t want to say what he was really feeling. Generally Acton said what he thought, but there were the times where he couldn’t speak his mind because that would ruin his front, his mile thick wall that he built around himself. Lacking in emotions was the easiest way to keep the wall up, it was as if all the strength that it took to put forth emotions was used to hold up the wall instead. As long as Acton kept that wall up he was sure that he wouldn’t be able to express anything besides anger. Since there was no way of that wall crumbling down Acton figured he was doomed to be a emotionally lacking muscular shell that can only do one thing, kill.

A smirk spread across Acton’s face when the girl mentioned apologies and how she wouldn’t stop until he accepted. It really was a good play by her because Acton would never accept an apology so that just let her keep saying sorry. What Acton was smirking at though was the fact that it seemed like she was planning on him accepting or something. Before his little vacation Acton had no issues whatsoever with apologies, but after seeing and doing all of those things that he had done Acton just couldn’t think of the concept of being remorseful for your actions because if Acton was ever remorseful for what he did he would be spending the rest of his life locked up in his room like a zombie.

When she started to list off things that she knew about him, things that she has observed from their last encounter and what has happened so far today, Acton wanted to flinch, but he held it back. It’s not as if Acton didn’t know that he acted like this, but it just made him sound so… messed up. Of course he would be messed up though, its not everyday that someone like Acton strolled around the streets. However what actually did make him flinch was that she said that they weren’t strangers anymore. That couldn’t happen. Acton could not be close to anyone, he couldn’t be more than a stranger to anybody. If he became something more than that ominous, dangerous figure in the background then people could get close, they could want to know him, and Acton could not have that.

Once again she mentioned apologies and honestly Acton was tired of it. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore and the bloody images kept flashing in his mind. Why was it so hard to recover from the dreams this time? Maybe it was because he couldn’t concentrate on pushing the images out when Juliet was here. So once again to deflect the subject Acton uttered a single word Whatever. Most people would be annoyed by now by his lack of conversational skills, but Acton didn’t care. He just wanted to avoid the topic of apologies because he knew that she didn’t see his logic. Just drop it okay? Acton said with a shake of his head that caused his wild black hair to fall in his face.

Sighing Acton ducked his head down and rested his forehead on his knees, not noticing that the hair that covered the back of his neck had fallen forward with his head. Hell if Acton had noticed this he would have replaced it immediately, but instead he just sat there with his face buried in his knees trying to push the images of destruction out of his mind. Turning his head to look at her Acton rested his cheek on his knees and mumbled I’m Acton Benson.

WORDS // 638
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

This Dhampir was making it really hard to keep a conversation going… But it wasn’t like he had been all that talkative to begin with. All the harder. But hell, Juliet was up for a challenge. It made it much more satisfying when she won, or in this case he broke away from his shell. From what she could tell though, this would not be an easy job… Or even possible. So far, she was leaning towards this being totally, and utterly, impossible.

Whatever, whatever, whatever. She was starting to hate that word…. Or words. Almost every other sentence, it was ‘Whatever’. Was he doing it on purpose to just bug her? Or did he do this with everyone? She smiled softly.

He flinched. Why the hell had he flinched? Did it annoy him that she’d noticed those things? Or was it something else? She had no idea. Shaking her head, she shook the thoughts off. She could spend all day coming up with theories, but no way would she actually do it. No way in hell.

There it was again. Whatever. “You say that a lot. You know that right?” She smiled a little. “I think you’ve made a habit of it.” More than thought. She knew. She’d heard him say it so many times already, he probably might not even be aware of it.

Juliet sighed then. Yeah, it would probably be best to drop it… She didn’t want him to get mad at her over such a stupid matter. “Okay….” The tennis balls dropped to the ground, not intentionally, of course. She just…. Lost interest in them for the moment, for one reason. He’d finally told her his name. She couldn’t help but just beam with joy. She grinned overenthusiastically, for some reason unable to stop herself. She didn’t recognize the name, just like he might not have recognized her. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Acton Benson.”

Right then, she spotted something… Tattoos? Like Molinja marks? But novices rarely had Molinja marks. Maybe it was another sort of tattoo… Either way, something was on the back of his neck. The only reason she’d spotted whatever it was, was from the way he’d moved his head. “Um…. You have something…. On your neck…” What would his reaction be? Would he completely freak out that she’d spotted it, or would he just shrug it off and ignore her? With him…. It seemed like either were just as likely.

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

There actually was a good reason that Acton was like this. There was a good reason that Acton was such a jerk that shut everyone out and didn’t let anybody get close to him. It wasn’t as if he just woke up one day and decided that he would start being a jerk. There were a series of events that caused Acton to stop caring so much, hell there was a good reason he sucked at conversation. If you were alone without anyone to talk to besides a dog for a little bit longer than a year you would have a hard time remembering what a civilized conversation was like too. At least he was even talking to Juliet instead of ignoring her or yelling at her, that was a bonus then. So what? Acton said in response to her remark about him saying whatever. I can say what I want.

Mmmhmmmm Acton said instead of the usual nice to meet you too greeting. What was the point of lying and saying that it was nice to meet her when he wasn’t in the slightest glad to know her at all? He didn’t want to meet anyone in general; once again it just wasn’t personal. This girl, Juliet, was trying to get to know him and she was happy so happy that she got to know his name that he couldn’t bare to think of what her reactions would be if she found out more. She would probably be overjoyed to hear his whole life story and every single insignificant detail of his life. However Acton couldn’t tell her that, he couldn’t tell her anything, not just her but anybody. Nobody could know about Acton’s past, nobody could know what he was truly capable of.

However his attempts to hide his past were thrown off because of one wrong move of his head. How could he have forgotten that what he was so desperate to hide was tattooed onto his neck? How could he have let those 12 small marks and the huge one beneath it? He should have realized that she could have spotted them. Honestly Acton’s marks could’ve flashed before but it would have been during a fight where people are too concentrated on the brawl instead of the scary tall guy’s neck. However Juliet noticed because not only had she not run away the first time, but she was there talking to him again for a second time, something that has only happened in cases of revenge.

Quickly his hands shot up to the back of his neck, trying to hide the marks further with his large hands. What was he going to do? He couldn’t let some random girl know about his past. What if she went around the school spreading the word that the scary Acton Benson had actually killed more Strigoi than could be counted? That was what the hollow star represented, the fact that he killed more Strigoi than could be traced, the fact that he went rogue for a year and a couple months. The twelve molijna marks were the ones that Acton had specifically instructed the tattoo artist to put on his neck as a constant memorial to the ones that he lost that were most important, his most important kills.

It’s nothing! Nothing at all! Acton said still gripping his neck making it obvious that there really was something that resided on the back of his neck that he didn’t want anyone else to know about. There really wasn’t a way of avoiding the fact that she knew there was at least something on the back of his neck because she saw it. However Acton could let her guess what was there, let her think of something else besides what was truly back there. Maybe she would let herself think that they weren’t marks representing kills and something else like a scar or a tattoo of something else. They are nothing. Acton said once again, wanting her to not know anymore about his past.

WORDS // 674
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

Juliet sighed. Again. Did he have any other personality traits other then sarcastic and bastard? Thoughts of smacking him over the head crept back into her mind, even more tempting than ever before. “Yeah, I guess so.” She didn’t push it. If she did, she might just find herself walking over to act on her tempting thoughts. And that was the last thing she needed right now. Why should she give him any reason to strike back at her?

Ugh. Again. No reaction from him what so ever. He wasn’t just being a jerk, he was being a conversation killer. Curse him…. If it weren’t for that reluctant side of her keeping her from leaving, she probably would have run off long before now. But no…. She kept being told by that completely suicidal part of her to stay, no matter what Acton did to chase of away. He’s doing it on purpose, he’s not this type of person. Yeah…. Right. Sure he wasn’t.

But the more she tried to tell herself this was him, that he was such a jerk without even trying, and everything she’d seen to dispute that had been a hallucination. A hallucination…. Ugh. She wished that were true. Those terrified eyes of his were just engrained into her head, his trembling, his reaction when he realized what he had done to her…. He wasn’t a terrible person. But whatever had caused him to be like this….. Well she was not going to give up on figuring out what it was. She would just have to take things slow. No matter how much he hated her for it.

Flinching from his reaction of her seeing whatever those marks were, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from apologizing. He didn’t want her apologizing, she wouldn’t apologize. No matter how much she hated it. “Okay… Just…. Yeah….” She wasn’t sure what to say to that. All she could do, was put the thoughts out of her mind so she didn’t keep pushing the subject to the point of angering him.

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

Now what in the world would make Acton not want to let anyone know about his past? Most people would pat him on the back and tell him he did a good job, the right thing, for what he did. So why in the world would Acton wish to hide his past because honestly nobody would condemn him for it. What Acton did wasn’t exactly what most Dhampirs did, but it was still somewhat acceptable. It wasn’t as if he ran off and became a bloodwhore, no he went off and did what Dhampirs are trained to do, kill Strigoi. So what was the big deal?

What Acton didn’t want to happen was for people to get close. It must seem silly to go through so much just to be ignored, but it really was a hard thing to do, especially with Acton’s issues. If Acton didn’t have his anger issues, his trust issues, and all of his other issues then maybe being ignored wouldn’t have been that hard. But people annoyed him and due to a short fuse and layers of muscles Acton was more prone to go on one of his rages than to actually leave a situation calmly and peacefully. The other day with Juliet was a rare occasion because Acton had actually walked away without doing extremely bad damage. To Acton the root of all of his problems were his past and the fact that the people involved had shattered his heart, making him so incapable of acting like a normal, civil person.

The grip he had on his neck got tighter for some reason. It was like he felt the harder he gripped his neck, the easier it was to hide his multiple marks, his past. There were too many things to hide though, not just on his neck but all over his body. There was a scar that ran from his shoulder to the opposite hip that was large and red, another that wrapped three times around his left arm, and so many others that it was hard to believe it was possible for a guy so young to have so many scars and so many marks on the back of his neck. There was just too much to hide from his past, too much for the weak wall to hold back, but he was trying so hard to not let Juliet see, to not let anybody know.

THEY AREN’T ANYTHING! Acton said loudly for no reason at all. There really was no reason for him to yell or for his fingers to grip the back of his neck so hard that his knuckles were turning white. It was as if some irrational fear had washed over him. His head was still ducked into his knees as he gripped the back of his neck, it probably made him look like some kind of crazy person right now, but hey he was supposed to be going to therapy for some reason right? Even if he wasn’t certifiably insane, there was still part of him that had issues, that needed fixing, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it because he knew the only way to fix himself was to talk to that stupid therapist about his past, something that he just couldn’t let anybody know about. They aren’t anything Acton’s voice was muffled through his knees because he had yet too look up at Juliet. He was scared that if he looked at her she would somehow know, that she would somehow be able to tell what had happened to him, that she would tell someone or worse, try and get attached.

WORDS // 606
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]

[JULIET JOPHENZA]

Juliet wasn’t too sure how to respond. It was almost like he’d half forgotten she was there, a part of him aware she was still there, another part lost in his own world…. A world she could tell was full of pain and sorrow. One he didn’t want her in. So… She’d just have to respect his wish, and not push it.

Best course of action? Change the subject! Or better yet, do something that will totally distract him from this world of pain.

Quickly, she covered the distance between them as if it were nothing, crouching down in front of him and smiling. She wasn’t extremely close, enough that he wouldn’t feel his personal space invaded, but most definitely enough that it might surprise him.

“Let’s go do something! Sulking doesn’t sound all that fun. And you look like you could use something to cheer you up!” Her cheerful smile was almost intoxicating, her mood so light that if mood alone determined your weight she’d be soaring through the clouds by now.

But what could they do? Would he even accept the offer? Doubtful… But she still had to try. She might not be friends with Acton yet, but for some reason she didn’t like it when he had an air of depression about him. And, she didn’t know why, she wanted to make him smile. Truly smile. What were the things they could do? It was almost the weekend, so they didn’t have any classes till Monday. What were their options? Suddenly, she had an idea. A suicidal, idiotic, 90% chance to fail, idea. But if it did, somehow, work, she was absolutely positive Acton would finally smile!

And that only motivated her more. More so that not only her smile was contagious, but also her spirits. She grass at her feet was even picking up on her spirits! The shade of the blades grew a richer green, pulling nourishment from the soil to enhance its color and soften its. Even a daisy or two popped up! “Come on, it’ll be fun! And I promise, if you still hate me by the end of it, I won’t come near you ever again.” She smile vanished as a serious stare replaced it. Sure, she didn’t want to leave him alone, but she couldn’t keep bugging him if he didn’t like her. All she wanted, was this one chance. Just one chance.

[ACTON CHACE BENSON]

Normal people would have cracked under the pressure of keeping all of their secrets bottled up inside for a year. Well Acton really can’t be called a normal person seeing as he has killed more Strigoi than he can count or anybody from the Academy, Royal Court, or Alchemist could count. There were simply too many variables to be able to figure out how many kills Acton has made. The only reason they knew or believed that he had even killed so much was because of his unique method of killing, a simultaneous axe and stake technique. Seeing as Acton has been able to defend himself against so many Strigoi it was a simple task to keep his secrets kept inside, because he could control that. It wasn’t simple to control everyone else, so that was why he had to put up such a fight to keep everybody away.

However it was times like these, when the nightmares and images were fresh in his mind that it was hard for him to keep control of himself, to keep up his front. Even though he is a true bad ass, it would be hard for any Guardian to be constantly reminded of what they had done in the past, of all the kills and mistakes that they made. It was as if his mind wouldn’t let him forget what he did, like it was some kind of punishment for being such a monster. Or maybe it was just some kind of glitch in his brain that made his most recent and prominent memories skip over and over on repeat.

Honestly Acton didn’t think that a distraction could help at all. He has tried many things to keep his mind preoccupied from acting like a broken record, but they never completely worked. Mostly he would hang out in the gym beating the crap out of a punching bag or run for miles or get in a meaningless fight or, the most peaceful thing that he could do, eat. However all of these things that he did to keep distracted were always done alone, always, because that was his principle, the principle that he was better off alone, his main defensive strategy to protect himself. So Juliet’s offer to go and do something with her to distract himself was a request that he wasn’t used to. People didn’t ask Acton to do anything because they were scared of what he could or would do to them, but Juliet asked anyway, even if she was scared she still asked.

Okay, lets go, Acton said as he stood up to his full 6’8” height. Looking down at Juliet with his icy blue eyes Acton ran his hand through his messy black hair and sighed. Well come on we better go now or else I’ll have a shit ton of Guardians crawling up my ass Acton said and made his way to the forest so they could sneak out with most coverage and lack of Guardians. I know the perfect way out Acton added with a mischievous glint in his eyes and a wild, dangerous smirk on his face.

WORDS // 523
STATUS // finished
TAGGED // juliet
OUTFIT // this one!
NOTES // ima dinosaur ;]