Impossible To Understand -- [[Oh, Cal...]]

[Adam MacKeltar]

Matt was walking back from the castle, having just dropped off Emerald at her room. A smile was on his lips, his eyes not really seeing anything as he walked to Shaded Nights, for they were currently focused on the memories of the night. He was now dressed casually, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt replacing his dressy clothes for the ball and the restaurant. He had a brown jacket on his shoulder and black converses on his feet, and he couldn't be any happier than he was then. Sadly, though, he couldn't spend the night with Emerald because he had to work, so instead he was trekking through the night to the bar to work his shift so he could catch some sleep, if his mind would shut down long enough.

He stepped inside, looking over at Adam who was working behind the bar. They really needed to find someone to help them out, but for now, he was content with the way things were. It all made sense, and it was nice, peaceful even. He and Adam were close, and he liked that. He didn't want some random punk who thought he knew everything screwing that up, but he knew it would have to happen eventually. With a sigh and a chuckle, he got to work filling orders and stuff. Once the rush hour was over, however, Adam looked over and saw an owl holding a letter. He had been laughing with Matt at an inside joke about one of Matt's many, er, incidences with embarassing himself, when suddenly his face fell and his eyes widened.

He excused himself and took the letter from the owl, watching it take off before opening it hurriedly. He read through it quickly, and Matt watched as his friend's face paled and he looked like he was going to be sick. Afraid and worried, Matt rushed over to him as he dropped the letter and covered his face in his hands. "Hey, man, you okay?" He put a hand on his shoulder, but Adam didn't seem to notice. "I don't know..." he whispered before saying,"Take care of things for me? There's... There's something I have to take care of. I don't know when I'll be back." And after Matt assured him he would, he was gone, heading for the door, and Matt watched him go before picking up the letter.

It read 'They found us, and they're coming.' There was nothing more, and Matt looked puzzled before a customer got his attention. Reluctantly, he turned back and began to do his job, worry creasing his forehead and plaguing his eyes and thoughts.

[Lareina Darcy]

{I'm kinda going by the whole plot thing you sent me, so... xDDD WELL, HERE YA GO. 'S better than nothing, no?}

After following Adam from the dance, where he had pretty much blurted out half a life story and fled, Lareina was baffled as to where he was heading. He had took a few turns from the castle and simply... well, disappeared. There was only one possible place that he had escaped to- Shaded Nights. That was the only place near and open at that time.

But that didn't exactly make sense. Why would the Lioano male want to go to his workplace when he could just as easily be chilling out and drinking - hey, or whatever else he wanted to do to unwind - in the school's dance? Something wasn't right. Shrugging, Lareina set off, still in her long dress from the ball, until she reached the club.

She was just about to pull open the door when a dark figure swept out, barely seeming to notice her. The Lioano girl was flung against the wall from the shock of seeing a door come flying towards her head, and she narrowly avoided swearing angrily at the top of her voice and telling whatever stupid ass who'd just come out the door to watch where he was freaking going next time. Narrowly. But she didn't, because she recognized who it was.

Adam?

Okay. This entire night was way more confusing than it was supposed to have been. Why would Adam MacKeltar have left the ball, gone to Shaded Nights to work, and then left after what must have been only a few minutes. None of it made sense. Lifting up her dress slightly, so that it didn't brush into any random puddles on the ground, Lareina hurried in the direction he had just gone.

[Adam MacKeltar]

Adam didn't notice as he nearly brained Lareina with the door. In all honesty, he probably wouldn't have cared in that moment because he was so worried and in a hurry. But before he could get too far, he heard footsteps clicking in a hurry not too far behind him. As he turned his head around, expecting to see Matt coming behind him or something, but instead he was greeted with the sight of Lareina. He froze, eyes widened a little, and his mouth fell open just slightly as he whispered,"Lareina..." His voice was broken, stripped away of all the quality it had possessed not too long ago because of the news he had received. He couldn't explain it to her, because then she would be in danger too. But what could he do? What could he say?

So he stood there for a moment, his breathing shallow and sluggish, before he softly spoke,"Look, I can't explain it to you, okay? It... It would just put you and everyone else in danger here. I can't -- no, I won't -- have that. I've made mistakes, Lareina, mistakes that I can't fix. I've hurt people, killed them, but this is one mistake I am not going to make. I will not have anyone else dying for me. I hope you understand, this has nothing to do with you. I just..." His voice cracked and his fingers threaded themselves through his hair, causing it to stick up randomly in different directions on the top. He then breathed,"I'm sorry for all of this, Lareina. I'm sorry I dumped on you... I hope someday you can forgive me."

In his mind, he was struggling with the fact that he might not be coming back. This was all too real to him, and for just a split second, he questioned his decision. Then he knew that no matter what, he couldn't back out of this. They were all he had now, and he was going to save them no matter what the cost. Tears in his eyes, he blinked them away and turned back to Lareina with a stony resolution, that of a man going to his death. "Lareina, I need you to promise me something. Promise me that if I don't come back, you'll tell Matt and Cal I'm sorry. If Ana returns, tell her I failed and I want her to get out while she can. And... Please, take care of yourself. I couldn't bear it if you were hurt because of me..."

He took a breath as he forced himself to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry to leave you with this, but I haven't had time to prepare for it. There are so many things I want to say to you, but... I can't." He looked away for a second before looking back and finishing,"Whatever happens, don't follow me. Keep your head down and don't speak of me to anyone we don't already know. If they hurt you, I'd never forgive myself." He started to turn away, but before he did, he looked at her for one last time. Then he gently cupped her cheek in his hand and pressed his lips softly to hers before pulling away and whispering,"I'm sorry..." Then he turned away from her, walked a few feet away, and turned on the spot, disappearing as he Apparated away from the scene.

[Lareina Darcy]

The dark-haired girl wasn't sure why, but when Adam turned around and saw her, she felt like... like some sort of first year caught sneaking about the castle at night, or something. For some reason. That she shouldn't be following him wherever he was going. Which she shouldn't, because it was private. But yeah, this was Lareina. And when did she ever care about privacy?

Plus, she was still very 'what the fuck' from the whole rushing off from the dance episode, so she was really just being curious. And a bit irritated and surprised and all that too, from her friend's odd behavior. There was that.

But still, her reaction to him turning around and seeing her following him would have been almost comical, had Adam not been in a rush to go save some peeps or wherever he was going in such a worried mood. She'd met his eyes, then scratched the back of her head, looking around and humming slightly as if she'd sleepwalked after him and hadn't the foggiest idea where she was. She was seconds away from whistling nonchalantly.

But, yeah, it was obvious she'd been following really, despite her awesome acting. Like, not.

Lareina had expected him to just turn around and rush away from her again, not wanting to deal with her and just wishing to escape, so when he launched into lots of words and speech she was a little surprised. Quite a bit, actually. When he said that he wouldn't let anyone else die for him or be put in danger, she said, the first 'ah' noise said in a slightly knowing tone, "Ahh, you're that guy." The hero guy. Oh, sigh. He was that guy.

Then he went on and confused her some more and his voice cracked and he said that some day he hoped she'd be able to forgive him. "Are you mentally challenged?" she said disbelievingly, totally not getting why he seemed to be freaking out a little or why he was apologizing for skipping out on the ball as if he'd killed someone she loved or something. "I'm not even mad at you!" She still didn't know what had happened with his professor relative and Emerald,* so she wasn't actually sure why he was apologizing.

Then he asked her to promise something, and she nearly exploded. What the heck was going on?! "If you- if you don't come back?" she spluttered. "I don't- I don't understand what you-" Sweet Merlin. It would save time if she told her where the hell he was going in short and then went off to kill himself trying to do whatever he was about to try to do.

She didn't promise, as such, just kind of nodded absently and listened to what he had to say. Even though she didn't understand half of it anyway. When Adam looked away, she raised a hand to touch his face and turn it back, but he was already looking at her again and she let the hand fall down by her side again. "I- I don't- why would-" She was spluttering again, but it didn't matter because Adam's lips were against hers, and he was kissing her and then-

Whoa, wait, go back a second there. He was kissing her? He was kissing her. Hm. That was interesting, that was new. In fact, she would have quite liked it if he hadn't pulled away so fast and then stepped back a bit. Lareina realized what he was going to do, that he was going to apparate, and she held up a hand. "Don't. Adam, don't you dare- not without telling me what you- don't even-" He was gone. "Fuck sake."

There was sudden heavy silence, and she simple stood there, frowning and thinking about what had just happened. The parts of it that she could grasp, at least. "Okay," she murmured to no one in particular. "... What?"

{*At least, I'm pretty sure I didn't make her know. xDD I can't remember, it's been too long.}