© cami o'connell | the originals

[bravebartender]

	✔ Cʀᴏssᴏᴠᴇʀs/AU ✔ Aᴄᴛɪᴏɴsᴘᴀᴍ ✔ Pʀᴏsᴇ	✔ Pɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛs ✔ Oᴛʜᴇʀᴡᴏʀᴅʟʏ ✔ Sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀs	♥ F/M, F/F ⏰ Uᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ

Comments

hello :')

[eluding]

hiiiiiiii

[bravebartender]

It takes some time for her to adjust to the vampire of it all, and thankfully she has more than enough help. A daylight ring here, a blood ration there, and most days she feels like she's almost functional. The emphasis on that being most.

Some days, she can barely drown out the rest of the world and she can't manage on her own. She takes Hope over to Faye for the day for her magic lessons, saying that she might run a little late coming to pick her up, but Faye never seems to mind. Once that's settled, she intends to go back to Rosseau's, up to her apartment and shut out the rest of the world, but that's not where her feet wind up taking her.

Instead, she somehow finds her way to Ethan's front door, knocking before she realizes what she's doing and waiting for Ethan to answer.

[eluding]

Ethan opens the door shortly after the knock comes, and his mouth parts at the sight of her. His gaze drifts over her for a moment, knowing intimately how much she has struggled to adjust as a vampire (and who can blame her? there is so much to adjust to, so much to wrestle with.

he knows intimately having a beast inside of him how strong the hunger and violence can feel).

"Cami." Her name is not said as a question but a statement, and he reaches out. His hand slides around her wrist as he tugs her inside without another word, without asking if she's okay, somehow sensing inherently that she is not.

[bravebartender]

She's grateful that he doesn't ask and simply follows him inside into the quiet of his house, retreating to the darkest corner she can find. It isn't that she's sensitive to the light, exactly - her daylight ring protects her - but she can feel the threat of immolation even if she knows the magic is there to protect her from it.

"I'm sorry. I know I probably should have called, but ... everything is just too intense today."

[eluding]

"No, you absolutely never have to call ahead of time, Cami. You're welcome here," Ethan says quietly. His hand rests against her arm as his gaze drifts over her face in his concern. He knows what it is like to be a werewolf but not what it is like to be a vampire. There are some similarities but only some.

His hand tightens gently at her shoulder.

"Come in, okay? You absolutely don't have to worry about it."

[bravebartender]

She nods a bit as she lets him lead her in, glancing around at the rest of the house as she goes. Werewolves and vampires aren't all that different, really, aside from the undead blood drinking part, and the lack of transformations on a full moon, but no matter what everything is always heightened. Stronger. More intense.

She could do with a little less intense.

"It's just ... frustrating. Some days I think I'm finally getting a handle on it, and then a new day starts and decides to prove me wrong."

[eluding]

Ethan shakes his head slightly, keeping his hand against her arm as he leads her inside, because she's hard on herself. She's a new vampire. It's not going to be- Ethan has been a werewolf for years, and he still struggles. There are days when he still feels like he can't quite control himself, and it doesn't include the full moon where he has no control at all.

"It's going to work like that, Cami, and it's okay. There'll be days where you feel better about it, and then there will be those days where you really struggle and you've got to re orient yourself all over again. It's just- It's the way these things are, and it's okay to take that time for yourself."

It's okay that she doesn't automatically have a handle on it all.

[bravebartender]

"I know." She does know. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating to think you've made progress and then have it snatched away from you again. "I just ... feel like one of my patients back home."

The ones who feel like they're never going to make over the hurdles that their brain has set in front of them, one way or the other.

"It's weird being on the other side of the couch. So to speak."

[eluding]

Ethan sends her a reassuring smile even if there's concern in her gaze. "I honestly think it's only understandable to stumble like that and to lose belief in yourself with all that you're facing."

He reaches his hand out, sliding it over her wrist. His thumb drifts over her wrist too in reassurance and comfort.

"I'm not exactly a therapist, and it wouldn't be right for me to be yours given..." His feelings for her. He is certain there's something about bias when it comes to therapy and how that's bad. "But I am here for you, and you can be not okay when you have those days or weeks or moments, whatever it is, darling."

[bravebartender]

He's right in that he really shouldn't be her therapist, but honestly, she doesn't need a therapist. Or at least she thinks she doesn't. She just wants to make sure she can be heard for better or for worse. And she's grateful that he's willing to listen if nothing else.

"Thank you," she says with a small nod. "I'm just used to being the one who has to be okay. The one who supports everyone else, you know? It's weird to be the one who needs it."