you are the body hidden in the trunk {Aiden}

[Costin Dracula]

Costin held the bouquet of carnations in one hand, extending them away from him a bit so they wouldn't get pollen or leaves or other flower debris on his suit. He hated that he had to do this, hated that he felt it was necessary, and was utterly bewildered by the circumstances that had led to it.

He had spent a good hour reading and re-reading Lorelei's strange little story about him. At first, he'd been strangely flattered; it wasn't every day someone wrote you up as a sexy space pirate who engaged with four women at once. Costin hadn't ever been with even one woman at once. That part was all well and good. It was the other entanglements that had driven him out of his mind a little. Why would anyone ever write him into a romantic situation with Aiden? He had come up with a few theories there. It could have been random; Lorelei may have just...imagined the two of them together based on...something. Or it could have been one of those "these two people hate each other but let's write them together for the unresolved sexual tension" things, except...it didn't read that way.

The question he kept centering on was how Lorelei would know that he and Aiden had interacted at all, ever. And because Costin's mind generally jumped to the most melodramatic conclusion possible, he had decided that Aiden must have said something to her. Aiden must have told Lorelei how much Costin hated her. And for her to have told Lorelei that, and for Lorelei to have drawn that conclusion, there must be something else. Lorelei was all about facts, or at least that was the judgment he had made based on the meal they'd shared. Certainly, fan fiction was a little less factual than most things, but he had to believe there was some reason she had written the two of them together.

Aiden must be in love with him. That was really the only explanation. And the second he thought of it, he kicked himself for not realizing it sooner. Of course, it made sense. She pretended to hate him to conceal her feelings, which he actually thought was quite admirable of her. There must have been...a spark, or something, that time they'd met in the elevator, and she must have been fighting it, until she made the mistake of telling Lorelei, and now her terrible secret was revealed. Costin actually felt badly for her.

He still hated her, though. Whatever she had felt in the elevator, it certainly hadn't hit him, he was still convinced she was the most unpleasant girl he'd ever had the misfortune of meeting. But that didn't mean he needed to be cruel - hence the flowers in his hand, as he walked up to the door of the residence she and Mordred shared. He straightened his coat, sighed in resignation, and knocked on the door.

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden was in her room lying around and just generally being dramatic about life when she heard the knock at the door. She had one of Hinrik's crumpled letters lying on top of her face and was content to not move all day. She was trying not to think about Lorelei's fanfic, but it kept creeping up to haunt her. Feeling heartbroken over Hinrik was better than imagining herself with Costin, yet rereading the letters had only made her more depressed. She didn't want to leave the house. She didn't have class today, at least. Eventually she'd have to find something to eat, that is, unless she'd rather starve. Starving sounded better than moving at the moment. She listened hard, to hear of Mordred might be moving to answer the door. No such luck. Either he wasn't home or he was also not ready to leave his bed. He had a better excuse than her.

She sigh and pulled the paper from her face, carelessly letting it fall on the floor. She had it basically memorized anyway. She moved slowly to throw on a pair of leggings under her over sized shirt. If this person really wanted to see them, they could wait. Aiden hoped for a moment that it was Todd with more liqueur, but, then Mordred probably would have at least said something. She wandered down the stairs, wondering vaguely who else would come to their house. Perhaps it was Tristian. Aiden hoped so, she could sue some help with Mordred. Or, perhaps, it was Meredith. That could be really good news or bad news depending on where their relationship currently stood. Aiden hadn't been prying. Maybe she should have been. Aiden wasn't that great at talking about feelings.

Finally Aiden reached the door and pulled it open. It was Costin.

What?

Aiden blinked at the sunlight as she tried to take in the person in front of her. Costin had texted her about talking, but she had hoped it was an angry bluff. Why would he seek her out? She certainly wanted to talk to him even less after Lorelei wrote such awful things about them. She was mad, of course, but Aiden had given her cause to think they were in love. She couldn't blame Lorelei. In fact, she couldn't blame Costin for being angry. He couldn't possibly know the things she had said to Lorelei...unless Lorelei told him? No, no, why would she do that? Oh please let her not have done that. Aiden didn't think so because Costin wasn't looking angry. He looked....not angry. Where those flowers?

Aiden's heart began to pound. What exactly was going on here? Why did he have that look on his face? Did Mordred have something to do with this?

"What are you doing?" she said, not moving out of the doorway. There was an edge of panic should couldn't keep out of her voice.

[Costin Dracula]

It took every ounce of willpower in him to keep from turning around and walking away from the door the second she opened it. He wanted nothing more than to not be here, to be literally anywhere else on the face of the planet. Maybe the face of the sun, that was even sounding like a welcome alternative in this instant. Suck it up, Costin, he told himself, this is going to be much harder on her than it is on you. He held the flowers out to her, his eyes cast down towards the ground.

"I'm sorry," he said, because it was always good to get directly to the point. "I read that...thing on the internet, and I'm here to apologize. If I have misled you, if I have given you some reason to think that I have any interest in you, I am sorry. That was never my intent."

That was a decent start, right? He took a deep breath, and finally looked up to meet her eyes over the flowers.

"I understand if you truly do hate me after this; I have always considered you one of the most irritating people I've ever met." That probably wasn't necessary, but he was feeling increasingly flustered as he went on. "I don't mean to be cruel. I actually came here to avoid that, and to apologize for my unintentional...misconduct. I wish I could tell you that things can be different, but I cannot see myself being with you in any romantic capacity, ever." There, that didn't leave any room for misinterpretation, right?

[Aiden Mumble]

Sorry? Aiden was so confused, she simply starred. She didn't take the flowers when he offered them. Why was he bringing her flowers and saying sorry? Yeah they didn't like each other, and they'd said some harsh things the one time they had talked, but Aiden didn't feel like they warranted a heartfelt apology. Had someone been talking to him? Was he trying to reform his awful personality? Even if that was the case, why would he come to her? Surely there were other people he annoyed worse than her that he should so sorry to. Perhaps he already had and she was last on the list. This was the best case scenario and Aiden still hated it. If he was honestly serious, she'd have to be a massive bitch to not accept it. Thankfully, the ball wasn't quite in her court. Costin had more to say. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news.

Aiden began to narrow her eyes at him as he went on about misleading her. Misleading her into what? She couldn't possibly fathom that she'd given Costin any reason to think she was interested in him. Even if Lorelei had mentioned her lie, Costin would have to be the biggest fool on earth to believe her. "What?" Aiden said, a little too harshly. She still hadn't processed it. He went on.

Oh. ok.

Costin was the biggest fool on earth. He added a few insults in there just for flavor, but Aiden got the idea of it at last. He thought she was in love with him. What a thick headed, egotistical... Aiden couldn't think straight. then, to her surprise, she laughed. It was just so absurd and she was so tired. She laughed a bit too hard.

"Costin." she said, trying to steady her breathing. "Do you think I'm in love with you?" She needed confirmation it was so insane. Perhaps just asking him would give him cause to reconsider. She couldn't imagine loving someone less in her life. He thought so highly of himself that a dumb fan fiction or a silly girl's words were enough to convince him she loved him despite only ever showing him cruelty. Hopefully he just turns around after this. Aiden wouldn't stay so cheery if he pushed the matter.

[Costin Dracula]

Why wasn't she taking the flowers? Costin still held them out away from him, but lowered them a little so he could see her face better. Did he think she was in love with him? Well he certainly didn't want to think that. But it wasn't as if he'd just made that up all on his own, out of nowhere, he had a good reason to think it.

And yet, he didn't want to say 'yes, of course, because you are' because that suddenly sounded...foolish, and much too self-assured. He bit his lower lip, thinking hard. Why wouldn't she just take the stupid flowers? He finally let them fall to his side, feeling too stupid to hold them out towards her any longer.

"I was concerned that the...publication...was the result of something you said, or felt," he explained slowly. "I've met Lorelei. She is enthusiastic, but from what I could gather in our brief interaction, she is not the sort to make things up without any inspiration, and...well, I certainly didn't even mention you." This all sounded so flimsy now that he was standing in front of her saying it.

"Listen," he said, abruptly, thrusting the flowers out towards her again. "I don't do this. I don't apologize for things. Take the damned flowers and tell me you're not in love with me and we'll be done with it."

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden's laughing faded out quickly when Costin went on about how he thought she'd said something to Lorelei to make her write what she did. That wasn't as funny as Costin just thinking she'd fallen in love with him for no reason. It would have been deliciously pretentious of him to assume her passionate hate was something else entirely. It would have been pure gold if he had just come up with this out of thin air. Unfortunately, this was the case. He not only had a point, but he was right. Aiden had said something to Lorelei. Lorelei definitely believed they were in love because she was a wonderful liar. This still left her thinking Costin had a big ego, but perhaps slightly smaller than she'd previously imagined. Dammit. She was at fault her.

She leaned back and widened her eyes when he thrust the flowers at her again. She wasn't going to take the damn flowers. First of all because they were from him, but also because she didn't deserve them. She wasn't actually heartbroken over him and she was also a terrible person for lying to Lorelei about this. She hated to admit it, but she was impressed that Costin would put forth such an effort over this. Her stomach hurt just thinking about it. He was the good guy here. She was the bad guy. She was going to have to fix this. She sigh so heavily that she even whined a little. She desperately did not want to have this conversation.

She pushed the flowers out of her face with her hand, though not with excessive force like she wanted to. "Costin. I do not love you." she said clearly, making eye contact. "However..." she began, stepping away from the door so he could enter if he wanted too. This could turn into a scene that the neighbors didn't need to add to their list of 'weird things they heard from next door.' "I may have mentioned to Lorelei that I did." Her voice sounded strange and strangled. This wasn't very fun. She seriously hoped Mordred wasn't home.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin was so relieved that he genuinely thought he felt all the blood rush out of his face, where it had been gathering, mercilessly oblivious to how much he did not want to be blushing right now. Aiden wasn't in love with him. That was the best news he'd heard in weeks. Even if she wasn't taking the flowers, at least she wasn't crying at him. Costin was really not sure what he would have done if she'd started crying at him. So focused on being relieved was he that he almost didn't catch the second thing she said. He stepped in through the door, glancing around. The last thing he wanted was for Mordred to hear this conversation; as far as he knew, Mordred still thought he was at least a little cool.

"Wait," he said, toeing off his shoes (because he had manners, even if he wasn't going to be here very long) and leaving them by the door. "Why would you tell Lorelei that?" The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. "If you don't love me, why would you tell anyone that you do? Especially Lorelei? Vai doamne, have you met the girl? She's probably already named our children."

Costin was not going to tell Aiden the details of his interaction with Lorelei, or how he'd made a pass at her only to have her laugh in his face, more or less. That was ammunition Aiden was not qualified to wield. But at least he hadn't told Lorelei that he was in love with someone else, especially not someone he actually hated. He couldn't begin to fathom what had possessed Aiden to do so, either.

"Please," he said, lifting one hand to rub at his forehead wearily. "Please explain to me what could possibly have possessed you to say I love Costin Dracula out loud to anyone who has met either of us."

[Aiden Mumble]

She watched while he took off his shoes. Why would he do that? Was he planning on stay long? Aiden was hoping this conversation would end rather rapidly and then she could physically push him out the door if she had too. However, at the moment, she didn't want anyone to hear this story and think she was the awful one. She hope no one would ever hear this story, but if they did, she didn't want to be the one who slammed the door in his face when he showed up with flowers and saying sorry. Also, she would like to make absolutely sure Costin wasn't going to leave here thinking she was in love with him and telling anyone that would listen. Luckily it seemed unlikely that anyone else might think they were in love if they knew anything about her. That story had also made her seem like she was virtuous and sweet. Aiden had quite a few people nowadays that knew that to be untrue.

She let out a groan when he began to rail her about it. He even threw in something in another language for good measure. Aiden Didn't know what it meant, but it probably wasn't nice. Or, maybe she would just projecting. Either way she moved past him and into the kitchen. If she was going to have this conversation, she'd rather not do it sober. By the time he had reached the bit about their future children Aiden groaned again dramatically and poured herself a Mexican Cola. Luckily Todd had dropped off some pretty decent tequila not too long ago. She did not offer Costin any, but she left the bottles on the bar counter that looked back out into the rest of the house. She peered back at Costin and began to drink. She nearly choked when he mentioned saying that she loved him. She placed her hand on her heart as if the words had stabbed her. She really hoped Mordred wasn't home.

"First of all" she began, appearing in the kitchen doorway. "I would never say those words to anyone, ever." This is where she'd like the story to end, but of course he'd be expecting more. "She just happened to sort of...believe that we were and I didn't correct her." She shifted uncomfortably and took another sip. This was a half truth, she had certainly fed into the lie as well. "Second of all" This time she sounded less confident "I was... look does it really matter? I was trying to learn something about someone else. I don't love you, can't we just pretend it never happened?"

[Costin Dracula]

Costin was perfectly willing to pretend this had never happened, himself. He certainly was going to go home and try to purge it from his mind in any way he possibly could. Maybe if he went back to his room and got blackout drunk on whiskey he could prevent his brain from committing this to long-term memory. But there were loose ends here, too.

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" he asked, crossing his arms. "She's probably not going to stop, you know. I don't know how far you got, but there was definitely a bit of a 'to be continued' notice at the end there." He thought it was fairly rude of her to not offer him a drink, although he would have turned it down anyway, but he didn't mention it. They had enough awkwardness between them right now without him walking in and making demands for things that weren't vital.

"Listen," he said, sternly, "I don't know what you were thinking, and honestly, as long as you're not pining away for me or something ridiculous of that nature, I don't care. But you need to fix this." He gave her a pointed look. "You have to tell her the truth, or she's going to keep going with this. You got us into this situation, it's your responsibility to get us out of it. I'm perfectly willing to go and tell her I loathe you, but I think you know that's only going to fuel the fire. There's nothing more appropriate for a godawful romance than a one-sided love affair, even I know that and I don't even read the stuff."

He glanced towards the stairs, then back at the front door, and finally back at Aiden. "Is Mordred about? I'd really hate for him to overhear this conversation and...assume things."

[Aiden Mumble]

Ugh this was like listening to her dance teacher telling her she had to put forth more effort in class. Aiden wanted to zone out like she did then. At least this time she had liquor to make herself feel better. She took another sip of her drink. She needed to be careful, she didn't want to get drunk or anything. She just wanted to be tipsy enough that Costin's words went in one ear and out the other. It wasn't going well so far. Especially since he was making a lot of sense. Damn that was annoying.

"Yeah, yeah" Aiden complained into her glass mid drink. Lorelei probably wasn't going to stop. The thing is, Aiden kind of figured she probably wouldn't even stop if Aiden told her the truth. It was kind of too late for all that. So some random people were going to think they were in love. Yeah, it sucked, but all that really matter was that they knew they weren't. Not to mention the only person she really cared about hearing it was very far away. Even so, a dark part of her reveled in what he might think of the scandal. Would he be jealous?

Aiden shook the idea from her head. She leaned against the doorway and rolled her eyes at Costin. Why was he so riled up about this anyway? Yeah, sure they hated each other and all that, but it was just some dumb fan fiction. The worst thing Aiden had been worried about was how she was probably going to have to deal with Costin since it came out. He seemed to be concerned with what other people might do with the information.

"Yes, yes fine" Aiden waved her hand at him. "I'll tell her the truth, but don't count on that convincing her." She said. "I barely said anything and she took off with it, so we're probably just going to have to deal with the rumor for a while." her words were a bit testy despite her efforts. She retreated into the kitchen to refill her drink. "Mordred is...I don't know. I haven't heard him move today, but that doesn't mean much." After a brief moment of thought she took a swig straight out of the tequila bottle before setting it back down. She returned to the doorway. "Have a drink Costin, It'll make you feel better. We have just about every liquor you could think of. Sorry we're fresh out of blood." She said, raising her glass at him after what she thought was a pretty solid burn. She couldn't help it. Just looking at him pissed her off. Perhaps the tequila was a bit to blame.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin knew he was probably overreacting to something that wasn't that much of a big deal to other people, but...this was the kind of stuff that made him dearly wish he could never bother with another human teenager again. It was just so much unnecessary drama, and plus...

"It threatens both of our options," he explained. God, why was she the way she was? "Supposing you want to be in a relationship with someone, but they've heard from everyone else that you're involved with me?" Supposing I want to make a girl proud of me but I've told her I don't want anything to do with human relationships and she thinks we're together and I've lied to her from the start. "It doesn't have to be true for it to damage someone's reputation. You know that."

She didn't have to make that comment about blood, she really didn't. That was a crack at his fathers, or at him, and he wasn't even sure which. He couldn't remember what rash and impulsive things he'd said in that elevator that day. She had been so infuriating, he probably could have said anything, he couldn't recall now because he had tried to block that whole conversation out of his memory.

He waved a hand dismissively. "I don't want your cheap alcohol," he said, walking back over towards his shoes. "I don't even want to look at your face any longer, especially not if you're going to make completely unnecessary comments about my parentage. I'm not here throwing salt water in your face, am I?"

He tossed the flowers onto the nearest open surface. "If you don't want those, give them to Mordred." In spite of the unpleasantry of the moment, one corner of his mouth quirked upward at the thought of Mordred's face at that delivery. "Tell him I'm sorry I missed him."

[Aiden Mumble]

"Our options?!" Aiden shot back, a little aghast. Bitter humor saturated her words. Aiden wasn't interesting in relationships. Or, rather, she told herself she wasn't interested in relationships. She would have assumed Costin wasn't either. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he'd told her he'd rather die a virgin than be with her. Despite the fact that she hated him, she honestly assumed up until this point that he'd been a virgin by choice. Was he pissed because she'd ruined his chance with someone special? Who would want to sleep with Costin? The idea made her stomach churn. He'd probably barked orders in bed about things he hadn't even learned yet.

Aiden wrinkled her nose and took another drink just as he mentioned it was cheap. She looked at her glass as if he'd hurt its feelings. Actually Mordred had decently volunteered to pay a great deal for some decent liquor, but she didn't think she could convince Costin. She wondered if he even drank. Probably not, that would make him a touch more tolerable.

He made for the door and Aiden was so tempted to say nothing and let him go or to say something more aggressive and fuel the fire. The idea of releasing all of her built up anger on Costin sounded pretty good, but he didn't quite deserve it at the moment. Sure, he'd thrown back a comment about her parents, but it was equal or lesser value to the snide remark she'd just made. Ugh, she was still being the bad guy.

"Ah come on, Costin. It was a joke, ok?" she said, setting her glass down beside the couch and following him back towards the door. "While I'll admit I didn't know you had a reputation to uphold..." She tried to not sound pained while speaking. "I'll do my best to set the record straight." She glanced at the flowers. "I'm sure Mordred will be flattered to have you as a suitor."

[Costin Dracula]

He didn't care that it was a joke; he didn't care if she was trying to be funny. But she had irritated him enough at the moment that his desire to stay and irritate her in return was quickly catching up to his desire to leave and avoid looking at her obnoxious face any longer. He hesitated there by his shoes, and looked back over at her.

"It wasn't funny," he said flatly. "And before you say I have no sense of humor, I assure you, I am perfectly willing to laugh at things that are actually amusing." He moved to her liquor counter, looking over the options, and finally grabbed a bottle of scotch. He didn't know the label, but if Mordred had approved of it, he assumed it was decent. "Are you going to provide me with a glass, or do I have to drink this out of the bottle?"

Why wasn't Mordred getting out of bed? It was a bit too late in the day for him to just be sleeping in, even if he'd been up the whole night before. And Costin had a little time; he had asked Gwyn about dinner later but it wasn't that late, so he had time for a drink, especially if it meant getting on Aiden's nerves a little more.

"How did Mordred get unlucky enough to have you living with him, anyway? He's not a bad guy, he doesn't deserve that."

[Aiden Mumble]

Oh no. He was coming back into the house. This isn't what Aiden wanted. She wanted to seem like a decent human and then he would leave. She wanted to be able to defend herself when he, inevitably, complained about her behind her back. She wanted to be able to say 'look I told him I would set the record straight' and that was that. Story over. He left and they barely had to see each other ever again. Why was he coming back into the room? Why was he approaching her's and Mordred's liquor? When she had offered she was certain he'd turn it down. No no no. Aiden wanted to go back to bed.

She stared at him for a few long moments after he asked fer a glass, contemplating what she should do. On one hand, getting Costin drunk sounded hilarious and could lead to some pretty decent blackmail. On the other hand, if she offered him a glass that meant he had to stay to at least finish his drink. Then again, what choice did she have? If she wanted to be a good guy she couldn't very well tell him to get the fuck out. Also Costin was going for Mordred's scotch which Mordred hated to share. Aiden loved the idea of her housemate catching Costin drinking his scotch. This was a complicated situation, but the bottom line was that liquor was if he kept drinking she had an excuse to do so as well. Damn alcoholism.

She bared her teeth in a sort of mock smile and moved into the kitchen, picking up her glass along the way. She grabbed him a tumbler from one of the upper cabinets and set it on the bar harder than she needed to. She then topped off her own glass and exited the kitchen to lean up against the back of the sofa. She took a drink. There was too much tequila. Oh well.

Aiden gritted her teeth at his question. The truth was the office probably thought she was male given her name and neither her not Mordred saw fit to fix it. They worked together. Also, there was no chance she was leaving him alone after that shit he pulled the other day. Unlucky my ass, Aiden thought. Mordred was damn lucky to have her around. He better know it too. She decided it best to ignore the question and move onto something more important.

"I've got a better question for you, Stanley. How, exactly, are you two friends?" She said, eyeing him with a frown on her face.

[Mordred Le Fey]

Mordred had been upstairs in his room since the duel, only leaving to use the bathroom or to collect a delivery of booze and cigarettes from Todd when he had been summoned. This meant that he was, in fact, in the house when Costin knocked on the door, and unfortunately, or fortunately for Mordred anyway, the walls were particularly thin in this house.

So yes, he had heard more or less everything.

He had also read Lorelei's fan-fiction - although he was far from her biggest fan he had found the whole thing rather brilliant. It had given him something to smile about, at least, which given his current emotional and mental state was a feat in itself.

So when he had heard Costin's voice at the door, he had opened his bedroom door ever so slightly to allow his and Aiden's voices to carry a little better into his room. And he was so glad he had. So Costin thought Aiden was in love with him, Aiden apparently definitely was not in love with him, a few below the belt jokes which Mordred particularly appreciated - and then his name. A couple of times. He hadn't left his room in a while now, so he thought he might as well grace them with his presence, see if he could make this wonderfully awkward situation a little more uncomfortable.

There was the thought that crossed his mind, that maybe he could help these two put aside their differences, become friends. After all, the two of them were pretty much the only friends he had at the moment, it would be nice if the two of them could get along and they could all get drunk together.

He threw on a pair of tracksuit trousers, guessing that neither Costin nor Aiden would particularly want to see him in just his boxers, and threw on a t shirt. Neither particularly helped his appearance though - the bruise from Tristian's punch was yellow and green along his jaw, and the gash caused by Lorelei's sword was inflamed, scabby and clearly infected. He had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and stank of stale booze, but could not care less. He lit a cigarette and picked up a half drunk bottle of cheap vodka and made his way downstairs, swigging it as he went.

As he reached the kitchen, he leaned against the door frame and took a drag on the cigarette, the bottle swinging from his other hand.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He smirked at the two of them. "Trouble in paradise?"