tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; Wednesday afternoon
Rating; PG
Characters; Blair

malleableworld
Summary; her minds needs a little tweaking, it seems.
Log;

Blair only shed a single tear over Serena's departure. One, un, ein, uno.

It would be a waste of tears and effort, anyway. With her gone, Blair could focus on more important things; like the Midsummer's party, like Arthur, like a certain brewing plan of hers. Serena was a hindrance that was a relief to dispose of, even better that she left on her own accord. With friends like that, who needed friends?

She had polished the last of her gazillion shoes, placing them back in their cabinet; organized by color and type. The house was sparkling clean but still she needed to find something to do.

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Nate didn't get angry very often, and if he was completely honest, he wasn't angry now. He wasn't even really that upset, but he knew that something had to be done; Serena was moving out, they weren't friends anymore.

There were things that even he couldn't really stand.

He had a present in his hand; his etiquette teacher had taught him if he was going to go anywhere uninvited to bring a present, and chocolates always seemed appropriate. He took a deep breath, and he knocked, and he hoped that this would work.

There was only one person that came to her mind: Arthur. She could think of no one else who would come over at random like that, not when she already gave Kara her days off.

Jumping to her feet, she quickly strode over to the door, not forgetting to check her appearance by the mirror first. There were absolutely no sign of tears, of course, not that she cried that much, of course. Blair took a deep breath first before finally opening the door with a blinding smile --only it completely vanished at the very sight of the guest.

She assumed her blank face. "Nate. What're you doing here?"

Nate's face smoothened and he stood in the doorway, the box of chocolates in his hand. "I came by to talk to you," he said, thankful that he had gotten the right door. It had only taken him three or four tries to manage it.

He held out the chocolates like an offering. "Here," he said, his smile perfect. "I brought you a gift."

He waited, patiently at the door. He didn't want to impose, although he would if she didn't let him in, and it scared him, a little, the idea of confrontation. But he would do what was necessary.

Blair stayed by the doorway, shifting her weight to one leg and regarding the offering in his hand with an impassive face. It seemed to her like a peace offering, or some sort of pleading from his part so that she would spare him some time for talking. Either way, she would not be bought by a box of chocolates.

She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "What about?"

Nate, to his credit, didn't squirm at all. He tucked his hands in his pockets and his smile got a little more knowing, but not smug. He tipped his head to the side, just a little. "It's about Serena."

He couldn't tell if she was upset or not, but he was getting in one way or another. "She didn't ask me to come," he added, after a moment.

Her eyes might have glossed over at the mention of Serena, but if it did then it lasted only for a second. She turned her eyes back towards the inside of her apartment to gather herself before returning to face him. The next breath she took was ragged but she was not crying in front of anyone, and definitely not in front of Nate.

"There's nothing to talk about."

Nate was good at observing, even if people didn't think so. All it was was discerning the real from the dream, and even if this was a dream, he knew that he had only a moment to react at the breath she took. Blair was stronger than he thought that most people gave her credit for.

"I'm worried," he said, softly. "About you," he added, after a moment, so that she didn't think that it was about Serena. "Reassure me," he asked, his eyes asking as much as his words. "Tell me what happened. She told me something, and I would like to think better of you, even if we're not on the best terms."

Blair raised an eyebrow at his reply, demeaning and cruel. "I thought we're settled on me being the super bitch." She certainly looked the part, and she played the part well enough. She thought once that it was tiring being so mean, but then she could not think of being anything else. It was all she had ever known, it seems.

"Whatever Serena said is right," she said with a wry smile, her voice cracking at the very edges. "She's always in the right anyway."

Nate could feel the memory stirring, the reasons stirring even if she didn't say it. He didn't feel it was the exact moment yet, though, and so he didn't pull the memory yet. "I didn't say Serena was right," he said, his eyes focusing on Blair's eyes. "I want your side of things. Isn't that fair?"

He knew that Blair didn't necessarily like things to be fair, and he didn't even expect that she would tell him, but it was the memory that he needed, not the reason, or even the truth.

Now Blair was in no mood for a heart-to-heart, and especially not with Nate. It was that much easier to deal with things when she could dump them in one space and wall it off. She was never the type to keep recycling the past, she moves on.

"Serena's unimportant to my grand scheme in life. She's a burden I had to get rid of." She smirked. "There, satisfied?"

There it was; the memory pressed felt like a brand pressed against his skin. Nate didn't know exactly how his power worked, and he didn't ask. He tugged at it, softly, as though it were a slip of paper under a huge pile. It was stuck there, firmly.

He knew he needed more. "You should forget about it," he suggested. "Don't you think your friendship is worth more than that? You don't really consider her a burden."

A flash of anger crossed her face and Blair narrowed her eyes in mild annoyance. "For your information, she was the one who left in the first place."

Then, regaining her composure, she cocked her head to the side and made a little smile. "But it's a relief to have her gone anyway. Van der Woodsens aren't that well-thought of in the society, and for good reason."

He suddenly realized that there it was, the reason, the emotion, the memory, everything. He reached with his power, and there it was, in his possession. It felt like the world had narrowed, right so that only Blair mattered, only this second mattered.

Then, like a bubble, the sensation popped, and he knew that the memory was his. "I think you'll change your mind," he said, quietly, feeling it buzz around his head like a fly. It was different from Adam's memory and different from Teddy's memory. It was bigger, harder to contain, more volatile. He couldn't see the moments, exactly, but he felt them, the sensation of insecurity, the feeling of never as good as.

"Don't worry, Blair," he said, quietly.

It seemed to her that a thought came to her mind, but before she realized what it was, it disappeared. It left a thought-shaped gap in her mind, and her shoulders somehow felt lighter. Blair looked past him, almost zoning off before she caught herself. She could not remember what exactly they were talking about, but she resumed her frown nonetheless.

"Are you done?"

Nate nodded, just a little. "Yes," he said, knowing that she would need some time by herself. That the shape of the memory would be a gap for a little while. He smiled at her again, and nodded.

"I hope you enjoy the chocolates," he told her, not reaching out to touch her, but waiting for her anyway. "Thank you for listening," he added, after a moment, honestly.

Somehow Blair felt that she was not so angry at him anymore, that she could find herself treating him more decently. She took the box of chocolates from him, tweaking a bland smile in reply. "Bye."

"Bye," he said, properly, and when she closed the door he looked up and around. He took a deep breath, to try and quiet the memory. It settled, quietly, against his skull, like a splinter against the texture of his skin. He pushed the thoughts away as he walked, knowing that not focusing on where he was going would get him lost, but not worrying about that.

He hoped he did the right thing.

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