achilles;

( alperen duymaz. cismale. he/him. achilles come down & gang of youths. ) that’s KIERAN POLAT, isn’t it? they’re always hanging around the CRIMSON pack, so it’s rare to catch them alone. i heard they’re TWENTY-NINE years old, and they’re currently a HISTORY TEACHER at ALL HALLOWS HIGH SCHOOL. when dusk falls, you can usually find them heading home to THE BRONX by MOTORCYCLE. ( cassidy. 25. she/her. cst. )

hi, everyone! cassidy here. i put a more in depth intro/character document for kieran in the source link, but below is a gist of what he’s about! hit me up for connections and plots or just like this and i’ll hit YOU up xo // @duskintro​

tw: death mention

kieran’s face hurt. badly. at the bar, a fight had broken out, and given his job, he’d been the one that had to break it up. however, when he’d stepped in, the ones who had been fighting thought that he was just trying to get more involved, and his face ended up at the end of a very hard fist. multiple times. the bruising spread around his eyes and he had a cut on his lip, another along his forehead that cut into his eyebrow. he was a mess.

after the fight, his boss had told him it was probably best to just leave for the night. he didn’t want to go to the ER. he was sure that he was fine, but the one person that he knew could confirm he was actually okay but his fiance. he’d texted her to make sure that she was home, and awake, because it was late at night and he hadn’t wanted to bother her if she wasn’t. he knocked on the door of her apartment, standing there and waiting while his face throbbed with bruising. the door opened and he tried to smile at leyla, hoping he didn’t look too terrifying. “i think it looks worse than it feels,” he greeted her. “but i knew you could treat me better than anyone else.” // @lycanleyla​

beck nods his agreeance, one couldn’t imagine what the year as a whole had in store for them all. he had to wonder if he’d be around to see it. and then stiffens up to the word betrothed, the word had caused him a lot of strife the past few weeks. he raised his glass to toast kieran, “good luck to you ━ who’s the lucky lady ? ” he grumbles out, the sip of scotch burned a bit but beck overcomes it by clearing his throat.

kieran swallowed another swig of his liquor as they both cheered for his engagement, as if he had anyone choice in the matter. despite his father and leyla’s dad no longer being the heads of the crimson pack, they sure had enough sway within the ranks to get exactly what they wanted. “leyla demir,” he tells him in response, watching to see how the other reacted. “the youngest of the demir sisters.” 

“ WELL, THAT’S NOT A GOOD REASON, ”   she comments, unable to help herself.   “ if people did things just because it was all they knew, nothing new would happen ever. ”   but she understood the feeling of loyalty to a group, and knowing you’d get that loyalty back. simone can only hope it’s true, but if talia was his alpha, then she didn’t doubt it. she doesn’t know much about the werewolf, but she likes her more than the other alphas. 

kieran hummed, nodding his head. her explanation made sense, but he also knew that this other woman didn’t understand the dynamics of the relationships that he had within his pack. he didn’t take any sort of offense to it; anyone outside of the pack wouldn’t. “they’ve proven to me time and time again that my loyalty is the same as theirs,” he offered, shrugging his shoulders. “i think anyone would be lucky to have someone like the demirs around.”

     TALIA’S WATCHING HIM NOW, and the fact that his body tense doesn’t get lost on her. she’s just playing the role of the dutiful older sister, but maybe she’ll switch over to being the gossiping friend. “sounds like a cover up to me,” talia teases, eyes squinting only slightly. at first, the entire idea had been odd to her, her beta marrying her little sister, but she knows her parents could have set leyla up with someone considerably worse. “do you have feelings for her?” she asks bluntly, not wanting to beat around the bush for either of their sakes.

his throat dried at her question, because how was he meant to answer that? he wasn’t entirely sure what his relationship with leyla was, and the feelings that he had for her were just as confusing as defining what the two of them had. for one, sometimes, when he looked at her, he still saw her as a little sister to his best friend, someone that he had learned to accept was always going to be around. for another, he also... felt something for her. he wouldn’t have kissed her otherwise. “i don’t know,” he said, licking his lips nervously. “i think i do, but i don’t know if it’s some sort of weird stockholm syndrome or if the feelings are... real.” he looked at talia for a long moment. “i don’t want to hurt her, but i also don’t want to ruin this... sort of easiness that we have with one another.” 

—–

how different ten minutes can make. their conversation is light, playful, and an invitation into learning about one another. and after all, those betrothed should get to know one another. and leyla was enjoying herself. really enjoying herself. and she was surprised, somewhat. she’d never thought of kieran as boring, or someone that wasn’t worth getting to know. but he’d always been talia’s best friend. on the radar as tal’s person. not someone she’d actively get to know ( but had incidentally gotten to know from the close connections of their families intwining ). and yet, here was this different side to kieran that she’d never anticipated, and yet was entirely welcome. he was funny, he was charming, he was as keen to escape the mundanity of pack politics, and he put her through her paces. suddenly, leyla wasn’t as apprehensive, about their families arrangement. she’d always been fairly easy going, ( especially in comparison to her sisters ) but marriage, companionship, children, that was big enough to take pause.

and yet his lips against hers dispelled any worry, in that moment. and it had been accidental. ill-timed actions which had resulted in the brush of their lips. a flash of ‘electricity’ ran through her. the thrill of a kiss emphasised by the champagne of the evening. but she found her initial surprise ( floating hands in the air ) dissipating. his kissed her and her hands settled on his shoulders, for a moment, before a hand brushed upwards to hold his face. her lips moved against his, drinking him in. she’d never pegged her night ending like this, but she wasn’t mad about it. she shifted in her spot, pulling him closer, the hand on his shoulder pulling at the lapel of his shut jacket. lost in the moment.

.

was kieran surprised to feel leyla kiss him back? yes. was he mad about it? absolutely not. despite the public setting, he didn’t want to stop kissing her. it was not really the scene that he had pictured in his mind when he had thought about their first kiss (not that he thought about it often, but they were to be married, so he’d thought about it every now and again); but he certainly wasn’t complaining. instead, he smiled against her mouth, moving in with the slight tug that she made on the lapels of his suit jacket. his hand moved from the side of her face, along her jaw, into her hair, where he fisted at the back of her head. 

SIMONE LOOKS OVER THE MAN AGAIN, this time letting her eyes linger. he was easy on the eyes, after all. she doesn’t know what the standards are for arranged marriages, but the way he says we leads her to believe he doesn’t completely hate it. the witch hums.   “ too bad, ”   she says, meeting his gaze again.   “ but i hope it works out. that’s a lot of loyalty to give to your pack. ”   turning over your life to others to choose who to spend the rest of your life with. whether it was a pack thing or a family thing, she had no idea, but it made simone grateful she could do as she pleased.

he met her gaze, nodding his head in thanks. “it’s all i’ve ever known,” he admitted to her, shrugging his shoulders in nonchalance. it was true; he did provide a lot of loyalty to his pack, but it wasn’t something that he’d ever had to or did question. “but it’s nice to know that they would provide the same amount of loyalty back, if i asked it of them.” 

     EVEN THOUGH KIERAN SAYS IT, she still feels like she needs to keep apologizing for it. which is a testament to how talia feels bad about the situation, considering she wouldn’t apologize more than once to people if she doesn’t have to. she smiles, a soft laugh escaping. she didn’t know this conversation would go this way when kieran had surprised her by coming by, but she’s thankful for him. “i better be.” she says, squeezing his hand before they let go. talia shakes her head. “no, not presently at least. but i’ll let you know.” she’ll plan a much needed vacation after everything gets settled in new york, but she doesn’t foresee that happening any time soon. talia feels much better after talking about this with her beta ( and best friend ), so instead, she decides to turn the conversation on him. “so, kieran,” she begins, leaning back into her chair. “what’s this about you kissing my sister?” of course leyla told him, and of course, she’s going to give him hell for it. 

kieran smiled gently, a great sense of relief washing over him as he stood up from her and made his way over to where he’d been sitting, opposite her on another couch. he was relieved to have told her, the weight of it having been on his shoulders for quite some time. to know that she knew and wasn’t mad at him about it? that was a pressure he hadn’t realized he was so worried about carrying. his body stilled at the mention of leyla, and he looked at the patterns on the ground for a long moment before he looked up at her. he tried to gauge her face, wondering how she felt about it. “she is my fiancée,” he pointed out, licking his lips nervously. “is that not what you’re supposed to do with the woman you’re meant to be marrying?” he was making a joke out of it, but the idea that he was kissing leyla and that she’d spoken of it with talia stressed him out a bit. “and i didn’t mean for it to happen. it just... did.” 

“spite, and to you i suppose, may your life be far less burdened than mine,” he toasts the man after turning the scotch in the glass with a gentle hand. beck would need to start looking for another place of employment soon but tonight he’d be drinking to not having to step foot under anyone’s watchful eye again. ( or so he thought )

“it’s been a long year,” he muttered knowing that it’d only just begun. “how have you been?”

“much better than the other options, i guess,” kieran mused, nodding his head as he toasted the other and took a sip of his scotch. it wasn’t normally his drink of choice, but the burn was more than welcome. raising an eyebrow, he pressed on elbow on the bartop and placed his head against his fist. “it’s only been a few weeks into the year. i can only imagine what’s come up since,” he started. he shrugged his shoulders. “i can’t complain. work’s good. i’m... betrothed.” it was still weird for him to say despite it happening months before. “i haven’t had to break up any fights here recently,” he continued, waving his hand to indicate the bar they were sitting in.

     IT TAKES A LOT FOR TALIA TO NOT SCOOT BACK WHEN HE MOVES CLOSER. she knows he’s not doing anything wrong, and this happened so long ago it shouldn’t matter to her, but it does. people making decisions about her future without even being in the loop. one of her best friends leaving because of it. it makes her wonder if everything going on with the council and her betrothal and now this is going to be her breaking point. “you were?” talia asks in a soft voice, and she shouldn’t be surprised that that’s what kieran wanted. hell, even at times she’s wanted to run away from everything but didn’t. her hand goes up to rub her neck, feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. her face falls as he gives more explanation, and now she’s seeing it from his side, just a little bit. “i’m sorry,” she says, and she realizes that she’s probably giving him whiplash, going from angry to sad to apologetic. but she’s realizing that she shouldn’t be projecting her frustrations for today’s events on something that kieran did years ago. “just promise me one thing,” talia says, reaching for his hand. “if you ever start to feel like that again, you’ll at least tell me.”

—–

leyla nodded her head in understanding. “do you get a lot of scoops from doing that?” she asked him. a smile found her lips. “perhaps i should go to you for gossip not zehra,” she joked. “have you got any more tips for hidden gems in the city then?” she asked, interest brightening her features. she pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “mm, not really. at least not to just drink. i like a dance, and i like spending time with people. i like meeting new people, and people watching. you can meet some really interesting people in the most usual places,” she told him. “i’ve been known to take a friend up on an offer of a 3 am adventure, every now and then. once i met a goblin in a laundromat at 04:00am in staten island, who had been on a three year hunt for a set of daggers that had been in his family for three thousand years but were stolen two centuries ago,” she said, a laugh tumbling from her lips. “how incredible and odd is that?” she asked. leyla realised she’d been talking for a while now. “sorry, I’m rambling,” she said, flashing kieran an almost bashful smile. she glanced at the television. ten minutes to go. chewing her bottom lip, she looked back to kieran. “how about you? are you a partier, or a homebody?” she asked, with a smile. 

ten minutes must have passed without her notice ( even though it wasn’t the most remarkable conversation; what do you do with your time off? it was enough to enthrall leyla ), because before she realised, a countdown had started behind them. she turned in surprise as the people around them counted down from twenty. looking to kieran, a bubble of surprised laughter pressed past her lips. “i didn’t realise how close it was,” she told him, leaning in closer so he could hear her over the chanting. she smiled softly, but could feel the knot in her stomach. why was she nervous? there was no pressure. they were just seeing the new year in together. but of course there was pressure because the new year often came with a kiss. and the two, betrothed, were yet to even have a conversation about what they wanted from this arrangement, let alone shared a kiss. yet as they count down occured, leyla felt compelled to join in, if nothing, than to make things feel a little more normal. she didn’t shout, or chant, but spoke the numbers until they reached one. “happy new year,” she told kieran, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. that wasn’t so scary, right?

.

he watched her with a soft smile on his face the entire time, the rambling coming from her as adorable as it was intriguing. it wasn’t as if he had not had conversations with leyla in the past, but it felt different hearing her now, when he didn’t just see her as talia’s youngest sister, or someone who he was obligated to be around. he blinked when she turned her attention back to him, and he chuckled softly, his eyes dipping down and back to hers for a moment. “definitely a homebody, unfortunately. but at least i’m not a flight risk,” he teased, referencing the conversation from earlier. 

kieran turned his head to look at the tv’s strewn all over the room, a reminder that it was, in fact, getting quite close to the new year. he wasn’t nervous about it - he’d spent plenty of new year’s with people that he didn’t end up kissing at midnight. kieran didn’t feel that there was any pressure between them, given that they knew their circumstances. so when the crowd around them started counting down, he watched them without a second thought, until they all shouted in unison together. kieran’s attention was pulled to leyla at the sound of her voice in his ear, and he turned his head, just as her lips were meant to catch his cheek. 

instead, he found himself pressing his lips to hers, and after only a moment’s hesitation where his brain had to come to terms with what the hell was happening, he kissed her as everyone around them did one another, and,after a moment, his hand moved up to cup the side of her head, tilting her face upward toward his own.

—–

leyla chuckled. “you know, I think you might be a touch dramatic, polat,” she told him. she couldn’t blame him, every single demir sister was a handful in their own right. strong-willed, a force of nature in some way. you’d no doubt get a little dramatic having to keep up with them, or protect them. “i save lives, I don’t cause deaths,” she promised him with a playful smile.

the amount of people was pleasantly surprising, enough for a good atmosphere, but not enough that it would be impossible to move or hear anyone else. still there were enough that the pair would have to weave around people to get to the bar and to a table together. she found kieran’s hand on hers and she quickly laced her fingers with his so that the pair could stay together, ebign guided by his steer. leyla found herself leaning into kieran, her head tilting upwards for he could hear her response. 

“rum and cola, please,” she told him. whilst they waited for their drinks, she looked around the place; it had a nice atmosphere, a pleasant enough energy. it wasn’t a stuffy party full of politics so it had her vote. the clock ticked closer to midnight, and leyla found herself happy in where she’d ended up. once drinks were in hand, it was leyla’s turn to lead, and she brought them both to a recently vacated booth with a view of the bar and television, but the pull of their hands. they could people watch, watch the count-down, or talk. sitting down, she slid over so they was close to kieran, so she could hear anything he wanted to say without straining or him havign to raise his voice.

“so how did you find out about this place?” she asked.

.

kieran ordered them both their drinks, a rum and coke for her, and a beer for himself. they waited until their drinks were made, and kieran took the both of them, as to make sure that no one spilled either while she led them through the throngs of customers in the bar. he placed both of their drinks on the table, sliding hers in front of her and turning his head to smile down at her gently. he was close enough to her that he could smell her perfume, but he’d picked up on it earlier, with his werewolf nose. 

“some guys at the bar told me about it,” he confessed, referencing his second job, where he was a bouncer. “said that it was more lowkey than other places in manhattan and that’s why they liked it.” he looked around, his eyes moving over the crowd of people, finding nothing of interest before he moved his gaze back to leyla. “do you like to go out? on your days off, i mean.” he knew she didn’t get them often with her job, and he was more of a homebody despite his jobs needing him to be move social. his eyes moved over to the tv to watch the countdown, noting the time. a tightness formed in his stomach at the thought of it.

“ ISN’T THAT THE POINT OF ARRANGED MARRIAGES WITH YOUR PEOPLE ? ”   simone asks, genuinely curious.   “ to keep the blood line strong ? ”   witches had done that once upon a time, her mother had told her, but with no coven in the family for generations, there was no need. but now it seemed horribly antiquated, but whatever worked for them, there was no judgment.   “ how long have you two been together ? ”   she asks as well, hoping he doesn’t mind the questions. it’s not like he was providing any conversation himself. and he was always welcome to leave.

kieran snorted softly, nodding his head. if only simone knew that talia’s father rejected a betrothal between them because he didn’t see him as strong enough for his alpha daughter. “touche,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. he adjusted the order he had in his arms, running one of his hands through his hair. “only a few months, so it’s... fairly new,” he confessed. “we’re still adjusting to the idea of it.” 

     THE GENTLE AFFIRMATION HELPS, and she hadn’t known exactly how much she needed that from someone. she isn’t surprised that someone is kieran. her face is in her hands as she takes a deep breath, trying her best to calm down. talia isn’t normally this emotional, and that’s how she knows this is a big deal for her. but she pulls her hands away when kieran begins to speak. “what are you talking about?” talia asks, brows knit together in confusion. she stays silent for a moment, and another wave of sadness and anger washes over her. she tries to stay calm, but this feels like it’s going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back as she pieces two and two together. “that’s the reason you left me?” the question comes out harsher than it normally would have towards her beta, but he’s just caught her on the wrong day. 

kieran watched her quietly. growing up, he learned to read talia’s face before he could actually read any sort of book. it came second nature to him now, and he realized that telling her was probably the worst idea in the world. at least, in that moment. “no,” he said gently, shaking his head. “i mean, not really. i had already been planning to leave, to just... take a break from everything here.” he pushed a hand through his hair and sighed, dropping his hands into his lap. he didn’t know what to do with them. “i hadn’t known my father was making the offer. not until after your dad had already rejected it.” he had seen talia angry before, had seen her sad and upset. she’d been that way when he left, and even when he returned. he’d made a promise with himself that he wouldn’t be the reason she ever felt that way again; obviously, it was now broken. he moved, getting closer and crouching in front of her so they were eye to eye. “my leaving was never about leaving you,” he tells her. “if i could have taken you with me, i would have.” but keiran had known she wouldn’t have come with him. “if i could go back and change it, i would.” but i can’t, he wanted to add but didn’t, because it was obvious. “i wanted to tell you before i left that i was doing so, but after my father told me what had happened, i was pissed off and embarrassed. i was 18 and stupid and didn’t really think about who i would be hurting if i left without warning.” 

when he heard his name, there was a small eyebrow raise but no other signs he was interested in having company. still, he moves over a tiny bit so kieran can share the space. he cups the short glass swirling about some scotch. “just scotch, straight, please.” he said to the bartender.

kieran nodded his head in agreement, because someone couldn’t be drinking scotch, straight, and be alone in doing so. that would make anyone look pathetic. instead, he joined in on it. “what are we drinking to?” he asked, turning his head from his coworker and looking over at beck with an expectant expression on his face. “heartbreak? spite? anger? all three or none?”

“ SO LOYALTY RUNS IN THE FAMILY THEN, ”   she comments, a bit amused. simone can’t help but wonder how it feels, to know you’re constantly number two. good, but never the best.   “ really ?   congrats, ”   she nods slightly, always amazed at the politics of the werewolf packs.   “ so your kids will be talia’s kid’s second too, is that how it works ? ”

“more like ingrained from a very young age,” he tells her, shrugging his shoulders. there was never a time in his life that he remembered where his father hadn’t made it clear that kieran was to protect and serve talia and her family at whatever cost to him. he looked up at simone, raising his eyebrows for a moment, his mouth dropping ever so slightly. “i hadn’t really thought about it,” he confessed. he hadn’t ever thought about having kids with leyla, if he were being honest. “but i guess that that would be the case, yes.” 

—–

laughter pushed past leyla’s lips. not a demure chuckle, not a playful giggle. laughter. delighted and amused laughter. “do you think i’m a flight risk?” she questioned with a grin. “a demir always has more tricks than assumed,” she assured him. “i’ll keep you on your toes, i promise,” she added. the brunette peered up to him, an amused smile on her lips. “didn’t know you cared so much, polat,” she teased. but it was nice to think. that her wellbeing was on his mind at least in some way. a good sign, right? “besides dad slept like a log, mum kept the backdoor key under the bread bin, and i was always lightfooted,” she added. it wasn’t like she was sneaking off to do something illegal or dodgy ( not always ). a lot of the time she just liked to run at night, or star gaze. she liked the world when it was warmed by the moon light. “i only went cliff diving once,” she told him. “kidding,” she followed up with a wink.

“maybe i’m in the wrong career. perhaps t-shirt slogans are my calling, not paramedicine,” she joked. “touché,” she said with a chuckle. she probably would have suggested similar, they probably weren’t quite there yet for a more adventurous venture. a bar sounded good, and less effort than small talk and good impressions. and it was slightly amusing to leyla that they’d sit in a bar with a beer or a whiskey in full gala-type clothing. a smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “how could I say no?,” she replied. 

“i wouldn’t say flight risk,” he snorted, shaking his head in amusement, because he wasn’t the language that he would necessarily use. he had been raised his whole life to protect the demir sisters; his father had drilled it into his head before he’d even learned his alphabet. leyla’s ability to sneak away from her parents was only a quirk that he’d had to get used to. “you’re going to be the death of me,” he muttered.

kieran chuckled under his breath, nodding his head in agreement. they would look ridiculous in their getups, but maybe that was the fun in it. kieran needed to let loose, even for just one night. he wasn’t even thinking about how he had left talia behind; he’d hope being with roger would keep her safe, at least for the night. 

he was happy to know that the bar they’d chosen was not all that busy, but there was a crowd, just as they assumed. he led them through the array of locals and toward the bar, kieran’s hand having made its way to leyla’s and held it firm, so they wouldn’t lose one another. “what do you want to drink?” he asked over the noise of the bar, turning his head and leaning down just enough so that she could hear him. glancing up at the tv’s that showed the craziness of times square, he noted the time. it was about a half hour til midnight.