Leilani Richardson

“Same old, same old, huh?” Emmett could attest to the same exact routine, wanting to just get through life not actually living in it. He didn’t know where all the pessimism had come from lately, and while he tried to at least remain stable, that was slowly crumbling underneath him as the days went on. “I appreciate it.” He added after joining her with a slight brush of a glance. “And, I could be better. Kind of just…going to work and going home. I’m glad to get out today though. I’m glad you could come too.”

“Why fix something that isn’t broken?” It may not have been much of a life, though it got her by enough to survive in whatever was happening to this town. This lunch date gave her something outside of the routine she stuck herself in, maybe some prospect to have a little bit of fun and out of the funk she was in. “This sounds like we both needed this get together. Maybe we’re in our heads too much, which is not a great place to be a majority of the time.”

He wasn’t into much these days, mostly filling his time with more senseless activities outside of work, something to just keep distracted in the grand scheme of things. While he wanted to get out more, it was far too much of an effort to put himself out there, even when he kew he had friends—one of which whom he felt like he owed it to. Cancelling on her didn’t even feel right, and getting out of the house for anything besides work was comforting, as he had actually been looking forward to it all day. Spotting her on their impromptu plans, Emmett actually found himself picking up a bit of speed to join her. “You haven’t ordered anything yet, have you?” He popped right in, glad to see she was already there. “How have you been?”

@leilanirichardson

After the party, Lei went back to the normal routine of staying out to late and not going home to distract herself. She’d been lucky to not have any of her family get her, but after not being able to help Emmett she needed the distraction. Beyond checking in with him, they hadn’t seen each other, until spontaneous plans were made. Ones she was all too eager for, needing to get out with friends. She jumped slightly at his voice, lost in the menu to realize he’d arrive. “Emmy, oh my gosh.” Lei chuckled, setting the laminated page down. “No, I haven’t ordered yet. I was waiting for you.” She just happened to be early, unable to wait around for too long to show up. “I’ve been okay, much of the same old things honestly. What about you?”

There wasn’t much of a chance left as he fell towards the ground and onto his knees, bones aching as they shifted into new places. His hands carved into the ground as he tried to keep his thoughts straight while hearing her voice. Trying to breathe through it all was the one thing grounding him as he kept his eyes close, anxiety overwhelming him from calm breaths to more panicked ones. “It will work.” He repeated, trying to will it to all be better. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Emmett’s voice fell out as he let all the tension go, practically falling on his side.

As he fell, Lei knew anything she did wouldn’t bring him back from the transitioning already happening. Try as she might, the only thing she could do is he there for him. Lei knelt down next to him, hand soothingly running over his back. “It’ll be okay,” she stated softly. “You aren’t going to hurt me. I can take care of myself remember?” She threw in the light joke, hand pushing back his hair slightly. “I’ll stay until I cant.”

At her touch, he flinched, trying to steady himself without the help, despite the need for it. It all came out of nowhere, Emmett coming into a full panic attack as he could feel his bones slowly inch into place, the shifting being something he still couldn’t find himself getting used to. “Fuck—my…my brother.” His hands curled into fists as he shook his head. “No…no.” He repeated the word over and over as it grew into more of a hushed grunt. “This isn’t working!”

All her concentration went into trying to help him, but with feeling his body start to shift, she didn’t know what to do. It might have been too late to calm him down, though she wouldn’t stop trying until the transition fully happened. She sighed, not letting go quite yet even with it becoming more dangerous to be near him. “Emmett, you can control this. Your brother is okay. All you need to do is breathe so this can work. It will work.”

“We could go, this weekend, tomorrow–we could just go and keep going.” he dream like words drifting from his lips as he pondered the idea. He would give anything to escape, to get away from the past six months, to get back to those first few stolen moments when the world still made sense and they weren’t fighting to hold on to themselves. He laughed softly at her comment, “We probably should feed the beast first,” he would never get used to being a werewolf, but the jokes were getting easier to make. “Wouldn’t want to ruin the party with him showing up.” He followed suit, keeping close to her. “I’m surprised the mayor decided to go ahead with the event after what happened. Maybe she finally got things under control.” That wouldn’t put him at ease, but maybe it would give them time to breathe before things went to hell once more. The town’s time felt borrowed and he didn’t want to stay close to see what would happened when it ran out.  

As much as she wanted to get away from this town, some proper planning needed to be had. “We can’t just run away. I can’t do that to my parents, no destination sounds perfect but I’d have to prepare them for me to at least leave.” They’d already lost one person, Lei didn’t want to make them feel as if they lost another. “I think if that were the way this got ruined, it’d be a little breath of fresh air.” She chuckled, her heading nodding slightly. “I’m sure there’s some magic or something they’re trying to use at least to make it a little safer. Added protection used in other ways it probably around here even if we aren’t noticing it. I doubt they’d let us all get together again with everything happening in the last year.”

At the mere reminded that his brother was inside, the only thing holding him to the ground it seemed, Emmett managed to try to steady his breath, but it didn’t seem like enough, his breath hitching with an experience so strange, that he began to hyperventilate. “Lei—I…get away from me.” The feeling was reminiscent of turning into a wolf during the full moon, something so involuntary and reactionary, that it just happened. “What… what happened?” He tried again, his voice shuddering as he kept his eyes closed, trying to keep his cool. “I can hear….the panic…what happened!” 

The breathing seemed to help for a moment, until it didn’t. She tried to get a hold of the situation, ignoring his warning as her hands went to his upper arms. If Lei needed too, she could use her magic to protect herself. All too used to the spell to keep them at bay, reminding herself of the calming charm she’d worked on as of late. She wanted it for herself, though it might work for him now. Her mind focused on it, trying to transfer it to him and see if it would work. “Possibly some kind of explosion if I had to guess.” Lei didn’t need to hear the panic to assume the worst, but he would be her first priority until this was under control. “Emmett, you need to worry about you first. There are plenty of people to help them until you can.”

“Well, I know we just met and all, but…I’m a pretty great listener if you do ever need to talk. It’s just who I am.” Emmett hadn’t been up for much lately but this seemed different, and he could use a friend like Lei, especially if he could get high with her. “I mean…my brother, sure. But…the rest of my family, mostly my parents? I guess I kind of got disowned by them in a way.” He shrugged, rather quickly, before the sudden shaking and quaking left an uneasiness among Emmett, before it seemed like something had gone wrong inside. Emmett stood up all too quickly, and he looked to the building, which seemed to lose some sort of structural integrity as his face filled with horror at part of the building that was crumbling. “Oh god.” He uttered, under a breathless nature, anxiety filling up fast. He could feel his heart rate accelerate, as he glanced around, widened eyes and shaky hands warning him of his potential for the breakdown. 

She barely had time to agree to the newfound friendship they had formed in a such a short amount of time before chaos started to ensue. There wasn’t a need to enhanced senses to hear the yelling from the building, people milling out in the distance. Her eyes were glued to the outside of city hall, only imagining what might be happening on the side. Whether she needed to start preparing for losing someone else she loved. His words snapped her back to where she was, looking the other over and realizing what might happen in the next few moments. She’d studied about werewolves enough to assume what some of the signs might be. “Emmy, hey. Everything’s going to be alright.” Lei took a deep breath before stepping closer, hand resting on his shoulder. “You have to breathe so we can look for your brother.”

“No kidding?” He questioned back, nodding along. “I’ll swear them off with you. This is my first one and I’m already over it.” He uttered easily with a short shrug. “If you need to talk about it, I think that’s supposed to help, at least, that’s what my therapist used to say. But, the thing is, hard things are hard to talk about.” He took the joint, easily puffing away at it for a few solid seconds, letting a short inhale take him. “I’m here to meet people I guess. And my brother dragged me along sort of.” And he was secretly hoping Gabi would show up.

“You’re ready to swear off this one? This is the most mild one of them all. I thought it was going rather well so far.” She teased, hoping a friendship could be formed from this little meeting. Lei needed at least one with Belle gone, realizing as of late how alone she really was. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, but I don’t want to burden you with them. And I’d have to admit to myself I’ve hit a lower point than I’d care for.” She chuckled, “gotta love family, right?” Lei needed this smoke session to be able to get through the rest of the night, wanting to relax and have a good time. As she went to say something else, a shaking like some sort of earthquake stopped her, followed by sounds of destruction. The anxiety starting at the thought of losing someone else she loved. 

“Not my kind of parties. Though, if this were my kind of party, nobody would be here.” He joked with her, easily finding a bit of relaxing nature to take over, especially as she pulled the joint out. “Good friends you have. And, it’s a great stress-reliever. Really helps mellow out everything, especially at an overwhelming party like this. Or even just being in this town. There’s a lot of shit that goes on.”

“I’m one party away from swearing off any town event.” This would be the last one if anything happened. She couldn’t take watching people continuously get hurt if no one was going to do anything about it. “Parties aren’t the problems for me, but this past year hasn’t been the easiest. This is one way to cope with it.” Lei lit the joint, taking a couple long drags before holding it out to him. “If you aren’t a fan of parties, why did you come to this one?”

“Werewolves and witches, we’re drawn to each other, it’s fine.” Emmett uttered with a short chortle. “So…this boyfriend of yours, I still don’t understand how anyone could just leave you unattended at a party like this for so long. You sure he’s not gonna come looking for you?” Emmett questioned squarely, not sure if he could handle some sort of confrontation. “And, not usually. I could just sniff it out on you. You know, wolf tendencies and what not. And, hell, I’m a habitual smoker myself. It helps calms my nerves.”

Leilani eyed him as she took a seat, amused at his questioning. “He has people to talk too, mingling is part of a party normally. And if he does, maybe we can convince him to join us. It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong.” She shrugged, not seeing anything bad with two people hanging out and smoking. Rather innocent besides the use of drugs being involved. Lei opened up her bag, taking out the already rolled joint and lighter. “My friends recently introduced it to me because well....life. It helps me not stress out, which seems rather similar.”

“They are very much a nice concept, but definitely not practical.” Jayden laughed, sure that he sounded old. He felt old, as they reached tables. “I most certainly hope he didn’t leave you out there to be hurt. Unless, he was planning on rescuing you.” 

Leilani sat down as they reached the tables, sighing joyfully as she got off her feat. “That’s a good act to play, the damsel always needing her knight in shining armor. Not the case here though. He’s probably with his dad, which I’m not going to get in the way of.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good then, right? I’m glad that tonight is not sad. It shouldn’t be. And that’s why I’ll join you in your smoking too.” Emmett grinned easily, as he followed her to the coat check. “I’m Emmett, go by Emmy sometimes, if you prefer. And, I’m a werewolf, if you gotta know. Not total strangers anymore.”

She smiled over at him, trying not to let the past get in the way of having a good time. Leilani grabbed her jacket from the attendant, thanking them before looking at the other. “A werewolf? I seem to be a magnet for those, my boyfriend’s one as well. I’m a witch. Guess you’re right about not being total strangers now.” The cool air hit her as the door opened, tugging her coat around her as she walked towards the back of the building. “You make a habit of seeking out weed from unsuspecting party goers.”

“Alright. Don’t say I didn’t offer though.” Emmy eagerly replied, a short stifled chuckle leaving him as he found the company to be charming at least. “Yeah, I didn’t think I wanted to make your night even sadder.” He added not sure where her boyfriend ran off to, but hoping to at least help with that. “I mean, if the offer is on the table, I for one, would love to join you.”

“Oh, my night isn’t sad. It’s going rather well compared to the other days. And this is a lot of information to be telling you when I don’t even know you’re name.” She chuckled, backing away towards the coat check. “Let’s go then. I’m Leilani, by the way.”

Jayden chuckled at the mention of anyone walking in them. “If it’s any consolation, they do look nice.” He slowly led her toward the tables, cautious of his speed as to not have her fall. “I’m sure he would be glad to see you safe and not falling.”

“Thank you, I’d have to agree. Heels are always nice in concept, but I’m not one to wear them all the time.” She stepped carefully, holding onto his arm as they made their way to a safe place. “He’ll appreciate my not being trampled very much I think. Unless, this was a set up and he left me on purpose....Kidding.”

“Oh…No. I’m…I’m definitely not that smooth, though…if you need to be swept off your feet, I’d gladly do the job.” He chuckled harmlessly before adding with his toothy grin, “Smoking alone isn’t ever really any fun. More sad that anything. Might as well start smoking cigarettes at that point if you’re gonna get all depressed and shit.”

"As much as I hate these shoes right now, I’ll let my boyfriend do that later.” Lei might have just met the other, she already enjoyed his humor and company. “Well, we are not taking it that far. I’m sad enough without adding anymore pressure to it. Does this mean you’re going to join then? Because I was going to find my coat and head outside for a bit.”

“He left you unattended?” Emmett wasn’t one to be so smooth, or a good rebound for that matter, but it didn’t seem like this was the event that you’d leave any significant other waiting for long. “While I’m sure you can handle yourself—I just…you look gorgeous. I don’t know why anybody would think leaving you alone for more than a couple of minutes waiting is a good idea.” He chuckled, all drunk and easier to maintain a conversation with. “Do I look like the fun police? I’m not a snitch. I’m a wolf. And a stoner at that.”

“He did, yes.” She mused, grinning at the other. There were plenty of times where she’d been left alone at events, yet the first time someone actually tried hitting on her. Though she could blame it on the amount of alcohol everyone seemed to be drinking. “Are you here to sweep me off my feet? Show me a good time because he left me unattended?” Lei could have fun with this too, quietly sighing that he enjoyed smoking too. “Wanna join me then? Gets a bit lonely smoking by myself.”

Garret couldn’t help the light laugh, shaking his head. “Alright, if something happens tonight, we can skip town next time and get away. Just you and me.“ There was a seriousness to his voice; as if he’d thought about it before. Maybe a little too much, if he were honest. He lifted their hands to his lips, leaving a gentle kiss on her hand. “I could go for something to eat,” He shrugged, before looking out to the floor full of people. “Or we could dance and show off how beautiful you look tonight.”

“Exactly, a mini vacation. That sounds like a better way to spend our time than around town.” Both had been through enough, the anxiousness of even coming here starting to creep in with each passing second. A smile spread across her face at the simple kiss, following his gaze towards the other people. “Food first, and then we can dance. No hangriness for you tonight,” she teased, pulling him towards the table of food.