dulce periculum

          Bella watched as Lyn’s thick liner moved over her temples and wished she had a make-up wipe to help tidy things up. Him being the worst didn’t feel shocking but it wasn’t good either, the explanation of why shocked though. Bella tilting her head somewhat as Lyn described how she was stupid for believing this guy when he said she was special and different. Hadn’t everyone gone through that with a guy at some point? More importantly it seemed obvious to Bella that Lyn was special and different.

          Not wanting to space invade Lyn when someone already had so recently Bella remained where she stood. “That’s sort of an elaborate line to kiss you,” Bellamy pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest, boss trying to make Lyn feel better by rubbing his soft beagle cheeks against her shins. “I mean, why go to that kind of obscure effort? This isn’t a nineties rom-com,” Bella insisted with a thick layer of reason.

          Taking a step closer Bellamy cautiously reached out and touched Lyn’s arms with the prints of her fingers. “More importantly though, Lyn, you’re obviously special. I don’t know how but…you somehow dated a guy who was a werewolf without even knowing long before coming here and when you do come here fae try to lure you into their realm…like…why you?” Bellamy reasoned, trying to make sure Lyn understood that while the guy may have been a total fucking pervert it didn’t mean he had to have been wrong. “I have actual demon blood in me and we’re best friends, not to mention literally two alphas wanting to sleep with you. Piss-poor attempt to trick you into cheating on your boyfriend but…you’re one hundred percent special. I promise.”

Lyn felt the attentions of the beagle puppy, soft fur rubbing above her boots, and grateful for the excuse to shrink herself down, she sank into a crouch. She stuck her hands out to the small dog, hoping the unconditional affection would help to cheer her up, or at least settle the sobs still swelling in her chest.

Bellamy's argument had logic, and even the tone of her voice helped, soothing without being condescending. Lyn filled her lungs with a deep breath and straightened herself back up after giving Boss one last rub behind the ears. Bellamy was closing the distance between them and Lyn gave the tiniest shuffle forward, to show her readiness to accept the vampire's closeness.

Still, she couldn't stop the roll of her eyes when Bellamy told her she was special. Of course her best friend would say that when she was so obviously upset. Has would have said it, hell, a stranger on the street would have managed to put the words together but that didn't mean it was true in the way she wanted. Everyone was different, everyone was special, blahblahblah, but Lyn had felt something in her stirring when she'd come to Opulence, and having that knowledge ripped away from her when it had finally been at her fingertips was maddening and heartbreaking all in one.

Bellamy, though, through intent or accident, found the things Lyn couldn't deny, or brush off. She could have argued that the fae had just thought she was stupid, an easy mark, but that didn't explain Nicky, who'd been more shocked to see her in Opulence than she'd been to see him. It didn't explain Isaiah, who was so uncomfortable with her humanness that it was actually something of a point of contention in their relationship, but still stayed with her. Her lips twitched, then twisted, Lyn fighting the smile that had threatened to surface. She swiped at her cheeks again, now that the tears had stopped falling and instead just clung to her eyelashes, clumping them together. She tilted herself forward, arms reaching out to circle Bellamy's waist as she went in for a hug, waiting until her face was pressed into Bellamy's shoulder before muttering a soft, 'thank you' into her friend's embrace.

The Scales || Bella&Lyn

       Bella had been listening to the recording of Kemper saying he loved her on repeat since she’d received it, mind tricking itself into believing that her heart was beating a mile a minute when it actually sat limp in her chest. The reality of her physicality didn’t totally matter though when she had the reality of his words to entice a fantasy of herself. Boss was just as excited, Bella’s mood entirely infectious to the beagle who moved around Bella’s bare feet as she practically danced from room to room listening and drinking a very large daiquiri that was basically just a whole bottle of rum, frozen raspberry puree, agave and ice.

        No doubt as Lyn walked in she smelt of it too, Bella was on her second one so both the scent of blended berry and rum was heavy in the air. Bella, and Boss on her heels, rushed into the entrance way to tell Lyn what had happened. “Lyn! You’ll never guess what-,” but the moment she entered the room, daiquiri spilling slightly onto the tiled floor, she was greeted with Lyn’s own mood and felt her own fall fast. Maybe now was not the moment to tell Lyn of her news, especially since it felt like the balancing scale the world was on kept tipping Lyn and Bella opposite each other, only one girl was allowed to be happy at a time and the happier she became the worse it was for her friend.

         “Lyn, what happened?” she asked, immediately assuming what had happened - that the guy had been a total perve - but not everything. “Was he the worst?” Bella pressed.

@lyn-nichols·

In a strange twist of irony, Kaan's betrayal had made Lyn less afraid. The footfalls from her boots had been heavy for the first few blocks as she'd literally stomped away from the café. She'd walked all the way back to Bellamy's, and except for once, making sure Kaan wasn't chasing her out of the café, she hadn't looked over her shoulder. Even walking past the entrance to the park hadn't caused the now familiar prickle of fear and she'd continued on past to Bellamy's, blinking back furious tears.

They started falling the second she'd slammed Bellamy's front door shut behind her, tossing her bag on the ground in a childish moment of fury. She knew she'd interrupted something, Bellamy had been smiling, she had a colorful drink in hand and rushed to meet her friend. She'd let herself feel guilty later, but in the moment she chose selfishness.

"The fucking worst!" Lyn repeated, vehement. She reached up and scrubbed her hand across her eyes, smudging dark liner around them. She looked at her friend, the obvious concern in her warm, golden eyes and she knew what Bellamy's worries were, and they weren't unfounded, but that wasn't the worst of it. Before she could stop them, the words poured out of her, and her shoulders sank as she spoke, as though the confession were actually taking something out of her, shrinking her down as small as she felt.

          Kaan should have registered the hesitancy in her movements and corrected his actions. In a situation with a vampire, where it was simply taunting them to take them apart later, then he could have, but that was because he didn’t actually want the vampire’s he occasionally had to seduce. Lyn on the other hand he’d allowed himself to obsess over, to decide was his not a mission. So the movements that told him to be patient, that she was receptive but needed more time in which she could want to be understood more, he’d no doubt created a wedge between Lyn and Isaiah that would only grow deeper, he didn’t need to react then. 

              He did thought, her eyes caught his for a moment and he leaned into it, his large body half across the table. “Going home won’t help you, Lyn,” he insisted, self assured but a twang of something else hidden in his words - knowledge. “Slowing down won’t make things any clearer,” he stated, this time moving out of his chair to kneel before her, large hands resting on her thighs, caressing the fabric of her jeans. “You need me,” he insisted, thumbs against the sides of knees, tapping with a lack of patience.

            The witch couldn’t wait, gently calloused hands reached up and Kaan took Lyn’s jaw in his grasp. “I’ll show you who I can be to you,” he insisted, and drawing her into him, his lips pressing firmly as he allowed his magical energy, what floated absently in his aura to touch whatever was inside her.

Lyn's reaction was immediate, a tension in her shoulders, her hands closing to fists and pressed against her thighs. It was difficult. Kaan obviously knew more than she did, and he was the first person to even acknowledge what was happening to her, to suspect that she might actually be something other than a stupid, useless human like everyone else had accepted without blinking. Still, that petulant part of her that made her so stubborn wanted to insist that she didn't need anyone.

She parted her lips to argue, to tell Kaan that she'd found Opulence on her own, hunted down a town that shouldn't exist and been let in because of how strongly she'd known it was there. She leaned back from him as he knelt on the ground, turning her face away from the display. It was too much, in that moment, when Lyn was asking for space and Kaan was so willfully disrespecting that wish.

She followed the draw of his hand, only so far as to look back at him. Her brows were drawn together, lips twisted in annoyance and ready to tell him off as he leaned in and stole her chance to speak.

The kiss sent a shockwave through her, sharp and electric. Her every nerve was set on edge, and she felt frozen in place, eyes falling shut, not against the kiss, but the onslaught of emotions and images that rushed through her, too many to sift through in the moment, too much to understand all at once. Fear, though, was present, a sour taste on her tongue and her hands moved suddenly from her thighs to his chest, shoving him away from her with all the strength she could muster, furious and frightened all at once, an emotion that was now, tragically, familiar. Her boots found the floor, standing so quickly that the chair she’d been in toppled backwards, shattering the relative quiet of the café.

         Lyn’s hand grasped his as the news washed over her, his thumb still caressing her soft skin. This was so much more intoxicating than seeing her rely on him in the park, this was an emotion not born of a hurt he had to create but brilliant news he got to be the one to share with her. In his mind their bond was only growing deeper, he was proving himself to be more and more of the one she needed in her life. Even her apologies, the ones he assumed were for her emotions, gave credence to his belief that he was now someone she could not sever from her life.

          Kaan’s free hand reached out, this time pushing strands over her shoulder as he had before. Yet, instead of doing so and falling away his index finger wrapped around from strands, circling them around his digit, eyes still not having left her. “I could help you,” he shared, observing the tears ready to fall from her eyes and down her face and wondering, tongue licking his lips, how peculiar she would find it if he tasted them. “Make things clearer, help you stop seeing things you’re not ready to see, give you some control.”

              His finger that played with her hair ran softly down her neck. “I can feel the magic beneath your skin, I can reach it and help you feel it too, we can touch it together, then you won’t have to be scared,” Kaan promised her, resisting with all his might the want in him to draw her in, to kiss her lips and start working on his heir that very day. “I’d never let anything hurt you.”

Lyn was allowing herself more comfort from the soft touches than she should have. It wasn't until Kaan's fingertip dragged down the length of her neck and drew a shiver from her that she began to pull back. She swallowed, throat feeling tight, a sudden spike of nerves pushing her emotions aside for a moment.

Lyn tried her best to believe in people, to see the good in almost everyone. Opulence had only made her more of an optimist, most people she'd met there friendly, eager to help other when they could. Maybe it was the physical touches he was bestowing on her paired with the offer of assistance, but Lyn wasn't sure she could trust the man seated across from her.

"Kaan..." Lyn said, voice low, leaning back from him, pulling her hand away and reaching for her coffee to disguise the motion. Her gaze kept shifting, looking everywhere but him. She wanted to be flattered by the attention, by how obvious he was making his interest in her, but she couldn't.

"I want help," She said, as though to counter the physical way she drew back from him. "I want-" Her gaze flickered back momentarily, bright blue eyes locking on his for all the time it took her to correct herself, "I need to know what's happening to me."

           He could tell that perhaps his phrasing had offended her so he did what relaxed most people, he laughed, releasing the tension that could have been in the air. “That sounded cruel, just…I think if you’d known someone in a coven, someone whose abilities were compounded by that connection someone would have noticed how…,” Kaan paused, allowing his eyes to truly focus in on her own, the laugh he had falling into something different, a curl to his lips that showed amazement.

             Shockingly this was not a part of his plan, he truly was in absolute awe of what Lyn was. It was rare, beyond the rarity of the supernaturals that littered the town, those that disgusted him and those that were like him, Lyn was beyond them because she was an exception to the rules of humanity, the rules of supernaturals evening. She was connected to them but not of them. He lingered in the thoughts of her tremendous beauty, inside and out, for a moment, eyes no doubt conveying his thoughts. “How extraordinary you are.”

             Kaan’s hand, the one with the bracelet she’d given him reached out for her own. “I’m sure you as a person are exceptional, and it sounds like a bit of a come on but…you have some sort of extraordinary magic in you but it’s…it’s buried, I can only just sense it and my coven is large, I don’t think if I hadn’t come to you that night I would have seen it.” Lie. “When we walked back to your friends place I could feel it, inside your mind just…this flicker of something exceptional but, you were so distraught I didn’t want to unload anything else on you.” Kaan’s gaze became gentle, apologetic even as he played the role of someone who was unsure if this was good news or not.

           Thumb caressing her palm he continued his focus, trying not to use his magics though he would if he needed to. “You must feel it too, sometimes, I can’t imagine you look at yourself and truly believed yourself simply human when you are so obviously more.”

"No, no," Lyn said, trying to dissuade any guilt he might feel. She hadn't taken his words terribly, it had just made her realize that despite the sort of town this was, she really didn't know the inner workings of a lot of the different species that made it their home. It didn't matter, though, Lyn ready to quickly discard the topic and move onto what Kaan was really trying to say.

The way he was looking at her made her flush, heat rising to her cheeks, breath catching in her chest. She parted her lips to argue, ready to fend him off. Whatever line he thought he was delivering was misplaced, she wasn't available to be hit on, and even if he'd waited til now this was a hell of a fucking way to pick someone up. He reached for her hand and she sat up straighter, muscles tensing to pull back and glad now that she'd chosen this place, because if she told him to fuck off and he made a scene, she knew the staff would be on her side.

Kaan's next words pinned her in place. Magic. In her. She swallowed, throat suddenly tight and her hands curled to fists, though that only meant that she squeezed his fingers into her grip. She tore her gaze away, too hopeful to keep looking at him. There were people passing by, vague, blurred shapes through the tinted glass, and for a moment Lyn felt worried, guilty. What would happen if one of Isaiah's friends saw her, sat here in the cafe with a strange man, her hand in his?

Nothing, she thought to herself. Isaiah's friends, his pack, wouldn't recognize her. They didn't know her, didn't know who she was supposed to be to him. She hadn't faced before how unspecial that made her feel, how ashamed of what she was. Weak, stupid, human. Kaan's words were a promise that there was more to her than that.

There was a softness to his tone, what felt like a sincere apology that he was bringing this up now, when he knew she was already weak, and she felt a sudden stinging guilt for having questioned his motives earlier, even if she'd kept the accusations to herself. She bit down on her lower lip, teeth worrying the edge for a moment, a sharp bit of pain to counter the sting in her eyes and she blinked, rapidly, to fight off tears that were threatening to fall. She grabbed at the sleeve of her shirt, turning her face into it to wipe at her eyes, but left her other hand in his.

"Sorry," She breathed, "Sorry." Kaan couldn't know what his words meant to her. She'd always been on the outside, a separate thing from all the rest, watching from across the room as other people went on with their lives. No one else questioned like her, no one else lost themselves in stories and believed that there could be something else like her. She'd left her home, her family, behind chasing ghosts essentially, and instead she'd found Opulence, a place full of all the things everyone else had told her didn't exist. Still, though she'd found Opulence and there had been vindication in that, she hadn't believed she could really belong there either. With Kaan's words it all started to fall into place. Everything that had happened since she'd arrived in town had hinted at it, this thing that made her know things she shouldn't, that made her dreams memories from other people, that made her intuition sharper and every incident foreshadowed.

         “Mysterious?” he raised one of his brows in playful retort. How had handsome been replaced with mysterious? He knew she and her boyfriend were in a fight, the man said the wrong things while Kaan knew to say the right things, to say the things and do the things that would make her his, because he wanted that. Really, he’d treat her well too. Kaan really was considering not killing her after she had his son, maybe she’d be okay to keep around once she learnt what her position was to be.

          With a soft smile he lead her inside, allowing her to place her order before requesting simply a strong black espresso. “They all know you here,” he commented as they barista ran things up and Kaan offered money before Lyn had time to even pull her own wallet out. “Smart sort of choice to meet a strange man,” Kaan offered, smiling because he knew she trusted him. Silly girl. 

          In moments they had their drinks and Kaan was pulling out a chair for her at one of the tables, his drink in one hand and the sun shining through the large windows onto the various seating in the cafe but mostly alighting the brilliant shade of Lyn’s eyes. “I don’t want to keep you in suspense any longer,” he told her once she’d sat, moving to sit for himself then. “Or in concern if maybe my statement about needing to tell you something had worried you, I don’t personally think it’s bad but I do think maybe most of the supernaturals you know are…inexperienced witches without covens or maybe not witches at all, am I correct?” Kaan asked, knowing the answer as he picked up his coffee, sat with his knees apart.

Lyn didn't give an audible reply, merely lifting her eyebrows in return to his challenge. She was going to pretend that she didn't know he was asking why she hadn't mentioned how handsome he was, and if he wanted her to admit that she found him attractive, well... He'd have to do more than imply.

She shook her head at his comment, trying to wave off the implication that she'd picked a familiar space because she was afraid of him. "It's the best coffee in town," She explained, as though that were all the thought she'd given to the decision. In reality the familiarity was comforting, a safety blanket she'd fully been aware of, but not because she felt threatened by Kaan, but because she felt, very suddenly, threatened by the whole world. Danger lurked in dark corners, and it would take her whenever she let her guard down.

Lyn happily accepted the drink, and watched as Kaan reached out to accept his espresso. She'd seen it before, the bracelet on his wrist, the dark stone beads she'd gifted him. She was sure he was wearing them because he was meeting with her, but it was a kind gesture, and Lyn could only hope the stones would do their job and offer him protection.

She took the offered seat with a soft thanks, hanging her small studded purse off the back of the seat by it's dark chain. She looked up from her drink when he spoke, interest clear in her bright eyes. She appreciated him cutting right to the point, her curiosity had started to drive her wild.

She pursed her lips at his assumption, thoughtful. She knew Jamie was a witch, definitely not the coven type, though, and the pair were hardly close, related only through their mutual acquaintances of Bella and Has. Hastalik was his own situation. A witch, surely, Lyn knew that much, and though he'd often referred to his family as a coven, Lyn couldn't help but think of them more as a cult, dark and with a viewpoint that was cold and twisted and violent. She had met a few other witches, in covens and happily and healthily so, but she didn't think buying books and crystals and drinking mulled wine with them at the bars really counted.

             Kaan noticed the bracelet the moment that he saw it on her wrist, closing his book and showing off his own as the man did. “I’ve got a lot of personal restraint,” which did feel quite true, if he lacked restraint he would have taken her the moment that he’d come across her energy and simply made her his, manipulated her mind as he did that of many vampires, made her believe she was his, but this was important, it was important for her to hear the truth of what she was and believe it. Besides, part of him did worry that what she was would make his manipulative magics unable to affect her.

              “Thanks for coming to meet me, I’m sure you figured you’d be done with me when I brought your phone back but you still seemed a little fragile so I…I had something I wanted to tell you and well didn’t seem the time,” he explained, shoving the book into his back pocket, the paperbound cover wearing further when he did so. “I also didn’t want to wait too long to discuss things with you though, do you mind if we go inside?” Kaan requested, pushing off his bike and heading to the door of the Grind, ready to get them both some coffee to make it through the conversation.

"Weird flex, but okay." Lyn teased, finding it strangely easy to laugh in his presence. She had to keep her head tilted up, gaze steady on his features as he spoke. It was different, seeing him in the daylight. He was still familiar, but she could see things now she'd missed before, details that had been lost to the darkness and the haze of fear.

Lyn shrugged off his thanks, one shoulder lifting up higher than the other before dropping back down. She pushed them back, jaw tightening at his words as though a stronger posture could fight off his accusation of her being fragile. Lyn didn't want to admit how true it was, how she'd been sent falling that night, a delicate porcelain thing ready to shatter and it was only his hands that had kept her from cracking against the hard ground.

"You've really got this tall, dark and mysterious thing down, haven't you?" She asked, although there was something in her voice more than playful accusation. She wasn't sure where he was going with this. It seemed to be more than just a wellness check, which she would have accepted with grateful ease, but Lyn couldn't fathom what Kaan could have to discuss with her, what he had to tell her that seemed so important to him.

Lyn followed him to the door, perking up immediately at the familiar interior as her gaze shot to the counter, finding a casually familiar face behind it. It would have been apparent, given the cheery greeting Lyn was given, that the people here knew her, and had noted even her short absence. The barista greeted her by name, and asked if she wanted the usual, and while normally Lyn would have agreed, happily, she still remembered the soured taste on her tongue.

[TXT] Eh, I had a one night stand with Jamie. I’m not sure that counts as a story

[TXT] So did sound like a dick, check. 

[TXT] Plus I could get in if I really needed to. You’d have to change the lock afterward, but desperate times and all. 

[TXT] I feel that. I could only stay in my apt for so long before I had to get out. (and be a bit of a hot mess if I’m honest)  [TXT] At the risk of sounding like a dick, it seems like maybe y’all need to talk to each other and not me.  [TXT] I mean, obviously I’m fascinating and brilliant and please don’t hate me for saying that. 

[TXT] Yeah that’s fair. Although I think it’s supposed to rain this weekend, so hopefully they’ll do it soon or it’ll be water damage central. 

[ TEXT ] : i’m not busy. i want to pick you up.  [ DELETED ] : unless there’s someone else to drive you? [ TEXT ] : even if i was busy, you know i’d still pick you up. [ TEXT ] : i’m not sure what’s going on, but I really want to fix it.

[TXT] Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay [TXT] Yeah, he mentioned that. He didn’t call it being overbearing, but you know.  [TXT] But it sounded like you hadn’t told him you were leaving, so I was worried it was something more. If you’re good tho, then its all good.  [TXT] Has the landlord fixed your windows yet? 

[ TEXT ] : Oh, okay. I guess I’ll wait then. Just text me when you’re ready. [ TEXT ] : Yeah, maybe we should talk about a few things when you come back. [ TEXT ] : anyway. have a good day, i love you.

[ TEXT ] : whenever you feel like it. [ TEXT ] : do you need me to pick you up? [ TEXT ] : i promise, it won’t happen again.

[ TEXT ]:Hero seems a bit much, decent, maybe? Just being decent. [ TEXT ]: See you in twenty minutes.

· · · · · · Kaan got on his bike, aware it was loud enough that if he followed her on it that she’d notice him, so instead he headed there promptly. The distance it took to get there by his bike was only a minute or so…twenty seemed like a lot to require unless…·

· · · · · · ·Lyn was getting ready for him. Oh, yes, that is most certainly what she was doing. A smirk appeared on Kaan’s face as he removed his helmet outside of the cafe and thought on this. This was good, this was going well. In the witch’s mind he had Lyn exactly where he wanted her. Soon enough he’d have her completely, he’d be able to apprehend his nephew to - perhaps he would spare Hastalik his torturous death and give him a quick one to appease his bride - and eventually he would have the most powerful witch heir imaginable.

· · · · · · ·Leather jacket hung over the back of his bike he removed his helmet and waited, _wearing a grey shirt he hoped showed off his strength, _and pulling out the book he’d purchased to show off how alike they could be. Kaan had actually been devouring it, enjoying the plot line of romance between the two characters. It was this, and other things he’d thought of over the past few days that showed him how much better he’d be for the raven haired gift of a woman. He’d be so much better at protecting Lyn than her current boyfriend was, because he wouldn’t let her out of whatever cage he trapped her in - if it did become necessary. He also could share her interests, he had that level of effort in him.·

· · · · · · ·Kaan’s fingers turned the page, reading about how the male leads fingers traversed the woman’s body, leaning against his bike. She wouldn’t be long now.

Decent didn't cover it, in Lyn's mind. Kaan had gone above and beyond and she was sure she'd always feel grateful for him, for the timing that put him on that path with her in the park that night.

She saw him from a distance, eyes lighting up as they always did at the sight of a motorcycle that appealed to her. There was a flare of hurt, there always was, because that affection was one of the last things her father had given her before he'd abandoned their family. Quickly, though, she recognized the man leaning against the bike, recognized the jacket that hung over the back of it. She remembered it's comforting weight, they way it has smelled. It was meant to fit someone much larger than her, and still, she was sure it would fit tight over Kaan's muscled arms. She felt her cheeks heat, and gave herself a small, mental shake. She was just admiring, knew better than to act on impulse and hurt anyone, but even her appreciation of Kaan's appearance sent guilt ringing through her.

She reminded herself that she did miss Isaiah, even if most of the memories she missed seemed placed farther away in time, before the barrier had cracked open. Still, approaching and seeing the book in Kaan's hands, firstly endeared by him reading in public, and secondly thrilled by his choice of novels, it was hard not to wonder what might have happened if they'd met under different circumstances.

@lyn-nichols

[TXT] Hey, you okay? [TXT] Isaiah texted me to ask if I knew what was going on with you. If I need to beat him up, you just let me know. 

[ TEXT ] : hey you. [ TEXT ] : are you coming home soon?  [ TEXT ] : i’m sorry i’ve been acting like a dick. please come back. i miss you.  @lyn-nichols