#vynline

Vyn jolted awake. He felt the plane shake, and a voice sounded over the speakers, the words only half-reaching his brain as he struggled to situate himself.

He looked out the window. Right. Stellis City. He must have arrived. 

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, internally wincing as he saw his transparent reflection in the glass, his appearance anything but presentable. A sigh left him and he tried his best to fix whatever he could.

Once that was done and his glasses were once more on his face, Vyn took a look at his belongings and made sure he had everything. The plane had landed by now, and everyone was already starting to stand up and gather their bags, but Vyn stayed seated for now. He pulled out his phone, turning it on and switching the airplane mode off. Notifications soon started appearing on his screen, the last one showing a message sent only a few minutes ago.

“ You should be landing soon, correct? ”

Right as he clicked on the message and opened it, the other person started typing again.

“ I knew it. ”

“ Take your time, we’re almost there. ”

Vyn sent a simple response, acknowledging the words before putting his phone in his pocket again. The door was finally open, and people were starting to get off. Vyn didn’t have to wait too long to leave the plane – not many people traveled from Svart to Stellis, if he was being honest –, and soon enough he was walking through the foreign airport, going through the final checks before being free.

The fatigue was starting to weigh on him, despite having dozed off for almost half of the flight, and he was looking forward to just settling down already. It was early afternoon in Stellis by now, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he wouldn’t be against a meal at the moment.

Just as he thought of pulling out his phone to check if he had gotten any new messages, a voice called out to him – though it did take him a second to realize he was being talked to. He’d need to get used to being called by his new name.

“Dr. Richter!”

He turned his head to see two figures approaching him: Giann Von Hagen, he recognized from their previous exchanges, though the woman beside him was unfamiliar. He still greeted them with a polite smile and nod, walking to meet them halfway.

“Mr. Von Hagen. I was just about to message you.”

The said Mr. Von Hagen waved a dismissive hand at him.

“Please, no need to be so formal. Just call me Giann. Oh,” he gestured to the woman beside him, “this is my fiancée, Ailine. I hope you don’t mind her tagging along with us.”

Vyn shook his head and watched as Ailine bowed before doing the same.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Richter. I’m Ailine Weiss. Giann told me a lot about you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Miss Weiss.”

Giann insisted on carrying Vyn’s belongings for him, despite the man’s protests — and they soon arrived to the car that was meant to drive him to his new house. Once all of the baggage was settled inside the vehicle, the three of them sat in the back of the car as the driver started it up. Ailine spoke up first, most likely in an attempt to eradicate any chance of an awkward silence settling, Vyn noted. 

“I hope your journey here wasn’t too rough? Svart is quite a ways away from Stellis.”

Vyn was sitting next to the left car door, leaning slightly against it. He straightened up and leant slightly forward in order to look at Ailine while responding — Giann sitting in between the two was hiding her almost entirely.

“Ah, it wasn’t too bad, thankfully. I will just need to adjust to the time difference, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ailine gave him a smile accompanied by a polite giggle — despite their efforts, Vyn could see their reservations towards him. They were clearly keeping up their professional fronts — not that he could blame them, though. They were practically strangers still, and Vyn was doing the same anyway. He didn’t think about it much longer though, as Giann cleared his throat and spoke up in turn. 

“We’ve been taking care of your house, so it should be all ready for you to settle in. All necessary appliances are present, and the water and electricity should be on already, but if you have any problems just give me a call and I’ll have someone fix it.”

Ailine added right afterwards, leaning forward the same way Vyn had earlier. 

“That reminds me, I’ve looked into some stores that sell furniture and decorations of great quality. I’ll have Giann send you their addresses later, if you’d like.”

Vyn hummed, a small smile dancing at his lips. 

“That would be lovely. Thank you for all the help you’ve given me, I appreciate it.”

The two reacted in tandem, chuckling in response and shooting each other a glance upon noticing that.

“It’s only natural. We hope to welcome you into Stellis as well as possible.”

Ailine expressed her agreement, and the small talk came to a stop. Vyn fell into thought, slumping ever so slightly against the car door again. He had looked into the neighborhood his new house would be in — Hemingway Heights, Giann had told him. The neighborhood was nice, from what he had seen. Well taken care of, and the area surrounding his street had quite a few stores, so he would have places to go at least. On top of that, it was the district made to promote higher education, which meant many universities and research institutions would be close to his living place. Giann had also sent him pictures of the house he had found him — it was more than enough, he thought. A definite downgrade from the Duke’s palace in Svart, but Vyn didn’t need such unnecessary space anyway. 

He was just glad to have a garden, and enough room to properly arrange everything he wanted. 

Images of Stellis’ streets flashed through the window as they drove, the quiet chatter between the two fiancés next to him serving as background noise to his thoughts. Soon enough though, they were stopping, and the door he was sitting next to was opened. He stepped out to finally take in his new house in person for the first time, taking note of every detail he could see. It was exactly as Giann had described it — he silently appreciated the man’s attention to detail and all the care put in meeting Vyn’s criteria. 

“You seem to like it, correct?”

The voice of the very man he was thinking about sounded next to Vyn, and he turned his head to meet a smiling face — quite smug-looking, if Vyn were to look closer — as Giann inquired. A chuckle left him and he pushed his glasses back up on his nose, looking back at the front before answering. 

“Yes. It’s exactly as you described. I must thank you again for all your efforts.”

“Please, it’s my pleasure. I’m glad to have met your expectations.”

The driver had already placed all of Vyn’s baggage on the front porch, and soon enough he was being welcomed inside, Giann and Ailine both following behind him. The house smelled nice, and looked clean — Giann wasn’t lying when he mentioned he had been taking care of it until now. He had asked Vyn thoroughly about his opinion on the arrangement, and while Vyn could see a few things he would move eventually, it was overall perfect. 

Once they had toured the house and garden, the group found itself once again in front of it and talked. Ailine checked the time and looked up at Vyn right as they were about to share their goodbyes. 

“Dr. Richter, I don’t suppose you’ve eaten since your flight, have you?”

After a hum of thought, Vyn replied. 

“I have not, no.”

Before he had the time to add anything, Giann cut in. 

“Well it’s already dinner time, so why not join us for it? My treat.”

Ailine gave a protest at the last part, to which Giann responded with a bashful laugh, and Vyn gave a smile. Who was he to refuse an invitation, after all? Besides, he had to admit he was really hungry, and wasn’t sure he wanted to make dinner himself. 

“Of course, I would love to.”

The smiles the couple sent him lifted his spirits, and they were soon on their way once more after they had decided on a restaurant to take him to, for his first meal in Stellis. 

Giann and Ailine had chosen a restaurant owned by the Weiss family, Vyn had been told on the way there, to guarantee him a great first experience, Giann said. The restaurant was clearly luxurious: and they were led to a private table, secluded from the other guests in the restaurant. Since Giann had already offered to pay — not without another complaint from Ailine —, he ushered Vyn to order whatever he wished for and not hold back. Silence fell among the three of them as they looked over the menu, and Vyn carefully weighed the different options in his mind. Finally they placed their orders, and engaged in more idle chatter — though Vyn found himself curious about his hosts.

“So, Miss Weiss, your family owns this restaurant?”

Ailine glanced towards him and nodded. 

“We do, yes. The Weiss family is known for its hotels and restaurants. It’s why we are Pax’s partners, actually.”

Vyn gave a hum of acknowledgement, chuckling to himself before looking towards Giann instead. 

“Seems like Pax invests in just about anything, doesn’t it?”

Giann laughed in return, the corners of his eyes crinkling with a wider smile than he had given Vyn before. 

“Well, it is a good idea to invest in several areas. It allows Pax to help development and to build relationships. I mean,” he gestured towards Ailine and their rings, “Ailine and I would have never known each other, nor gotten engaged, if our families weren’t business partners.”

“That’s true.” agreed the mentioned fiancée. 

Their dishes arrived not long after, Vyn enjoying his light — and free — dinner with the company of his two new acquaintances. 

It was already late into the evening when the group finished their dinner. Fatigue was catching up with Vyn — and he wanted nothing more than to lay down into his bed and get a good night’s rest. Giann and Ailine offered to drive him back, and at the risk of relying on them too much for a day, he accepted. He didn't have much of a choice anyway, really, what with still being unfamiliar with the city and having relatively no way to get to his house on his own — and there was no way he would risk trying out public transport this late into his first day in Stellis. 

Finally, he was back in front of his house, saying his goodbyes to the couple for the day. Giann looked at him through the window of the car, giving a final list to welcome Vyn properly. 

“You can get in touch with Stellis University from 8am to 7pm, weekends might be trickier though. As for myself and Ailine, well, just text me anytime and I’ll get to you as soon as possible!”

Vyn thanked him once more, nodding as Giann went on about everything he might need to know — despite Vyn already being aware of most of those anyway. It was a kind gesture, so he didn’t say anything. Finally, Giann was done, and he grinned.

“At the risk of repeating myself: welcome to Stellis, Dr. Richter. It was a pleasure finally meeting you in person.”

And Vyn smiled in response.

“It was a pleasure as well, Mr. Von Hagen, Miss Weiss. I will see you next time.”

Vyn wasn’t sure when they had drifted apart.

The last time he had seen Ailine was over 3 months ago; they didn’t really keep in touch anymore. Both of them had isolated themselves. The last few times he had seen her, she looked like a mere shell of her past self.

She tried to keep up the illusion that she was doing well. She tried to pretend that she was still optimistic. But Vyn was a psychiatrist, after all; and before that, he was her close friend.

He could see the eyebags growing deeper under her eyes each time they saw each other. He could see the red tint and slight puffiness of her face, most likely having been crying not long prior. He could see the way her body grew thinner, her skin paler, and he could see how she was shaking ever so slightly whenever he was brought up.

He couldn’t really blame her. She was his fiancée, after all; childhood sweethearts, engaged and ready to get married. They had even asked him to help plan their wedding. And now they couldn’t even be sure it would ever take place.

He knew he shouldn’t give up hope. But Vyn had never been an idealistic person, preferring to see things as they were, to the risk of coming off as rather pessimistic at times. Still, it wasn’t like he could simply give up on the thought of the person who meant the most to him being okay.

A person leant onto the railing next to him.

“You cut your hair.”

An observational statement. Vyn didn’t even need to look at her to know who spoke up; he could recognize that voice anywhere.

“I did.”

Silence fell onto the both of them. It had been like this before as well; Vyn and Ailine didn’t necessarily need to speak to spend a good time together. They had often spent hours basking in each other’s company in silence, simply appreciating the presence of the other.

The silence this time, however, held a different aura.

“You told me before that hair holds memories.”

His head lowered. Of course she could see through him, as much as he hated the idea. Or, well, the idea of anyone else seeing through him; Ailine being able to wasn’t so bad. He stayed silent for a little while. She knew not to rush him.

“It’s been almost a year.”

She nodded. 

“It has.”

Vyn took a deep breath, before answering. Vulnerability had never been his strong suit.

“It reminded me too much of him. He’s the one who encouraged me to let my hair grow. He liked to play with it.”

A pause.

“Every time I looked at myself, I thought of him.”

Ailine looked at the scenery below them, quietly listening. The wind blew through her hair, sending it flying behind her.

“I get it. Everything I did reminded me of him in some way. I was miserable for a while.”

She paused as well, most likely to gather her thoughts. As Vyn shot her a glance, he could see that one look on her face; the one she harbored whenever she was thinking of words to say to cheer him up.

And perhaps to cheer herself up at the same time.

“I don’t think Giann would want us to be burdened by his disappearance like this.”

Vyn felt his chest tighten. So far, they had been dancing around the topic, not daring to speak his name or to say what happened out loud. He knew this wasn’t good. He was a psychiatrist, for god’s sake; he knew avoiding the topic forever was a terrible coping mechanism. 

He shook his head to bring himself back to a proper emotional state, back to listening to Ailine’s words.

“I think… He’d want us to keep on living. So, I’d like to think he’d support us in our decisions.”

He tilted his head in confusion, a frown etching on his face. ‘ Our decisions’ ? 

Ailine must have noticed - of course she did -, because she giggled lightly and answered him.

“I got rid of a lot of my belongings. Well- most of them I placed in boxes and hid somewhere in my house, but I did throw a few things away.”

She paused to look back at the sight below the railing, taking a shaky breath.

“Still, what I’m trying to say is, your decision is justified.”

Vyn nodded, a chuckle of his own escaping him.

“Thank you for the reassurance, Ailine.”

She moved closer to him, gently placing her hand over his. He allowed her, turning it around to intertwine their fingers together.

“You’re welcome, Vivi.”

They stood there in silence, their bodies close to each other as they stared into the distance. It would be hard to move on, Vyn knew that much, but at least, for that very moment, he could enjoy the comfort.

Vyn eventually broke the silence, his tone suddenly colder than it had been earlier.

“Oh, right. Marius has been whining forever that you haven’t been visiting him. Do me a favor and go see him, if only for the sake of my sanity.”

Ailine laughed, rubbing her thumb across the back of Vyn’s hand.