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“You’re welcome. She has good taste I’ll give her that.” Lyra nodded approvingly, glad that the other had someone helping her out seeing as she didn’t seem to be all that interested in fashion herself. Which was fair, clothes weren’t important to everyone. Other things might hold higher value. “I’m guessing its not your regular footwear? Cause they do hurt quite a lot in the beginning, thats true.” Her pink curls bounced a bit when she nodded, smiling sympathetically at the other girl. It had been a good while since Lyra had thought of heels as wildly unpleasant. But then she liked wearing them when she could. Obviously she wasn’t the type that wore them all the time, especially not working at a record store with marble floors, but definitely during her free time. “Likewise Dani. How’s Volterra treating you otherwise these days?” 

"you should see her closet. she has her own walk in closet while my brother has a small closet." her sisters walk in closet was filled with all of the latest clothes, shoes and accessories. sometimes it amazed her on how she stayed so up to date on fashion.  "heels are definitely not my normal footwear. converse are technically." and converse were way more comfortable too.  plus they looked good with just about anything, dresses included. "pretty good. it's been almost six years since i moved here. i will say, i do miss living in brooklyn though."

😌

if  benjamin  could  dream,  he’d  dream  of  the  placed  he’d  never  seen  or  faces  he’d  never  know.  if  he  could  dream,  he’d  dream  of  lifetimes  that  try  as  he  might,  would  never  be  his.  benjamin  can’t  dream,  can’t  sleep,  can  only  have  a  mind  plagued  with  well  everything  really.  before  most  were  doing,  benjamin  was  thinking.  waiting,  watching,  panicking…  that  is  when  he  wasn’t  with  someone  who  calmed  him;  soothed  this  wildfire  he  held  inside.  heck,  maybe  they  encouraged  it.  in  this  moment  his  mind  didn’t  flash  to  amun  or  kebi,  or  even  aro,  but  to  tia  and  athenodora,  and  the  woman  in  front  of  him.  if  his  heart  beat,  it  would  race  or  surely  flutter  the  way  hers  seemed  to  in  his  ear  drums.

“it’s  a  habit  i’m  trying  to  break.”  he  admitted.  it  seemed  strange  surely,  needing  the  reminder  that  people  wanted  to  be  around  him  𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡  𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛  other  than  to  be  around  him.  she  didn’t  know  what  he  could  do.  there  were  no  expectations  between  them  other  than  maybe,  if  he  thought  about  it,  the  desire  to  just  be  near  each  other.  “i  enjoy  spending  time  with  you  as  well.  i’m  so  happy  i  met  you.”  the  truth  is,  it  kind  of  terrifies  him  to  know  he  had  grown  so  fond  of  a  human  in  such  a  short  time.  while  he  had  never  truly  gone  to  school,  he  knew  it  was  a  thing  these  days.  in  his  days  and  long  before  that,  egyptian  schooling  and  tutors  were  meant  for  those  of  a  higher  status;  something  that  he’d  never  been.   it  seemed  worth  it  to  be  taken  under  his  pseudo  uncle’s  wing  since  he  learned  things  he’d  never  dreamt  of  but  eventually  that  stopped  being  the  case.  he  wondered  what  she  was  like  at  that  age.  

benjamin  laughed  delightfully,  trying  to  imagine  them  as  they  did  it  or  even  how  it  was  possible.  “i  still  don’t  quite  understand  cars,”  he  admitted.  he’d  told  her  his  life  in  cairo  was  secluded  once  if  he  remembered  correctly.  in  some  places  you  didn’t  need  cars  anyway.  it  seemed  like  a  good  excuse.  “how  did  you  ever  manage  such  a  thing?”  there’s  a  word  he  wanted  to  call  her  but  he  wasn’t  sure  of  the  english  translation.  she  was,  and  appeared  to  even  be,  such  a  sweet  being  but  she  had  such  a  playful  side  to  her  that  he  admired.  “the  worst  i’ve  ever  done  was  hide  amun’s  camel.”  more  laughter,  the  kind  you’d  probably  have  to  hold  your  sides  for,  escaped  him.  amun  would  surely  beg  to  differ.  he  was  after  all  the  one  who  had  to  deal  with  the  aftermath  of  not  just  one  but  two  vampires;  tia,  for  standing  up  to  him,  and  benjamin  for  agreeing  to  stay  hidden  but  he  never  agreed  to  anything  else.  if  he  used  his  power,  it’s  because  he  wanted  to  not  because  amun  demanded  it.  

"I could be having the worst day ever, and you just being with me would make everything better." in the past, before she had met him, if she was having a bad day, she would push people away. and sulk in her room.  that or she would refuse to talk to people. those two things alone happened more often than not before she moved to italy.  she would go to work while living in the states, have to deal with people she didn't even like before going home in a bad mood. but over here, she was happy. she had friends over here. she had a life she loved more than anything. but most of all, she had a fresh start over here. thatg was more than what living in the united states of america could offer.

"a very tall crane to help.  one of my classmates dad was a construction worker and was able to get one to help put the cars on the roof."  just talking about the prank made her think if anyone else had managed to even top theirs. which the answer to that was probably not.  "sometimes i miss being a teen. i didn't have to worry about certain things back then. if i did, it was just homework and keeping my grades up." but she was sure that most people her age missed those times. of being either a kid or a teen and not having to worry about that much. from if they would make enough money or not. to other things.

"if my mom was here, she'd be telling you story after story about me." she loved her parents, and even missed them. it was because of them that she would go to visit. but her hometown? she could do without that and a good portion of the people in it.  "speaking of stories, up to hearing another story about me and my younger days?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked over at him.

                   “ yeah, they’re a bit over the top. a bit too much for my liking.” eyebrows furrowed as her tongue licked at her rose tinted lips. “ there’s some history there. my husband used to live here and i’m just not a big fan of how they lead their lives. usually, i wouldn’t mind what others do, but seeing as my husband has decided to remain here… well, it’s an issue.  how are you enjoying it here ? ”

"i understand that completely. there's this family from my hometown that's the exact same way. " it was the same family who hated her own family. even told them to go back to where they came from. that hatred had grown over the years.  but she kept it in for the sake of her family. "have you talked to him about this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "well its a lot different here than america.  for once, people have been nice to me here."

                     “ it’s quite something.” aro agreed, eyes scanning yet another face he did not recognize. precisely the point of his party, to learn of newcomers and perhaps find another talent to add to his collection.     “ really ? what are they like ?  if you don’t mind my asking. i’m always curious about people with great taste. i’m aro, by the way. ”

"well they're pretty good parents. they gave me the best life possible." it was what her birth parents wanted. for kaitlyn to be given the best life possible. "my adopted dad is an architect and my mom is a history professor." she just knew though they would love volterra in general. compared to america, there was more history over here. ""it's nice to meet you aro, i'm kaitlyn."

SHE   MISSED   out   on   a   lot   during   her   time   in   the   tower   .    she   only   knew   what   was   going   on   by   the   words   of   others   and   it   left   her   to   wonder   a   lot   .  especially   about   her   old   friends   .   she   never  stopped   thinking   about   them   ,    thinking   about   if   they   were   still   alive   ,   and    how    they   were    doing   .   she   hated   not   knowing  .    though   right   before   her   now   was   one   of   those   old   friends   .   it   brought   a   genuine   smile   to   her   face   .   “  jia.”   she   said   surprised   .   “  it’s   been   some   time   .   how   are   you   ?   what   are   you   doing   here  ?  ”

centuries, it had been centuries since she had last seen her old friend here. she, as well as athenodora were the main reason she had agreed to come.  she wanted to see two of her oldest friends. that was it. and maybe try to convince them to come to france one of these days, "i'd say more than a few centuries." she noted. "well i got an invitation to come. i figured i'd use that to come see you and athenodora."

  😌

the  smile  on  his  lips  was  so  bone  achingly  genuine.  there  were  moments  of  panic  and  moments  of  absolute  delight;  all  stemming  from  the  fact  that  amun  would  find  him  and  he’d  no  doubt  be  angry.  almost  three  hundred  years  of  hiding,  of  missing  the  chance  to  do  anything  really,  of…  almost  missing  the  opportunity  to  meet  such  a  wonderful  being,  human  or  not.  there  was  something  in  the  way  she  smiled  at  him  that  would’ve  swelled  his  heart  could  it  beat  or  flutter  and  despite  the  lack  of  a  beating  heart,  benjamin  found  himself  drawn  to  her  the  way  light  seeks  to  eradicate  darkness  when  someone  turns  on  a  light  in  a  dark  room.  the  way  she  smiled?  and  the  warmth  that  radiated  in  her  expression…  benjamin  didn’t  feel  panicky  anymore.

“would  you  tell  me  if  i  were?”  benjamin  asked  almost  singsong.  while  he  knew  she  was  mostly  right,  he  also  suspected  someone  MIGHT  notice.  his  thoughts  would  rather  stay  focused  on  her  face  rather  than  someone  else’s  right  now.  it  seemed  instinctive  when  she  wraps  her  arm  around  his  to  move  the  other  hand  to  give  it  a  light  pat.  benjamin  would  be  a  liar  if  he  say  it  hadn’t  taken  all  of  his  might  to  be  gentle  and  slow  in  the  motion.  “i’ll  keep  that  in  mind.”  he  promised,  tugging  her  gently  away  from  bodies  he  couldn’t  see  red  eyes  in  but  he  knew  were  also  vampires.  “i  wouldn’t  mind  a  story  from  five  minutes  ago,”  as  long  as  it  came  from  her,  he  could  listen  for… well,  an  eternity.  “tell  me,  mahbub,”  a  loose  translation  to  english  would  be  DARLING.  “a  dream  or  hope,  or  whatever  your  heart  desires.”

from all the people she had been around, benjamin was different from them. she actually enjoyed being around him. and even more, she loved it when he was with her.  she felt safe when she was with him. as if nothing would harm her. but more than that, almost like she had found her home. that alone made her think to what her mother had said once.  'home isn't always a house. rather a person instead’." as crazy as it sounds, yasmine was sure she found hers.

"you're not though, okay?  i love spending time with you. when you're around, it's like everything is better." she could have had the worst day ever, and benjamin would change that.  he could make that day so much better. "to start off, it was my senior year of high school. and my classmates and i pulled off the best prank ever." the class prank they had pulled was truly epic. "we managed to get not only our principles car on the roof of the school but the vice principles too. we all got in trouble too but it was worth it." the smile on her lips only grew as she told the story. one of just many she had. if her parents had been there, she knew they would have been telling any and all stories they had on yasmine. 

“I AM ONLY here because i want to keep an eye on my daughter, make sure no one tries anything with her.” he chuckled and nodded slowly. it seemed as though he had found someone that was in the same boat as himself, not fond of things like this. “even if you don’t ware them often i will say that you clean up good, kid.” charlie stated as he took another sip of his drink. “i’m more of a flannel guy than a suit guy myself so i understand.”

"i wonder if anyone would notice if i just left soon. you'd think with so many people here, no one would notice or care." she'd do anything to leave early to go home and change out of the dress.  "well thank you. i personally think this dress would have looked better with a pair of red or black converse. that or flats." she was never a girl who was used to traditional stuff. like heels with dresses. now converse with dresses? that's what she liked.

“OH MY GOSH i know, it’s amazing what the guests can come up with when they set interesting themes.” elizabeth agreed. “what really makes me mad about them though is when people don’t put any effort into it all. the evening’s all set up perfectly for them but the effort isn’t there.” she sighed. it bothered her when people didn’t try. “sometimes expressing one’s creativity is fun.”

"2014 had to my favorite. the dresses from that year's theme were amazing."   she had at least two favorite years. 2014, and of course, the year they had the theme be alexander mcqueen. those had to have been the best for fashion. "that right there is just, it shows how lazy a person is.  if there's a theme. bring forth that creativity." there was nothing wrong at all with being creative in the fashion world either.  "it'd be like doing a fairytale theme and a group of people just not even really thinking about things relating to that."

😌

it  seemed  silly  the  way  she  questioned  it;  or  the  lack  thereof.  “not  that  i  can  remember,”  benjamin  admitted  truthfully  and  for  a  moment  he  knows  if  he  could  do  so,  blush  would  burn  in  his  ears  and  across  his  cheeks  in  embarrassment.  “perhaps  when  i  was  younger.”  though  even  then  he  couldn’t  remember  up  until  the  last  month  or  so  of  his  human  life  and  only  in  bits  and  pieces.  “would  it  be  too  much  to  ask  of  you?  i  wouldn’t  want  to…”  to  what?  put  you  out  didn’t  seem  like  the  correct  saying.  “take  up  too  much  of  your  time.”  silly  him  almost  three  hundred  years  and  yet  a  party  of  so  many,  of  not  seeing  their  faces,  of  everything  really,  making  him  panic.  his  thoughts  flash  to  tia  and  he  knows  it  would’ve  been  better  to  start  with  had  she  been  there,  not  knowing  how  close  she  was  just  yet.  and  still,  benjamin  feels  at  ease  with  this  human  so  quickly,  and  he  doesn’t  want  to  be  elsewhere.  “perhaps  we  could  share  stories?”  benjamin  asks  as  he  offers  an  arm  for  her,  knowing  how  surprised  she  had  been  the  first  time.  “i  would  love  to  hear  whatever  you  have  to  say.”

""you're not taking up my time."  she would have stayed by him even if he didn't ask. being by him, she felt comfortable. at ease in a sense.  it was rare for her to feel such a way too. but it was almost like she had known him for a while. even though they had met not too long ago. "i'm pretty sure if we snuck out, no one would notice." she pointed out. if he wanted to leave the party, she'd go with him.  and besides, she was sure that no one would notice if they had left early.  a soft smile on her lips, she wrapped her arm around his.  "if you want stories from when i was younger, i have plenty of those." she had more than enough stories to tell from when she was younger. some embarrassing, some funny. 

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅʏ ᴍᴏᴏɴʟɪɢʜᴛ

𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑵 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹 ╱ ╱ 𝑪𝑨𝑰𝑼𝑺 𝑽𝑶𝑳𝑻𝑼𝑹𝑰

The vampire was next to the big back door, the fabric of the black expensive suit with dark red details shone in the light of the fancy chandelier, he hadn’t put on his mask yet, after all he was far from all the action, the long thin fingers delicately held the cigarette, the mind taken back to a distant time. Parties were never a challenge for the Volturi clan, every detail was perfectly planned and for every celebration there was a second intention, but as good hosts they knew how to keep the truth hidden. Another important fact about them is that they lived by their image, they would never allow other people to see their ruin, they were strong, united, Caius was just another puppet in that great show. The vampire had always been observant, reserved, but he was good at reading people and knew how susceptible they were in unfamiliar environments, they tend to talk a lot when nervous and that this was the perfect combination for getting information, he believed wisdom is power,  about things or people, it can save or destroy a life and he always liked to be one step ahead.

He wondered how the ball was going, if he should actually show up, feel the weight of the eyes on him, sometimes he liked that, he liked to have attention turned to him, something he had never had in his life, he never had the spotlight but that night was not the case. Caius took another long drag on his cigarette, finally putting on his blood red mask. The shadow of the silhouette reflected on the floor caught his eye “This is a forbidden area” he said looking at the person in the eyes, his red ones shining brightly, frowning

jia had been to plenty of balls like this. even when she was a human, though those were different. back then, during her time, there was always some form of entertainment there to entertain the royal family. whether it was dancers, or something else. but never any dancing like what was taking place.  over time, she had come to get used to it. used to events like this. even if she did miss the old days or how things were before she was turned.

stepping away from the party,  she couldn't help but to wander around. even for a moment. after all, this would be only time she could see the castle, at least from the outside.  hearing a voice, she raised an eyebrow. "i apologize, there weren't any signs saying this was forbidden area." she noted. if there were, then well, that was on her for not noticing.

😌

benjamin’s  lips,  at  first  quirked,  only  moved  deeper  into  a  smile.  “ladaya hz!”  he  exclaimed  with  delight.  to  the  english  they’d  say  lucky  me  but  benjamin’s  native  tongue  is  a  loose  translation  of  i  have  luck.  benjamin  knew  he  would’ve  blushed  if  he  could.  it  had  been  almost  three  centuries  since  that  had  been  a  possibility.  “i  do  not  know  about  that.  how  could  i  compare  when  you  are  absolutely  magnificent?”  and  in  a  way,  if  he  hadn’t  been  trying  to  keep  his  lips  from  moving,  he  would’ve  said  she  was  intimating.  he  wasn’t  sure  how  anything  could  compare  infact.  “truthfully?  i’ve  never  been  to  a  party  so  i’ve  been  a  bit…  panicky.”  yet  he  says  that  but  he  feels  a  wave  of  relief  wash  over  him.  “seeing  you,  you  remind  me  of  𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲  𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.”  while  he  didn’t  have  a  cellphone,  he  had  read  and  seen  many  glimpses  of  the  world  while  tucked  away  from  it.  “absolutely  beautiful.”

"never been to a party at all?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. yasmine had been to so many parties. sure a good portion of them were never as big as this one. most of them had been small parties, or well like the dance during her last year of high school. but even prom couldn't compare to a party like this.  "parties can be fun." she noted. "would it help if i stayed by your side tonight? maybe then you won't feel so panicky." she offered.  though regardless, she would want to stay near him. she loved spending time with him. which was rare for yasmine. never had to really loved being around anyone as much as she loved being around benjamin. hearing his last remark, she couldn't help but to blush.  

CHARLIE HATED GETTING dressed up, it was the least favorite thing on his list of things. but being here opting out didn’t really seem like an option. it seemed like pretty much everyone in this city was hyped to go to this ball thing. so charlie being charlie went to be a nice guest. went to be friendly one would say for it seemed like he wouldn’t be going home anytime soon. “my thoughts exactly though i was thinking more along the lines of just never coming and staying the hell home.” the father chuckled as he shook his head. “i really don’t know how you women wear those heels but by all means take them off and ditch them i wont tell a soul.”

"i never come to these things. yet my brother persuaded me to come." she didn't want to be there at all.  these types of parties weren't her style anyway. dressing up in fancy dresses, looking your best? not her. wearing jeans and a tshirt was more of her style.  "i don't wear heels, like at all. tonight's the first time i've worn them." a heel person? not at all. she hated wearing heels too. "i like wearing converse more. honestly wearing those instead would have been so much better."