Naomi Wyatt

Bea nodded in answer to the first question, chuckling a little along with Noami. “Don’t worry, even with the white coat people don’t tend to jump to vet in a zoo. We are rather behind the scenes, and we don’t always wear white coats. Go into a few enclosures wearing white and you’d soon find out why. Not long at all, coming up to three months.” 

“That’s so cool!” Naomi exclaimed. “Wow, that must be a dream job for you. Do you specialize in certain animals?” She found the idea of being a vet at the zoo so much fun, though logically she knew it was probably more mess than anything else. 

Mallory couldn’t help but smile at the young woman’s enthusiasm. She stood from her desk and took the offered purse. “Well, you’re not wrong,” she acquiesced, moving to leave the office. “And you can choose. I’ll drive.”

Naomi appreciated Mallory going with her on this. It made her feel better to even think she was able to help her boss and friend in some small way. She hoped her tenacious care of Mallory was touching for the vampire rather than an annoyance. She wasn’t trying to add to the issues on the Original’s plate. “Barbetta,” she suggested the restaurant that had been owned by the same family since 1906. “We can eat in the garden? In the shade? The fresh air would be nice. Unless the smog level is up today,” she added, half jokingly.

                    “Well you know what I find beautiful,” hues encapsulated a sliver of lewd regard, raising his brows as if the indelicate hint was obvious, offering a roguish grin to match, “Kinky Boots and The Nutcracker doesn’t really get my rocks off.” He paused as if allowing such syllables to sink in, before breathing out a laugh of his own; surely he was half ribbing her, his truculent sarcasm landing him into trouble more times than not, offering a shrug in finality. 

                    “Clearly they want a first class ticket to witness this shit. That, or they’re suicidal,” he scoffed plainly, Caleb’s offensive statement hardly enough to warrant him to blink an eye. 

Naomi raised an eyebrow at Caleb, but didn’t comment, as if silently challenging him to take it further. To elaborate on the comment which she knew held a multitude of unsaid words. Did he find her beautiful? Now? Sleeping with Caleb had been a drunken--if fun--mistake. A college indiscretion which he had never allowed her to forget for the rest of their time in school together. But the irrepressible, irreverent young man had been the opposite of what Naomi thought, no, knew she needed in school. She hadn’t needed any distractions. Naomi had gone through most of her life as a bookwork, and her work ethic had only gotten better as she aged. 

“No, I think that if you did try to get your rocks off in a performance, you’d get kicked out,” she commented wryly, though her lips curled with amusement, proud of the crude statement she casually dropped for him. 

Naomi shook her head, looking around, taking in all that was New York before them. The hustle and bustle of people, the wide eyed gazes of those who hadn’t seen buildings this tall or streets this busy. “I think it’s ignorance and naiveté,” she replied. “It’s already happened so they think they’re safe. That it won’t happen again.” A shiver ran up and down Naomi’s spine. She knew that wasn’t true. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop, knowing that New York was not out of danger yet.  

“And you were okay with it?” Brows raised, Myles tried to imagine it, being told in recent years. Naomi had obviously taken it all in stride, had made a point to educate herself and just roll with things. That’s what he liked about her in general, that she was used to all this weirdness, accepted it was just part of life. “I grew up knowing about all this.” His free hand gestured vaguely about the room. “To be cautious about all of it. Being here, has me unlearning all of that. Kind of.” Not every werewolf was out to kill someone, sometimes they were really just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ultimately they were all still people, just leading different kind of lives and that’d been hard for his father to grasp.

“Well, I had to be if I wanted the job,” Naomi shrugged. “And I wanted the job.” God how she had wanted it. To have given up after everything she went through to get there would have been criminal in Naomi’s mind. Mallory was someone she wanted to learn from, and whether she had fangs or fins didn’t change that. Naomi had been--and still was--desperate to make something of herself, to go further than her family ever had or thought she would. Where else would she have gotten that type of opportunity?

“I guess it all depends what you learn and who from,” she offered up, understanding what he meant. Naomi had been given free rein to research and ask questions. And multiple species worked at BITE. Whereas if she was understanding what she was reading between the lines, Myles’ education about the supernatural had been a lot less balanced.

“How did you find out?” Myles rested a cheek against his right hand, content to just sit and listen to her talk. He imagined that Naomi had led a relatively normal life before taking on the job as Mallory Bordeaux’s assistant. She’d been thrown into all of this, he imagined she had a lot of stories to tell. “About Mallory, I mean.” The CEO, like all of the originals came across as some kind of mysterious entity. She’d been some kind of fairytale creature to him at some point, part of a story to tell. Finding out Naomi worked for her was like finding out she worked for Snow White. “I imagine it came as kind of a shock.”

“Well, once I passed the hiring process and had accepted the job...they told me.” Naomi could still remember the thrill of being told she had been chosen for the position. She had had tingles from head to toe. “And then, well they told me there was more I needed to know and sat me down and...told me.” She could still remember that too. The shock. The disbelief. Different employees of the various species had been brought in to show her. “It led to a lot of homework for me,” she laughed ruefully. “I wanted to know everything and they needed me to.” 

“Honestly, it’s no bother,” Bea said reassuringly, shaking her head slightly. “I would be a pretty shitty vet if I didn’t want to be bothered about animals in need. I’d always rather be bothered. Even if someone comes to me about an injured bird which is actually just standing on one leg.” Taking a pause from the conversation Beatrix quickly radioed in the situation and where she was before returning her attention to the woman. “Nice to meet you, Naomi, you can call me Bea.”

“Oh you’re a vet here?” Naomi exclaimed, then shook her head. “Of course, sorry, white coat.” She laughed, continuing to shake her head at herself. “It’s nice to meet you too, Bea. So how long have you been a vet here? That’s so cool, this seems like a dream job.” 

“Well that’s petty, isn’t it?” Percy smirked, though, grin tugging at his lips as he looked at his friend with amusement. It had been a while since he’d seen her last but she was the same as ever and he appreciated that about their kind. The world changed and times change but age had set them in their ways and they had nothing to apologize for because of it. “Have you been in the city long, Caro? Or just dropping in to pick up some new shades?”

Caroline gave an elegant shrug that conveyed her apathy at the accusation quite accurately. “I never claimed to be otherwise,” she reminded him with a smile. “I’ve been here a while,” she nodded. “I’m working here. To afford the sunglasses, of course,” she smiled, sharing the joke. “And you, darling?” 

“It’s um, it’s fine.” Everything was fine with Naomi, she was a safe space. It’s not like he minded talking about home all that much. If anything, the lingering emotions afterwards got to him more than the actual conversation. “Maybe I’ll go back and visit this summer.” Myles offered a small smile, gave a casual shrug of his shoulders. To see his mother only, meet her at their favorite bakery. While he missed his brothers, he didn’t think he could see them without getting some kind of guilt trip. And he sure as hell didn’t want to see his father.

Instead he chose to focus on what she’d said about the Davenport’s. Original’s, both vampire and wolf were a part of her everyday life, they were something she had to deal with. “Do you hang out with other…?” How did he phrase it? “People you know aren’t human? Like I have Isadora and that’s as far as I know.” It’s not like he asked everyone. It didn’t really matter, but he was curious. “I learned so much about everything growing up, but I haven’t really encountered much.” Knowingly at least. He had suspicions about people sometimes, found himself looking for little things out of curiosity.

“You don’t--” Naomi shook her head, and gave Myles a gentle smile. “I’m sure that would be nice.” She didn’t want him to think she was pressuring him for information, or judging him for not going home. It was up to him and no one else. Naomi knew people who had left toxic relationships with their families. It was none of her business how they decided to deal or cope with it. 

She laughed a little at his hesitation. At this point, it was just as much of her normal if not more so as spending time with humans. Strange, but true. “I mean, I spend most of my time at work, and I make friends so...yeah?” she shrugged a little helplessly, not exactly knowing what answer he wanted. “I’m kind of a workaholic,” she admitted. As if Myles didn’t already know that about her. It wasn’t something Naomi exactly hid. “I don’t...I don’t really think about it, honestly. Too much.” 

“Nice try, Wyatt,” Teddy snickered, “but I need to get in the napkin-folding zone before I can show you my mastery of the art.” Complete and utter bullshit but he figured Naomi wouldn’t mind. 

“Fine, but I expect a demonstration at some point,” Naomi warned, flapping a napkin at Teddy. She knew that he was bluffing anyway. Still, she considered picking up the book. She would likely never use it personally, but maybe professionally one day? 

“Don’t be sorry, I’ll go grab one just in case, I’ll be back shortly,” Beatrix commented with a polite smile before disappearing behind a door marked staff only. True to her word Bea wasn’t long at all and returned a couple of minutes later, the strap of the green first aid kit slung over her shoulder. “Peacocks can be rather noisy, so it may just be screaming for a whole number of reasons.” Gesturing for Naomi to lead the way Bea began following the woman. 

Naomi smiled and nodded, willing herself to wait patiently for the woman. Still, she couldn’t help shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her smile widened with relief when the woman in the official coat came back. “I think being stuck is bad enough,” Naomi commented. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, I just wanted to make sure it was all right. I’m Naomi, by the way.” 

The Original gave an exasperated sigh, despite not actually being annoyed. “You’re like a dog with a bone. You know that, right?” The woman asked, her eyes filled with a light amusement. The idea of being tired wasn’t completely foreign to Mallory and very little could conjure up the feeling. Paperwork wasn’t one of those things. “Fine. I’ll go to lunch with you.”

“It’s what you pay me the big bucks for,” Naomi replied blithely, winking at her boss. Her attention to detail and tenacity got things done and she knew that it was something Mallory appreciated. Delighted, Naomi clapped her hands together. “Perfect, I’ll even let you choose where.” She plucked Mallory’s purse up and held it out to the Original, biting back a grin. 

Had she the capacity for it, Sabine might have regretted her tone. In any case, she softened slightly and sat up straight to give Naomi her attention. Working under Mallory was no small task–the original did not suffer fools or insubordination, and her assistant proved herself over and over to be an invaluable asset. “I was,” she said with a quick sigh, her gaze falling to the paperwork on her desk briefly before she inhaled steadily and stood to move around her desk and take the set of folders from Naomi. She opened them to give them a glance, but her mind immediately wandered elsewhere.

“How is she? Mallory, I mean,” she murmured. The door was still open and Sabine didn’t particularly want eavesdroppers, and so she kept her voice low and conspiratorial. Their boss seemed disinclined to do anything but charge into her work without missing a beat despite the violent demise of her immortal brother. Sabine half-expected her to crumble, but the other half also anticipated this outcome as well. Regardless, she wanted a little information.

Naomi knew that Sabine was only asking out of concern for Mallory. Personal even, not professional. She knew even before Sabine clarified. It seemed like it was all anyone wanted to know from her these days. Did they expect Mallory to crumble to pieces? She was stronger than that, stronger than to show to anyone just how much she was hurting. Were they wanting her grief as proof of some small part of humanity still left inside? 

“She still dislikes me talking about her to other people as much as ever,” Naomi said pointedly, though keeping her tone light and sweet. A subtle reprimand. She knew that Sabine--like everyone else--likely couldn’t help it. And Naomi couldn’t blame anyone for being worried. But that still didn’t mean that she would betray Mallory’s confidences. She had worked to earn the vampire’s trust and any personal assistant worth their salt knew that you didn’t just go airing your boss’ dirty laundry. 

Naomi inclined her head towards Sabine. “She’s managing,” she said, offering all she was really willing to say. Hoping it would be enough that the other vampire didn’t take offence or grow angry with her. Naomi might be absolutely dedicated to Mallory, but Sabine was another woman she liked and respected. Naomi felt lucky to be able to work with such powerful, badass women. 

Cassie was glad for the shift in conversation and tone since she was on the verge of really getting pissy. But she smiled then, glancing around, “It’s all about timing… just need to wait for the potential right moment”.

“And the right opponent,” Naomi said wryly, taking another sip of her beer. She had a feeling that this woman fought to win and would choose her competitor accordingly.

“Your silence.” Claire would rather die than endanger another mortal in this war. Too many of them had died without even knowing why. There was already too much blood on Claire’s hands and she wasn’t planning on adding anymore anytime soon. The night of the concert was the last straw for the girl. She was going to find every last member of these so called “Ouroboros” and rip out their hearts. “It shouldn’t be too much to ask.”

Naomi raised an eyebrow at the blonde. She knew that Claire hadn’t been going to ask for her help, but it still stung that she had no intention of it at all. That all she wanted was for Naomi to be a good girl and keep her lips zipped. She hadn’t been going around talking about what happened, nor had she any intention to. But the attitude of the wolf grated. Naomi didn’t like being told what to do by people who had no business telling her. She knew that Claire was an Original and as such commanded some respect, but she felt this whole conversation unnecessary. It made her feel antsy and annoyed. “I make my own decisions, but it’s not as if I was exactly spreading it as gossip before this,” she said pointedly. “I’m not exactly indiscrete.” 

Who was she going to tell anyway? Call up the numbers of the other Davenport wolves from her address book and make sure they knew? Naomi wasn’t sure who Claire was trying to keep the secret from, but she didn’t see the point. They would find out eventually. Everything came out in the end. Naomi doubted she was the only one who had seen the blonde in that state.

“I’ve thought about that, too.” Gwen’s hand left Naomi’s shoulder and found the pocket of her coat. They’d be easier to track down. They had a decent number, she was sure these people had members to spare to track them down. It’d probably excite them, the thrill of the hunt. Probably satisfy them to drag the bodies back to New York, too. It seemed like something they’d do. Part of her was surprised they weren’t stringing people up in the Frey but she’d never dwell on that thought for too long. Her eyes watching the people bustle past them as they walked, nose picking up something every so often, ears dipping into conversations. It all filtered past, created a noise at the back of her head. It wasn’t a comfort in a time like this, kind of contributed to a paranoia that came and went. Sometimes she’d think she’d catch something useful, some kind of information she could bring to Mallory. A way to put an end to all of this. But nothing was going to be that simple.

“What about you, hmm? You feeling alright?” Safe, did she feel safe was what she meant. Among a nest of vampires during the day. In her position, she imagined she felt vulnerable at home and the thought didn’t sit well with her. “You live alone, right?” Dog, big dog, she had half a mind to steer the human to the nearest pet store. Mallory wasn’t going to let anything happen to her, not after all she’d been through, but she couldn’t help but worry. “Have you thought about getting someone to….Bless the place? Whatever spells the lot of witches around here do.” 

“I guess none of us can help thinking about it,” Naomi shrugged, burrowing a little further into her coat. The danger. The potential for havoc. Contingency plans. Naomi had none herself. She was a human. She had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. No special skills or resources at her disposal unless one counted her organizational and multitasking abilities. But those were hardly magic--although some had described them as such. 

Naomi gave Gwen a small smile. “All right is rather relative, isn’t it?” she asked. She was all right compared to how she had been. Jumping at shadows and hurrying through the streets as fast as her high heels could carry her. Going from one place to the next and sleeping with a dumbbell next to her bed. “But yeah, I’m all right,” she added with a shrug of one shoulder. “I’ve been meaning to go to the Frey actually,” Naomi mused. She was curious about magical charms and protections. Anything to help give her an edge. “I just haven’t gotten there yet. You?” 

                    “Your first mistake was thinking I’d find Broadway performances beautiful,” Caleb snickered, a grin flourishing in tandem; tone far less combative than before. “Suppose some find it beautiful, however, so who am I to knock it —” Straying from his archetypal essence he could offer a string of peace with the statement, Caleb normally one to pick apart such activities to shreds. 

                    A scoff fell from his lips now, shaking his head at her latter statement, “And I’m sure we can both agree that those tourists deserve to get lost. They’re just in the way, especially with all this talk of terrorism lurking,” russet hues peered up to face Naomi as if gauging any spec of a reaction to said news, wondering how a girl like her could feel about the entire thing. 

She was half surprised that he backed down regarding the Broadway performances. Naomi remembered Caleb as being merciless when he got the bit between his teeth, and willing to go on and on ad nauseam about things he found boring or ‘lesser’. “You’re right,” she conceded, meeting him halfway. “i was silly to think you would find Broadway performances beautiful,” she said with a coy smile pulling at her lips.

“You would think it would keep them away,” Naomi huffed out a laugh. She reached up, pushing her fingers through her brown hair. Make light of the situation, as if the tourists were the extent of their problems rather than the terrorism that plagued their city. “But no, they’re still coming in droves.” 

Naomi inwardly shuddered just thinking how many of them might be caught up in the next attack. Innocent people, drawn here by the dreams of the Big Apple, and crushed beneath its stones. It seemed New York was a mecca for dreamers and destroyers alike.