Brianna Winters (winters__breeze) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2021-12-12 11:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | brianna winters, flynn russo, npc |
I see dead people
Following on from here.
Who: Brianna, Flynn, Adrien (NPC), Marta (NPC)
What: Swap Plot
When: Day of the Swap (Early Evening)
Where: Brasserie Le Breeze
Brianna’s fingers clutched her phone instead of returning it to her pocket. After speaking with her key staff, she approached Adrien and told him of Radek’s suggestion. They were standing in the small passageway that led to the wine cellar, a place of pride for the man whose ‘day job’ was knowing and providing the best wine to partner with a meal, and all the reasons why. As the head sommelier listened Brianna told him she was going to her suite, and Radek would be messaging him.
Adrien nodded and enquired if there was anything else he could do for her. As she was about to answer a cold chill crept across her skin, and her head whipped around to look behind her, almost expecting to need to step aside to allow one of the staff through, so strong was the sense there was someone approaching her from behind.. The passage led down to the cellar, a room where wines worth many hundreds of dollars a bottle were kept, along with all their other supplies and this room was as tightly controlled, temperature-wise as any place could be. There would be no way a breeze of cool air would be coming from there. Nor anyone who wasn’t meant to be there. Yet there was no-one there, and Brianna rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she looked back at Adrien.
“What is it? Are you okay?” he asked, seeing the look on her face and glancing down the passageway himself to check. He knew there was no-one there, it was why he’d suggested they speak there when she’d come to him.
“Yes, I think so,” she said truthfully, not sure what she’d felt. It was strange, but she could have sworn that someone was behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder again, her eyes unable to detect anyone, or anything. As she turned back to Adrien she felt something similar to the gossamer touch of the veils in the entrance passage to Lux, brush against the exposed skin on the back of her neck and shoulders. A shiver ran through her and she could feel goosebumps rising on her arms. “I might just need to go and put a jacket on too,” she said to the man, managing to get a smile on her face momentarily to try and give some reassurance.
Adrien knew the young woman well, having been a part of the staff there since she had been appointed, and could see she was not her usual self. His second, silent role, as the head of her team of silent protectors, had afforded him some basic knowledge of the reason behind the extra curricular purpose for which he’d been chosen, and given carte blanche to select his team.
“Come, mademoiselle, let’s get you upstairs, and warmed up,” he said soothingly, his hand gently taking her elbow as they exited the passageway and started up the stairs. It only took one glance across to another behind the bar and he returned his full attention to what he was doing.
When they reached the private entrance to her suite he saw her inside, did a quick walk through the rooms, checked the windows and doors in her office and bedroom before returning. “All locked and secure. I will have Simon come on shift to be here during the night,” he advised, “and show Mr Russo up when he arrives,” he added as Brianna went to add that.
“Thank you, Adrien. This should all be fine, but I appreciate you, and your team,” she told him. They had talked of the various scenarios over the years, at Cassandra’s insistence. The immortal seemed to be ever vigilant and held Brianna’s security as an important item to be checked during her regular visits to Henderson. The young psychic had at first been embarrassed, but after her mentor shared a few of her own experiences she accepted the situation without challenge. The ‘team’ were all also excellent staff members for the brasserie and she would, for long periods of time, forget they were anything but dedicated hospitality-focused people enjoying their work.
A short while later she realised she was pacing. In her sitting room she had removed her shoes and started walking back and forth, crossing the full length of the rug, and turning at each end as she tried to figure out what had happened. She didn’t know how long it had been but she heard a knock at the door, and crossed quickly to open it, expecting to see Flynn. The smile on her face fell when it was a stranger, and it took a few seconds to realise there was no way a guest of the hotel, or from the brasserie could have made it to her door.
“Who are you?” she asked, but before she’d even finished the individual faded and disappeared. Her breath caught in her throat and she slammed the door shut, backing away from it, eyes wide with fright. Her breathing was ragged and she grabbed at her forearms with her fingers, gripping hard. She found her phone on the side table and quickly sent a rather clumsy message to Flynn.
’Wher r u’
She swallowed as the goosebumps on her arms started to prickle again and she spun around, the face of the person who’d been at her door now staring in through the glass panels of the french doors on the other side of the room. It again faded and disappeared and she hurried across the room to pull the drapes closed and block out the black squares. Backing away from the french doors she found the settee, and lowered herself down until she was sitting, her eyes going to the screen of her phone, the rather strange message she’d sent staring up at her, unread. Again she folded her arms, protectively, and she gripped her upper arms, her phone in her lap as she waited for a response.
Flynn had been isolated all day, first by spending the entirety of his day lounging around his trailer until Brianna had texted him, and then in the comfort of his vehicle as he traversed the distance between Searchlight and Henderson. He had no idea anything was amiss, instead just happy by the apparent break he was receiving from the spirit world. He made the trip as fast as safety and the avoidance of speed traps would allow, and after he finished parking near the brasserie, he noticed the message from her on his phone. Flynn frowned at the typo, having a feeling that it was due to emotional distress. His fingers flew over the ‘keys’ as he answered back, ’Just finished parking, I’ll be right up.’ After exiting the Challenger, it wasn’t until he entered Le Breeze that the medium was hit with a cacophony of noise as he was approaching the host stand. He had to pause and steady himself, blinking a few times and shaking his head, but it didn’t dissipate. It was like listening to several different radio stations at once, varying snatches of half-formed thoughts and images floating through his head.
After a moment of this, Flynn finally managed to speak. “Flynn Russo,” he said, trying to ignore the look of curiosity from the host. “Here to see Brianna.” A silent inquiry about his well being cut through the din, and before he could stop himself, he was responding out loud. “I’m okay, just a little…out of sorts, I guess.” He managed to straighten up and with slightly trembling fingers, typed out a second message to the brunette.
’Something weird going on for me too. Tell you when I see you. I’m downstairs.’
Brianna had almost let out a whimper of relief when she saw his first response flash up on her screen. The closing of the drapes hadn’t seemed to work, and the apparition she’d seen earlier had crossed that barrier and drifted into the sitting room before dissolving again. Standing up she’d crossed to the door, leaning against it as if keeping herself safe from being approached from behind, as if that would keep her safer. But it didn’t, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt a hand on the back of her neck, as if cradling it. At the same time she could hear voices out in the corridor, so quickly grabbed the door handle and flung the door open.
“Flynn!”
But she stopped dead in the doorway. It wasn’t Flynn. And it wasn’t Simon, or Adrien, but it was a woman, someone she didn’t know, dressed in fashions that were from the last century and holding the hand of a child. Brianna leaned against the door frame as the woman and child approached her, one of the woman’s arms outstretched with her palm up, as if asking for something. A whimper broke from Brianna’s throat as the child’s voice seemed to thinly wind through the air, a plaintive cry of hunger. The psychic closed her eyes tightly as her fingers clutched at the solid support of the door frame.
After being shown upstairs and directed to where Brianna was staying, Flynn spotted her at the end of a hallway, leaning against a door frame and looking pale. A sense of despair hit him so palpably, he almost winced. As he crossed the distance to reach her, his expression was one of worry and concern as he pushed past his own discomfort. She seemed to be staring at something that he couldn’t see, and the medium ducked his head slightly as he approached the psychic. “Hey,” he said, his voice gentle, and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, his fingers brushing over the material of her shirt. And then he felt a shiver threaten to break out across the surface of his skin, and by habit, he looked around for a spectral source, but couldn’t sense anything. Flynn pulled her into his arms and when a spot of bare skin brushed against hers, he was suddenly deluged with the image of a woman and a little girl, the telltale slightly transparent cast of their skin immediately familiar. His heart began to beat quicker as he realized exactly what it was that he was ‘seeing’.
Even when she heard his voice she wasn’t game enough to open her eyes, afraid of seeing the pale faces, the spectral images that had started to fill the hallway and her room. It was only when she felt his arms go around her, and the ‘connection’ that seemed to form as his skin brushed hers that she felt some sense of relief. “They keep coming,” she managed to get out. “From everywhere,” she added, swallowing hard as she kept seeing the faces and ghostly complexions in her head. She inhaled and the scent of him, his shirt, his soap, gave her something to focus on that was real, and she could trust. Exhaling slowly she opened her eyes and glanced around them briefly before looking up into his face. “How did you ever manage?” She kept her eyes on him, trying to ignore the wisps that seemed to be trying to come between them. “How did you get them to stop?”
As he looked at her imploring face, Flynn felt a multitude of things all at once. The familiarity of her situation, for one; he was instantly transported back to when he was younger, when it was more difficult to control, the fear and anxiety and wondering if it would ever stop. And it wasn’t just his own memories supplying those emotions, he realized. He could feel what she was feeling, beyond just empathizing with Brianna. He took a deep breath and gently steered her past the doorway, shutting the door behind them. He placed one hand on her shoulder, the other beneath her chin as he looked into her eyes. “You have to find something to focus on,” Flynn told her. “You can block this out, too,” he assured her, his hand sweeping down her back and up again. “It’s no different than using your shields.”
Now, he wasn’t entirely sure if that was true, but he wasn’t about to tell Brianna that. He needed her to believe it was true so that she could begin to relax, though. “It’s just you and me here, okay?”
She swallowed a sob as she listened to his voice, bringing her focus in on it, on him. She had been trying to use her usual techniques, but they hadn’t worked. Now though, she did focus on him, and the feel of his hand on her back, his fingers beneath her chin, were giving her something to focus on. And she did. Slowly her breathing returned to normal, the room seemed to lose its chill and eventually, when she felt she could, she glanced around quickly.
And they were alone. The goosebumps on her arms had disappeared too, the three-quarter length sleeves of her shirt revealing smooth skin again. She inhaled, deeply this time, and then slowly exhaled before looking back up at him. “You’re right, the focus helps, I couldn’t stop it before, but having you to focus on helped.” She reached for the hand that had been under her chin and lifted it, cradling it to her face, completely unaware of any affect this might have on him, and pressed her cheek into his palm as she looked up at him.
“Thank you.”
He nodded, not moving his hand, silently following his own advice as he focused on her. It helped a little bit, his head going slightly quieter as Flynn kept his attention on the way her skin felt beneath his fingers. “Of course,” he told her, and lifted his gaze to take in their surroundings for the first time. It was nice, but he hadn’t been expecting anything different. The medium ducked his head and placed a brief kiss on Brianna’s forehead. “I think… something happened,” he said slowly, meeting her gaze once more. “To both of us, through that spell. When I walked in Le Breeze, I could hear people thinking. And it was so loud.” Flynn shook his head minutely.
“You said you don’t know how I manage? Well, I’m right there with you.” He pulled her a little closer. Even with the contact affecting him the way it was, he didn’t want to let go.
She leaned into him, turning her head and resting her other cheek against his chest as she took a few deep breaths and just allowed herself to relax. Muscles that had been tensed, readied for either fight or flight were now easing, and the feeling of security with him there was something she hadn’t experienced before. “Everything I tried didn’t seem to work, and I was trying to remember what you’d said, what you’d been through, and all I could remember amongst it all was how alone you’d felt, when no-one understood, and that’s what kept coming back to me, and I didn’t want to be alone like that.” A small shudder went through her at the thought of spending her life feeling like he had felt when growing up. She turned her head a little more and pressed a kiss to the palm of his hand that was cradling her cheek, then returned it there again. When she finally lifted her head she looked up at him again and through eyes bright with unshed tears said, “and I don’t want you to ever feel that alone again.”
Those words elicited a difficult to identify emotion that was almost painful in its intensity, though it wasn’t a negative one. Flynn closed his eyes and rested his forehead lightly against the top of her head, focusing on the way her hair smelled, the softness of it. “You won’t be, either,” he assured her, running his fingers through her hair. After a few moments like this, when it seemed like he was finally able to keep from leaping out of his skin and calm the flood of feelings that were coming from both of them, he pulled back and looked at Brianna. “This is only temporary,” he added, in a bid to reassure both of them.
She inhaled deeply nodding slowly as she looked up at him. “I hope so,” she told him, but didn’t feel too sure. “I think Radek might be talking to James, to find out what happened, and how they can reverse it,” she said, trying to convince herself it might happen. But she still just felt a sense of dread and didn’t know where that was coming from. Just as she was about to speak the intercom phone on a side table buzzed softly. “That will be Adrien,” she said, looking across at the handset, then up at Flynn. “I’ll just let him know it’s all OK
She crossed and pressed the glowing button and released it. “Hello, Adrien?”
“Yes, mademoiselle, it is I, just checking if you would like your meal sent up and if Mr Russo would like some too?” came the familiar voice. Brianna looked across at Flynn to see if he wanted something to eat.
Flynn stood nearby, taking a deep breath as she pulled away from him. It was strange; being so near to her ensured that he felt the depth and breadth of her anxiety, too, but at the same time, it was also the closest he had ever felt to anyone. The least lonely he had ever been. So when his arms were no longer around Brianna, he felt bereft. It took him a moment to process the words issuing from the phone before he nodded; though he wasn’t particularly hungry, food would at least be a distraction. He ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes briefly, trying to take a mental inventory. It was apparent that somehow, they must have traded ‘gifts’. And it wasn’t even Christmas yet, he thought slightly sardonically.
She advised Adrien to have two meals sent up, and finished the conversation before turning back to Flynn. It felt odd, not being able to feel him close by even when he was standing there and she could see him. She started to realise just how much more her powers gave her, and how much she missed them when a vaguely familiar pair appeared behind Flynn, her eyes widening a little as she recognised the pair he’d invited to help out with the gnomes.
“Uh, Flynn?” she said quietly, edging closer to him as she kept her eyes fixed on the space to his left where the two stood, or at least floated. “We have guests, the two you had come and help us with the gnomes,” she told him, managing to keep her voice calm and level as her hand reached out for his.
He took her hand, turning to look where she indicated, and at first seeing nothing. Flynn gave her hand a squeeze and tried to navigate a power that had never been his. It was like wearing someone else’s worn-in pair of shoes, the fit all wrong and feeling clumsy, even as technically he was still able to take a few tentative steps. And then there was a silvery flash, brief but present as it seemed like he was ‘connecting’ with Brianna. He could make out the sheen of the woman’s dress, a vague outline of a male form. “Try asking them to go downstairs,” Flynn told her softly. “Politely. They’re not malevolent, they just might listen to you.” His thumb brushed reassuringly over the inside of her wrist, over her pulse point. Downstairs, they could mingle among the diners unnoticed.
She felt Flynn squeeze her hand, and again briefly noticed the lack of what normally happened with such contact, but instead felt his reassurance as he told her what to do. “Hello,” she started, then cleared her throat to give her a moment to steady her voice before continuing. “Thank you for your help before, I’m very grateful. Our small friends were a lot happier afterwards, and it all turned out well, which it might not have had you not been here to assist.” She saw the expressions on their faces waver and what she could only assume were smiles as they seemed to accept her thanks. “Please, feel free to enjoy whatever we have to offer, there is a lovely band downstairs, and a dance floor, you are most welcome to make use of it if you feel like dancing?” she suggested, remembering what Flynn had told her about them that night.
She was a little surprised when instead of disappearing they floated toward her, until she realised the door was behind her. As they passed by she felt the coolness of the air surrounding them, and watched as they passed through the door. Turning back to Flynn she shook her head a little, a small smile turning up one corner of her mouth as one shoulder lifted in a sort of shrug. “It worked, they’ve gone.”
Flynn breathed a quiet sigh of relief that so far, the ghosts that Brianna had to contend with were rather agreeable ones. Depending on how long this was going to go on – he was still operating under the rather optimistic assumption that this was a temporary disturbance in the force – he would have to give her the low down on places to avoid. But not at that moment. His top priority was calming her down. The more anxious and fearful he had become in the past, the more of the same energy he attracted until it became a vicious cycle, and she definitely didn’t need that at that particular moment. “I’ll stay with you, if you want,” he offered, reaching out for her again in a comforting gesture. “Whatever pops up, I’ll help you deal with it. You’re not alone.” His phone was buzzing rather insistently in his pocket from notifications, but he ignored it for now.
“Yes, please,” she told him, relieved he would be there. She could hear her own phone vibrating on the side table and looked at him. “I think we should look, I saw earlier something about a spell and things happening, from James? And I should let Radek know you’re here now, he will be worried.”
He nodded, pulling out his own phone and opening it to find a series of responses added to the group text that James had sent out. Flynn scanned over them, raising an eyebrow at the chaos that was unfolding. He looked back up at Brianna. “I don’t know if it’s comforting or not that we’re not the only ones affected,” he told her, clicking the device closed and setting it on the table. “But the good news is we’re not vampires or randomly setting places on fire.” His mouth flickered slightly. “And there are no dragons, so I think that’s a win.” The medium figured looking at the silver lining of the situation couldn’t hurt.
Brianna read through and responded to Radek’s latest, letting the immortal know Flynn was with her, and there was more to the story but she would call him shortly. When Flynn mentioned the dragons she gave a soft laugh and nodded. “I need to ask you something,” she said, lowering her phone and taking a deep breath. “Well, more explain, I guess, especially given what’s happened.” She figured now was as good a time as any to explain a bit more, given the gauntlet he’d had to run to get up to her suite, and what he was likely to experience. It was critical to keep most of that under wraps. And the risk.
“Most people have no idea what I can really do, other than you, Brian a little bit, and Radek of course. The few who know anything think I can just read minds mainly, a couple know about the touch. And my mentor, and her partners, have kept it all secret for a long time.” She was still trying to gather her thoughts and how she was going to explain this, the security, Adrien and Simon, her mentor, everything.
“Since Beltane, when things started changing, I started changing, they’ve been working harder to keep it under wraps, the new developments,” she continued, then added, “that I can push thoughts, and now it seems channel others, that sort of thing.” She realised she was pacing as she spoke, her hands clutching her phone in front of her as she tried to shrink the magnitude of what was happening down to just ‘normal’. But it wasn’t, and now Flynn needed to know. She stopped her pacing in front of him and met his eyes. “They believe there’s a risk if someone finds out, they might want to try and use these abilities for something that might not be so good,” she finally got out, her eyes searching his face for his reactions. “Is any of this making any sense?”
He listened to all this, trying to process it all before coming to any conclusions and waiting until she was done before he spoke. Flynn took note of her apparent restlessness and pacing, and stepped forward to place his hands on her shoulders and looked Brianna in the eye. “I won’t tell anyone,” he promised her, injecting what he hoped was a note of solid reassurance into his tone. “And this doesn’t scare me off or anything. I know I’m not particularly strong, physically, but I can do things to…or, well, under normal circumstances I can do things to help protect myself and now that includes you, too. If anyone tried to hurt you, I would – “ Flynn broke off, because maybe certain things didn’t need to be said out loud at that moment. Instead, he took a deep breath and reached out to smooth his fingers over her hair. “I get it. And thank you for telling me.”
Flynn leaned in and pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss, and was greeted again by that sense of closeness, of being near Brianna in a way that went beyond simple physicality. He thought back again to what she had said earlier, about not wanting him to ever feel lonely like that again, and there was a hard-to-identify twinge deep in his chest, near his heart. It made him hold her closer, made him not want to let go, and almost afraid to.
She let out the breath she’d been holding, waiting for his reaction, and relieved when he accepted her rather sorry attempt to explain. The warmth of the kiss was still lingering on her lips as she nodded, then said, “I had been going to tell you what ‘this’ all entailed,” she continued, wanting him to know the full picture. “You know about Radek, but about Le Breeze, and Adrien, and Simon and the others, before you met Cassandra, if you decided you wanted to, that is. Because I can understand how it might be too much like hard work.” She gave him a small, weak smile before adding, “but this has sort of thrown a curve ball into those plans, and… you do realise, that you too are now at risk?” She had been living it for so long she had forgotten how much she just now accepted as normal, and remembered when Derek had started getting her to go to places. Even her last visit to him, up at the Strip, had been co-ordinated with Adrien, not because it was Derek, but because it was outside the safety of Le Breeze.
“It must have felt pretty isolated for you the past few years,” Flynn remarked thoughtfully, pulling back enough to study her face as he spoke. He thought about Marsh, another telepath, and wondered if he also worried about the same things. “Did they say exactly what they’re concerned about happening if more people find out about you?” he asked. “And if you’re not comfortable talking about that, I understand,” he added quickly. And when she began to express fear about his own well being, he automatically tried to steer her train of thought away from that. “I’ll be okay,” Flynn told her reassuringly. “We’ll tackle one thing at a time.” Just then, a knock issued from the other side of the door. He assumed it must have been the food being delivered, as apparitions usually didn’t announce their presence like that. At least, not in his experience.
"Yes, one thing at a time." She turned at the sound of the knock, getting a reminder that she hadn't been able to sense someone was approaching, even without her shields. It was still an uncomfortable feeling. "Miss Winters, it's Marta with your meals," came the familiar voice from the other side. Brianna gave Flynn a quick smile and crossed to the door. The small dining table was in front of one of the sets of drapes now drawn, and once Brianna opened the door the hostess led the way into the room, a server following and soon the places were set and the pair were gone.
As the pair left Brianna opened a pair of doors to reveal a small but well stocked servery with a small glass fronted fridge. "Would you like something with dinner?" she asked, wondering if it was a good idea for her to drink anything, then deciding, "I think I might have a glass of wine, after everything that is going on."
He tried to prepare himself for the arrival of two new people in the space, mentally, taking quite a few steps away as if physical distance would mitigate the intrusion of their thoughts. It seemed to help a little bit. The medium was glad that he at least had some experience blocking things out, though from an entirely different source. Flynn watched as the meals were brought in and set up, raising an eyebrow at the level of service involved. Apparently living on the premises of a full-service cafe came with a lot of benefits that one could definitely get used to. He drifted over toward the table, checking out the food before turning to Brianna. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I’ll have whatever you’re drinking, thanks,” he answered. He realized his jacket was still on and shrugged out of it, slinging it over the back of one of the dining chairs.
Recalling the meal being a poached salmon Brianna quickly selected a bottle of sauvignon blanc from the fridge, and two glasses from the shelf. As she carried them across to the table she noticed the familiar old movements helped her to keep her mind focused on something other than the predicament they, and others, had found themselves. After pouring the wine she placed the bottle in a stainless steel cooler and automatically ran a practiced eye over the setting, satisfied, and turned to Flynn. “Dinner is served, monsieur,” she declared with a lean of her head and wave of her hand towards his place. Even she realised the slight formality and laughed at herself as her hands rested on the back of her chair. “I’m sorry, I was doing the focus thing you suggested, and old habits and all that,” she said, reaching out a hand to take his. “I think I would much prefer to focus on you instead,” she added as her fingers entwined with his and she gave his hand a small squeeze. Again she was taken aback a little at the complete lack of anything in her head, but did feel a warmth spread inside her as she looked at him.
Flynn couldn’t repress a smile as her hand found his again. It was a new thing for him that such a simple gesture had taken on so much meaning, and as Brianna looked at him, it was like a double dose of dopamine flooding his system. He was reluctant to pull away to sit down and start eating. “That sounds acceptable to me,” he told her, in a good-natured mimicry of her previous formal tone. He lifted her hand to press a kiss to the back of it before joining the brunette at the small table. “This looks really good,” he told her, picking up the glass of wine and bringing it to his lips. Flynn would have been lying if he had said he never utilized alcohol to smooth out some of the nerves that came from communicating with the deceased, and wondered if it would have the same effect for him now. Of course, too much sometimes swung him in the opposite direction, lowering his guard and creating a certain kind of mental vulnerability.
“I know going through this is hard,” he added, serious now. “But in a weird way, I’m glad I’m going through it with you.”
Brianna nodded, fork poised in her hand as she looked across at Flynn and felt that small flutter she’d first experienced at the skate rink. Even with everything that was hanging over them, the cloud of uncertainty as to what was going to happen, she was also thankful it had been with him that the swap had happened. “Me too, I mean, like you said, we could have ended up with anything, and I don’t think this would be nearly as nice if you, or I, was say a vampire?” She knew from Derek that while they could eat, there was no real enjoyment gained from food for them.
As she loaded some of the accompanying small mound of mushroom risotto onto her fork she asked, “how well do you know… well all the others, in that text group?”
He chuckled at that, grabbing his fork and flaking off a piece of the salmon. “Not unless Le Breeze expanded its menu to cater to that particular demographic,” Flynn grinned before depositing the food into his mouth. “Which might raise some questions from the other diners,” he added after chewing and swallowing. At her question, he set his fork down and leaned back in his chair, thoughtful as he tried to formulate an answer about James that wouldn’t betray the other man’s trust. The medium wasn’t trying to keep anything from Brianna, but it also wasn’t his place to reveal things about others without their express permission first, and he considered the magic user a friend.
“I met James when I first went to his shop, Curiosities, seeking more information about myself and what I can do,” he told her. “He was really helpful. And I know Marsh, he was the one I helped out before with a haunting problem.” Flynn paused the conversation to take another drink of wine. “Everyone else is sort of in passing, through work or hanging out at Lucky’s. What about you? Besides Gabe and Radek, obviously.”
Given Flynn knew James, she nodded, figuring it was safe to talk about the gathering at the Blind Eye. “Radek and I met Gabe, James and some others at a gathering which… well, was individuals who showed up on James’ detection spell, or something, that he did back in summer last year. That was when I found out about Brian, one of our clients, Lucky’s, managers and he’s a little more than your average bar manager. Radek knew someone from his past who was there, and there were others, different types and different stories, but not all of them are on this group.” She glanced at her phone, to look at the names included in the group she knew and noticed a few she didn’t know. “And there are some I don’t know at all, like Noah, Tal, Fern, and Frankie, or Echo.” She lowered the device back to the table, and took a sip of her wine before asking, “do you remember Ronnie? He used to work at the diner at Terrible’s Roadhouse? He’s an amazing chef, and is now filling in here part time, when he has time, as a pastry chef, when he’s not busy with his new food van.”
“Yeah, Brian I know from Lucky’s,” Flynn nodded, his fingers around the stem of the wine glass. “And Tal is a regular at the truck stop, and one of the few people that I trust to work on my car.” When Brianna mentioned Ronnie, a smile flickered over his mouth. It would be difficult to forget a visit from the guy’s mom, as it was one of the few occasions when that kind of thing turned out well, if not a little emotional. “Yeah, I’ve had quite a lot of his food over the years,” he told her. “I didn’t know he was working here. It really does seem like we’re all connected somehow. And I guess even more so now,” he mused.
She smiled around the morsel of salmon she had just taken in, the delicious flavour filling her mouth as she nodded. After swallowing she filled Flynn in on how Ronnie had offered to fill in, and how Radek was now addicted to the amazing macarons the man created. “Not to mention his other desserts, which made it so easy to accept him working part time, as he creates dishes that are worth it,” she finished. Her eyes darted across at Flynn as he ate, and she couldn’t help but smile surreptitiously watching him, pushing away the nudge of history trying to tell her it was all too good to be true, and watch for the other shoe to drop. Her fingers curled around the swell of the wineglass as she lifted it to take a sip. As the cool crisp wine chased the salmon across her palette she realised that for the first time in longer than she could remember she was able to push that nudge away without much effort, that she felt more comfortable in that moment than she had in a long time. It was a moment in time she wanted to keep, and have forever. With him.
She blinked and softly cleared her throat, quickly returning her attention to her meal and loading another piece of the salmon with some of the creamy risotto onto her fork. “How’s your meal?”
Flynn paused, his own fork hovering above his plate as he looked down at the food. He had been trying, of course, to focus directly on what she was saying rather than thinking, but he didn’t have the practice or control over it that Brianna did. Which is why her thoughts about him came through like a voice on the far end of a telephone line. When he glanced back up at her, something in his smile had changed, and he set down the utensil with a quiet clink against the ceramic surface. “It’s really good,” he told her. “But since you temporarily don’t have a direct line into my thoughts at the moment, I’m going to be one hundred percent honest.” His smile shifted into a grin that held a slightly mischievous edge. “It’s not really the food I’m thinking about right now.”
“Hmm?” she returned, her eyes darting up to meet his, immediately seeing the look on his face. She noticed that skill hadn’t vapourised with her other talents, the ability to decipher micro-expressions, and more so those not so very micro. There was an unmissable rise in colour in her cheeks in the battle to prevent the smile of embarrassment that was threatening as she realised what he’d probably ‘heard’, her struggle to maintain an air of innocent curiosity at risk of failing dismally.
“Oh!” she finally said, her own fork slowly lowering to her plate. “You… heard that?”
“Sorry,” he apologized, and he meant it, but the grin didn’t waver. “I don’t think a few hours is enough time to develop the skill you have to block things out.” Flynn took another drink of the white wine and concentrated on the flavor that rolled over his tongue in a bid to get his wits together. It wasn’t that what Brianna had been thinking had particularly thrown him off guard. It was how much he had enjoyed hearing it. It almost didn’t seem real, but if there was anything that he had learned in his twenty-six years of existence, it was that stranger things could indeed happen. “It’s okay,” the medium added when he noted the flush that washed over her face. “I didn’t mind it.” He paused and set the glass back down carefully. “I might be understating that. I’m kind of doing mental cartwheels right now.”
It wasn’t often Brianna felt quite so exposed, so it was both terrifying and liberating at the same time. The rare occasions she had felt any sort of attraction to someone had always found her tightly locking down any chance of revealing it, and keeping in place the mask of demure but steady friendship. It had been essential to her, to keep herself safe from living through the traumas she’d experienced in early relationships, something she never wanted to live through again. But with Flynn it was different - he knew what she could do, or at least had been able to do. And while their abilities were diametrically opposite, they were also oddly aligned. And right now? They were getting to ‘walk in the other person’s shoes’. Coincidence, or stars aligning? The few milliseconds it took for all this to flicker through her subconscious mind had given her the chance to draw breath and time for the colour in her face to settle, leaving only the very slightest of flush in her cheeks.
“Well, that’s a relief,” she replied, feeling even more out of her depth, not having any input other than what her eyes and ears told her. To her it felt a little like wearing a blindfold, just not on her actual eyes. She looked across at him, mouth twisting a little to stop herself from smiling as she tried to nonchalantly add, “I hope you’re very good at cartwheels, I would be very sad if you injured yourself because of me.”
Flynn ate a few more bites of his food before pushing the plate aside and wiping his mouth with the provided napkin. He finished off the rest of his wine and decided against a refill for now, at least until he got used to the whole telepathy thing. As used to it as he could possibly become, anyway. “I’ll try to be careful,” he told her. There was an intense urge to get up and kiss Brianna then, the dining table felt like a large expanse of space between them and he wanted to be touching her. Instead, he looked around at their surroundings, eyes landing on various points of interest before he turned back to her. “Is it strange living where you work?” Flynn asked.
Her eyes followed his around her sitting room. When she’d first relocated to Henderson she’d seen it as her chance to finally break away from the circles she had been entrapped in while living in Boston. Even at university she’d been among people she knew, though a lot also who knew her, or of her or her family. The name Winters had been long associated with the wealthier class of Boston society and that had followed her into college.
Coming to Henderson had been her chance to finally escape that world, and she had brought nothing with her other than her clothes and small personal items, seeing this as a chance to finally find herself and her own place and tastes. The suite had been redecorated to her precise requests, soft mint green walls, cream ceiling to floor drapes on the two french doors, the cabinetry built into the walls, a sofa with soft throws and cushions opposite two armchairs, striped, in cream and grey green fabric. A large round mirror was positioned opposite the painting of a large tree, the sun shining down through branches creating a dappled shadow on the ground at the base of its trunk. It was the only large item she had reminding her of there, the painting one she’d commissioned when she first came, providing the photo for the artist to use. It was the tree outside their nursery, where she and Juliet spent so much of their time, Juliet usually perched in it, Brianna seated in the bay window that opened so the tree seemed like an extension of the room.
And so Le Breeze had become her home, and under the guidance of her mentor, her sanctuary. In so many ways.
“No, not for me. If anything it’s been a great help. When I was… learning about my abilities, and how to control them, it made it easier to have this as my place I could go when I was struggling, without disturbing the staff. It was enough of a challenge to earn their trust and respect, being so young and being put in charge after only a few weeks of hand over. If I had had to keep leaving to go home I can’t imagine how that would have seemed. At least up here, I have my office next door,” she explained, indicating the door near the french window that led into the office, “so it didn’t seem odd if I felt I needed to escape from time to time, to regather myself.” She gave a small wry smile as she recalled some of the more challenging staff, who were not long with them after she started managing Le Breeze.
“And of course it made it easier for Cassandra and Radek to keep watch, and I know that might sound weird, but believe me, I was never a prisoner,” she said quickly, not wanting to give Flynn the wrong impression of what the immortals intended. Fortunately it was easy to keep their secrets under lock and key, even in her mind, as it had been a part of her training, to know what and who they all were, parts of their lives, and to keep that separate, build shields to stop herself from letting their past lives and deaths from interfering in her day to day existence.
“I guess it makes sense, then,” Flynn replied. “When it’s more than just about the job for you.” Not for the first time, he thought about how this place had just existed in the city that had been his home up until the past few years, never having any clue about the people behind it. “You know, I used to spend more than a little time wondering what it would be like, to wake up one day and be ‘normal’ — he made air quotes around that word — “and whether I would miss it. But it isn’t all bad, all the time. There are moments like this.” He shot her a smile before dropping his gaze down to the plates on the table. “I don’t really want the evening to end.”
She knew what he meant about the 'being normal' part, especially when she'd been younger. But all other thoughts flew out of her head at his last words. "Neither do I," she replied without hesitation. "And not just because you're a very easy subject to remain focused on," she added with a small twinkle in her eye, realising she hadn't seen any spectral visitors since the two she'd recognised had departed. "I mean, I'm still very much a learner with regards to your abilities and I don't know that I'd want to be without your guidance while I'm still figuring it all out," she finished with an air of mock nonchalance, but feeling a rising sense of anticipation that was all her and not coming from anyone else.
“Oh, of course,” Flynn nodded, matching her nonchalant tone. “I would be remiss if I didn’t stick around,” he added. And then he did get up from the glass-topped table, going around to where Brianna sat. He leaned down and kissed her, more deeply than he had before. When he pulled back, he gazed into her eyes. “Is that okay?” he asked quietly.
It took her a moment to catch her breath when their lips did part. "Very," she replied. Her hand reached up and her fingers combed lightly through the shock of hair that had fallen across his forehead as he'd bent down. "But I'd just like to try it again, you know, to be sure," she continued, standing up and resting her hands against his chest. Again she noticed the difference in what she was feeling, the warmth of his chest beneath his shirt, the taste of his lips on hers, and the slow spark of heat that was building within her. "Is that okay?" she asked as one hand slid up and brushed her fingertips lightly across his mouth.
Flynn watched her stand up to meet him, eyes taking in various points of interest; the way artfully loose strands of her hair swayed when she moved, the light reflecting in her blue eyes, the subtle color across her cheeks, and those lips. It was hard to keep his off of them. He leaned forward against her touch. He took her fingers and pressed a kiss against them before nodding. “You know, I was going to tell you, but it might be better if I showed you.” Something danced in his expression as he looked at her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. His lips met hers again, emboldened, his tongue sweeping across hers as his eyes closed. His other hand lifted to rest gently against the side of her neck, just below her ear, his thumb sweeping along her cheek.
It was even better, she decided, her eyes hooded as she watched his close. Hers followed suit as she let her lips part, teasing his tongue as it sought and gained access. Again all breathing was suspended as the pleasure of being kissed so thoroughly took over, something she hadn’t enjoyed in too long to think about. As it deepened her fingers slid up behind his head, alternating between nails lightly raking across his scalp and slowly winding in the soft thickness of his hair.
His fingers glided over the silky material of her shirt, following the curve of the small of her back as the kiss intensified. Everything else felt a million miles away; they were in their own isolated bubble and Flynn was thoroughly enjoying it, especially the way Brianna was running her own fingers through his hair, his scalp tingling pleasantly beneath her touch. The longing he felt for her was as much mental as it was physical.
When he pulled away from her mouth, he took a deep breath to steady himself before his lips travelled to the opposite side of her neck as the hand on her back dipped down even further.
The sense of loss was almost palpable as she felt his mouth leave hers and her eyes opened slowly. Her intake of breath was also deep, the need for oxygen one that had been ignored as the desire for the contact grew stronger. A soft sigh sounded when his lips pressed against her neck and her head angled to afford him better access, exposing her throat. “Maybe… we could… do you want to…” Her breath caught in her throat as she dragged her eyes open and looked across the room. Giving up on using words she took his hand and moved across to the couch, sitting down and, still holding his hand, patted the seat beside her, finally managing to get out, “this is what I meant!”
He grinned, peeking up at her as his lips moved down the curve of her neck to her collarbone, watching as she seemed to temporarily lose her way with words. Flynn nodded and followed her over to the couch, taking a seat next to her. His fingers toyed with the hem of her shirt as he looked at Brianna intently. “I think being upfront is the best way to go,” he began before taking her hand in his again. “I really, really want you, but I also don’t want you to think anything has to happen, either. Whatever you’re comfortable with. If you wanna just hang out and watch a dumb movie, I’m cool with that, too. As long as I get to spend time with you.” Flynn gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.
She listened and nodded, a sense of relief easing the small sense of trepidation she had felt that had been niggling at how much she was enjoying, and wanting more. “Does it have to be a dumb movie?” she teased, smiling as her fingers returned the squeeze.
“And in the spirit of being upfront, I want you too, and I think we both can agree that it will happen,” she continued, her eyes on his face as she lifted his fingers to her mouth and pressed a kiss to them. “Just perhaps right now? Given we’re both test driving a whole new world of things, our abilities being swapped? Maybe it’s something we should figure out first, so we know exactly what’s going on when we do?”
“Of course,” he told her, and he meant it. Brianna had a good point. Despite the good turn their evening had taken, it probably wasn’t the best idea to rush anything, especially when tensions were running high and they were both in unfamiliar territory. It wasn’t exactly optimal circumstances for thinking straight, and she already sort of made Flynn’s head spin at the best of times. “I would never want you to be uncomfortable or second guess anything,” he added before leaning in and pressing a reassuring kiss against her cheek. “We can do whatever you want, or nothing at all. Whatever you need.”
She caught his face gently, and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Her lips took his bottom lip and kissed it, then the top, and each corner. She sighed softly as she withdrew, her fingers feeling the end-of-day coarseness of his jaw as her eyes lifted from where they’d been gazing at his mouth, to his eyes. “I think a movie is probably a good idea,” she said, a finger trailing across his lips where she’d just kissed him. “Just not one with any… well, you know, unexpected guests?”
Flynn was pleasantly surprised by the onslaught of kisses directed at him by Brianna. He put an arm around her shoulders and steered her closer to him, resting his forehead against hers and closing his eyes briefly, for no particular reason beyond the fact that it felt nice. After a moment like this, he pulled back enough to look at her, his lips curling up in a soft smile. “I think we can find something suitable,” he told her, cupping her cheek with his other hand. “In a minute, though. I’m rather enjoying just this.” He let his head fall back against the couch and pulled the brunette to him so that she could rest against his chest and encircled her loosely with his arms. For now, his mind was calm and quiet, and as far as he knew, they were alone together in that bubble he appreciated.
“Mmm, me too.” She rested her head comfortably on his chest, her free hand resting there too, feeling him beneath the material of his shirt and smiling to herself. While she knew it wouldn’t last long, that Marta or Adrien would be calling at some point, to check if there was anything else needed, and clear away the dinner settings, Brianna allowed herself the time to simply relax and enjoy just being. It was an odd feeling, in that there was no effort being used to maintain her shields, no filtering of what was going on around her at all, and she began to wonder if this was what being free of those powers was really like. Right there, right then, was the first time she had felt this, and while she knew a lot of what was going on in her right now was due to the man beside her, she wondered how much was being influenced by her not having her abilities. Whatever it was, she decided to enjoy it while she could. There was no telling how long this was going to last, if it was permanent, or just something for that day, if James and Gabe and the others would find how to reverse it, or if they were all affected and unable to do anything, or would it all happen again, and another switch made. She quickly realised she was heading down a path she really wasn’t wanting to take, and drew herself back to just there and then, and sighed happily.