March 15, 2013
Kaylee, Olivia, Tristan Dinner after work Time for Kaylee to learn a few things about how "misunderstood" Tris is
It had been almost two weeks since Kaylee Moreau decided it was a good idea to fall into bed with the man tasked with her safety. It had a bit of fairy tale flair to it. He had saved her life, after all, and proven just shy of being a gentleman in those vulnerable moments that followed. At first, things had been awkward with Abel and with Andrew. The latter grudgingly accepted her choice, though not without a stern lecture. The former was too good a guy not to take anything with good grace, and Kaylee was genuinely enjoying her time helping him with his work and having him help her with her magic.
If having Abel's "psyche" all over her after those sessions still bothered Tristan, he was finding new ways of reclaiming what he wanted for himself. Tonight was a first for them. They had enjoyed plenty of meals together over the course of the past month and a half, but none of them could really have fallen into date territory. But they had finally given Kaylee that necklace to ground her, and while she was still quite vulnerable to Gabriel's toxins, she had no intention of being out of her companion's sight.
Of course, she wasn't calling it a date. It was just two friends going to dinner. With plans to find their way back to his place afterward, since Andrew was staying at home again for the night, and somewhere along the line it just seemed smarter for her to stay with him on occasion rather than him always having to go to her. Of course, she didn't need to stay with him tonight at all--Andrew being home meant he could have kept an eye on her and made sure she was safe. So this wasn't really coven business either. When it came right down to it, this was the first night that they were spending together without any reason for it except wanting to. She didn't make it into a big affair. She was wearing a dress, sure, but that's because nine out of ten days that was the case. He had picked her up from Abel's, and she didn't expect him to go change after work either. Just dinner.
No big deal.
When she talked to friends back home, she never used the word dating to them either. She was "seeing" this guy again tonight. He would have enjoyed the adjectives used to describe him if he ever got ahold of those texts. She never would have heard the end of it. But they weren't all the obvious sort. Physically, Tristan was one hell of a catch, but he seemed well enough aware of that. It was those other insecurities that benefited from Kaylee's adoration of him. And that was what it was. Even if their relationship, as it was, had an expiration date printed on from day one, she thought he was absolutely amazing and beneath all the ribbing they did back and forth, she didn't do anything to hide that opinion of hers. She had taken an interest in his work when he opted to talk about it, and she seemed genuinely happy to read anything he was writing. Even if she followed through and went back to that university out of town, even if she moved on and went on actual dates with men her own age, there was a friendship there that it was hard to imagine would just dissipate. They had spent a month getting to know one another, but pillow talk was another variety of conversation. She was talking about growing up now, about Hunting and running away. About New York. And she was asking him questions about the coven, and his history.
Kaylee, it seemed, was in very real danger of ending up in over her head, but she seemed happily oblivious to the threat. She was the one to pause on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant, fingers catching up in his belt loops when he turned to see what the hold up was. She stepped forward, a little tug providing more of an illusion of pulling him in than any actual force to do so. The tilt of her head made it clear she expected a kiss. "We should skip this. We can order something in a while and I'll promise not to get any in the bed."
She didn't pay attention to the brunette walking by. Not until she heard her name. Olivia had been family once, and so it was instinctive that Kaylee be flustered to be "caught" in this situation, sidled up to a man and saying all those things. In the past, it would have been followed up with a discussion involving promises not to tell Andrew, but now she just stared stupidly for a minute.