InsaneJournal

Who: Svetlana Bauer and Kieran Sullivan (NPC-Horned Beast)
What: Planting a mental seed
When: Around 2pm
Where: Coffee and sandwich shop near the hospital
Rating | Status: Low | Complete


It had been a long day for Lana. She had been sleeping poorly since the night Thora got into an accident. Sure, she did not know the girl still and she barely spoke to her family as she waited for her brother in the waiting room. She did do a few coffee runs with Luca, her cousin while the others took turns in the room. She had wanted to be useful and considering her lack of connection with the girl outside of her brother, she did not want to take up a slot that someone else could fill while visiting her. That did not seem fair. Luca and his girlfriend Cynthia were nice to her and seemed very thankful that she had brought her brother up. She knew that night this girl was just as interested and attached to her brother as he was. That meant she was right to bring him up and that Nico needed to get his feelings off his chest. As far as she could tell, he had when he went over after she came home from the hospital. He seemed more relaxed about the topic. She was happy for him, in her own way, but that also meant she was a little upset by this. She knew that now he had someone, she would be a smaller part in his life. He would not be around all the time, as he normally was. She would be alone again. Not that she was really bothered by it. She wanted Nicolaus to be happy because he deserved it. He had spent his entire life trying to make sure she had been okay. The woman knew it was his turn to experience what it was like to have someone around for him that was not his sister. This Thora girl needed him more than Lana did anyway.

But that did not mean it was going to be easy to get used to. Still, she mused silently as she usually did while eating her late “lunch” at the sandwich shop not too far from the hospital. She was trying to write her essay for class, which was going about as fast as molasses creeping up hill in January—not at all. She got her name down. That was a start. Her mind was more bothered by the photos she had asked for of the accident scene. The side of the car looked crushed, like it was T-boned. But on a highway that would mean someone was trying to hit her in a way that would send her down the side. Somehow the girl had kept her wits together long enough to get to a heavily wooded section and not the lake. She was lucky. This information she kept away from Nico, who she was sure would start a manhunt for whomever was going after the girl. Still, it was stored on a flash drive buried under her files at work. He never went into the morgue, so it was hardly an issue. And she was left, staring at the blinking text line, which mocked her with evidence of no progress. This should be easy for her. Writing was very much a nonissue for her when it came to class. As long as it meant no discussions, she was perfectly happy. Describing something or answering questions was easy. Debating and being forced to hold a conversation was not her forte. She preferred to stay quiet. Leave the talking to those who were better with people. That was why she worked in the morgue. That was why she did not want to be a doctor or a surgeon. She had no bedside manners. She was lucky when a conversation did not have a few vulgarities, a couple hundred “uhms” and “uhs” and stutters. No, she was not good with people. She never had a chance to develop those skills. Where her brother just built walls, she was simply too scared to leave her front door to even try.

Still, her empty word page stared at her as she munched on her sandwich. This was pointless and Lana was well-aware of the fact that she would not get anything done on the paper. She had to look like she was trying, if only to make herself feel better. And her boss was her Grad-advisor. The woman would not be lying when she said she tried to get stuff done on it. Sure, tried meant she had added the date, but still, she was not lying. Her iced mocha was getting watered down when she felt a set of eyes on the back of her head. The woman was very good at being able to feel if someone was watching her. Even tucked away in the corner with her back to the world, it was not impossible to see her, as these eyes were showing. She fought the urge to look at whomever was obnoxious enough to stare. That would only invite possible conversation and she needed to get her work done. But the eyes were strong on the back of her head and finally she tried to make it seem like she was not caving into looking by standing up to get some napkins for her drink’s condensation. She turned and was shocked to see who it was. It was a man, possibly five or more years her elder with his eyes very much trained on her. He was gorgeous, of that she was able to admit even if there was something a little off about the intensity in his eyes. After the quick flicker over at him, her gaze when back to the napkin dispenser. In her mind, she hoped that he would stop paying her this amount of attention. It was making her feel a little shy and put on the spot. The moment she looked over, however, she realized he was walking toward her. Instantly, Lana felt her heart jump into her throat and she almost knocked over her drink in sudden fear.

Life masquerading as Kieran was difficult for the Horned Beast. He was not used to having to hide his personality in such a way. To look in a way that made him appealing to the masses. No more striking knight come to save the world he though was important and destroy everything else. He was so slender in comparison to his looks of old. His body covered in the markings that once showed the world what a barbarian someone was now marked him as a guy with an individual personality. These humans- the bizarre creators of his- we the oddest things he had ever encountered. They sure made it difficult for him to fit in at first. All of the simple niceties he had learned in the past few months as he made his way across the country. He had to put so much effort not to be noticed. It was so different from Fableton. There, he did not have to hide. But that was now his kingdom and he had people he needed to track down. To do that, they needed to trust him. They did not know who they were, that was at least the impression he got from the few he had run into. If nothing else, they did not know who he was. He was sure, however, that the ringleader of their little group was aware of his arrival. If nothing else, the mayor and her little pet of a commissioner spent a lot of time recently looking into his position as the state police chief. His documents were solid, however. His Trickster was the best at his unique skill and he worked for the state and not the city. The blessings of such an appointment.

He had come to this little coffee shop in hopes of finding something he could enjoy in these little specialty stores. Nothing struck him immediately and for once, the Beast was not looking for his prey. No, he wanted to try and enjoy this human life he had started. That was when he spotted her. Immediately he remembered that feeling he got- she was a fable. She was a fable who had killed one of his beloved leaders. Someone he convinced to join his side early on and was able to round up many of the other fables who did not want to see such a happy ending for the world. She was Gretel- the young girl who had killed Baba Yaga to save her brother. She was far from a young girl now and that made his lips curve into dark smile. He watched her from behind after she sat down. His eyes were on her every movement, waiting for the woman in front of him to turn and pay him some mind. It was only a matter of time, after all. Soon, she did just as he hoped and got up, looking over at him for a half a moment. It was his chance to take. If nothing else, he still had that seductive feel to his personality and voice that would at least make her not move away from him. As she almost knocked over her drink, he stopped it from moving with a most gentle of smiles and a kind eye. She smiled back at him and in a soft voice, thanked him for saving her mocha. She was oblivious, as every other fable had been. He was more than ready, this time, to use it to his advantage. He would use this poor child as his beloved Baba Yaga had in years past. He would get what he wanted out of her and discard her only after she knew the damage she allowed to happen to her own kind. Until then, this interest he had in her would look more innocent. As in how lovely she had grown up to be. It really was a shame he had killed her so young in Fableton.

“Not at all,” he replied to her thanks in a soft voice. She shied away a bit more, clearly still not used to attention. “Of course, if it had fallen, I would have used it as an excuse to buy you a new one.”

The blush that covered Lana’s face was instantaneous. She fought away the smirk and simply looked down at her cup, allowing her hair to fall over her face to hide. “It would have been fine, my break is almost finished and I can’t drink open drinks to my office,” she replied. The woman tried to back away from the stand and inch closer to her table. She knew he could tell she was attempting to escape his attention. She also could tell that he was not entirely willing to let that happen. Why did she have to always go on lunch when the pretty secretaries from the offices nearby were not out? He could be going to for them and leaving her alone to her paper. Her mind pushed away the echoing words of Nico, on how she needed to be friendlier toward people and give men a chance. He, of all people, should know why she stayed clear of them. His smile was haunting, though and she needed to glance back up at him. That intensity in his eyes vanished the moment they were talking and it was as if it had never been there. Was she imagining things?

“So you come here for your breaks?” he asked in a nonchalant tone. Lana nodded a little. “Hm, well I think this may have to become my new favorite place here.”

That gave him the satisfaction of seeing a shy smile creep across the woman’s face and she quietly shifted her weight as she scratched the back of her head. No, now was his time to take his leave before he went from charming to creepy. He grabbed her cup slowly and wiped off the condensation before glancing at her name and then looking her in the eyes, handing it to her. “Well, Lana. Until our next lunch.”

As he turned to walk away, Lana, who had been stunned mostly silent, found her voice. She decided to listen to her brother finally. Maybe, just maybe, she could pick someone right for her. Maybe both she and Nico could be happy. “Do I have to wait for your name, too?” she asked with her voice sounding a little more confident than it had previously. That made the Beast smirk. He had gotten her, just as he had hoped. Slowly he turned back to her and put his hands in his pocket. “Kieran. I take my lunches around 2, by the way. In case you were wondering,” and with that he walked away. She did not see the dark look that immediately returned to his gaze as those honey-colored eyes flickered with an almost red tint for just a moment. These fables were so easy to fool and lull into a sense of safety. He would get what he needed out of her and he would enjoy every moment of it, so long as he kept this game up. Not that there would be much suffering on his end. If he had to use someone, at least she was pretty enough to make it worthwhile. The Beast grabbed his coat from the chair he had been sitting in as Lana went back to her computer, where the empty page still mocked her lack of progress. Only now there was a smile on her face as she typed out her thesis statement. She was determined the next lunch she ran into him like this, she would not have something else to worry about- even just a papper.