“Ah...that’s unfortunate to hear.” The vampire murmured.
Indeed, the further the city seemed to vanish behind their backs, much like in the shop Stanislav felt himself slowly slipping towards entering a private world, wherein only he and Kiki existed--like their conversation at the shop. It was terrifying, allowing himself to lose focus like this. Stanislav wasn’t used to such a feeling.
Walking alongside Kiki, his peripheral vision allowed him to see the wiccan’s satisfaction in making such a guess, nonetheless how obvious it may have been. The now-familiar sensation of the side of his mouth twisting into a small grin, he found himself flattered by Kiki’s compliment. Dark blue, huh? “...noted.”
Stanislav stiffened upon the sensation of a much smaller, warm hand finding way into his own; but a wave of relief washed over him as his fingers interlaced with Kiki. He’d never been one for physical contact, for holding hands--but if it was Kiki, he didn’t seem to mind. It was almost expected at this point. Giving a small squeeze, he spoke softly; “Whatever you say, Miss Kiki.” He’d let her take this one.
Continuing to walk, Stanislav found himself silently inspecting Kiki once again. His smile had faded, but a look that could only be described as adoration graced his hues. Internally, the beast had reared its head and perked up with curiosity. Then a part of Stanislav, what could best be regarded as his sanity, pleaded for him to let go of Kiki’s hand. To snap himself out of this moment, detach once again. This wasn’t good--with this feeling, whatever it could be--came the prospect of danger. Of secrets being uncovered. If this was...no, it couldn’t be love. Stanislav didn’t know what such a sensation felt like, despite yearning to understand, experience it for himself.
Disgust brewed in his stomach, aimed towards himself. If only he could tell her the truth, tell her before it was too late...
Her words interrupted his thoughts, a cessation of the negative out-pour. Immediately he returned to the present, and he found himself straining to locate any foreseeable threats. Once he’d made sure the coast was clear, he gave Kiki’s hand a small squeeze.
“Is something on your mind, Miss Kiki?”
Feeling his hand giving hers a small squeeze she snapped out of her thoughts and looked over towards Stan their eyes locking. Did she really want to open up to him? She trusted him but to what extent? She took a deep breath and looked off to the side. The only person she’d really opened up with about her past was Garridan and that ended in a fit, was she ready to open up to another person? As though her mouth had already decided the answer she began speaking. “Remember how I said I decided to major in art for college? Well at first I was unsure of what to major in but I ended up running into the art professor at the college and he took notice of my sketches. We became fast friends and he eventually convinced me to start trying to major in art. He was a really nice guy so understanding and supportive and our friendship ended up....blossoming into a bit more though of course because he was the professor it was kept lowkey. We weren’t dating or anything it was...complicated” She sighed softly as her mind seemed to flip through images she remembered from that time. “He really helped me out with my art he always told me how talented I was and that I was born to be an artist. We spent a lot of time at his place after classes and he taught me so much. Before I knew it I had fallen for him and I was so sure he felt the same. We’d go on walks at night when no one was around hand in hand similar to this but different at the same time...and just talk about anything and everything...it was nice. I never had been one for relationships in the past I was more focused on my friends and dreams” she looked over and down at their interlocked fingers. “I worked the hardest I could to reach my dreams of becoming the artist he saw me as...everything was going perfectly as you know the town I came from isn’t too fond of supernaturals. All my life I’d been able to hide the fact I was a wiccan but one night I was stupid and ended up getting caught” she braced herself as she knew she was entering risky territory for her mentality. So she decided to be more vague about it “Garridan is the only person here I’ve told and when I did I ended up freaking out on him though he doesn’t know what I’m telling you...so....I’ll skip the details.....Let’s just say word spread around fast and it wasn’t received well...”
she inhaled as she refocused her mind on the story she was telling currently. “He was so sweet about it and accepting, he was the only one left I could trust. During class I was ignored but he told me it was cause he couldn’t risk his reputation and at the time I saw no fault in it.” She gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “A lot of bad things happened and on top of that someone in my art class started sabotaging my art and projects. He was there to comfort and push me to strive and continue despite what was going on. It was really awful considering my grade began dipping which meant me being considered for professional art positions was at risk. Despite that I kept pushing forward....” She went silent momentarily as she seemed to zone out. Inside her mind all these images from the past were flipping through her mind like a sped up movie. She gave Stans hand a small squeeze as her gaze refocused to in front of them. She didn’t even notice that tears had started streaming down her pale face.
“Well things just kept getting worse and finally when I was at my lowest he confessed to me that he had been the one destroying my art. He...he was disgusted by me, thought that supernaturals and their kind didn’t deserve to walk among humans....I of course was angry, confused, and hurt one of the last people I trusted and loved....we ended up getting into a fight, our first fight we’d ever had.” She bit down on her lip as her grip on his hand seemed to tighten. “He said he felt threatened by me...so he wanted to show me that I should be the one scared of him....others had done things before but he...he went all the way. I hate to admit it but afterwards I was afraid....terrified of him” she stared up at the sky now now realizing she was crying but she didn’t care at this point. “I couldn’t do anything about it...he told me if I said anything that he would accuse me of casting a love spell on him. With how the town viewed me I couldn’t take that chance so I kept my lips sealed. I dropped out of art and went back to casual classes while still doing acting on the side as a different major. I wonder if I truly did love him or if it was infatuation because after the incident I didn’t harbor any feelings towards him anymore other than hate I got over him quickly but not what he did........things only continued to get worse and eventually I just stopped going to college altogether.....I really really wanted to die....it was then that I realized I needed to leave. My grandmother and mother both only knew bits and pieces of what had been happening but agreed with me seeing the state I was in. So I packed my shit and took out my life savings to move to Tabula. A place where supernaturals and humans can live without judgement side by side....I wanted to put it all behind me and pretend nothing ever happened...” taking in a shaky breath she finally mustered up the courage to look at Stans face.
