Help me through the night

LOCATION an alley close to the pedestrian street
DATE 18th of November 2021
TIME 17.30
ATTIRE Link
TOPIC FOR @Leon xx
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Something that was entirely different than what she was used to, it was November month in a normal city where Christmas was so crazy a thing - that people already at this hour were crazy. The emotions of most of the people she met were so intense that it was almost impossible not to notice them. It was even an hour after closing hour, and since she worked down town, she had thought a nice stroll down the street looking at all the lights would be nice. Because if it wasn't crazy enough in all the shops, people expected Christmas cakes and bread, stuff she never had tried making before and with Allison being busy, she couldn't even get herself to call her and asked, which was one of the reasons why her stress levels had been so high the last couple of days. She had even snapped at Nigel this morning before she headed out the door, noting to herself she had to apologize, because now she just felt guilt about that, and had almost been unable to think about anything else other than that.

Mono was still around hunting some vampire his family had forced him to after she had asked if they could end their deal. Then only for Henry to flip her world around leaving her in a hole of broken trust very knowing she wasn't sure she would be able to ever trust him again after the stunt he made. She walked past a crowed arguing in a cue, yelling to get in even though the shop had just closed a minute ago. People were so angry this season, so rushed, and she took it like a stab in her stomach followed by a few twists as she kept moving forward. She moved out of the main path towards the alley. Not that she liked the alley these months, it was dark and barely had any lights, and the noise from the street almost gone.

Mariella leaned against the wall behind her just closing her eyes taking a few deeper breaths in. "Come on -- this should be piece of cake," she mumbled annoyed at herself, but that was her first mistake. Being frustrated with herself, because it only made the fire trigger. She could feel the warmth from her hands, and as she opened her tear filled eyes not even noticing that a few drops rolled over her cheeks. She could feel her heart speed up, trying to make the fire go out, but it didn't. Mariella took a deeper breath in pushing herself off the wall. "This cannot be happening, come on," she whispered almost out of air, seeing the fire only getting stronger. Noticing the emotion from someone close by making her look up, and she shook her head. "Please, just go -" she rushed at the stranger in a far more panicked voice, looking back at her own hands. It didn't hurt her, but it wasn't what freaked her out, she was afraid of hurting someone else. "Leave," Mariella almost tried to scream at him to go, because the last thing she wanted was to see her fire causing harm in any way, but her voice was far from screaming, it was a low beg as she blinked a few more tears down her cheeks.

Leon had never really been the type that walked around looking at shops. He didn’t care much for shopping, nor did he like to take the time to find presents for people himself when he could get others to do it for him. Mostly because he had so much work to do, that walking around, he would rather do it for himself, than to use his alone time to work even more. Which finding presents for Christmas in this rush hour was. Rude people, rushing and pushing through. Trying to find the best deal and fighting each other to get the last piece. There was nothing joyful about that. Only stress and anger. All he really cared about, was his family sitting around eating dinner, laughing and having a good time. Then the presents were something he could care less about; it wasn’t something that spoke kindness nor love. Then they should give him a gift when it wasn’t a birthday or a holiday. That would make it special.

He looked around as his attention caught onto an extreme empath standing hunched over in the alley a little away from all the people pushing their way down the pedestrian street. He could smell the panic around her, and then there was the fire. Now given any other day, he would have walked on not really caring. But something told him, that it would become something much bigger if she didn’t get some help or guidance to calm down. So, Leon walked towards her. Only to be told to go, a soft smile formed on his lips as he took a step forward. Leave. “Yeah, I’m not going to do that," he let his hand find her arm “Breathe” he could have used his compulsion towards her, but instead he let his other power flow through her. Letting her feel peace spread through her veins helping her to focus on breathing instead of the many emotions walking past them. “Must be hard being such an empathic woman, and then walking around the highest time of stress, sadness and anger” he whispered, letting his hand glide up her arm and around her shoulder. “Let’s wait here for a moment, I promise I won’t don anything” he told in a warm and low voice as he looked down at her hands making sure that they wouldn’t set him on fire.

He walked closer towards her and all the would feel was how the anxiety rushed up, tearing down any other thing down the way, at least till he touched her arm. Breathe, she would at any day have slapped anyone for just saying that, because it was never that easy. But she breathed, like it was the most natural ting to do in this moment, making her press her brows a bit together, feeling the tension slowly ease from her shoulder. The fire became more manageable and she took a deeper breath in and closed her eyes, letting the newfound peace in her shut down the fire. It was so much easier to focus at the peace, making her wonder how he did it, but right now she appreciated it too much to question it. Mariella took a longer and deeper breath in, before slowly letting it out again and opened her eyes, looking towards him. A softer chuckle escaped her lips by his whisper, as her eyes found his. "It's quite a lot to take in yeah," she confessed on her next inhale, feeling more like herself again, as if the touch of his granted her the life-line she just had been in need off. His suggestion made nod a bit. "Don't worry, the fire is out," she breathed out noticing he looked towards her hands. "It's the stress and anger, it triggers it sometimes - usually I've better control," she confessed a bit disappointed in her ability to handle the crowd. "Thank you," Mariella then breathed out keeping her eyes towards his, because she was grateful for the helping hand.  And to be fair it wasn't many people who would help a stranger who could burn them alive  if you had been unlucky enough.

He could understand how it was hard to control her powers when she also had to use time to gather her thoughts when so many emotions were at play around her. “Well, maybe it’s time to get away from the street to gather your thoughts a little more” he theorized and looked towards the busy pedestrian street. He looked down at her as she thanked him, he couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips. “Not going to lie, it’s not often that you meet this kind of aura, so it made it easy to step in and help” he explained taking a step back letting his hand glide down her arm, but instead of letting go he found her hand instead. Even though he could keep on helping her with keeping calm, finding peace as he did right now. Without holding on to her, it would be much easier with physical contact. “I’m Leon by the way, come I’ll find us a nice coffee shop, I’m thinking the least you could do is buying your helper a cup” he laughed, trying to keep her at ease as he walked towards the many people again, letting his hand squeeze around hers as they stepped into the chaos and walked down the street hoping to find somewhere they could sit for a quiet time.

Mariella took a deeper breath in and nodded once again. Getting off the annoyingly busy streets seemed like a good idea. It wasn't the first time she had been told that her aura wasn't like most, it was intense and draining - maybe it was because it was mixed with the fact that fairies naturally could sense the moods of others to some point - Mariella just managed to take it to a whole other level. It wasn't hard to keep the smile on her lips caused by the appreciation of his gesture to help her, but naturally it was like she expected he would next up excuse himself and be on his way - not that she would have judged him for it. But he kept his hand on her, and she felt it like a small shiver down her spine as it moved over her arm till his hand found hers. Mariella rather quickly figured he had to be the one making her feel so harmonious, which explained why it was the emotion that was the easiest to focus on as pulsed directly from the touch of his hand. Her smile only grew brighter as he presented himself, followed along the softer laughter that left her lips. "Okay, that's sounds like a fair deal," she nodded a bit, still not taking her eyes off his. Then they started walking into the chaos she had just run out from, feeling the squeeze from his hand, making her take a deeper breath in keeping the focus on him, which she had to admit wasn't that difficult. "I'm Mariella," she then presented herself, having forgotten about doing so when he had given her his name. It was odd, but she theorized it was due to his ability, it was like she walked in a bobble where the world around them just were quite, it was just white noise.

“Nice to meet you Mariella” he said with a warm voice, making sure to keep an eye out about the people around them. He pulled her a little closer as a man was about to walk into her. “Sorry” he apologized moving his eyes to her just for a second before they were in front of him again. Now it really was busy, and you could see how they all had one goal in mind. Getting the gifts and then go home. This was one of the times where he blessed his very keen sense of smell. Even though it did pick up a lot of sweat and bad perfume. He could also smell some first class roasted beans. “This way” he motioned and then guided them down one of the smaller streets, there was a lot more peace and quiet here. He stopped in front of a small barista that didn’t seem all that crowded. One of those secret gems that people only knew about if they had stumbled upon it by chance and had brought their friends. “Well, their coffee smells great, so I’m saying we’ll give it a go, since it also seems less crowded than the normal coffee shops around here” he opened the door, and for the first time since he had met her, he let go of her hand and let her walk through the door first. Not that he stopped his ability from helping her, as it should be a much easier transition, or it might have a backlash. Not something he was interested in putting her through. As just being left with no aid to dim her powers, would leave her just as distraught as he had found her.

What was happening to people? She would like to say they turned into wild animals this season, but not even that description was fitting for what was going on. It was like people thought they would die if they didn't get their hands on these deals, making the worst out of people. Snapped out of the thought the second he pulled her closer to avoid the man almost aiming to walk over her, she lost her breath shortly, and blinked a little before they were on their way again. This way, she pressed her brows a little bit together, enjoying the smaller spark of adventure that started to light up, as they moved down one of the smaller streets, now Mariella was keen on exploring all the different corners and secret spots in town, it was her escape from reality to just go on any sense of adventures and know the area she lived in. But this path, she had not been down this street before, which only made her way more curious.

Mariella could feel it within seconds how the chaos from the main streets, all the noise, stress and anger was left behind. It looked like a cozy little shop, her favorite kind, the ones that were just small and had their own personal little touch, it made them feel like home in a sense the more popular shops just couldn't do anymore. Sometimes it wasn't a good thing being in the public eye. "Oh, well it sounds like a plan," she replied finally feeling like herself again after the meltdown she had had in the alley. He let go off her hand, making her press her brows together for a moment, feeling the cold autumn air on her skin, but she walked through the door and looked around. The shop was rather cozy, small but it was so warm you couldn't anything but feel comfortable. Mariella folded her hands in front of her, lifting them up letting her index fingers lean against her lips shortly looking at the menu, before she let her arms fall down to her sides again and turned towards him. "What kind of coffee would you like? My treat remember," she tilted her head just an inch to the side giving him a softer smile as she awaited his answer.

He walked inside after her, letting the warm and cozy atmosphere calm him down. A small breath left him, as he felt the buzzing of his phone and pulled it out. Another case from back home that he needed to take a look at. Why was it, that he wasn’t even the first inline to get the throne, and it still seemed like he was doing the most paperwork of all the family members? Oh well, that wasn’t true, his father was extremely busy as well. He put his phone away after sending off a quick text that he would be clocking out now and he would take a fresh start tomorrow and look at all of it. Then he shut it off and looked up at the menu when she asked what he wanted. “hmm” a soft hum left him as he took a step forward squinting his eyes a little. “I think, I’m just going to be very ordinary and get myself a cappuccino, but with skimmed milk” he said with a soft smile, and then looked towards what kind of cake they had “Oh, and a slice of Oreo cheesecake” he gave the waitress a big smile that slightly flustered as she took both their orders, the payment and then told them she would bring them down when she was done. “Anywhere you would like to sit?” he asked looking around, there was a couple of opportunities. But to be fair, he couldn’t really care less about seating, so at this point it was more her preference. Especially since she was the one recovering from what had happened earlier.

She chuckled delighted to the very ordinary order and nodded a bit, and her eyes were rather quick to follow the cake tray as he mentioned it. Oreo cheese take, that did sound delicious, "Oh," Mariella placed her index finger on her lip tabbing it gently as if she was thinking about the whole order, despite having chosen what she wanted in her head. But mostly, she just ordered the same as him - because it did sound delicious, and if she took her usual coffee order, she would never be able to follow asleep. Then taking care of the payment, giving the waitress a more tender smile before she turned towards Leon again just in time for him to ask if there was anywhere she would like to sit. The fairy folded her lips a little together licking them as she looked around the room. "Over there looks nice," she nodded towards the corner, it look rather welcoming, lights on the table, but Mariella was also drawn to the more rustic look, and how it was brought to life by the plants. She couldn't imagine it was easy to keep the plants alive this season, but some people did have special talent for that, other than that, the shelves with books and smaller objects as long with the signs on the walls really helped the spirit of the place.

Mariella made her way slowly over to sit down, and ran a hand through her fair as she took a deeper breath in. It felt good to finally sit down, like everything just settled a little bit better. "I will just quickly text my brother - two seconds," she picked up her phone quickly. The last thing they needed was the Blanchard brothers turning the place upside down because she hadn't responded to a text - and with everything that had been going on with Southside, the casino, Mariella didn't want her family to worry about her when there was nothing to worry about. Her being overwhelmed wasn't something she took as important compared to everything else that happened around their noses. So, quickly texting Nigel she was going to be out a little later, and that she had coffee with a friend. It was perhaps the best way to put it, before she placed her phone back in her bag and turned her eyes back to Leon, giving him her full attention. "So, are you like a secret expert in finding hidden gems in Aston, or was it just pure luck?" Mariella then asked looking around shortly to gesture to the place he had found, before her eyes caught his again.

“Of course, we all know how brothers can become” he said with a smile as she said that she needed to text her brother. There was almost something comforting knowing she was close to family; he wasn’t entirely sure why. But he was. He had to laugh when she asked if he was a secret expert in finding hidden gems in Aston, or if it was just pure luck. “Now, I haven’t been in Aston for a very long time, but do have a particular set of skills, and one of them allows me to sniff out good coffee anywhere I am” he told, letting his eyes look at the waitress as she came towards them and sat down their order before leaven them again. “Man, I totally forgot a good lunch today” he mumbled as he grabbed the plate with the cake and took a bite. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the soft taste that danced over his palate. “Now this is good cake” he laughed and put it down to take a sip of his coffee. “So, who is Mariella?” he asked giving her a charming smile leaning back with his coffee, enjoying this silent time where he wouldn’t be bothered by his family, or anyone associated to it.

She laughed a little by that statement followed by a nod, "can't live with them, but can't live without them," the fire fairy shook her head shortly. Mariella narrowed her eyes just a little bit as he informed her that he hadn't been in Aston for a rather long time, which she could relate to a little bit. Even though this year that had almost had gone felt like ages. "You might have to teach me a few tricks then, rumor has it that I suck at picking out good coffee," Mariella chuckled a little at herself, before she looked to the side as the waitress came with their order. He hadn't even had lunch, now Allison let her eat whatever she wanted at work, so missing lunch or any other meal was rarely an option. Mariella smiled at the waitress, as she grabbed the plate taking a look at the delicious cake in front of her eye. A soft chuckle left her as she looked towards Leon who had already taken a bite and looked like someone who had been sent to neverland. Then she lifted her piece up and took a bite herself, "oh wow," she blinked a little - quite surprised by how tasty it was, placing the cake down as she was chewing the former bite.

Her eyes turned towards him again, and she swallowed the last piece, before picking up her cup just in time for his question. Mariella folded her lips together and narrowed her eyes a little, trying to see if there was anything interesting she could come up with. "Other than a fire fairy that is clearly not made for dealing holiday season?" She chuckled a little bit before taking a smaller sip of the warm coffee before placing it down again and leaned a little bit back in her seat, being unable to remove the blushed smile from her lips even if she wanted to. "I moved here with my brother in the beginning of the year, so I guess - I'm someone who is starting over, finding out who I want to be in this crazy world, if that makes sense," she responded to his question and licked her lips a little. One thing was never having been having a role outside of the clan, to suddenly having to, and she enjoyed it - even with the hardships figuring out how to deal with knowing your birthright, getting the family together again. It was a lot more than she gave it credit for. "And I'm someone who appreciate the fine art of a good cake," she pointed out before picking it up and took another bite, she chewed off before nodding towards him. "What about you, who is Leon?" She returned his question back at him with a tenderer smile.

He couldn’t help but laugh as she told him that she was bad at picking out coffee. “Now I could try to teach out, but to be fair I have the advantage with having a great sense of smell” he told as he took another bite of his cake. It was hard not to let his eyes stay at her face when she showed just how much she enjoyed the cheesecake. It would be a blind man, and even then, it would be very hard not to be drawn in. by the beauty she possessed. Which wasn’t only how she looked, but the very chaotic aura that was floating around her. The smell of her. He cleared his throat and then listened as she explained who she was. All the while a brighter smile blossomed on his lips.

Who is Leon? He breathed out, and for a second, he was tempted to give her a story of who he wished he was. But he also knew that if he wanted to know her better, and he did. He couldn’t do that, because people that you wanted to be around, deserved honesty. “Well,” he gave her a cheeky smile and put his coffee cup down. “There are many sides of Leon, I just got here because of my father’s business, I’m the second son of the king of Theronida. I’m the family’s fixer, and travel to where I’m needed to make sure that our reputation stays somewhat decent, and I’ve lived many adventures, travelled the world and tried almost everything –“ he leaned back to watch her reaction. “And to be completely honest, I’m the second generation of the first pureblood werewolves” he shrugged and then gave her a soft smile.

Mariella folded her lips a little, feeling how easily she could get distracted just by looking into his eyes. It should be a crime having so compelling eyes, so easy to lose yourself in. She narrowed her eyes a little as he breathed out, the cheeky smile made sparked the curiosity in her eyes so clearly. He was in luck that his story wasn't the insane she had heard, but it was still quite a lot to hear, when it was the last thing you expected someone to tell you. That you were sitting eating cheesecake and drinking coffee with a prince, well, now she could cross that off her bucket list. Now, she had heard a little bit about his family, especially after Irina had been reunited with her grandmother and Natasha had been taken in by the pack. Funny how the world worked. So, she didn't seemed too puzzled by the tale, she just smiled so tenderly instead. "The family fixer, huh?" Mariella leaned a little forward placing her elbows on the table as she looked at him. "Well, I can tell you that you are doing a great job them, the reputation precedes you," Mariella meant it as a compliment, it was better to announce that she had heard about his family rather than keeping it under lock and key, and there was really no reason to hide it - because she didn't have anything bad to say. Mariella had always been good at taking in information, coming from her gift of empathy - she rarely took much time to process things around her, unless she was trapped in the intensity of an emotion like earlier. "What is the most wonderful place you've travelled?" She asked as he had just mentioned he was well travelled. Mariella had always wanted to travel and see more of the world, it was rare she had gotten the chance, other when her brothers had taken her out for a small trip somewhere.

She took a slightly deeper breath in before leaning back and grabbed her coffee again. She appreciated the fact that he was telling her this, how humble he was about it. "So, my evening starts with sitting at a little lowkey cafe with a prince eating one of the best cheese cakes, I've had in a long time - far from how I expected it, but I'm not complaining She chuckled a little bit to herself.

“Jep” at little puzzled by the fact that she took it so cool, it wasn’t everybody that would just take it so calmly when told that they were sitting in front of a prince. More so, when figuring out just how old you were, especially if you knew your supernatural stories. Now, there could be the fact that she didn’t know anything about it. He curled his brows together as she then went on to tell him, that his reputations proceeded him. Did she already know who he was? Intriguing.  He took a sip of his coffee when she asked what the most wonderful place he had travelled was. He gave her a soft smile “I have to think about that” he told, there had been many, also some of the most horrible places on earth, had been the most beautiful.

He couldn’t help but laugh a little, when she was quite honest about this not being how she had seen the rest of the evening to go. “well you and me both, but I rather be here right now, than trying to smooth out treaties – and to your question earlier, the amazons, but back before it was really touched by humanity” he gave her a soft smile “when you still travel by ship and the power from the wind” he explained and took another bite of his cake while thinking about the answer. “To be completely honest, all the technology and everything we have today, is great and I wouldn’t want to chance that, because one should not look past a functional sewer system – but sometimes I miss the simpler times, and how nature was like before we polluted the earth” he gave her a smile.

Mariella listened intrigued by the story that he told, and could almost picture it. Just sailing, without a care to the destination. She had grown up without much technology, the only time she had gotten a phone was when Nigel had snuck one in for her so she could keep in touch with him and their other brothers - which had been the possibly best thing that have ever happened - and the music to distract herself from the crowd - even through the signal had been the worst. But going somewhere that wasn't touched by humanity, it sounded so peaceful and she could almost sense it through her inner eye. "Yeah, well, I grew up pretty much without much tech, we relied on the more simple ways - one of my older brothers used to sneak me and a few of my other brothers out to this one tv we had in one of the main houses, so we could watch some old movies together once in a while - but that was pretty much it," she chuckled a little by the memories, thankful for them. "I grew up in Nepal, exquisite nature as well," she pointed out before taking another smaller bite of the cake. "I've always love going on hikes, just being in with the nature you know -" she added reminding herself she hadn't been on a good hike since spring. Maybe that was what she needed, a good hike in nature to ease her nerves, she mentally noted that. "Have you had time to visit the Oneiroi mountains? The view from up there is amazing," she wondered taking up the coffee once again to take a mouthful as she looked to him.

Now there were two reasons why that a child would have been raised without much technology in their lives. Either they were raised in a time where it didn’t exist. Or they were brough up in a household that was either extremely Christian, in a cult or if they were hunters. There were always two kinds of hunter families, though that sorely relied on what had been passed down generations, or the ones that was always striving to prefect their hunting. And that was using whatever gadgets could be made with modern day technology. Normally he would never have thought a fire fairy to be a part of a hunter family, but something was telling him that he was on the right track on that. Nepal, he couldn’t help but pull back one side of his mouth. Blanchard. Stubborn bastards. Wait, Irina? He narrowed his eyes, that would explain why she had been so informed about him.

He nodded when she asked if he had been on the Oneiroi mountains “yes, many years ago, but I still remember how breath-taking it was. Specially to wake up and the sun is rising over the landscape. No one would ever be able to truly capture the magic of standing there in real life” he gave her a soft smile “So, just a wild guess here, but your last name shouldn’t be Blanchard, now, should it?” he asked reading her facial features to get her honest reaction to his question, while he was taking a sip of his coffee.

He seemed to be collecting the information she gave him, even if Mariella was rather chatty and sometimes talked over herself, she always picked up on how the information was taken in. Not everyone could connect all the dots, and to be fair, it was rather rare she spoke about where she was from. She couldn't even recall she had told Henry about anything slightly related to where or how her and her brothers were raised. Mariella was also a master in swinging conversations from one to another within seconds, which sometimes could drive her oldest brother insane, but at times it was just happened when you got so excited about something or someone. Mariella licked her lips a bit slowly as he started his next conversation with a wild guess, once again she leaned forward and placed her elbows on the table. He guessed her surname, making her take a little deeper breath in. "It is," she spoke rather fast, the fire fairy knew what type of family she was raised in - she also knew what kind of role she had had in it, and Mariella had seen quite a lot. However, she wasn't sure if it was due to Irina having spoken about them or common knowledge, but it didn't surprise her that he could connect some of the dots. "They took me in-" Mariella took a deeper breath in before leaning back in her seat. It was both annoying and so delightful that he was so easy to talk with, not that she usually did filter a lot, but the calm and collected aura he seemed to hold - it just took her mind to a state of peace she hadn't been in a long time. "Now, me and a few of my brothers have distanced ourselves from their perspective of things," she informed just to make things clear. "Not that I've ever liked any sense of that perspective," she mumbled a little bit as she took a mouthful of her coffee. Being an empath surrounded by all that repressed and bottled up emotion that no one was allowed to feel, all that death and pain, hatred.

He nodded slowly as she explained just how she was related. It made sense, the Blanchard clan had never really been much about killing supernatural’s just for the shake of it. Not when they could use them to become stronger. But they still had a very obsessive way of looking about humans and nonhumans. Which in his eyes was insane. Because supernatural beings had been there long before humans. In other dimensions, angel being one of them. But that didn’t stop these hunter families to exist and make life so very difficult for so many that just tried to live their life in peace. “I get it, I never really seen the Blanchard’s to be one of the worst families” he then added, but then again, he was older than the heritage that was carried in the blood that her brothers walked around with. “But there is always something fundamentally wrong when you can’t see the world for what it is, and that’s not black and white, but colorful were everyone needs a place to make it go around – and that’s coming from a werewolf whose mortal enemy is the vampire” he laughed, yes even vampires deserved their place in this world. He didn’t distinguish between them being a vampire or a werewolf, no it came down to who they lived their life. If they wanted nothing but harm other people.

Mariella breathed out, feeling the sense of comfort falling upon her. It was always very split how other species reacted knowing they sat in front of someone who was raised by hunters. But no, they weren't the worst. Elenora's family were another league of brutal, she just hoped they had learned from their choices after what happened to Quentin - sadly it wasn't in neither her hands or Elenoras - or anyone else of Elenora's siblings. Mariella lifted her chin a little narrowing her eyes as she interested listened to his thoughts, because she agreed, and it was always nice to hear someone else's thoughts about the world. Mariella had always known better, known everyone in the core shared the same keys to emotions, the same values, the ability to be sad, be angry or happy - it was in the very core, and yes something something happened that broke the tools to access these qualities, but it didn't mean it wasn't there to begin with. "You cannot breed evil, it's made - no matter what you are born as," she folded her lips a little bit with a lighter chuckle. She liked philosophical conversations, talking about how the world was put together, how she viewed it. Also, she mainly just really enjoyed talking to him. But no, she did not believe that someone was put in this world to be cruel or evil, she believed in what happened around the person could merge them into who they were, and sometimes the world was cruel. People could be cruel, but there was also people who weren't and sometimes it was enough to make the difference.  

"So, out of pure curiosity, how did you -" she did a little movement with her hands as she used them to speak, "manage to settle me down? I believe my brothers would like a handbook," she joked a little, but Mariella was rather curious. She had felt this strong sense of just peace, which she wasn't even sure she had experienced before. It was the fastest and if not most successful she ever had managed to calm down. Especially after a freak out like the one she just had.

He nodded quickly and took a sip of his coffee as she said it just as he had just thought it. “You almost took the words out of my mouth” he laughed giving her a big smile “And I’ve always loved the saying, don’t fear the monster, fear the person that created it” he said with a smile, to be fair it was the witches that had created vampires that was the problem. Because they hadn’t calculated the risk of just using them to be guard dogs. Not raise them as children with care and love, he had seen it firsthand as Revna had pulled the heart out of his aunt. And the fact that after that she still loved Oscar, that had been the reason that all of it had happened. No, he didn’t share his father’s vision on all vampires needed to be killed. Even if he was starting to see his son’s way of looking at things. That it wasn’t just black and white, and sometimes you needed to see the beauty in the dark. Like helping their cousin Neil that had been dealt a bad hand, and just needed someone to help him to be a better person. And if he would fall, then there would still be someone to pick him up. To think that people didn’t deserve chances even though they kept proving them wrong, that was just the first step towards always having monsters. But then again, sometimes you also needed to let go and stop trying. Who knew, maybe it was his ability that made him always try to see the best in people. Even if he could be an annoyed man, that sometimes just wanted to be left alone.

He looked at her as she asked how he had done it and gave a small chuckle as she also added that her brothers would like a handbook. “Now, they can’t cheat like me, so that would be unfair giving them a handbook saying, just be as cool as Leon” he laughed, clearly not meaning it. He wasn’t his older brother after all. “I have the ability to manipulate with virtues, meaning I can draw out peace if you already possess it, which you do – but you just need to find that mind palace in you, that lets you breathe when you get overwhelmed” he smiled, knowing very well it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

And I’ve always loved the saying, don’t fear the monster, fear the person that created it, she nodded a bit. "I like that," Mariella confessed before letting a little chuckle leave her lips. It was a rather reflective saying, which was perhaps why she liked it so much and understood he was fond of it.

Mariella listened as he replied to her question, a small laugh left her lips. "Yeah that is a tough act to follow, I see your point," she mused a little, pretty sure Jamie would argue that, but Jamie would also argue anything he could if given the chance. But as he further explained his ability, she couldn't remember having met anyone that held an ability quite like that. Now, she knew there was a good side and a down side to almost all abilities. "Yeah, me and my mind place has some communication issues lately," she chuckled a little, but it was the truth. "But I appreciate it," Mariella gave him a softer smile, because she did appreciate that despite he might have had better things to do, he had sought to help her. Mariella didn't always understand what made her abilities tick or spice up time to time, but she had reflected on it enough to just be the massive change that happened this year coming to bite her in the ass - not because it was bad things that had happened, far from all things that had happened in her life was bad - but good or bad, it was still very intense emotions and events, and she had to find a way to deal with it.

He couldn’t help but pick up on how she explained that her and her mind palace wasn’t really working as well together as they should. Maybe it was the fact that he did it for a living, reading body language and making sure that the people around him were comfortable and he would make sure that they would eventually agree to his terms about how to proceed. He had done it so many times with young women that had thought they would be the next princess because they had fallen head over heels with his brother. Or one of his uncles had made a bad investment or just said something plain stupid. And there were times where he needed to pick up his father because he had pissed someone off, or he had died in a way that wasn’t really something you wanted on the front side news. “So, out with it, why is your life more problematic than usually?” he asked lifting a brow while giving her a small smile. There was the chance that she would tell him, she didn’t want to talk about it. Or he might be able to help her more, than just calming her down when she had become overwhelmed.

So, out with it - Mariella took a deeper breath in, what had started the disruption in her usual balance. There was always a chance that she got burned out or that a day just had been too much, but usually she could navigate within herself how to focus on everything. "Back in summer for a couple of weeks I was wearing a gift that repressed my abilities for a little while, the new moon took the magic from it, and everything just started to hit twice as hard - which I guess is the price trying to cheat by means like that," she licked her lips a little bit, well, she had learned from that lesson, luckily Nigel had managed to calm her down rather fast, Mariella was lucky to have her brothers and that they could pick up many of her signs - or she at least was good at giving them, most of the time. "But I would say things around my family has been quite eventful this year, a lot of change has happened -," she took another sip of her coffee almost out. Mariella took a deeper breath in and leaned back once again. "And I work in a bakery, sometimes that makes me want to murder people as well, but hey, nobody is perfect," she chuckled a little, clearly joking, but it was also a rush of people in and out. But she had thought about saving up, at some point getting her own space. Not because she didn't appreciate all that had been done for her, but also now that Nigel had his daughters, another child on the way, she wanted him to be able to live with that experience - despite how much she knew her company was appreciated. Maybe it was about time? Luckily she did not need to figure that out just yet.

He leaned back with the coffee cup securely between his hands, not that there was that much coffee left to drink. As she started telling her tale what had been going on. An amulet to repress a power, was both reckless and stupid. Because just like any other magical item, it had to be done by people that knew what they were doing. And make those artifacts typically almost killed the witch, as so much power needed to be put into it. As not to make sure that the new moon would steel the powers away from it. Like she had just told him had happened. He nodded a little, when she herself reflected that would be the price to trying to cheat. Even though it was a harsh awakening. He nodded when she went on to tell him that things around her had been quite eventful, a lot of chances and that she work in the business of costumer service. Which was hard when you could feel every emotion. And then in a baker. “You just like making things hard on you” he said with a side looped smile. “So, is it a need just to make sure that everyone around you is alright, but you forget yourself in the process?” he asked lifting his brows, now through all of what she had just said. It was her family, her fault she had wearing the neckless – why not the person that had given it to her? Or had she bought it herself, then why suddenly now? And then there was the fact that she wanted to murder people, but nobody was perfect. So, in the end, was she not saying that it was her problem that she felt that people were overworked and the least she could do was making their day easier. Well, to him it seemed like it was what she said.

You just like making things hard on you. Mariella licked her lips a little and took a deeper breath in, "It's my specialty," she chuckled a little but it was sort of true. Mariella liked when everyone was settled, happy or at least in some sort of peace. Which was hard to archive, it not impossible. So, as he kept going mentioning just that, that she liked making sure every one was alright, that she forgot herself in the end, Mariella folded her lips a little bit. "Takes one to know one," she took a longer breath in and kept her eyes at him. "It's just, before this year, my brothers lived spread around the world. One of them died few years ago but recently came back, which is of course one of the rather eventful moments, but that is not my point. I saw them when they visited or tagged me along to visit." She exhaled a little bit biting her lower lip before she kept going, "And now I have them so close by, and I just want to make sure that everyone is okay. Because they have been so hurt, so down and I don't want to feel them going through that again," she breathed reaching the bottom of things. "And I don't want them to suddenly feel the need to go away again," she licked her lips a little bit looking down to the table. No, she didn't doubt her brothers love for her. Far from. It didn't change that she had missed them, missed having them around the amount she had now. Archie had lived with Elenora in New Orleans before he died. Jamie had lived with McKenna for years after meeting her before she died, and Nigel had done his fair share of travelling. So, yes she had missed her brothers, the ones of them she were the closest to. Mariella could of course just have spoken up, but she hadn't wanted to burden anyone, but luckily she had spoken up when her parents had been about to marry her away to Quentin. So, being free out here, it felt like she finally saw that the clan was some sort of prison, you were lucky to get out. Her and her brothers were so lucky to be out.