Everything at Once

LOCATION | The south part of Grounds of Lily near a park areas
DATE | 14th of April 2022
TIME | Afternoon
WEATHER | Clear sky, afternoon sun, warm
ATTIRE | dress + light blue denim jacket
TOPIC FOR | @Leigh
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Just a casual Thursday. Not that there was anyting casual about it, it was just the same loop. Ayah still was troubling with her own mind, if she actually had seen Quentin or not last week, but for sure her reaction had been real. The ways her powers had reacted to her little episode, she had scared herself most of all. Ayah took a sharper breath in again, and shook her head. Her arms crossed while her red hair curled in beautiful soft curles over her shoulders, moving to the steps she took. She wasn't really feeling well, but still she managed to at least get outside for  a walk. Ayah looked around her, still afraid of finding his face in the crowd, and yet she wanted to, just to confirm if he was actually there. She couldn't just walk over to Mariella's brothers and be like: hey I saw Quentin. It wouldn't for one be fair to Archie's Elenora. Or any of the others. Not that Ayah wanted to have sympathy for someone like Quentin, who had helped with the massacre that had destroyed and killed so many people she loved. Having her suffer for months from nightmares that still played from that night every time she closed her eyes. Or almost every time, there had been few times where she had been able to sleep in peace. A few times.

Lost in her own thoughts she looked ahead at her, down the streets as she walked close to the edge of one of the many parks. "Edward?" She said rather loud, maybe just surprised by that old face showing up after so long. Not that it had been possible to track her really, not since she used her air manipulation to made the wind move away from her and therefor not let her scent get around. Only whenever she was home really or let down her guard.

Things were going great at the laboratory and all in all, everything just went smoothly. Or at least, Leigh didn’t want to let things get too close to him to provoke him. He hadn’t let anything get to him in any way since October, and that was quite well, correct? Of course, there had been the fight with his mothers current boytoy, which had led to problems with Hannah, but everything was fine. So, very, fine.
As of right now, he was off from the laboratory and was simply shopping a little. He had been getting himself some new clothing, which was nicely packed in a bag, and the only thing he was missing now, was a new lightbulb for his bedroom. When things got crazy at home, things broke. He was looking at his phone, trying to figure out where he could by the best lightbulb, with the most different qualities, when he heard his birthname be called. It was a name very, very few knew of. He looked up and noticed a familiar fairy. It had to be almost seven hundred years ago since he had seen her. A smug smile couldn’t keep away from his lips as he continued in the direction of the fairy while he put his phone away. “Ayah, hey!” he greeted when he got closer. Now, he usually didn’t appreciate that people used his birthname, but Ayah… That was a whole other case. “It’s been a while, huh?” he said and let a hand run through his hair.

Ayah had very good memory when it came to faces, unless powers provoked her to forget them, she never spent too much time remembering the person if she had seen them before. But it was far from often that people remembered her the same way around, but Edward remembered her which made her smile. "Indeed it has," she chuckled a little bit giving him a warm smile. "I didn't know you were in this region still," Ayah knew she shouldn't be surprised, but she hadn't really heard anyone called by his name around. Then again, now she hadn't been around Athena for more than a handful of years and never stayed for more than a couple. "Could say the same about myself though," she shook her head a little bit with a lighthearted chuckle. She had always wanted to see the world, more of it and she had gotten to do so in the past.

To Leigh, faces never faded if he had spent a couple of years with them. If they did, it was only for description, because as soon as she met someone who looked like someone he had known for a while, well, then it was certain that he could remember the person, and sweet, sweet Ayah had filled enough in his life to mean something for his memory. He chuckled a little as she agreed and spoke about the region. He raised his brows interested as she mentioned that she could say the same about herself, “You didn’t know that you were still in this region?” he teased, “To be fair, I’ve been around quite a lot, but I’ve gotten better at centralizing myself at once place. I got a laboratory here in Grounds of Lily,” he explained with a nod. Now, the laboratory had never been something he had spoken about back then, the laboratory was less than one hundred years old after all. He licked his lips a little, “I actually live in Oakheart,” he said and tried to contain himself a little, “So, if you got the time, I could offer you something to drink there?” he suggested and made a small nod in the exact direction of his home.

Ayah made a little grimace as he teased her, rolling her eyes lightly. He had a laboratory at these parts? She nodded a little bit, a little curious about what he meant by it and what he was doing now. Living so long they did, and even beyond that you got to experience a great deal of things, you could live so many lives and be who ever you wanted to be. He lived in Oakheart, which was a lovely city too. Hadn't it been for the fact that Ace and Willow both lived in Grounds of Lily, she would likely have looked to buy a house there. Then he offered her something to drink there, well it could be fun to catch up so she couldn't really see a reason not to. "Sure thing, there is plenty of things to catch up on, I'm looking forward to hear about some of your adventures," Ayah then nodded with a small giggle, then heading to follow him where ever he was headed.

She agreed to go to his place, even though it was a little trip away from here. “Excellent,” he said and showed her the way to his car, which wasn’t parked that far away. He threw his bag into the car and got into the front seat before he started to drive off.
“So, what are you doing lately?” he wondered, very, very curious of what she had been doing. After all, some of it might make sense, and other things might not. Many things could have happened in seven hundred years, and he was certainly not the one to judge, no if anything he was going to be sad that he might not have been there to share the experiences that she had gone through or helped her through tough times.

Ayah followed him to his car and got in, and looked over towards Edward as he asked her a question. A loaded question really. Because there had been a lot going on lately. Not just something she could sum up on a car ride, and besides she didn't want to burden him with all the tragic details. "I just moved to Grounds of Lily actually, so settling in. Trying to figure out what I want to do this decade, but its been a rough couple of months," she took a sharper breath in and removed her eyes a little from him to look out the window in front of her,   then looking back at him once she had collected herself and pulled up that glorious smile of hers, "what about you? What are you doing lately?" Ayah then returned the attention back to him.

He nodded a little, letting his dark eyes leave the road as she spoke, to look at her. “Couple of months?” he wondered and furrowed his brows a little, honestly wanting her to elaborate, “I'm sorry, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s alright,” he tried to assure her, having noticed her sharper breath in. He let her be for a moment, clearly noticing how it almost had her worked up. “I am trying to settle a little more,” he said and nodded a little, “I’ve got a lot to look at, at the laboratory, experimenting and such. Then- Well I have a dog, do you have anything against dogs?” he wondered, it had after all been quite a while, so he wouldn’t mind if she had something against dogs, he would just make sure that his dog was out of the way.

"I didn't say yes to get something to drink just to burden you with my troubles, but who knows. Depends if your shoulder still is free after, I might take you up on it," she said with a faint yet soft smile. But then she listened to him. To his reply to the question she had asked. How he was trying to settle a little, it sounded like a lot of work. She still wondered what type of experiments he was doing, but knew she had time to ask in. Then ending with the fact that he had a dog, making her smile a little bit more when asked if she had anything against dogs. "I love dogs -" she replied with a light chuckle. "What's your dog's name?" Ayah wondered, mostly because well yeah it was nice to know - at least in her head.

He nodded a little as she mentioned that it depended on if his shoulder was free after the drink, “I’ll make sure it’s free,” he spoke softly, promising even, not really knowing what the future had in store for them.
A wide smile spread on his lips as she mentioned that she loved dogs, “Well, his name is Nutmeg, and he got the same color as nutmeg,” he mentioned with a little chuckle. Not to mention how one of his favorite toys had been a nutmeg which had been rolling around. “But he’s not that old, but he’s very kind and makes the days a little better,” he informed not really being able to pull off a smile. From there, the conversation continued to small chit chats about whatever.
He pulled up to his apartment and killed the engine. He had a parking lot very close to his apartment. “Here we are. I got the ground floor,” he said and looked over at her giving her a short smile before he exited his car and opened the door for her, so he afterwards could show her the way inside and to the kitchen.

It was nice just sitting talking while they past the landscape before them leaving Grounds of Lily and getting into Oakheart. It didn't take long before reaching the parking lot and Edward parked the car, and she looked up towards the building and left the car, walking inside as he opened the door for her. Then letting him guide her inside where she took her shoes off, and then following him further in, then watching Nutmeg come towards them. Ayah sat down letting the dog greet her looking up at Edward with a warm smile. "It's a lovely home," she then said giving Nutmeg a bit more of her attention finding some comfort in that before getting back up on her feet. "I see why he makes every day a little bit better, mine has already gotten far better already, not that he takes all the credit."

Leigh looked at her as she took off her shoes, almost taking her in. Things had changed, but he wouldn’t say anything had gotten worse. Nutmeg came running to greet the fairy, and almost jumped on the spot to greet. Leigh looked over at them, noticing just how happy the dog seemed. “Thank you. It seems like he likes you” he complimented her, correcting his gaze a little to look at her instead of the dog. He almost envied the dog. But honestly, which man wouldn’t love a little bit of a woman’s attention? He kept his eyes on her as she got up. “Oh, he does not?” he wondered, taking the assumed compliment to heart with a smug smile and a slightly tilted head to look at her. He kept himself from promising her day could be way better soon enough, knowing very well that she might just want or need to catch up. “I make that big of a difference on your day?” he almost cheered himself and gestured her deeper into the kitchen. “What’s your poison now?” He remembered that once he knew what she usually drank, but things were different now. Sugar was in more things and the taste of things had therefore changed.

She chuckled a little bit as he took her choice of words personal, well, who wouldn't. "Well, I'm here aren't I?" She teased a little bit to the fact that if she hadn't wanted to talk to him, or see him - would she have been here in the first place? Ayah followed him further into the kitchen, "oh I will just have whatever you are having,"she nodded. Because she didn't really just have one thing she usually drank, it depended a lot on the people she was with and the situation. Ayah let her eyes wander around them once again, before the brown eyes found his again. "I guess I'm just still a little surprised to see you after so long, leaves me a bit, tongue tied, or what people say these days," she excused not really knowing what to say.

Leigh couldn’t help but smile widely at her as she elaborated that she was in fact at his place now, and that had to mean something, when she hadn’t just arrived to see his dog. “Yes, you are,” he simply agreed with the same small smug smile on his lips. He looked over his shoulder as she said she would just have the same as him. “Alright,” he said before he turned his face to the cabinet in the kitchen where he simply pulled out some expensive red wine. It was the afternoon, so it wasn’t too odd now, was it? He poured them both a glass and brought one of them to her. He raised his brows a little, thinking she was as secretive as ever. “Tongue tied?” he repeated with a slight chuckle, taking a sip from his own glass of wine. “Well, it would be a shame to say I’m not surprised to see you too,” he said with a smug smile. “It has been a long time, and yet it feels like nothing has changed,” or at least that was how he felt in this very small moment. A moment where he didn’t think about anything but the two of them and the wine. He knew very well that he could be very quick to fall into old folds, but maybe that wasn't really Ayah's cup of tea yet. “Adventures... Did you have any you wanted to share?” he wondered, hoping he could keeps his mind busy, just a little.

Ayah exhaled a little softly looking shortly at the glass in her hand, before she took a sip of it. Yet it feels like nothing has changed, Ayah choked a little bit on her sip but nothing that went noticed, because well to her - everything had changed since she first time had left Athena. And things kept changing like a giant butterfly effect running back to bite her every time she would take another breath in. Then she took another sip just to make up for the other one, adventures - some of her adventures. For a moment, which wasn't really her style she was stumbling over thoughts and travels she had been on over the last many hundred years. "I've been spending quite sometime in France helping teaching at a school of magic - which has been very interesting," she then told, because it was perhaps one of the greater things she had gotten out of her friendship with Antionette. The school in France. "What about you?" She wondered before taking another mouthful of the wine. Then something weird happened, it was like a magical sensation that came closer. So familiar yet so strange. "Expecting company?" Ayah wondered, not shortly before the door opened.

Kaleen stepped through the door and closed it behind her and walked through the living room to the kitchen. Well, she felt the magic too. And not just any kind of magic, magic that belonged to the Minerva's at least one of them. Now, she hadn't had the most grand pleasure of meeting her cousins that much in the past. What had her and Ayah been around the same age the time her mother had cursed that family? Something like that. Or maybe she had been older, more like Hope? Kaleen pushed the thought out of her head again, giving her cousin a bright smile and looked at Leigh. "Hello handsome, I didn't realize you would be having so delight company," her smile grew brightly and tilted her head a bit to the side. "Hello cousin, it's been a while," Kaleen folded her hands in front of her just looking at Ayah that looked like a big question mark. So, Kaleen looked back at Leigh, "don't worry, her mind doesn't really remember. But it's alright, give her a few minutes to process - in the mean time, why don't you fetch me a glass of that good stuff darl'?" Kaleen's eyes moved back to Ayah, before she took a small step closer to her still with a somewhat bigger smile on her lips, almost playful. Because well, inspiration was for sure on its way.

Now, things had changed a lot since they last had met, but he had simply just meant right this moment, and maybe hoped that she had agreed. “Oh, they should be quite brilliant in France,” he complimented with a light smile before he took a sip when she asked if he had any adventure he wanted to share, but just as he was about to reply, he felt the shift in magic and lowered his glass of wine a little, keeping his eyes in the direction of his front door, only shortly looking towards Ayah as she asked if he expected company. “No-” and the door opened. Almost as a reflex his smile grew crooked as he saw Kaleen. He shrugged a little, licking his lips as Kaleen mentioned the delight company. When he heard Kaleen greet Ayah he looked towards Ayah with furrowed brows before he looked back at Kaleen. Cousins? He raised his brows shortly before he relaxed them again. He remembered now that Kaleen had explained the situation between the two families. But busy Leigh might have forgotten the relation on the way. The connection in family might be why he liked them – there was simply something with genetics. His owns, descendants and apparently cousins. Leigh noticed how Kaleen stepped closer to Ayah. He chose to grab onto Kaleen and pull her away from Ayah. “Fetch a glass yourself,” he told her, eyed her up and down shortly, “Uninvited means no service,” her told her and tried to give her a little puff in the direction of the wine and glasses. If everything went as planned, he would walk towards Ayah. “I think we might have to save the reunion for another day,” he said with a kind, innocent smile.

Now one could easily blame Kaleen for being in the air and think she didn't pay attention to anything, but she did. She noticed way more than people often assumed, just how Leigh reacted to her stepping closer to Ayah. That was interesting. Kaleen made a small grimace when he then told her to fetch a glass herself, "well as far as I know, you never really have seen me as an uninvited guest," Kaleen pointed out even if it had been a moment since she had walked into his home like this. Then simply just walking in the known direction of the glasses and the wine. But well, she didn't really let herself from letting her ears pay attention to what they spoke about.

Ayah finally snapped out of her small state of shock as Edward walked towards her, saying that they should perhaps wait to meet another day. Ayah took a deeper breath in and agreed to it. Yet, she was also very curious, but like Hope had said anything related to Acacia was bad news. "But why is that? I have never gotten to meet my sweet sweet cousin after she was sent here, and I'm curious," Kaleen tilted her head a bit to the side as she poured up the wine in the glass, then looking back up. "You are curious?" Ayah asked in a snort and blinked a little bit, where to Kaleen only nodded a little bit. "So, why don't you just sit down, and we can all talk like friends?" She looked towards Leigh. "Come on, it's not like I'm gonna gut her up or anything. I just want to talk," yet everyone knew that Kaleen could do much worse, depending on her mood, which was always rather twisted.

"Actually, I think I'm just gonna go," she tried to excuse herself and took a step to the side, not really even giving herself much time to thank Edward for the wine or anything. But with a small spell, the second that Ayah placed her glass down, Kaleen made sure the glass broke due to the pressure and tore up the palm, letting that sweet blood color the broken glass as the red wine blended itself with it. Ayah jumped a little bit the surprise of the glass breaking, not noticing the sting in her hand yet, "I'm sorry," she apologized for having made mess. Then looking for some paper towels she could clean things up with. Well, Kaleen had already made a small spell to store away just a few drops of the blood, because that was after all she needed. But the more blood the more fun.

Kaleen received a gaze that was narrowed, as she pointed out that he had never really seen her as an uninvited guest. That was quite correct, but there was something about this that he didn’t like. Now, Leigh could be downright coldhearted, but he liked Ayah, and didn’t want her to get hurt – and he knew that the chance of Ayah getting hurt had increased by a hundred precent as soon as Kaleen had arrived.

Edward couldn’t help but close his eyes and take a deep breath in as he heard how Kaleen thought her cousin should stay. “Ayah, another day,” he tried to mumble to her, hoping she would actually listen and leave. Having both of them under the same roof was simply just a ticking bomb. Kaleen suggested they could sit down and talk like friends, which made Kaleen receive a tired look, which made her try to defend herself. He was about to reply that they could talk another day, hoping the event would be forgotten for Ayah’s sake, but Ayah caught his attention.

As soon as the sweet smell of the fairy blood hit his nose his gaze immediately turned towards Ayah. Now, it wasn’t because it was a lot of blood, but fairy blood just had it’s way, and had made his vampiric traits appear. He grabbed her hand, his eyes fixated on her. His ability made sure that she didn’t bleed that much. “No, I’m sorry,” he said before he was quick to pick her up and with his speed got her outside. He gave her a quick small peck on her cheek bone before he turned her away from the building and gave her a small puff so she could get moving. Again, with his speed he got back inside and all the way over to Kaleen, pinning her to the fridge, towering over her. “You can treat my guests like shit when they’re not in my company,” he hissed at her. He was only lucky that he had had a taste of Norah and that nothing could be compared to her blood. It made it so much easier to resist what he usually couldn’t resist. He let go of her and let his eyes scan her for a moment. “Do you like the wine?”

His vampire features made an appearance for her, now Ayah was used to being around some vampires so it wasn't like she could be colored surprised by those features. However so, in the company with Kaleen who just looked at her with that smug look, trying to gain something from the situation. It had Ayah aware, but soon the wound stopped bleeding and she realized that well, she was bleeding. Within seconds they rushed outside, and luckily as a air fairy she was easily on finding her balance again. Ayah felt the small peck on her cheek, and the puff of getting a head start. She took a step ahead, for a moment almost falling over her feet because she kept looking at Edward for a moment, then nodding a bit and started to get moving. Then looking back to see he had already returned to the apartment again, making Ayah pick out her phone to call Mateo to hear if he was nearby - knowing that her older sister would most likely just rip Kaleen to pieces or try. So, one thing was sure she would keep walking till she was out of sight, but her gut kept her knowing that this wasn't the end.

Kaleen had magically removed the left overs of her cousin's blood in the time that Leigh had taken Ayah out of the apartment. Not that it took him more than a very few minutes before returning and pinning her to the fridge looking down at her, "oh you like her huh?" Kaleen chuckled a little and clicked her tongue before her head tilted a bit to the side. "Don't worry, now the issue has been removed. I can actually have your full attention without any distractions," Kaleen raised her brow a little bit, perhaps it had just been that. Getting Ayah out of there because she surely knew that she couldn't stop herself, because well - inspiration didn't sleep for long. And she already had various of ideas on how to use the blood, but for now - that blood was teleported to her storage back in Moonlight Falls, because no way that Leigh's little fascination in Ayah was going to stop her.

Then letting go of her, her eyes remained locked with his still with her eyebrow raised just a little bit, curiously observing him. "I do actually, very tasty - but you did always have a rather magnificent taste for the finer things," Kaleen mused a little bit, "so maybe we can actually join some of these things instead of discussing this dull matter?"

Leigh narrowed his eyes as Kaleen chuckled about how he liked Ayah. After all, he did care for some people, and Ayah was one of them. It might just be a little questionable how he cared for people. When she said that she could get his full attention, he let go of her and asked about the wine, pulling a small smile as she replied that she liked it. The smile got a little crooked when she mentioned finer things – because that did of course also mean his taste in everything else. “What things do you wish to join?” he wondered keeping his eyes on her for a moment before he took a step back so he could twist his body a little to pick up his own glass of wine and take a sip of it while she explained her magnificent ideas.

Kaleen chuckled a little when he asked which of these matters she wanted to join. Now there was endless options, weren't there? "Obviously the ones that provides us with the best sort of excitement," she mused a little before taking another sip of the wine. "Yet, I cannot stay for too long. My brother is expecting me, so -" she placed her free hand against his chest. "But you know, I will let your mind come up with its own ideas - I'm simply just here to inspire your brillant mind," Kaleen reminded him. Not that she minded coming up with a few ideas herself, but one of the thing she did do the best was inspire people. Perhaps why her mother so often kept her close, to get a new source of inspiration.

He narrowed his eyes trying to figure out what kind of mysterious act she had put up in her brain this time. He liked the mindgames, the secrets and what they were capable of doing. He raised a brow as she mentioned that she wasn’t going to stay for long. Well, then they couldn’t get to do much, could they now? She put her hand on his chest and he felt how his head started to ache a little from the many fine experiments and missions he could think of. “Damit Kaleen,” he exhaled and looked away from her, folding his lips while he tried to figure out which of the ideas that he liked the most. “You know… A friend of mine once briefed something she wanted… She told me… She wished she could kill her man but keep his heart beating as an endless source for blood… But not having to deal with him,” he said with a smile that grew a little. No, he didn’t wish to kill Norah and not communicate, no, no. He just wondered how many bloodsuckers in the world would appreciate that. How the hospitals would appreciate endless amount of blood sources for patients who had lost blood. He laughed a little before he turned towards her. The tall figure leaned down and let his hands squeeze her cheeks together, so her lips folded. He shook her head a little “You’re a Goddess,” he told her before leaned in to give her a quick peck on her squished lips. He let go of her. “Brilliant!” he said and walked away from her almost excited for the idea. He was heading towards his office.

She raised her brow a little bit when he mentioned an idea a friend had briefed him, then she just let the inspiration do its work. Because she didn't need to do much more than just plant the seeds and let the ideas plant themselves, after all that was what she was best at: inspiring people. Then he placed his hands on her cheeks and squeezed them a little, gave her quick peck on the lips before he once again walked away in a storm of ideas. "You are welcome," Kaleen replied with a chuckle as she followed him a little towards his office, leaning in the door frame. "Then it seems like my job here is done, enjoy yourself my love I'll come around and see how the project works out," Kaleen hummed a little before she turned to take her leave. She took the bottle of wine and moved towards the door and opened it, only seeing the beautiful blonde witch headed in the direction of the door. "Well hello Hanna it's been a while hasn't it," Kaleen giggled a little bit, "he is rather busy, but I'm sure another pretty face coming to visit him will bring him just the satisfaction he needs for after his work is done," Kaleen added and tilted her head a little bit, then took a sip of the bottle of wine she had taken. "You fancy a drink?" Kaleen asked offering the bottle.

This year had already presented heaps of problems. It was a never-ending parade of troubles and pain that was over her just as she thought she had found her way back to the surface. It wasn’t a good course of events since she already had a fragile mind when it came to the fact that she just wanted it to end. But she fought on, mostly because she knew how much her father needed her. Because she had a brother that seemed just as far out as she was, because she had something to live for, even if she hadn’t been able to see him all that much since their last meeting. But now she had taken a day off and taken her time to make herself presentable. Walking in a flowy white dress with a blue belt and her hair pulled back in two braids and then folded together as a bun in the back of her head. Light makeup, all in all she had found herself rather beautiful before she had stepped out of her door further down the street.

She was just about to walk down the small path to the door as it opened. Her eyes blinked as she saw a familiar darkhaired fairy. Her lips pulled back as she recognized Kaleen. Now, it wasn’t like Acacia had been with her father while she had been alive, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know about them. They were worse than cockroaches, they just didn’t want to die, and they always came around when you least wanted them. Which was never.
“Kaleen” she said with a low warning tone, but she quickly swallowed her rage and blinked as she realized that she was walking out of Leigh’s home. Another pretty face - what? She felt her heart press violently against her chest, what did that mean? Swallowing the lump that pressed towards the back of her throat. “No thank you, are you leaving?” she asked, really hoping that she was and hadn’t just come to the door because she had seen her coming.

Leigh removed a couple of things from his table. Clearing it to write things down. Chemical calculations, and how he imagined the fountain of everlasting blood should look like. “Yeah, yeah, see you soon.” He mumbled quite concentrated and waved her off while he was leaning over his table while scribbling down.

Now, he didn’t have a lot of time before he was able to smell Hanna approach – and Kaleen greeted her and told her that he was busy – but he was never too busy for Hanna... He closed his eyes for a second, knowing that that encounter couldn’t end well. He could hear how Hanna’s heart started beating. Leigh almost threw his pen away, and as he got up from the stool, he had been sitting on it was almost thrown away from him. With quick speed he was by the door. “Yes, she is,” he responded and let a hand place itself on Kaleen’s back to push Kaleen out. “Come on in, I got something for you,” he said with a kind smile and reached his hand out for Hanna to take.