#kalea.⠀⠀···⠀⠀interactions⠀⠀:⠀⠀douglas. ⠀⠀◗

[ofkalea]

Los Santos had, for all intents and purposes, drawn Kalea in. Like a moth to a flame. She knew of the supernatural, all thanks in part to a clan of vampires she’d known since she was a kid. So to say it was a no brainer that she decided to carry out her college years in the city would be something of an understatement. Regardless of how much she was enduring enjoying her college experience, she needed to get out every now and then. Even she could only spend so much time in the school’s library before she needed a change. Hence her move from the university library to the one in Sycamore Hills.

She sought to make a habit of it, in fact. Thus far she hadn’t been able to visit nearly as often as she’d have liked to, though she did try. Whether it be hunting for her newest fictional obsession, or an addition to her already long reading list for a class. Even going so far as to find a book full of artwork she adored, a book she should more than likely purchase with how often she checked it out. If anything could be said of Kalea, it was she tended to lean towards the nerdier spectrum.

One of her more recent trips in search of a book had lead her to catch sight of a young man she hadn’t remembered seeing before. It’d only been for a split second that he was in her periphery, but the glimpse of him had admittedly intrigued her. Especially since the next few trips to the library she somehow managed to miss him, to her curiosity’s dismay.

She’d come back, half in search for her latest book and half in hope that Kalea might cross paths with the mystery man…officially. As always she’d managed to get sucked into the book she was deciding on, already reading a few pages when a voice manage to pull her out of the fog. She jumped slightly at the unexpected greeting, a laugh following the surprised noise that’d fallen from her lips. Dark eyes widened when she saw who it was.

“Hi ehm…” Kalea gingerly held up the book she’d been looking at ‘The Hobbit’, waving it a little. “I’m afraid I’ve fallen back to an old favorite of mine, can’t beat the comfort classics right? What about you?” At his greeting she smiled, albeit a little shyly before it brightened. “I actually remember you too. It’s nice to finally meet you, Douglas. I’m Kalea.”

𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: 2:30pm  𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: the library, sycamore hills

Open to: @ofkalea​

Douglas had mixed feelings about Arthur, his father figure, being back. But as the anxious and angry feelings about his childhood abandonment started to wane, his curiosity grew. He felt familiar, how he spoke, smiled, and hugged the younger wolf throwing Douglas back into his early youth when he’d hung on the man’s every word and story. Yet he felt entirely new - 13 years had made him a stranger, and Douglas wanted to help him as much as he helped Charles. The first week of his return into his life, Doug could hardly separate himself - perhaps afraid of him disappearing again - and offered to help him where he could in the library sorting through and putting away books.

It was interesting to be in a library. There were more options than what Charles offered in his collection, and Douglas, curious as he was, could not help but find himself lost in the aisles, browsing through titles to find something new. There was so much he didn’t know, that Charles had never had the time to teach him or show him about.

More interesting than the books though, were the regulars. One girl in particular had caught his attention. He noticed her standing in an aisle, reading, smiling and giggling to herself about some inside joke (he assumed) that he found himself wanting to be let in on. Once he’d finally gotten the courage to go talk to her, Arthur called for him, and reluctantly he withdrew. When he returned, she was gone - and that, strangely made him sad.

He kept looking for her every day after, spying the door, glancing down the same aisle he’d seen her in to see if she’d return. Each day his heart would drop a little in disappointment, hoping to just get a glance of her cheeky smile again that lit up her eyes. She was pretty, he’d never seen a girl quite like her before (he really hadn’t met many his age to begin with) and it made him viciously curious.

Then, by chance, she came back. He stopped in his tracks as he passed a different aisle, catching her familiar silhouette at the corner of his eye. Doug tried to not be obvious, turning his attention to his book shelves as he took a sharp turn into the aisle, pretending to have a book to return to its spot.

“…Find anything good to read?” He asked finally, summoning the courage to talk after lingering for awhile, “I remember seeing you here last week. My name’s Douglas, by the way.”  

[ofkalea]

leavetheminshreds​:

-

“Yeah, sure, I will. I didn’t catch their names, though. They seemed nice,” he lied, before moving on, “You like to bake? Is the list shorter of things you don’t do or like?” He teased, happy when she let him in. He stepped into the small apartment, glancing around. There was a lingering smell of something he couldn’t place that he’d smelt periodically through the city, usually from something he saw someone smoking in an alley or caught a sniff of in the breeze as he passed by someone. It was faint, but noticeable. He’d never been in an apartment before, either, so this was interesting to see. It was so small. How did they have enough room? “I’m good. Better now,” he said, pausing as his attention was puled back to her over his shoulder as a pressing question popped into his head. “Why do you live so far from the university if you go to school there?” He asked, thinking about the distance now in his head. “Is it safe to travel that far every day for class?”

-

An almost shy giggle escaped her as she shrugged, lips turning up in a smirk. “A lot shorter actually.” She joked with a teasing tone, nose scrunching humorously. “But no, I love to bake. It’s a nice distraction. Turn on some music and just focus on the recipe, plus you end up with something delicious afterwards. A reward in itself.” Locking the door behind him, she gingerly tossed her pencil over to the table as she watched him take in the first view of the apartment. It wasn’t huge by any means, but she did love it. It was the perfect size for 2 people in her opinion, at least for the time being. She nodded when he spoke, fingers playing absentmindedly with the hem of her flannel shirt. “I’m happy to hear that.” A surprised snort of laughter fell from her lips at the question. It was one she hadn’t expected, hence the almost quizzical expression written on her face. “It’s uhm, it’s more affordable?” She answered honestly. “It’s not the most ideal no but ya know, I manage. Haven’t died yet.” Kalea joked with a soft laugh and a shrug. “Seriously though, it’s not terrible. I haven’t run into too much trouble. Nothing I couldn’t talk my way out of or run before it could turn into anything.”

[ofkalea]

leavetheminshreds​:

ofkalea​:

-

Douglas perked up at the mention of alstroemeria flowers, his posture straightening, shoulders pulling back as a tug at his lips pulled him into another irresistible smile. “Lily of the Incas!” He repeated one of their other names, overjoyed by the conversation to the point that someone shushed him from the next aisle over. He winced, and checked his tone with a nervous but excited smile. “I saw those all of the time when I was in South America. Have you ever seen a victoria amazonica? They’re these giant lily pads that have a root system strong enough to support a fully grown person’s weight.”

“I mean… I haven’t read the book yet, but what are you doing right now? I can always eat,” Douglas said with a tilt of his head, his facial muscles relaxing, curious about getting to know her more. He didn’t particularly feel like waiting until later for that. 

“I would love to see your art,” he replied, looking at her like she was art, which he didn’t quite understand. He’d seen plenty of girls before in passing - even if he never talked to any of them - but he’d never felt so compelled to connect with any of them before. Was it her smile? The light in her eyes? The way she moved? Her voice? He couldn’t put a pin in exactly what piqued his curiosity. “It’s okay. I’m not alone anymore, at least. I’m healing,” the young man replied, a little breathless as he said it, healing but still wounded. He frowned when she mentioned she had lost her parents. “I’m sorry to hear that, too,” he began, eyebrows furrowing for a second before relaxing again. ”I would be happy to use you as my excuse.”

-

When Douglas recognized her favorite flower, Kalea’s eyes widened just a touch as her whole expression brightened. “Yes!” She nodded quickly, voice raising a little louder than she’d meant to in her excitement, a bashful smile tugging on her lips in turn. But truthfully she couldn’t help it, she was excited at the fact that he knew what she was talking about. It was refreshing. “You did? Oh gosh I would love to see them in the wild, I’ve only ever seen them in flower shops. I’ll have to look those up because now you have me curious, and wanting to find some to try and walk across a pond full of them.” She giggled near gleefully at the imagery. 

“As luck would have it, my only plans were to come here so. My schedule is wide open to get something to eat with you.” Kalea smirked. She’d happily take the excuse to move the lunch...thing? date? up sooner rather than later. “Craving anything in particular?”

A heat rose in her cheeks as she grinned, a soft blush growing on her complexion at him wanting to seeing her art (and maybe the way she found him looking at her). It brought an exhilarating combination of excitement and anxiety bubbling up inside her. Usually she didn’t particularly care what most people thought about her art, but she hoped Douglas would like it. “Great! The next time we see each other I’ll bring a sketchbook of mine.” Her expression softened as she listened, finding herself not wanting to miss a word that came out of his mouth. Nodding, a gentle smile tugged at her lips. “That’s good, I’m happy to hear that. That’s one of the biggest obstacles in my opinion.” She fidgeted with the corner of the book in her hands again at his apology, nodding again. “Thanks, I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle after which helped a lot.” Kalea didn’t want to burden him with it too much, so she appreciated when he continued, his words bringing a bright smile to her lips. “Perfect. We’ll have to figure out plenty of things for us to do to keep you out of the house then. I’m sure if we put our heads together we can even make a list.”

[ofkalea]

leavetheminshreds​:

-

Douglas smiled at the corner of his mouth when she looked at him, his gaze darting to the book as she brought his attention to it. His head tilted slightly to his left as he read the cover over once. “You’ll have to forgive me - I’ve been recently educated that I’m a nerd because I read mostly science books until recently. My comfort classics are the Art of War by Sun Tzu and Wild Botany: Edible & Poisonous plants,”  he laughed and shrugged his shoulders. Reading needed to be productive, but now he had nothing to be productive for anymore. “Is that good? Why do you like it? I’ve got a lot of free time on my hand these days so maybe I’ll check it out.” It mostly just meant another good excuse to talk to her again. 

 “You do?” He asked, trying not to sound surprised but the way he raised an eyebrow gave him away, “It’s nice to meet you, Kalea.” Douglas paused, quiet as he thought. “You know,  I wanted to say hi but I didn’t think this far in. I guess I am a little bit of a nerd. I’m still getting used to the city. Have you always lived here?” 

A laugh escaped her as a brow quirked up at his response, hand dramatically clutching her chest. “If the next words to come out of your mouth are that nerds are bad, I’m going to hope the floor opens up and swallows me. Because as luck would have it I’ve also been labeled one.” She smirked, listening to his comfort choices. “So what I’m understanding is...if I ever want to know a good strategy for my next war or how to survive in the forest, you’re my guy?” Kalea couldn’t help but hum with a teasing tone. “In all seriousness though, in that same tone, you might like Machiavelli's ‘The Prince’. Essentially a manual on what to do and what not to do when taking over a kingdom.”  At his question her smirk melted into a softer smile, gaze flickering between the book and the young man’s face. “It’s amazing, if fantasy adventure stories are up your alley. It’s always been a good escape book in my opinion, and the following 3 books are just as good too.” She really could ramble about the Hobbit but she didn’t want to scare the poor guy off. 

She tried to stifle the giggle at his inquiry, but failed miserably, instead nodding. “Yea.” Douglas, as she listened to him, had to be one of the most honest people she’d met thus far since moving to the city. Or else he was an exceptionally good liar. Regardless, she was intrigued. Each word that he spoke manage to brighten her smile, Kalea gingerly shaking her head. “I moved here a few years ago for college, so I’m still learning the ropes too. But hey, nothing wrong with being a nerd, if you weren’t we might not have crossed paths here, eh?” She winked, a playful smirk on her lips. “What about you, though? How long have you been in the city?”