Fantasy The Only way is Fae (Closed)

[Amazonkass]

"It's going to be a killer party!" Justin was trying to talk Audra into going to some lame sounding house party tonight. She stood there, listening as if she cared. It was a special gift she had. She tucked a raven colored lock of hair behind her ear as she promised Justin she would try to make it. Audra made her way back through the college campus, the sidewalk was lined with trees that looked in the grips of autumn. Red and yellow leaves littered the ground, and Audra smiled widely. It was a genuine smile, that reached her dark green eyes. She always loved this time of year, the crunch of leaves beneath her feet and the thoughts of looking forward to Halloween.

She made her way to her small car and headed towards her apartment off campus. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was something Audra could say was hers. It had only been her and her mother growing up, but now she was on her own. Her mother had warned her, repeatedly, about what would happen if someone found out her secret. But Audra was headstrong. Since the age of nine, Audra had known she was half Fae. It wasn't exactly like her mother could have hid it from her, when Audra's powers started to manifest. Audra had been terrified, but her mother had taught her how to control her emotion, and thus, her abilities.

She got home and waffled over whether she was going to the house party. She picked up her phone and texted her friends. She would get dressed up for a night out, she deserved it.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

The beat of the music swirled around him. Oswald actually hated this music. In fact he didn't even really want to be at this party but the fact that he'd managed to find out about it at all had to be some small miracle and so he allowed himself to get out of his comfort zone and attend. At least later he would have a good story about how parties did not agree with him and have a completely valid reason for his agoraphobia. Okay, slight agoraphobia.

Most places Oswald was okay with, just not places with a lot of different people like shopping malls and parties... though he really felt most at home in nature. Yet, that was not the kind of attitude that got you anywhere in college. Being off in the woods somewhere made you seem like a creeper, being sociable was what was expected of you.

Ossie tugged at the flaps of his flat cap, back against a wall, waiting to see somebody somewhere that he knew in this place because there was no point in putting in an appearance if nobody saw you. Although he suspected the lumberjack look with his flannel against his scrawny frame was probably getting him nowhere.

"Um, hey." He stopped a girl as she tried to walk by him. "Have you seen Richie at all? He was supposed to be here." She just shrugged and giggled at him, walking away without a response. "Good talk!" He yelled after her, really questioning why he should be here.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra made her way down the sidewalk, feeling like a million bucks. She had gotten dressed up for the party, and some of her girlfriend's had promised to show up. She could hear the loud bass from the party from where she stood. She approached the full house and with a deep breath, went inside. The place was packed with people, dancing, drinking and generally having a good time. A smile lit up Audra's face as she entered, and she nodded to the music.

She had been there only a short time when someone put a drink into her hand and Audra took it down in one gulp. She smirked as she felt the warmth spread through her body, and was persuaded to dance by some random guy. They danced in what looked to be a cleared out living room, the guy was tall, dark and handsome. Audra couldn't remember seeing him at any previous party, but he was a good dancer and kept handing her drinks.

"So, what are you studying?" He asked in an air that seemed like he didn't really care about the answer. Audra was about to reply when he handed her another drink. She dutifully drank it down and let out a drunken giggle, "Agriculture. I love the treeeeessss..." She told him as she wrapped her arms around the mystery man's neck. He smirked at her as they continued to dance.

A few more drinks in, and Audra was feeling a bit dizzy. "Let's go outside, get some fresh air." He suggested as he half dragged Audra towards the door. Audra was having trouble keeping her vision still. The floor seemed to be moving, and the thought of fresh air did seem like a good idea. She stumbled outside and was about to sit on the porch when the man tugged at her arm. "C'mon, it's hot out, we can chill in my car..." He was yanking her up now and Audra was having trouble finding her feet.

"No...I don't...think thatsagoodidea...." She mumbled as she tried to yank her arm back from the man's iron grip. He managed to lug her off of her feet, and was pulling her down the sidewalk, as she stumbled.

"Leave me....alone...." Audra was trying to pull away, but the man's grip was too strong. "LET ME GO!" She yelled, hoping someone from the party would hear. She was getting worried now, something was different about the way the drinks were hitting her. She could feel herself starting to loose a grip on consciousness, the sidewalk below her was fading in and out of view.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Richie did show up. Such as he is. Tardy to the party. A member of the tardy party... yeah, okay that was lame and Os was going to stop himself right there from trying to make sport of his friend's tardiness. Even humor in his own mind fell flat.

"Good party huh?" said Richie, nodding to a group of girls dancing.

Os gave a tight lipped smile in response. "It is a party." He agreed, not wanting to be negative but not having too much positivities to say about it all.

"I'm glad you're here though, I would have felt like a real loser coming to this thing on my own."

The tight lipped smile turned into a frown. "You're not a loser, Rich. You're just very dedicated to your studies." Oswald gave him a little push and glanced around the place. "You should go talk to someone. You know, other than me. I'm a lost cause. There's still hope for you."

"Oh har har," replied Richie but didn't argue back. "You're only a lost cause because you want to be."

That was fair enough. Os would find his own cause, at the time he needed to. But as far as parties went, the cause was completely lost. Richie disappeared not long afterwards and Os was glad for it. He was sure he'd hear some tales regarding it all tomorrow and that was worth any amount of small discomfort being here.

He did recognise somebody else in the crowd, it was hard not to notice her. She was dressed stunningly. Audra shared some of his classes. There had always been something rather ethereal about her. But anytime Os saw her she was in the arms of some gorgeous hunk of a dude that seemed kind of out of place in a college party. They looked as if they were about to be crowned for some ceremony together. King and queen of something... of the party Os supposed. And while Os was hardly on their level, looks wise, he wasn't entirely unfortunate looking. He had piercing blue eyes, delicate features, curly brown hair that was getting a little too long (and thus the cap came in handy). On the downside the only facial hair he could grow was a bit of whisp on his chin, but he wasn't growing any now, on account of how bad it looked.

Os glanced back again at Audra and she was gone with her date. A chill seemingly hung in the air from where she had been a moment ago, a whisper, in amongst the people. The bizarreness of it caused Os to head for the door, one last glance around the party for Audra or Richie and then he opened the door and left, doubting anyone there would miss him.

It didn't take him too long to hear the cries. His blood ran cold as he recognised them and ran towards the source.

Audra.

"Hey! Stop right there you... you..." Words fell short on how to intimidate this Greek God like person. "Yes you! I'm warning you. Let her go." He clenched his fists and looked around for a weapon because hitting this guy with his bare hands was likely to hurt himself more than anything.

 

[Amazonkass]

It was all happening so fast that Audra barely had time to register it. One moment she was being dragged down the sidewalk, the next, a familiar voice was telling the mysterious man to let her go. His voice seemed to sober her up a bit as she squared her stance, stopping the man from pulling her for a moment. It wasn't a long moment before the man grabbed her around the middle. He knew he'd be seen by this other man, but right now he didn't care.

"What are you going to do?" Audra's would be kidnapper asked. The entire time, Audra was flailing and kicking in his arms. He dragged her back a few more feet, his eyes still trained on Os. "Stay out of this kid."

Audra had managed to turn around in the mans arm's, he was fighting away her hands now, as she clawed at his face. "LET ME GO!" She roared and for a moment the whole street went eerily silent. Her hand connected with her assailant's face, and in that moment, the ground beneath their feet trembled. Something seemed to be moving under the surface of the pavement at a high speed. Within seconds of Audra's shout, a sharp set of roots erupted from the sidewalk. Instantly, both of the man's legs were impaled. Out of reflex, his arms relaxed and Audra tumbled to the ground.

A roar of rage and pain filled the street as the roots began to retract, pulling the man into the gaping hole the roots had caused. Audra pushed herself back a few feet, staring in horror at the thing she was sure she just did.

It took her a long moment before she turned to look at what she was sure was a stunned Os. She had no words, there was nothing she could say to explain away what he had just saw. Her whole body felt like it was vibrating, this wasn't something she'd ever experienced before. In the past, she'd been able to produce little energy blasts. Nothing big enough to do the damage she just witnessed.

"I...ummm...I don't feel so good." Audra mumbled as she leaned over the side of the cracked sidewalk and promptly threw up.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Os wasn't going to stay out of it just at the demand of the chiseled guy, not by a long shot. "I'm going to..." Oswald looked down at his clenched fists, and then back at the guy. It wasn't much but at least it was something. Audra had turned though and was clawing and fighting and Oswald got closer, thinking maybe he could stick his foot out while the guy was distracted and kind of scoop his feet from under him. Though at the shout Os froze and didn't do anything. Everything seemed to freeze and then the ground rumbled.

What happened next was extraordinary... but it did the trick. The roots intertwined themselves and then pulled the unsuspecting handsome man down the sidewalk.

"Well... that happened." stated Os as he got his wits about him again. Although he was used to the interesting behaviour at times of plant life, this was something else altogether.

But then Audra was on the ground being sick. Oswald ran over and hunched by her, patting her back in a circular motion, comforting and still processing what had happened. "I'm sorry about your date." He told her. "I mean maybe he's in a better place..." It sounded stupid as soon as he said it and he cursed his words in his mind. "Nevermind. That was stupid. But we should get you home. Should we walk? Or I can just call an uber?" Now that sounded stupid again, of course she wouldn't want to walk she had just been sick all over the place and been frightened.

She was going to have to talk about the whole demise of her date sometime with him though, since there were so many questions.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra hadn't expected Os to come over and try to comfort her. She wouldn't have blamed him if he ran away screaming for help. She was feeling a bit better after purging her stomach, and she listened as he suggested the man was in a better place. "Doubt it." She mumbled under her breath. In truth, she had no idea what had just happened. It couldn't be a coincidence that this man had chosen her at the party. She'd seen his eyes following her as soon as she had entered. Something about this whole situation didn't add up entirely.

Then there was the matter of him being sucked underground. Where the hell had he gone exactly? Or maybe that was actually where he went? For all Audra knew, he would pop back up at any moment. Os' question about getting her home, brought her back to reality. "I drove here, but I don't think I'm in any shape to drive. Think you could drive me back to my apartment?" She asked as she allowed Os to help her from the ground.

It took a moment before another wave of sickness passed and she handed Os her keys. "I..don't really know what to say about what just happened. But....can we just keep it between us?" She asked as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her body still felt like it was vibrating as she took a few deep breath to try and tame her roiling stomach.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Drive her? As in drive her car? Os didn't drive very often but regardless he still took the keys. "Sure." He would do his best. She did look to be sick, which might have been the alcohol on top of everything else. If she was even drinking? Os just assumed she had been. Her normal features had this light, expressive hue to them while was now paler than usual and he couldn't help but notice the off-color about her.

"Ah yes," Oswald replied with a hint of amusement. "Because telling all my friends that the trees have gone haywire and decided to swallow up your date would be absolutely believable." He had to see some humor in it.

She didn't look as though she was in much state to walk to the car either. "Lean on me," Os insisted, taking her hand gently and guiding her arm around his shoulders. "You're not going to do too well walking on your own. You've been through an ordeal." To say the least... and thankfully it seemed to be over.

"You will however, have to point me to your car." He said, as he guided the way back towards the party house, looking around for which one it could be. He'd never noticed Audra's car before but then he knew very little of her outside of class.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra almost cracked a smile at Os' quip about his friends not believing what had happened. She was still worried, but pushed it aside as she tried to get her balance. Her mind was trying to race, but it felt like it was trying to move through sludge. Os seemed to have noticed she was still off as he offered to help her walk to her car. When he asked her which car it was, she took the keys from him and clicked the unlock button. Yellow headlights illuminated across the street, belonging to Audra's little sedan. She handed them back and they continued walking. Well Audra was mostly walking, only stumbling her and there, thanks to Os' help.

As they walked towards it, Audra fumbled in her purse with her free hand and pulled out her phone. "I have my place programmed as home..." She told him as they made it to the car. Audra didn't even wait for the car door to be opened before she yanked it open herself and plopped drunkenly into the passenger side seat. She flipped through her phone to find her directions app as Os presumably got into the driver's side.

When he was finally situated, she handed him her phone. Sure enough, her apartment complex was less than a ten minute drive from the party, and the directions were on the screen. "I'm so sorry, I'm useless..." she began to cry, obviously still drunk. "If you hadn't of been there to distract himmm..." she mumbled, letting her face fall into her hands. This wasn't normal Audra. She was usually strong and charming, but right now she looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

"That will do it." Oswald commented as she pressed the button and the car indicated its position. They made a beeline for it and before long she was letting herself in and he went around to the driver's side as he presumed she expected him to do. He had to adjust a few things first. His legs were longer than hers so he had to look for a way to give himself more room. He quickly used the lever on the side of his seat to go back some and got more comfortable.

He was just about to start up the car, getting the phone in place to start the navigation when she began crying. The sound of it effected him greatly. "Hey, Audra." He reached out for her hand to take it away from her face, his demeanour kind and reassuring. "Hey," he tried yet again to get her to focus on him. "It's me, remember? Sits two rows behind you in International Agricultural Systems. I mean, not that I have to sit two rows behind. There are only five of us in the class. It isn't very popular."

He was trying to ground her. Get her to stop feeling scared or sorry for herself. To know that it was going to be alright. "And Biochemistry. Remember that? You seemed to ace that class, while I always struggled to get the hang of it."

And now here he was blathering about their classes they'd taken together. Of all things. "The point I'm getting at is that if I know you enough by now, from errr... classes, it's that you're the opposite of useless. And whatever happened back there was some sort of karma or something for whoever your date was, you know, trying to kidnap you or whatever he was doing."

He didn't really know exactly the entire situation, but with what he did know, that was hopefully going to make her feel more settled right?

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra was beyond surprised by Os' reaction to her self-pity party. True she recognized him in passing, as he had mentioned, there weren't many people who took International Agricultural Systems. His hand in hers did help to ground her. She felt herself blush as he mentioned Biochemistry. It had been one of her favorite classes, finding out how the small parts of things made up everything around them. She was still slightly drunk, so she brushed aside the fact that Os knew so much about her.

When Os mentioned her 'date' Audra shook her head, but didn't take her hand from his. "He wasn't my date, I met him at the party." There was something strange about the way he had kept plying her with drinks and not really listening to the answers she was giving his questions. She had brushed it off as him just being a douche-bag, but the strength with which she had dragged her from the party, was the part that was bothering her.

She gave Os' hand a quick squeeze, before she let it go and wiped the few stray tears from her face. She took a deep breath and put on her seat belt. "Thank you Oswald. I mean it."

 

[salty_ moustachio]

"Well, he seemed charming." Os responded, with an air of sarcasm to her comment about meeting him at the party. Not much point in asking what the appeal was. He knew what the appeal was. The guy was practically Adonis. Yet, even though what happened to him was somewhat justified Os still felt that someone somewhere might be worried about the guy. They should at least report something about him to the police... before the police came looking for him.

"I mean did you get a name at least? I know you probably don't want to talk about it now. But we have to tell the authorities something. People saw you together at the party." He frowned, not really wanting to bring up this bad piece of reality but having not much choice in the matter.

"We can think on it for tomorrow though." He finally decided, not expecting her to even know what to tell the authorities right that moment. "I'll take you home."

And so he put the key in the ignition and started it up, feet on the pedals, hesitantly jerking forward. "Um, my bad. Just bear with me."

 

[Amazonkass]

His sudden mention of getting the guys name, and Os mentioning the authorities, sent a jolt panic through her. She almost gave into it, but took a steadying breath. She didn't want to think about it right now. She had a sneaking feeling that when someone came asking after the man who disappeared, they would be coming straight for Audra. No one would have to point fingers, that man had come to that party for her. She was trying to shake the feeling this had to do with her being part Fae. She wouldn't enlighten Os to the man's super strength, and she was glad when he said they could think on it in the morning.

He seemed to be nervous, or not used to driving, and Audra was glad she had put on her seat belt. She opened the window, just in case her stomach decided to start revolting against her again. She was sure it wouldn't be helped by Os' jerky driving. It took a moment before he seemed more confident in his driving, and soon, Audra was feeling the cool night air on her face. Her eyes closed as she felt the wind in her hair. The fresh air was sobering her more than the puking had.

By the time they arrived at her apartment complex, Audra was feeling only slightly better and turned to Oswald. "This has been a weird night, I don't know if you're tired, but my couch is yours to crash on. It's the least I can do." She wouldn't mention that she wasn't sure she would be able to sleep in her apartment alone. The events of the night had rattled her more than she wanted to admit.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

With a jerky start, Os managed to make his way following the navigation on her phone. The phone chanted "you have arrived" and he parked out front in a spare spot a few doors down. He gave her back the phone and it seemed that she had started getting better after everything she'd been through.

"Um..." he didn't know how to respond to her invite in. He supposed it was more convenient, and telling the tale would probably make him seem like a hero amongst his friends... well, to Richie. "Sure?" He answered with more of a question, expecting her to draw back the offer at any moment. It wasn't like they were much more than casual acquaintances, sometimes classmates. And now here he was driving her car and crashing on her couch. It was rather surreal.

He gave back her keys and then stepped outside the car to take a look at the parking job, giving a slight cringe and wishing he'd done better. Though it was parked and likely well enough not to attract the wrong kind of attention. Pulling down on the flaps of his cap, he glanced down the quiet street and closed the door behind him.

"Lead the way," he told Audra glancing at her looming apartment in front of them. Maybe going to parties did have their plus side after all.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra seemed to be in her own world. She took the keys from Os and didn't even look at the parking job. She headed for a ground floor apartment, and after a few attempts to get the key in the door, she pushed it open and flipped on the light. The apartment was a one bedroom, but had all sorts of house plants tucked into every corner. A sliding glass door led to a screened in porch, which was all filled up with different plants. She flicked the lights on and let Os in behind her. She engaged the lock and the chain and made her way into the small kitchen.

"I need some water. Want some?" She asked and poured two glasses without waiting for an answer. She chugged down her glass and refilled it from the faucet. She drank half of it before she took a breath and met Os' eyes. "I'm sorry this is all so strange. I'll get some blankets and a pillow for the couch." She told him, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks as she looked away. It was true they didn't know each other very well, but something about Oswald made her feel safe. Maybe it was the fact that he had tried to help her when they both would have been overpowered, or how kind he had been in the car, she wasn't sure.

She brushed past him and made her way to the hall closet, returning moments later with a comfortable looking quilt and a fluffy pillow. "I hope this will work for now." Her couch was low to the ground and comfortable looking. In fact, Audra had spent many a night wrapped up in her comforter in front of the television, and had fallen asleep on the thing. She returned to the kitchen after putting the bedding on the couch.

"Thank you again Oswald, seriously." She told him before rounding the counter to finish her glass of water.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Her place was cozy. His was on campus, so cozy wasn't really a word for it. He shared with a guy who was friendly enough but barely looked up from his computer long enough to have a conversion. Jeff wanted to be a millionaire by twenty five, all the power to him Os supposed. He took the water she offered but was much more interested in his surroundings, sipping a little and taking in what he could see.

"It's not strange. I mean, it is. But not being... here." It wasn't as if he was some stranger she just picked up at a party. He was about to say that aloud but wisely held his tongue. It was possible she intended on bringing Adonis from the party back here instead of everything that had transpired. That was a thought he wasn't planning on entertaining long, whatever her initial plans had been was none of his business really.

He took the bedding she offered, feeling unable to know what to say to her. Maybe it was stranger than he had thought. She was this stunning girl from class and they had witnessed a root come up out of the ground and steal off with the guy she'd been with and now Os was here to do what? Stand guard for the night? In case the root came back to get her too?

"Os." He corrected her, and then cleared his throat, radiating awkwardness. "Os is fine. Oswald is so formal, um, kind of stuffy. You know?" And now he was on about the intricacies of his name. He took his hat off, it seemed more polite that way and he took some time to appreciate her plants from his view of them. "Haworthia Cooperi." Oswald smiled recognising the bubble shaped leaves. "I like your collection."

 

[Amazonkass]

When he corrected her with his nickname, Audra nodded at him. She would have to remember that. She was about to excuse herself to bed when he mentioned her house plant. A wide smile came to her face as she moved over to the plant in question. "Thank you. I've been taking care of plants since I was young. Plants make it feel like a home, you know?" She picked up a nearby spray bottle and spritzed a few of the other plants before she turned back to face him.

"This is already such a strange night, I'm going to bed. I won't be offended if you're gone in the morning. And thanks again, Os." She placed a hand on his shoulder gently before passing by him and heading to her small bedroom. It wasn't much, a queen size bed, more plants and a small dresser. Posters of famous art hung from every wall, most of them depicting a forest scene. She fell down on the bed and kicked her shoes off. Now that her head had cleared a bit, she was worried about questions that would arise in the morning if she woke up and Os was still there.

He had been right about telling outlandish stories that no one would believe, but she wasn't sure she should tell him about her Fae part. He's been so kind and done all of these things for her, she at least owed him the truth, right?

With that thought, and the images of the man being impaled by the roots coming from the ground, Audra fell into a fitful sleep.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

"Yeah, I know..." he trailed off in his response, his voice moving down to a whisper. He did know about the comforts of plants but now it took on more meanings than one. He tried to get comfortable on the couch when she'd left, but of course it all kept replaying in his mind. And he did feel some kind of responsibility now to keep Audra safe but then had to remind himself that his desire to protect her was not asked for and probably not wanted.

Her last words about not being offended if he was gone was more to decipher. Either she was used to having strangers come to stay who would disappear in the morning and felt self conscious about it... or it was true, that she really didn't want him to stay and expected him to be gone. So if he left prematurely and it was the former, she might be hurt because she was used to people leaving on her. But if he stayed and it was the latter, she might be annoyed with him being there in her space when she had only asked him to stay in order to be nice.

But then he couldn't go and interrupt her sleep for clarification, and trying to figure it out kept him feeling restless.

Os closed his eyes and remembered the party. There he was, the wallflower and she was having so much fun it seemed. He really didn't belong, did he? At the party... here... neither really. But he ended up falling asleep, plagued with guilt and keep one ear open in case she was to wake during the night from some kind of plant attack. Possibly unlikely but still...

 

[Amazonkass]

It wasn't until after ten a.m. that Audra woke. It took her brain a moment to realize where she was and the events of the night before came flooding back. She got up and changed into some sweats and a tank top, took a deep breath and opened her bedroom door. Truth be told, she hoped Os was still on the couch. She felt like there was more to talk about with the events that transpired the night before. But also, a small part of her was telling her she was safe around him.

She'd never spent any good amount of time with Os. They'd worked side by side in the classes they shared, but when the class was over, Audra was always the first to leave. She hoped that Os didn't see her as some stuck up young woman who needing saving. But she knew, from the way Os had been so good to her last night, that that wasn't how he saw her.

With a half smile on her face, Audra emerged from the small hallway and rounded the counter to the kitchen. If Os was awake she would offer him some coffee as she was making a pot for herself. Her head still throbbed slightly, and she was more than certain that there had been something besides alcohol in the drinks the mystery man had been plying her with. She stood in the kitchen, hands on the counter, looking a little paler than usual.

"Did you sleep alright?" she asked as she poured Os a cup of coffee and set it on the counter.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Os had disturbing dreams to say the least. Roots crying out. Trees in peril. Trees being cut, burned... it was all enough to keep him tossing and turning for most of the night. When he awoke it was barely daybreak. There was a lot stressing him from the previous events, and Audra not being offended if he was gone. He'd eventually taken it to mean the first, that she was used to abandonment. It wouldn't hurt to wait until she'd awakened.

So Os waited... and waited... and waited... and just when he had been compiling a note to her telling her how to reach him and that he had somewhere to show her... when he heard a sound behind him. It was slightly awkward and he stood to his feet, going over to the kitchen. His cap was in one hand and he had the note in the other.

"Oh. I was just going to leave, but I thought that I'd check no roots had gotten you in the middle of the night." He had a weary smile across his face. "Sounds ridiculous right?" But he did feel responsible in a way, if anything happened to her from here on in. He was involved now. There was no other way around it. He put his cap and the note down on the kitchen counter and picked up the cup she'd offered. "I'm sorry for staying. I didn't know if you'd be alright."

 

[Amazonkass]

"Oh. I was just going to leave, but I thought that I'd check no roots had gotten you in the middle of the night."

Audra had to give a hint of a smile at that comment. For some reason she felt like that was highly unlikely to happen. Those roots had seemed to be called by her in some way, and she didn't want to start thinking about that right this second. When Os apologized for staying, Audra shook her head. "Please don't apologize, I'm the one who had you leave a perfectly good party to drive my drunk ass home." She gave him a bit of a genuine smile.

She turned her gaze to the cup of coffee in her hands for a long moment before returning her focus to Os. "About last night," she began, not really knowing how to broach the subject. How did you tell someone that the Fae were not only real, but she was part Fae? She paused and chewed on her bottom lip. "No, let's start with this....do you believe there are some things in the world we can't explain?" She waited for his reply before she continued, "And of those things, do you think things like....I don't know...fairies or monsters can exist?"

If he had said no, she could just say she was wondering what his views were, or that she was just kidding. Audra had given herself an out if she chickened out.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Ah, so she was drunk. That explained it somewhat. He was tempted to lecture her about going to parties and drinking beyond what she could handle, but it wasn't his place. Still, she could have gotten into real trouble with everything that had happened. And both of them could have gotten severely hurt if it wasn't for all that weirdness that had transpired that he knew she was itching to talk about by the way she began her next sentence.

Fairies? Monsters? Was that some kind of explanation or was she just speculating?

"I believe that it's too early for discussions like this." Oswald drunk down more of his coffee and then looked around the place, fixating on the plants which reminded him of course of what was hanging in the air. "Okay, okay." He turned back to Audra with a smirk. "There must be some explanation for last night, so I'll bite. I can't say that I haven't sensed unusual things before." Out in the forest, on his lonesome. There were weird vibes, and there was potentially more going on than he could see. "If you have some... special connection with the plants it doesn't make you a monster Audra." He told her, piecing things together bit by bit. Her major, her greenhouse of a home, the plants coming up out of the ground when she was in danger.

Maybe she thought he would be afraid of her? But strangely enough he wasn't.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra was completely prepared to drop the subject when Os joked it was too early in the morning to be speculating on such things. She was good at brushing it under the rug. Hell, she'd been brushing her identity under the rug the entirety of her life. She watched as Os looked around her apartment, as if surveying his surroundings. When he spoke again, a knot found itself in Audra's stomach. She listened to his thoughts on sensing unusual things.

She was about to speak when he said something that floored her. He must have been more intuitive than Audra had given him credit for. She took a deep breath and looked into her cup of coffee.

"I...don't think I'm a monster..." She mumbled not sounding super confident in the statement. "But...I am different. Os...I'm the reason those vines came up and dragged that guy away." She said cryptically. "I don't know what other way to say it....I'm part Fae. As in fairies and all that..." She put her hands flat on the counter as if she was laying all her cards on the table. She couldn't look at Os.

There was only one of two ways this conversation could go. Either her believed her and had a million questions, or he would burst out laughing and tell her she was crazy.

Audra was prepared for either outcome.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

He didn't expect her to just admit it, just like that. She had been responsible. She had almost willed the plants to do that. He listened and she seemed completely serious. Instead of answering her right away, he picked up the cup and slurped away the rest of its contents. Wondering what he could even say to that. Oswald was smart, a good chess player, and he rarely spoke up without knowing all the details first.

So she was either having him on, or she was being deadly serious in all regards.

"Hm." Was all Os said after a bit of time to think it over. "I think the reasonable thing is to ask for some kind of elaboration." He cocked his head to the side, hoping she would agree with him. "I mean it makes sense, but surely there's more you can tell me than that." If she was telling the truth there would have to be more, he didn't think that she was that good of a liar.

 

[Amazonkass]

He didn't say anything, and Audra could feel the seconds pass by as if they were years. She took a nervous sip of her coffee, and waited for him to say something, anything about what she had told him. She couldn't read him and it was killing her. When he asked her to elaborate, Audra felt the knot in her stomach tighten. He hadn't just laughed her off, so that was a start, right? She took another deep breath and looked Os in the eyes.

"My mom told me a story when I was a kid. My father had been some kind of gorgeous man, they had a love affair, and only after she got pregnant with me, did he tell her he was Fae. I've never met him, but I've had some kind of ability since I was like ten." She told him honestly, "I've always loved plants and had a sixth sense about them, like I could feel them, you know?" She asked no longer worried. "And I knew when I went to college I wanted to do something to help the plants. So, that's how I ended up here."

She was waiting for the bottom to fall out, for Oswald to just burst out laughing at her ridiculous story.