Chapter Text
He liked Lauren
That horrifying revelation struck him in the most mundane, insignificant moment possible. It wasn’t anything remotely special, just Lauren sitting in his living room wearing his shirt reading his book. That sight in and of itself was nothing too peculiar. After finally taking down the Phantom Scythe, they’d grown quite close, as one does when working together to halt the agenda of an underground criminal organization and nearly dying in the process. Months afterwards, after the cleanup and recovery of course, Lauren had taken to barging into his apartment whenever she pleased and doing whatever she pleased at the moment.
At first it was just to see him after a panic-induced nightmare, then it was for a cup of tea, then to borrow a book, a shirt to replace her own soup-stained one, to escape from a party, to take a nap, the excuses were endless. Kieran had once tried to ask her out of sheer amusement and mild curiosity why she found it so convenient to rob a former assassin of his own house and belongings. Her only response was that it was technically his fault since he was the one who gave her the key to his house. He had no response to that other than to tease her for wanting to spend so much time with him, but after getting a book chucked at his head, he never asked again.
Now she was here, flaming red hair plastered onto the pale skin of her neck, complexion rosy from the shower she had just taken, and wearing one of his sleep shirts with the excuse that she didn’t want to go back to wearing her detective uniform. She had splayed out onto his sofa like a stretching cat and thumbed the pages of a book with the delicate precision that was uniquely Lauren Sinclair. At that moment, everything about her was so undeniably beautiful. Her hands, her neck, her face, her hair, her beautiful beautiful eyes. She was like living art. Far from perfection, far from imperfection, just simply and undeniably beautiful.
Kieran jumped as the whistle from the kettle of tea he’d put on the stove blew, releasing a cloud of steam that spread across the kitchen and coated all the nearby windows with films of moisture. Releasing a sigh, he leaned forward from his perch on the kitchen countertop to switch the stove off. Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time he had felt this way about Lauren. Hell, it was far from the first time he’d ever thought about her like that, in a way that made his heart race and cheeks heat up.
I pity the poor fool that falls for Lauren Sinclair , William had once told him. As he thought back, Kieran wondered for just how long he had been that fool. Was it from their final battle against the Leader? From when they had been reunited after her being kidnapped by Redcliff’s circus trope? The factory explosion? Gods, could it even have been from their first encounter, the very first time that the Purple Hyacinth hesitated from taking a life?
Or maybe it was all of that. And he was the biggest fool for not noticing, or maybe refusing to notice, his growing feelings for the wonderful woman right in front of him named Lauren Sinclair.
Kieran poured two cups of steaming hot tea into china cups and brought them over her, along with a plate of thumbprint biscuits precariously balanced on his arm. “Here’s your tea, darling,” he said, placing both cups on the coffee table in front of them.
Lauren straightened up and put her book down next to her. Taking her cup of tea, she met his eyes with a warm smile. “Thank you, Kieran.”
Smiling back almost effortlessly, he purred back “Anything for you, ma chérie ” in the most sickeningly sweet tone he could create as he took a seat in the overstuffed armchair adjacent to the sofa.
Lauren’s warm smile morphed into a devilish smirk in an instant. Leaning towards Kieran until she was much too close to his face, she replied in the same sickeningly sweet tone, albeit more mocking, “Is that so, mon amour ?”
Kieran’s eyes widened as he felt his ears heat up. Another unfortunate side effect of their recent closeness was being victim to the flirtatious side of Lauren. If he thought that he himself was bad, Lauren’s rare comments and jabs were ten times worse. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d spat out perfectly good tea after hearing her flirty, and surprisingly dirty, comments. Even after months of being exposed to this hidden side of her could never prepare him for her next words. Especially those words. Well, maybe not in that tone, which greatly hinted at danger.
Kieran let out an uneasy chuckle. “With that tone, I’m assuming that you’re mad at me, darling,” he remarked lightly after taking a delicate sip of his tea.
Lauren hid her snort of amusement at his expression behind her hand. Clearing her throat, she quickly assumed an irritated expression. “I am, in fact. You’ve decaffeinated my tea again, haven’t you?”
Kieran dramatically put a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Why, Miss Sinclair, I would never do such a heinous thing! ” Under her thoroughly unamused glare, Kieran let out a defeated huff. “Your lie detection really is annoying, darling. I’m merely trying to help ease your addiction.”
“IT IS NOT AN ADDICTION!” Lauren exclaimed, clearly offended. Kieran burst out in laughter, which only increased when she swatted him on the arm.
“Lauren,” he said while wiping a tear of mirth from his eyes, “You are addicted to caffeine and it is horrid for your health and the sanity of everyone around you. While you can bounce around the walls of your home and the precinct to your heart’s content, I refuse to allow the same for my house. Believe it or not, I actually prefer peace and quiet and you vibrating in your seat does not help promote that.”
The woman in question rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms. “You’re insufferable.”
Kieran flashed her a smile, all teeth. “Really? I think I’m quite charming.”
“I despise you, Kieran White.”
He winced. “…No, you don’t,” he replied. Much softer.
Realization flashed in her golden eyes. Her hard gaze softened as they locked eyes. Lauren tentatively placed her hand on top of his, the one resting on the arm of his chair. Warmth flushed through his arm, spreading to the rest of his body like being submerged in a hot bath, laying to rest in the pit of his stomach.
Lauren caressed his knuckles with the pad of her thumb. “No, I don’t.” Her voice went straight to his heart. It was quiet, but so incredibly sincere, and paired with the little fond smile that made his heart speed up, Kieran had every reason to believe her.
Turning his hand to grasp hers, Kieran brought her hand to his lips and pressed a feather-light kiss to her knuckles. Teasing her with his signature mischievous smirk, he replied easily. “I told you so, didn’t I, chérie ?”
Lauren scoffed and rolled her eyes again, but made absolutely no attempt to tug her hand out of his grasp. It was adorable, really, the way she tried so hard to seem like she didn’t have an ounce of affection for the former assassin.
Adorable, huh?
He liked Lauren.