My King of Darkness (Maven x OC)

Chapter 5

Lydia

After that, Maven started requesting me specifically to bring his breakfast. I don't know if you would call what was forming between us a friendship seeing as I really had no choice because of his requests and he still held the lives of my family and friends in his hands. The whole time neither of us brought up my ability as if he truly had never seen a thing. Until one morning.
"Lydia, tell me about your ability,"
This particular morning, I found Maven already clothed and milling about his room. "My ability...?" I asked.
"Your newblood ability," he said, as if thinking that I actually needed clarification, "How does it work? When did you discover it? What's its limits?"
"Why?" I smirked, knowingly, "So you can gauge my weaknesses? Or maybe use me for your own purposes?"
He smirked back. I was beginning to realize he loves a challenge, "No, I'm merely curious. It's scientifically impossible for someone to change their appearance at will."
"And it's scientifically impossible for someone to create fire," I pointed out and Maven laughed.
"I don't create fire. I manipulate it. The atoms in my skin control and communicate with the atoms in flame, which is just thermodynamically charged gas particles," he held up a book of thermodynamics.
"You study thermodynamics?" I raised one eyebrow, "You see the irony, right?"
Ignoring me, he pulled several more books from the shelf, "All silver abilities can be scientifically explained."
"Could Mare Barrows?" I asked.
Maven went still and I immediately wondered if I said the wrong thing. But a moment later, he looked up at me, his blue eyes wide and suddenly mad-looking, "No, and I've been trying for years."
Before I could ask he jumped up again and crossed the room to a pair of chairs, sitting in one and gesturing to the other, "But I want to hear about your ability. So please."
I sat, deciding I didn't have a choice, "I can control my cells to differentiate into what I want. Like say I want to enlarge a part of my body..."
Maven's gaze traveled downwards...
"Say my nose for example," I said through my teeth, "I make my cells multiply. And if I want to shrink something I cause substantial cell death."
Maven was gazing into the distance, "Fascinating. What about color? When you became my mother, you nailed her hair color, eye color, and skin tone."
"I change the melanin production in the cells,"
"So you could become silver if you wanted?" I could sense the trepidation in his voice.
"No," I said quickly, "I can only keep up the change for so long. I think the longest I've held a transformation has been a few hours."
After a while we were absorbed in exchanging stories from when we were younger. I told him about the first time I changed. I had wanted freckles like my cousin for the first day of school, so I gave myself some. And he told me stories of accidentally lighting things on fire as a child, usually during tantrums.
"It must have been nice to be trained to use it though," I offered.
Maven shook his head, "Nah, not with Cal as a brother or a father who refuses to be impressed."
A silver flush took over his face and he jumped up, "You didn't hear me say that. You're dismissed."
I should have been taken back by his outburst but I just calmly crossed to the door, "Okay, but if it helps I knew from the moment I met you about your issues with your father and brother."
"You did?"
"It's in the way you hold yourself in front of the High Houses. Your gait, the way you speak..."
"Another part of your ability?"
I smirked, "Sort of."

The next evening I was working late. My office was pitch black, except the single lamp I used to see my typewriter. I paused my rhythmic typing to reread a sentence and in the silence, my stomach growled.
Damn, I need dinner.
As if reading my mind, a figure appeared in the doorway. "You're still here?"
Maven.
Who could have guessed?
"I don't like to bring my work home," I replied.
"I see. I'm working late too. Haven't even had dinner. My mother's probably pissed at me for not eating with her," he hesitated, then, "Do...well...Would—that is...You can have dinner with me if you want."
He was most likely faking the stammering. This was probably all set up so I'd eat with him. Alone.
I'm not that naive.
But also, as established, I don't really care.
And it's worth a free meal to see what game he's playing.
"Sure,"
I could hear the smile in his voice, "Okay. Meet me in the dining room in ten."

I've never been in the dining room before, but I know exactly where it is. The long table was empty, except for two places at the very end. The table setting was comically plain, two bowls of steaming soup and two glasses of water.
"Hope you don't mind just soup," a voice said behind me. Maven stood in the doorway, "I'm not very hungry."
I grinned, "Soups fine."
I almost didn't recognize him. He wore just a T-shirt and jeans. His dark hair wasn't even combed. He looked like just a regular nineteen year old guy.
We sat and ate in silence for a few moments, when he placed the book he was carrying on the table and slid it over to me, "I brought this for you, I want you to have it."
"Edgar Allen Poe," I read off.
"You said you've never read any of his works the other day, remember?"
My heart fluttered at the idea that he remembered. I examined the book, excitement over getting a new read building, "Y'know, people always say you're a monster. I never believed them, but it turns out you are."
Maven's face fell.
I turned the text block towards him, "...because you dog-ear your pages! What the hell?!"
He laughed, relief washing over his face, "Hey, those are my favorite stories!"
"Ever heard of a bookmark!? You're the damn king and you can't afford any bookmarks!"
The dinner carried on like that for a while. We teased and talked about books, history, and science.
"I've never understood the appeal of physics," I said.
"I've always loved physics. It breaks down every little thing in existence into concrete fact. Why things fall, why liquids turn into gas, how things bend."
"How things bend?" I echoed, "How do things bend? Don't they just...do it?"
Maven smirked at me, mischievously, "Hold out your hand."
I rested my arm on the table, palm outstretched towards him. Maven brought his palm to mine. His touch sent shivers down my spine. His hand was warm and soft. I'd never noticed before but his fingers were long and slender, each one setting gently, deliberately against my own. "Objects that bend are made of long chains of atoms side by side. When bent, the chains—" he slid his hand along mine, each nerve in my skin tingling with the movement, "—slide along each other. When the object returns to neutral—" he slid the other way, "—they slide back."
He lifted his eyes to meet mine and gave me a smile. I returned it, playing along. "Wow," I breathed, but continuing on in the same tone murmured, "I had no idea...that you were such a fucking flirt."
The smile vanished, "What?"
I sat up, "Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly entertained, but I can see the game you're playing. I always have."
"What?" he repeated, but a smirk was slowly spreading on his face.
"I've told you before, I'm a reporter by nature. It's my job to observe others and as of late it's been my job to observe you. You like to play games with people, toy with them. You like being in control. You like seeing how far you can push people. But you hide behind masks and nice sounding words to hide your secrets, your true agenda,"
"And what is my true agenda?"
"I don't know yet,"
"But you want to find out so you can expose me, is that right?"
I shrugged, "No, I'd only want to find out out of sheer curiousity."
"Curiosity killed the cat, Miss Cross,"
"But I'm sure the cat had one hell of a ride,"
I met Maven's eyes with an unwavering gaze. His blue eyes were laughing but he stayed silent. The amused, cocky smirk still lingered on his lips. Somehow in that moment I never wanted it to leave. Finally, he asked, "You're not scared of me, are you?"
"No," I leaned in closer, until I could smell our soup on his breath, "If anything, I'm fascinated by you, Maven Calore."