─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
In Rousseau's, standing behind the bar, was Lilah Desmarais. She cleaned the top of the counter after two guys had left, leaving her money to pay their bill and tip her for her service. She let out a breathe as they walked out the door, a bit relieved. It wasn't even 5pm yet, and she was in full therapist-bartender mode.
The best part about being an ancient vampire who was turned when she was sixteen was that she never aged, the bad part was that sometimes, she still looked like a teenager. People just seemed to assume she had a baby face, either way. Still, since age didn't mean anything to her really, she was still a sixteen year old in her own mind, serving alcohol.
She helped Josh run the place.When the three factions were inside and she was on shift, it was mainly calm and collected—they knew that she was friends with Davina Claire and Josh Rosza, which not coincidentally made her friends with the Mikaelson family.
Davina and Kol would be in town for a few more days before rushing back off to do their worldly travels. Kol, after the life Davina had in New Orleans, wanted to give her the best opportunities to see the world that he possibly could. Sometimes, Josh and Lilah would join them somewhere fancy.
The chime above the door went off, a small bell Lilah put there herself even if her vampire hearing allowed her to hear the door opening without it, even if she was back in the kitchen.
The person who walked in made Lilah do a double take, looking back up from the counter the second she glanced away from him. She squinted, looking at the person in front of her. She was met with curly blond hair and hazel eyes, which scanned the interior of the place he had just entered. When he turned his glance towards her, she looked back down again, beginning to scrub profusely.
"What did the counter do to offend you?" Josh asked, walking to the counter from the back, looking at his roommate.
She playfully rolled her eyes at him, halting her actions. She threw the cloth into the bin they had under the counter, turning around to wash her hands. When she turned back to face the dining area, the blue eyes were right in front of her, talking to Josh.
"Can I get a Manhattan?" he asked Josh, who just nodded, starting to prepare his drink.
Something was familiar about the blond, the way he spoke, the way he leaned against the counter. He looked over to her, sending her a small smile as she wiped down some glasses, returning the gesture while Josh made his drink.
"I'll be right back," Josh told her afterwards, placing his hands on her waist as he moved behind her, heading into the dining area to tend to some sitting guests.
The blond looked over at her, sipping his drink as she walked over to be in front of him, watching Josh's hands on her waist. She worked at Rousseau's enough to know that those who sat at the bar seat meant they needed someone to talk to—especially if they were drinking in the day.
"Boyfriend?" he asked her, glancing back at Josh for a second before back at her.
She didn't even contain her laughter, shaking her head. "Nah, he's not into girls." She paused for a second before adding, "Though, ten years ago, it was definitely within my sights for him to be."
The blond nodded at her words, and a blush crept to her face as she realized she was oversharing. It wasn't like he cared, so why was she telling him.
"So... what's her name?" Lilah questioned him, watching as he raised an eyebrow at her, pulling one of the olives that was on a toothpick off, chewing it. She clarified, "The girl you're day drinking over."
The boy chuckled, shaking his head and licking his lips. "There is no girl."
"Oh?" she questioned, leaning on her elbows closer to him.
"Hasn't been one in years," he replied, shrugging.
"Tell me about it," Lilah muttered, remembering she had practically stayed single since Stefan and Chicago. A few hookups and flings here and there, but never anything of substance. With a louder voice, she said, "Then what else brings you to New Orleans?"
"And how can you tell I'm not a local?"
"I know who and who doesn't live in my city," Lilah replied, somewhat curious as to where her bouncy personality was coming from.
"Your city?" he questioned.
"My city."
She hardly ever flirted, not that this was something she would consider flirty. But if Josh was behind the counter, he'd definitely have a barrage of questions for his best friend.
"Mmm," he hummed out, taking another sip of his drink and popping in the second olive, leaving one left on his toothpick. "I'm actually on a little mission," he whispered, leaning forward as he spoke.
"Mission?" she inquired. "What kind of mission?"
"One for people named Alaric Saltzman and Caroline Forbes," he name dropped, scanning Lilah's face for any recollection of the two, hoping he was in the right place talking to the right person.
When her eyes darted to Josh and back to him, confusion with a hint of worry in her eyes, he knew he got the right girl.
"I work for the people who—"
"Run the Salvatore School," she cut him off, nodding as she stood up straight. "Yeah, I've heard of them. Down in Mystic Falls. What's that school got you doing in New Orleans?"
"Recruitment," he explained. "I go around places, see if the youth or their family think the school is a good fit for them."
"Mmm," it was Lilah's turn to hum, noticing how neither of them purposely said what kind of youth went to the Salvatore School. "The youth here are just fine. They're safe here."
"I'm sure they are," he nodded, a side smile on his face.
She couldn't pinpoint what it was about him that was so familiar. She shook it off, sure that they had perhaps crossed paths sometime in the past.
"So, what are you?" she asked.
"Vampire. You?" he asked, confirming her previous assumptions as he dug around in his pocket for his wallet. They must have met sometime in her past.
"Same," she nodded, and she put her hand out for him. "Lilah. Lilah Desmarais."
As he placed cash on the counter, he downed the rest of his drink before shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you, Desmarais. I should get going."
"That's it? I don't get a name?" she asked, looking at the blonde boy with a ridiculous expression on her face as he got up and started to go towards the door.
"I got things to do, yanno, my mission," he said, peering over his shoulder as he waved. "See you around, Desmarais."
"Who was that?" Josh asked, coming back to the counter.
"No clue," she said, shaking her head as she looked at the door he had walked out of. "Works for that school down in Mystic Falls."
"Do you think he's here to cause trouble?" Josh wondered.
"Nah," she shook her head, remembering who Caroline Forbes was to Stefan and to Klaus. "If he works for that Forbes girl, Klaus liked her, right? He should be fine."
Josh shrugged, but he looked at the door suspiciously. "Yeah, no, sure," he said, but his tone showed he was wary of him.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
for the readers who have been with me since the beginning/those who were here to see me struggle with where i wanted to take lilah's story... thank you for staying. aftermath was a bunch of revamps, plot changes, chapters unpublished and republished.
halfway through aftermath, i could feel myself falling out of love with writing lilah's story. but in starting book 3, in straying from legacies' canon, i realized how much i missed writing in this universe.
everyone knows how i feel about roman sienna, his place in lilah's life. i missed writing about their romance. i strayed away from them in aftermath, which only made sense to me as roman went off to help alaric with recruiting and lilah was going on her spiral. i know reader's are pretty split between who they want to see lilah with, but roman's love for her has always been one of my favorite things to portray. he's meant to be one of her epic loves, alongside stefan.
i miss side character lilah and roman, their flirty banter back and forth, roman sneaking into her dorm room, both of them just dancing around their feelings for one another. i reread side character last night so i could fully bring back the old vibes and refresh myself on their bond that i had originally created, and remembered how in side character, it was always roman sharing his life with lilah, but her barely sharing any back, and i thought it would be cool to have that parallel, but with roman being the one more closed off than lilah once was.
i also know that people who read aftermath (which i hope is all of you since this is book 3 of a series), i'm aware of the high demand for rafael and lilah as well. while this book is straying from legacies s2, there will come a day when their memories comes back, after like... four months. so we will see people from the salvatore school in later chapters... but the main thing is: what would lilah do when her old memories come back, but she's already living a new life?
i saw someone comment on side character that a prequel would be fun to read, and i thought about writing it eventually. perhaps when i finish her current storyline, i can go back and revisit her past, her life in chicago with stefan, her life before originals s5 when she was just becoming close to the mikaelsons when hope was 9.
i just really want to thank Healer9999 for being one of my biggest supporters even since SIDE CHARACTER came out. Two years and three books later, and this girl is still here supporting my writing, and i cannot thank you enough.
i also want to thank ncsari who, despite discovering me because of a caos fic, decided she was going to be one of my forever supporters and practically read everything i put out. your comments make my day, my week, and it makes the hours spent typing away worth it.
all of you do.