Odi Et Amo | CORIOLANUS SNOW

08 | an uninvited guest

WORD COUNT: 2582

×××

KYRA FOUND HERSELF by her father's piano once again. Life had gotten incredibly complicated in a matter of a few days, and the only moment of comfort she had truly felt since being assigned the presentation was when she was sat by the once forgotten instrument. Thankfully, this time her mother knew better than to ask why Kyra had spent the better part of the evening attacking the keys.

This time, the melodies Kyra played were not the melancholic cries of past memories or the feverish breakdown of her confusion. They were frenzied, rageful, riddled with guilt. And strung together by the anguish of her newly-realised feelings for Coriolanus Snow.

Feelings she had denied for longer than she could dare admit to herself, but had become unavoidable to confront since their meeting in the common room. Coriolanus had in fact won his game, even if she hadn't admitted her feelings to him. His actions forced her to confess to herself. And if last night was no indicator of her feelings, though it very much was, then her shopping trip today with Medea was the cherry on top. No one innocent would feel as much guilt as she did.

The only thing Kyra was yet to work out was just how deeply these feelings ran. And she had no intention of figuring that out, not if she only had one more week to ignore it before things could go back to normal. Coriolanus Snow was an attractive man, that was an undeniable fact, and really Kyra had put too much pressure on herself to resist him completely. But lust was shallow, not nearly as deep as Medea's crush on him or Kyra's love for Sejanus.

Kyra could work with lust. As long as she kept loathing him.

All she could hope for was an end to his games and as much distance as possible before the deadline.

"Kyra? Sorry to interrupt, but you've got a guest."

Kyra swivelled round to face her mother in the doorway, confusion etched into every feature. They rarely got visits after her father's passing, and Kyra was careful to not bring friends round in case they deduced why her home was so bare and empty. Even Medea hadn't been invited round before.

It almost came as no surprise when Kyra's eyes landed on Coriolanus stood proudly beside her mother.

"Good evening, Kyra." Coriolanus greeted with a smirk, head tilted to the side and a friendly quality he never used with her forced into his voice. Including her name.

"Kyra, I can't believe you didn't tell me you were friends with this charming young man" Circe scolded playfully, a bouquet of red roses tucked under her arm. Kyra fought the urge to roll her eyes as Circe tossed her blonde locks over her shoulder, exposing her slender neck and putting on all the charms for Snow that Kyra had seen time and time again from her temptress mother.

"Oh, don't take it to heart, Mrs Tanwen. Kyra is always so secretive. She never told me that she had such a welcoming, beautiful mother." Coriolanus charmed back, prompting a silky laugh from Circe's lips. One that slightly unsettled him as it exactly matched the artificial laugh he had heard Kyra use on their peers.

"Please, just call me-"

"What do you want, Snow?" Kyra broke their flirtations with a deadpan expression, rising from the piano and ready to drag him out of her home if she had to.