Tainted | Finn Mikaelson

Chapter 8

He still walked her home.

"I've been bugging you for days already and you're still escorting me home," mentioned Katya as he walked alongside her to her apartment.

"It's the right thing to do," Finn said, though, upon seeing her raise her eyebrows, he said, "and I'd like to do it."

"Well, at least I know I won't be mugged," she said, taking her keys out once they got to the door of her building. She held the door open for him to come in, but he shook his head.

"I apologize, I need to clean up the rest of the spell I was doing," he told her. "But, I may see you soon."

Katya smiled slightly. "Yeah, likely tomorrow when you come to drink at Rousseau's again."

He nodded, then blurted out, "Are you doing anything for New Year's Eve?"

She blinked. "Oh, well, I don't even know yet. Since my parents passed, I don't really celebrate holidays unless someone invites me somewhere, so..." seeing that he looked almost sad to hear that (likely out of pity), she quickly said, "but you can come over, if you'd like, and you can see how much you enjoy my cooking."

Finn definitely liked the sound of that. "I'll bring the drinks then, and some dessert."

"I can handle dessert, don't worry," she said. "I have a few things I'd like for you to try. Just expect to take a lot of it home because I don't like keeping all the leftovers to myself."

That New Year's Eve was perhaps the most enjoyable one she'd had since before her parents died.

Finn brought an expensive Cabernet and some champagne to share. Dressed in a suit, he'd arrived looking quite excited, especially once he saw the food that Katya had made.

"So my mother always made this— fried pork chops and potatoes," explained Katya, "so obviously, I had to make it, because it's one of the only things I learned to make from her teachings. For dessert, I made mini versions of Sharlotka, Medovik, and Praga." She showed him the trays. "Sharlotka is my favorite because I love apples, but my father's favorite was the tort Praga because of the chocolate. The Medovik— honey cake— is just to have something extra you might enjoy trying."

"You really outdid yourself," he said, setting the wine down. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I already set the table."

"Is anyone else going to be coming?"

"Uh, no, I didn't think to invite anyone. I figured it could just be us."

He nodded, and went to sit down once she brought the plates to the table.

It was a relatively calm dinner. They didn't make much conversation while they ate (though Finn did make a point to compliment her cooking several times). The real talk came from the wine, once they were seated on her couch, looking out the window to watch the fireworks past midnight.

"Do you usually work holidays?" Finn asked, seeing that she'd left some papers from her work schedule on the coffee table.

"Yep," she said. "Since college. I started doing it because my first employer gave us bonuses. Most people wanted to be with their family. I needed the money and didn't ever have anyone to spend it with. It's a habit now."

"You worked on Christmas, then?"

Katya giggled. "On your Christmas, yes. The Orthodox Christmas isn't for a few more days. I'll probably work that day, too, though... I'm not the most religious person. My parents tried so hard to get me to follow along with them, but eventually, they gave up, saying it was because of my French ancestry that I just couldn't get into the church. In reality, I just find it hard to believe anything. Sometimes, I doubt science. You know what I wish for? More studies on supernaturals."