Los Angeles, Sunday afternoon
With her new charmed necklace in place, Allie had booked another trip to sunny L.A. This time at least she could be sure that she wasn't going to wind up accidentally singed.
"You realize we're not exactly dressed for this?" Allie asked as she took another lick of her ice cream cone. This being the beach near the Santa Monica Pier.
"Yeah, but when are we ever dressed for this?" Nick gave Allie a winning grin and a shrug of his shoulders. "Maybe I like wearing long coats around. Makes me feel like a cowboy. And you know how I am about cowboys."
Cowboys had coats that were excellent for throwing over vampires in case they just so happened to start being susceptible to the sunshine again. It had only happened once, but once was still a bad track record, here.
"That said, if you wanna go swimsuit shopping or something, I'm not gonna stop you. Pulled a pretty good wad of cash off of one of the Seventeens last night, it's practically burning a hole in my pocket, here."
"Having been through your movie collection, yes, I know how you feel about cowboys," Allie laughed. "It's a true and forever love."
Nick's shopping offer was tempting. But for the time being she was content to walk along and enjoy the sun and the people going by. With the charm it was no longer a rush to fit as many experiences as she could into a weekend. Allie had forever now.
"How about that Seventeen buys me another ice cream? This is delicious."
"I'm sure that Seventeen would be thrilled to know that his drug money is going toward a good cause," Nick chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "If we keep going back, we might be able to work through every flavor they have and hopefully you won't end up puking before the day is through."
Nikolai was all about the glamorous side of things. You could tell.
"That's happened often enough in the past that I'll make sure it doesn't happen today." Eating rat when you're starving was a not so good experience. "I do know my limits."
"Besides, this just gives me an excuse to come back."
"Can't argue with logic like that," Nick decided with a chuckle. "And here I enjoy your company enough that I'm not even going to point out that you can get ice cream pretty much anywhere. You come here, I'll buy it for you myself."
Which totally made the price of the Portalocity ticket worth it, right?
"Well I do have reasons other then ice cream for heading out here. You know, the palm trees, the bike, the charming company of the Seventeens...."
You could tell where Allie's priorities were.
And if Nick wasn't A) completely full of himself and B) pretty sure Allie was just taking the piss out of him right then, he might have even pouted.
"I'm surprised the trees rate a mention before the bike, Allie. Are you telling me that the next time you want to take it for a spin, all I need to do is point at the foliage and I won't have to share?"
"I was working up the list. From least to most important," she retorted, poking an affectionate elbow towards his side. "You know it's all about the bike."
Nick took that elbow in stride, and gave her a light nudge right on back.
"Yeah, yeah. I might never see you around here if it wasn't for our local gang crime and the fact that you don't own a motorbike of your own, huh?"
Allie grinned. "Well it's not like I've visiting just to spend time with you. You're boring."
"I've been looking." Now that she had the charm, it might be time to move beyond looking. "It might be time to get one of my own after all."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a sad state of affairs," Nick laughed, shaking his head. "You want somebody who already knows his way around bikes, I can probably even set you up with a good deal. You're gonna be getting a lot of riding time in now and all."
A beat.
"So, what's up with that, anyway? Like, shit, someone just handed you a trinket that lets you do things the way the normal types do?"
"That would be great," she said, reaching up and rubbing her fingers over the pendant. "You know what they say, you can find anything on the internet."
"... You have to give me the name of your search engine," Nick decided, giving her a little bit of a side-eye at that. He couldn't help but be curious. After all, if it was something that was strong enough to let her wander in the sun and eat human food again, maybe the same place could hook him up with a little something for his own affliction.
But she clearly didn't want to talk about it, so he shrugged his shoulders a little.
"We can get together any time to talk bikes, though. I know a guy, he can probably set us up with a good deal now that I'm back to work. Does these things by appointment, you know? I can drop him a line, get back to you when I get in touch with him."
There was a part of Allie that wondered if the shop had a similar charm that could help Nick lose his glasses. But there was another voice in her head that said she needed to protect her own charm.
"That would be great," she said, smiling brightly. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just fast."
"Well, of course fast," Nick chuckled, walking back toward the ice cream vendor. "We wouldn't want you eating my dust while we're riding off after some asshole Seventeen, would we?"
In fairness, it would probably be the only time he could actually keep ahead of her. So.
It was almost like Allie was psychic. "That might be the only time you beat me. With some help from the bike."
"Oh, come on. I'll catch you one of these days, Allie. Just you wait."
One of these days. Eventually. Nick had no idea when or how, but that wasn't going to stop him from continuing to promise that it was going to happen.
"It's a good thing I've got plenty of time," she teased.
Well, that got a chuckle out of Nikolai.
"And with any of luck, so do I," he shot back. "Maybe when I do catch you, I'll treat you with more ice cream."
"In that case, I'll buy. It's only right."
Ice cream finished, Allie pitched the cone wrapper into a nearby trash can. "So what's next? Kill time till the sun sets and the Seventeens come out to play?"
"Hey, why not? Anything else you ever really wanted to take in? I mean, we're in LA. We can be shameless tourists for at least a few hours, easy."
A beat.
"I can get us in for a tour of Paramount Studios, if you're interested."
Shut up, Nick could show off if he wanted to.
"You want to show off don't you?" Yes Nick, Allie knew you well. "I'm good with anything honestly. It's just nice being out and not having to worry about the sun."
[Preplayed through email with gunslingerpose]
"You realize we're not exactly dressed for this?" Allie asked as she took another lick of her ice cream cone. This being the beach near the Santa Monica Pier.
"Yeah, but when are we ever dressed for this?" Nick gave Allie a winning grin and a shrug of his shoulders. "Maybe I like wearing long coats around. Makes me feel like a cowboy. And you know how I am about cowboys."
Cowboys had coats that were excellent for throwing over vampires in case they just so happened to start being susceptible to the sunshine again. It had only happened once, but once was still a bad track record, here.
"That said, if you wanna go swimsuit shopping or something, I'm not gonna stop you. Pulled a pretty good wad of cash off of one of the Seventeens last night, it's practically burning a hole in my pocket, here."
"Having been through your movie collection, yes, I know how you feel about cowboys," Allie laughed. "It's a true and forever love."
Nick's shopping offer was tempting. But for the time being she was content to walk along and enjoy the sun and the people going by. With the charm it was no longer a rush to fit as many experiences as she could into a weekend. Allie had forever now.
"How about that Seventeen buys me another ice cream? This is delicious."
"I'm sure that Seventeen would be thrilled to know that his drug money is going toward a good cause," Nick chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "If we keep going back, we might be able to work through every flavor they have and hopefully you won't end up puking before the day is through."
Nikolai was all about the glamorous side of things. You could tell.
"That's happened often enough in the past that I'll make sure it doesn't happen today." Eating rat when you're starving was a not so good experience. "I do know my limits."
"Besides, this just gives me an excuse to come back."
"Can't argue with logic like that," Nick decided with a chuckle. "And here I enjoy your company enough that I'm not even going to point out that you can get ice cream pretty much anywhere. You come here, I'll buy it for you myself."
Which totally made the price of the Portalocity ticket worth it, right?
"Well I do have reasons other then ice cream for heading out here. You know, the palm trees, the bike, the charming company of the Seventeens...."
You could tell where Allie's priorities were.
And if Nick wasn't A) completely full of himself and B) pretty sure Allie was just taking the piss out of him right then, he might have even pouted.
"I'm surprised the trees rate a mention before the bike, Allie. Are you telling me that the next time you want to take it for a spin, all I need to do is point at the foliage and I won't have to share?"
"I was working up the list. From least to most important," she retorted, poking an affectionate elbow towards his side. "You know it's all about the bike."
Nick took that elbow in stride, and gave her a light nudge right on back.
"Yeah, yeah. I might never see you around here if it wasn't for our local gang crime and the fact that you don't own a motorbike of your own, huh?"
Allie grinned. "Well it's not like I've visiting just to spend time with you. You're boring."
"I've been looking." Now that she had the charm, it might be time to move beyond looking. "It might be time to get one of my own after all."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a sad state of affairs," Nick laughed, shaking his head. "You want somebody who already knows his way around bikes, I can probably even set you up with a good deal. You're gonna be getting a lot of riding time in now and all."
A beat.
"So, what's up with that, anyway? Like, shit, someone just handed you a trinket that lets you do things the way the normal types do?"
"That would be great," she said, reaching up and rubbing her fingers over the pendant. "You know what they say, you can find anything on the internet."
"... You have to give me the name of your search engine," Nick decided, giving her a little bit of a side-eye at that. He couldn't help but be curious. After all, if it was something that was strong enough to let her wander in the sun and eat human food again, maybe the same place could hook him up with a little something for his own affliction.
But she clearly didn't want to talk about it, so he shrugged his shoulders a little.
"We can get together any time to talk bikes, though. I know a guy, he can probably set us up with a good deal now that I'm back to work. Does these things by appointment, you know? I can drop him a line, get back to you when I get in touch with him."
There was a part of Allie that wondered if the shop had a similar charm that could help Nick lose his glasses. But there was another voice in her head that said she needed to protect her own charm.
"That would be great," she said, smiling brightly. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just fast."
"Well, of course fast," Nick chuckled, walking back toward the ice cream vendor. "We wouldn't want you eating my dust while we're riding off after some asshole Seventeen, would we?"
In fairness, it would probably be the only time he could actually keep ahead of her. So.
It was almost like Allie was psychic. "That might be the only time you beat me. With some help from the bike."
"Oh, come on. I'll catch you one of these days, Allie. Just you wait."
One of these days. Eventually. Nick had no idea when or how, but that wasn't going to stop him from continuing to promise that it was going to happen.
"It's a good thing I've got plenty of time," she teased.
Well, that got a chuckle out of Nikolai.
"And with any of luck, so do I," he shot back. "Maybe when I do catch you, I'll treat you with more ice cream."
"In that case, I'll buy. It's only right."
Ice cream finished, Allie pitched the cone wrapper into a nearby trash can. "So what's next? Kill time till the sun sets and the Seventeens come out to play?"
"Hey, why not? Anything else you ever really wanted to take in? I mean, we're in LA. We can be shameless tourists for at least a few hours, easy."
A beat.
"I can get us in for a tour of Paramount Studios, if you're interested."
Shut up, Nick could show off if he wanted to.
"You want to show off don't you?" Yes Nick, Allie knew you well. "I'm good with anything honestly. It's just nice being out and not having to worry about the sun."
[Preplayed through email with gunslingerpose]