[For Nick] Islandversary.

[callofkaren]

Give or take a day, Karen had officially arrived on the island a year ago after braving a bat in the office with Angela. And they'd had another giant bat to deal with a few days ago, which kinda just made everything come full circle in a creepy, almost terrifying kind of way. (Honestly, first giant moths, then giant bats, what was next, giant

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[formerfratboy]

Nick was terribly amused by Karen's note. He was mostly amused by the clothing prohibition, but in an effort to make Karen proud, he'd pulled the nicest stuff he could get out of the clothes box, even if the current fashion theme did seem to run somewhere along the lines of Animal Planet Jungle Explorer-chic. No ratty baseball hats, but Karen would have to ... really like khaki, he decided.

He heard a knock at his door (over the buzz of that hideous neon sign of Greg's) and sprang up from his position of lounging on his bed, going to swing it open. "Hey," he said, looking at Karen, a smile spreading across his face. Damn, she was pretty. She was always pretty. Even when she was kicking his ass at video games, she was freaking pretty. And she was standing at his door with a bag of stuff and -- okay, back to earth, Nick, nothing works when you're having a conversation in your head. "Got your note."

[callofkaren]

"I can see that," Karen said, looking Nick up and down appraisingly - the khaki was forgivable, considering how long it took her to find a dress that wasn't. Finally she nodded, biting back a grin of her own.

She felt a little silly standing there, but this was just a little different than any other day they'd hang out.

"Uh, here," she said, picking the bag up and holding it to Nick. "I figured, Islandversary, gift, and I know how much the rec room pretty much hates you, so."

[formerfratboy]

"Thanks," Nick said, taking the bag in his hand. "I've got something for you, too," he said, gesturing back at the room.

He stopped and laughed, realizing that probably sounded more suggestive than really intended, but Nick was no stranger to putting his foot in his mouth.

"Come on in," Nick said, swinging the door open for her. He set the bag on the bed, then opened the drawer to his nightstand, pulling out ...

A mango. With a candle in it.

"Happy islandversary," he said with a grin, presenting the mango to her.

[callofkaren]

Karen blinked at the mango for a moment before breaking into laughter, and she set the cupcakes down before taking it in both hands. "My own flaming mango," she said, and tilted her head up to look at Nick. "Thanks."

[formerfratboy]

"I thought you'd like it," Nick said with a smile. "I was going to throw it at you, you know, for old times' sake, but I decided against it." He sat down on the bed, gathering Karen's bag in his lap.

"I tried to come up with something better than a mango, but even the bookshelf was just giving me books about mangos." A stack of books on Nick's nightstand attested to that: The Mango Season, A Mango Shaped Space, Climbing the Mango Trees, and, most terrifyingly, Juicy Mangos, though the last one was more hilarious than anything else.

Nick opened the bag, peering inside to a bottle and the biggest book about birds he'd ever seen, and a smile broke out on his face. "You know, I've been looking for this damn book forever, couldn't get it to give it to me?" He pulled both the book and the bottle out, turning his head to smile at Karen. "Are you trying to ply me with alcohol and books about birds?"

[callofkaren]

Karen glanced at the books, saw Juicy Mangos, and decided she didn't even want to know. Ever.

She considered Nick's question as she sat down next to him, and wondered if he even really had to ask. "I think I'm supposed to be the one asking that question," she said, and before he could reply, she took the bottle. "This is actually one of the first bottles of alcohol Paige and I managed to make off her brother's old still. I haven't actually tried it yet, but I'm sure it's good."

[formerfratboy]

"Mmhm." Nick looked at the bottle in her hand dubiously. He'd seen what passed for "alcohol" on the island, and he wasn't sure that this would be any better. He was, however, willing to find out.

Nick nudged aside his stack of terrible mango-titled books to make room for his book on birds, which would be great distraction reading for whenever Greg wanted to ramble about what new pharmaceutical breakthrough he'd made this time.

"We get to break it in, then?" he asked, flicking the bottle with his fingers. "Be the guinea pigs?"

[callofkaren]

"That's the idea," Karen said with a nod, and she opened the bottle, holding it out for Nick. "Don't worry, it was made with my own loving, sort of drunk hands."

Except it mostly by Paige, while Karen was still learning the whole process. She was totally a bootlegger in the making. "You wouldn't think you could get tipsy off of alcohol fumes, would you?"

[formerfratboy]

"You wouldn't think," Nick said, taking the bottle from her. "But I'll take it that you can?" Really, the number of things people got high on back in Vegas was enough for him to never take any method of mind-altering for granted again.

[callofkaren]

"You so can," Karen nodded, and that was really all she was going to say on the subject. The giggling, drunken conversations she and Paige had during those hours were probably best left to themselves.

"So?" She gestured at the bottle, and folded a leg underneath her as she turned a bit on the bed. "Try it. I promise I'll totally run for help if it ends up poisoning you."

[formerfratboy]

Nick sniffed the contents, and decided that the alcohol didn't smell like it was going to kill him, at least. It was worth a shot. "Cheers," he said with a smile, lifting the bottle to Karen in a little mock toast before taking a swig from it. He looked thoughtful as he swallowed, trying to decide what he thought about it. "Not bad," he decided finally, "not bad at all. You could have a bootlegging business here, definitely."

[callofkaren]

Karen broke into a grin and clapped her hands at Nick's assessment. If someone had told her when she was younger that she'd be putting her business degree into bootlegging, she would have laughed them off. "Great. This'll be about a million times better than selling paper."

[formerfratboy]

"Drunks usually are a better group of people to sell stuff to than... whoever it is that buys paper." He still wasn't sure who bought paper from places that weren't Office Max or anything. Nick took another drink from the bottle, then passed it back to Karen. "Test the fruits of your labor? Or are you just waiting to see if I keel over?"

[callofkaren]

They probably were, but it took skill to steal business away from Staples when it came to selling paper. It was, depressingly, the only thing she'd like about sales.

"You're twice my size, you won't keel over," Karen said, taking the bottle back. Besides, if Nick passed out, the night would sort of be ruined.

Except maybe she would. Karen took one drink down, and made a face as it went down. It wasn't quite as bad as most of the stuff the island had, but it wasn't a good kind of burn like tequila or vodka, either. "Oh god, that's strong."

[formerfratboy]

"Yeah, exactly," Nick said with a small laugh. "And you think I won't keel over if I keep drinking it." He grinned at Karen, scooting back on the bed more comfortably. "It's not bad. Just... strong."

[callofkaren]

"I guess that's a good enough first impression," Karen said, giving the bottle another look before covering it up. She wasn't going to be touching that one again, not if she wanted to keep her tastebuds.

At least it was cause to celebrate, and she gave Nick the brightest grin. "I'm officially a bootlegger now."