fandomtownies | Devil's Nest, Friday Evening

Where Allie would chat and Tiny would serve.

"So," Nikolai said, walking up to the bar with a grin on his face as he straightened his shades, "crazy meeting you in a place like this."

Where she'd told him she would be. Because she worked here. Yep.

"How's the evening treating you so far?"

Allie had been engrossed in the tale of innocent Elizabeth, the governess, and Jason, the withdrawn lord of the manor who occasionally moonlighted as a dashing pirate captain. Hearing Nick's voice, she snapped the book shut and set it aside.

"Jason's about to reveal his secret pirate identity to Elizabeth. I don't think she's going to be happy with him," Allie replied with a grin of her own. Yes, she knew that tonight's reading choice was kind of ridiculous. She was not ashamed.

"The Dread Pirate Jason, huh?" Nick smirked a little as he sat himself up on a barstool and leaned over the bar to grin at her. "Funny, it doesn't have the sort of ring to it that you'd expect from a secret pirate."

"Actually he used his middle name. He was Wicked William," Allie explained. "Which is a little more intimidating. Or a least a better rhyme."

"What can Tiny get for you? I believe I said I owe you a drink or three?"

"Nothing jumped out to get me on my way here, so I won't make a beeline for the hard liquor tonight," Nick decided, still smiling. "I'll just have whatever beer you carry that isn't favored by cheap college kids."

That would narrow it down a little, right?

"In that case I hope you like Canadian beer," Allie replied. "I don't drink myself, but it's what one of my friends drinks when he stops by and he's got pretty good taste."

"Tiny, give him whatever it is you serve Kaidan." She watched for a moment as Tiny began to pour then turned her attention back to Nick. "I'm going to live forever but according to my boss I still have to obey the local liquor laws. I'm not allowed to pour for another two years or so."

Really, in the grand scheme of things, there were worse fates than being treated to a free Canadian beer. Nick gave Tiny a bit of a nod - manners were important when the guy pouring your drink was that huge - and then turned his attention back to Allie.

"Seems ridiculous when you put it like that," he noted. "In the long run, I suppose two years really isn't going to be a drop in the bucket, but I doubt the state really has vampires in mind when they make a law like that one."

For reasons unknown.

"No, probably not. But those are the rules and my boss is nothing but a thousand year old legitimate business man." Nick could figure out the unusual part of that statement.

Yeah, there were certain things that just kind of jumped out, there.

"... Thousand years old, huh? Another vampire?"

Kind of explained the name of the place, he supposed.

Actually he inherited the name. "The oldest one on the island. He's...intimidating in a lot of ways." At almost six and a half feet tall, even if they were both human Eric would still be kind of intimidating next to Allie's five foot nothing. "But he helped me out when he didn't have to, so I appreciate that."

From the actual devil! It was probably for the best that Nick was left to assume, really. He'd walk back to California.

"Still a weird trend out here," Nick noted. "Everyone being so damn helpful. I'm definitely not in L.A. anymore."

"It's just another part of the weirdness. But a good part." Unlike the magically happening gender changes.

"All I know of LA is what I've read in some old Jackie Collins novels I read a few months ago. Is it really that bad?"

"Depends where you go," Nikolai replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "There are some parts that are better than others. Neighborhood I grew up in had some gang activity on it, though. Call themselves the South Seventeens. Mostly it's drug-related crime, but things get pretty dirty in the dark of night when they're out and about."

He wrinkled his nose a little at the mention of them.

"It gets to the point where people in some areas try to avoid going out at all. Nobody wants to be caught on the wrong side of that mess."

"Sounds a lot like where I grew up. I ran with a small crew after my mom died. We were just interested in getting enough food to stay alive. But some of the other gangs," Allie shuddered, distaste apparent. "They were vicious. We stayed as far away from their territory as we could."

"I have to admit, I'm disappointed." She really wasn't. "I thought everyone in LA lived in a fancy mansion and drove a fast car."

"I don't actually own a car," Nikolai shared, smirking. "I'm more a motorcycle kind of guy. And I live in a crappy little apartment. But if it makes you feel any better at all, I'm pretty sure everyone I know back there is writing a script, sure they're going to be the next big thing."

Nick... was not. He wasn't really much of a wordsmith, really.

"I hate to shatter the illusion like that, though. You can go on and pretend that I live in a mansion if you want to."

"Nope, my dreams are shattered. It's going to be difficult, but I'll have to move on." Allie was heartbroken and completely disillusioned. Really. The her answering smirk was a dead giveaway to the depths of her despair.

"Were you writing a script? Or did you have something better in mind?"

Oh yeah. That was the face of absolute hopelessness, if ever Nikolai had seen it.

"No script for me, but I don't really need one. I already spend more time with some celebrities than most people dream of. Perks of working in an agency in Hollywood that represents them." He wrinkled his nose a little. "If you can call it a perk. Some of them are freaking insane."

"Look on the bright side, it means you're better prepared to deal with the more...eccentric residents of the island." Like the guy in the weird costume she'd met on the beach the night before.

"Yeah, but is that a bright side, really?" Nikolai laughed and gave his head a shake. "Here I am, almost three thousand miles from the craziest people I know, only to find out that there are crazies running around here, too. Doesn't sound like a win to me."

He was smirking, though, so it probably wasn't exactly a loss, either.

"But generally we're nice crazies. So that makes up for it." Yes, she'd included herself because she was a stubborn baby vamp that was still living by human rules. For the moment that meant that unlike Eric, she didn't eat the DJ when his musical selections annoyed her.

"Maybe you need to be here," Allie said, growing a little more serious. "A few of my friends, being on the island isn't what they would have planned on. But being here's been good for them. It's given them a chance to figure things out, away from, I don't know, I guess you'd call it real life if that makes sense?"

Nick eyed Allie for a moment at that, his smile slipping halfway to a frown before he caught himself.

"I guess real life hasn't been doing me many favors lately," he noted, reaching for his beer. "It's looking more and more like I have at least some sorting out to do before I head back to California, whether or not that Portalocity thing works out for me."

A bit self-consciously, he reached up to straighten his shades on his face.

For your dancing and lounging needs

I think I got sunburned today.

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The VIP Area

The Dance Floor & Lounge

OOC