fandomtownies | The Park, early Thursday morning

Nikolai had been doing a little letting loose of his own last night. See, he'd finally gotten this custom set of goggles and a heavy leather duster in the mail, and he'd figured there was no better time than the present to give them a test run.

So there were going to be more than a few psychos slowly drifting back to consciousness this morning only to find their hands zip-tied behind their backs, arms around various lampposts around the East side of town and their weapons nowhere to be seen.

And Nick? Well, he was feeling no pain as he decided to change areas he was patrolling slightly. He came wheeling into the park at a speed no human should have been able to reach, wearing a grin from ear to ear. That was what it was like to get knocked up a tier without guilt? He'd take it.

"Allie, that you? Fuck, you're a mess."

"Nothing a shower can't fix," Allie replied, flicking a lump of something bloody off her coat.

She focused on Nick, raising an eyebrow as she took in his demeanor. "You're cheerful. Moving pretty fast as well. Did you have a good night?"

"Didn't get brutally maimed or anything, if that's what you're asking," Nikolai replied, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Allie an easy grin. "As it turns out, even the crazies running around with gas-masks and rusty knives have a hard time killing you when they have to look at you to do it."

And it had just gotten easier with each one he'd taken down.

"As an aside? I need to stock up on zip-ties. I'll maintain to my dying day that those things are seriously underrated."

"You know I never thought about that," Allie admitted. "That you could do your thing and keep the body count down during the weirdness. I tended to just swing first as I made my way through the preserve."

"I'll admit, it was tempting to break a few of those crazy fucks in two," Nikolai noted, glancing over his shoulder toward town. "But, messed up in the head or not, they're still people."

He gave Allie a curious glance.

"I'm guessing the same can't be said for whatever it was you were taking pieces out of in the woods, there?"

"It's why I stayed away from them," she replied. "I wouldn't say they're harmless, but at the same time, they're nothing people around here can't handle. The stuff in the preserve was a little nastier. Packs of dog like things that liked to bite mostly. Plus a few bigger, nastier things lurking about. Be careful if you head out there."

"Something tells me 'bigger and nastier' means a handful of zip-ties and a stern look aren't going to cut it for me," Nikolai noted, nodding a little. "Most people around here have no business running out into the woods, anyhow. I wouldn't want to chance it until I've gone up another tier or two."

Yes, he had spent a lot of the night thinking about the effects of the hits he was taking off of those madmen out there. He'd run straight up the side of a wall, at one point. A few lunatics later, and he'd gone straight to making it up to rooftops with a leap.

They'd have to be really big zip ties.

"Even then, wait till I can go with you. Better safe then sorry, no matter how nifty your powers are," Allie warned. "I wouldn't want to see them wear up when you weren't expecting it."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the last thing I want," Nick agreed, frowning thoughtfully. "I still don't know fully what I'm capable of, or how long this lasts. But I'm sure the crash afterward can't possibly be anything pleasant."

Especially if it happens at the worst possible moment. Like, say, when something huge and mean was on the verge of ripping him apart or something.

Allie winced in sympathy. "No, that's probably going to hurt. I wish I could stick around and help you figure it out, but it's almost time for all the good little vampires to tuck themselves in for the day."

"Fair enough. I wouldn't want to keep you out past your bedtime." Nikolai gave her a little grin before turning another look out toward the preserve. "... I'll go wandering out there another time. Hell, I should probably get some rest, too. At least a few hours before I go chasing crazies again, at least."

Last night had been... fun. Nick hadn't expected that.

"I've still got a little time, just not enough to go hunting. No matter how much fun it might be." Someday they'd have to have a long talk about how fighting could be fun, as long as everything was in very clear shades of black and white. It was when things turned grey that it got complicated.

"Besides, I wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"Miss me, did you?" Nikolai, stop being an ass. He gave Allie a quick grin all the same, because... some things just didn't change. "I've got at least as much time as you do. Have a topic in mind, Allie?"

"I've been pining away without your company." The eye roll and the accompanying smirk should make it obvious how Allie really felt. "But seriously though?" she said, growing a little more solemn. "The topic would be small children, cookies and pasta. I never did say thank you for that."

"Oooh, that." Nikolai's own expression went a little more sober. "Hey, don't mention it. I'm not exactly the world's greatest philanthropist or anything, but if a hungry kid starts stealing cookies I'm not going to chase 'em out to starve or anything. How'd that weekend work out for you, by the way? Did the pasta last you?"

"That was more food then I'd seen in one place in my life, at least at that age," she admitted. "It was more then enough to get me through the weekend. Overall the weekend was okay. I mean, on one hand, now I get what all the fuss about chocolate chip cookies is about. But on the other, well, now I know what I'm missing."

"Can't really imagine," Nikolai noted, frowning thoughtfully. "I mean, sure, I miss being able to look people in the eye without throwing them into a coma, but I can still get my fix now and then."

He shoved his goggles up his forehead and gave Allie a bit of a wry smile.

"Just depends on the company I keep. I suppose Fandom might give you more chances at enjoying cookies, but it's not like you can really plan for those."

Allie ducked her head in a mock bow. "Glad I'm able to help," she smiled. "You better remember my door's always open if you want to lose the shades and relax for a while. It gets old being on guard like that all the time." Allie spoke from a different set of experiences, but the end result was still the same.

"As far as the cookies, this was the second time this has happened since I've been on the island. I didn't change the first time round." In a way, she regretted thatnow. "But who knows what'll happen in the future."

"Stick around awhile, and the place might surprise you?" He glanced around, taking in the sight of the park in the early morning without the additional tint from his mirrored lenses, nodded a little in appreciation, and then grudgingly pulled the goggles back down over his eyes. He could look Allie in the eye anywhere they were, but he wasn't taking the risk of catching random passers-by unless they came charging at him first. "That almost feels normal to say now, you know. I think I'm getting used to the crazy place."

Said the energy vampire to the good old blood-drinking sort, standing in the park after a night spent beating down killer freaks. Naturally.

All they needed was the nympho vamp and they'd have the makings of a very interesting joke. Or a really wacky threesome.

"I've been here over a year and I'm still getting surprised on a regular basis," Allie laughed. "The weird Christmas stuff has been fun, but this? The gun machines and the deadly creatures wandering around. This is one of the not so fun weeks."

There was a succubus on the island. Would that be close enough?

"Definitely not one of the fun weeks. But one of the first ones I've been here that I feel like I haven't just been spinning my tires," Nick noted. "I've actually been making the occasional run out to Baltimore at night, half hoping I run into a mugging in progress or something. Thrill-seeking, I guess. I'm not too keen on the guns, but this is probably the closest to being back home that I've felt in months."

... That was not a very flattering image of LA you were painting, Nikolai.

Throw in a werewolf or two and let the hijinks commence.

"Here I thought LA was supposed to be all civilized and fancy," Allie said dryly. "At least if you believe the magazines. You're ruining my fantasies."

She sobered, thinking about what Nick had said about thrill seeking. "Is it really that awful being here?"

It would make for one hell of a sitcom, anyway.

"I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of gang crime," Nick explained with an almost dismissive wave of the hand. "This pack of losers that call themselves the South Seventeens have been causing trouble there for as long back as I can remember. So, while I can live without the Sevens, don't get me wrong, this place is... a lot quieter than I'm used to."

He crossed his arms over his chest again - gunslinger pose - and drummed his fingers against his elbow.

"But then, I've always been a bit of a daredevil. I got myself into this mess in the first place by being an idiot in Greece, remember."

"We had gangs in the Fringe. Some were for protection. It made sense, you'd have more people to watch your back. Others, well..." Allie grimaced remembering. "Let's just say they'd eat you alive wasn't just a figure of speech. I tried to avoid them."

"But anyway, based on past experience, I think it's safe to say this weekend will be a little livelier then normal."

"Been through a few of these, then?" Nikolai pondered that, and then nodded. "I suppose it'll be a learning experience. I've seen plenty of nasty examples of absolute human shitstains over the years, but those guys wandering the streets absolutely take the cake. They're welcome to take off again any time they please. Sooner the better."

"Just the dungeon. And the flying things. But Tiny's told me stories." She still wasn't sure how many she believed, but she'd seen enough in the last year to give him the benefit of the doubt. "It's a lot easier dealing with weird Christmas stuff then people or things trying to kill you."

"Yeah, I'll take the sugared puffballs over having to watch my back all the time, pretty much any day of the week."

It seemed like a safe bet, really.

"Well you shouldn't have gone out on your own. You could have found me." Really, the mostly invulnerable vampire was a good person to have watching your back while trying out wacky superpower limits.

"Should have," Nikolai allowed, and even had the good grace to look at least slightly chagrined about it, too. "I didn't end up dead, at least. I hear people are coming back from that these days, but I wasn't in any hurry to test that rumor out, personally."

"Coming back from being dead?" Now that was interesting and disturbing, very disturbing. "Do I need to order in more True Blood?"

"No clue," Nick replied with a shrug. "Near as I can tell, it's those weird stations they have around town doing the bringing back. But if everyone was coming back un-dead, I'm sure we'd be hearing a hell of a lot more about it on the radio."

"Point," she agreed. "There'd probably be a lot more wailing and violence. Probably more dead bodies as well. "Still, it's something to keep an eye out for."

"After we both get some rest."

"After some rest," Nikolai agreed with a nod. "Sun'll be coming up soon. It's time for all good little vampires to get out of the park. And all good little gorgons to... probably do the same. I am starting to crash, now."

"Can you make it back okay? I've got a little bit of time before things get dire. I can walk with you for a bit." The worst that would happen would be Allie would have to literally go to the ground if it got to late.

"Pretty sure I can handle the hike back. If I run into any more of those jerkasses with the knives, I'll just take a hit from them along the way." He gave Allie a little grin. "If we're headed the same direction, I'll take the company as long as you can give it, though."

"Company is always good." Allie gave one last look around the park - nothing was going to hurt the flamingos while she was around - before falling step next to Nick. "So, if this gets settled in time, do you have any Christmas plans?"

"None really, nah. I'm not really about to rush back to the big city until I know I've got a handle on the whole eye-thing, which kind of severely puts a limit on my options. I suppose it'll be busy at the hotel, I might be needed there."

He doubted it. But it was a possibility.

"You?"

"I'll probably just settle in with a book for the night," Allie admitted. "Which isn't so different then any other night. Although at least this year I have festive lights."

"The festive lights pretty much make it official, don't they?" Nick gave his head a little shake, grinning crookedly as they walked. "I don't even have that yet. Maybe between now and the holiday, if the island doesn't explode or something, I'll pick up one of those short fake trees. That'll be more festive than I've been in years."

But Fandom was kind of aggressively festive. It was hard to ignore.

The Park, early Thursday morning

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