fandomtownies | The Park, later Thursday Evening

Entry tags:

The Park, later Thursday Evening

Judging by the thunder rumbling in the distance they were going to get a storm at some point during the night. Allie was almost looking forward to it. Storms were much more enjoyable when you had a non-leaking roof over your head. But until the weather chased her inside, she was going to perch on her usual bench in the park and enjoy the evening.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kaidan'd spent some time watching the Cup, but he was a creature of habit - he needed his jogs or he'd go crazy.

"Allie!" he called. "Good evening, hey!"

Allie grinned, always glad to see Kaidan. "Getting a run in before the storm comes starts?"

"Yeah," Kaidan said wryly. He came to a stop by the bench. "Didn't want to get caught up in the middle of it if I could help it. Same?"

"Pretty much," she nodded. "Not that it really bothers me, but if I don't have to get soggy, why bother?"

Kaidan shot her a wry smile. "So how've you been lately?" he said. "I've been buried in Portalocity paperwork - sorry about that."

Plus with all the people yelling at him over the phone, he needed more time to decompress on his own than he usually did.

"It happens, no big deal," Allie assured him. "I'm just glad to see you unburied yourself for a night that happens to be a night I'm here and not in Baltimore."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow, sinking down onto the bench. "You been spending a lot of time out there?"

"I go in with Nick once or twice a week. He likes to play superhero, I watch and enjoy the ride there and back on his bike." Yes, Allie was developing a bit of a speed addiction. "I've been thinking about getting a bike of my own."

"Wait, superhero?" Kaidan echoed, blinking. "What, like a vigilante?"

Potato, potahto....

"I wouldn't got that far, that makes it seem like he's playing judge & jury. He's not. He's just stopping things and leaving them for the police." Because that made it all better, really.

"So," Kaidan said slowly, "like a vigilante. Uh, are you sure that's a good idea, Allie?"

"It's not like either one of us are going to get hurt," she replied. "And if we can stop someone from getting hurt, then it's worth it."

"You know the Baltimore PD exists for a reason, right?" Kaidan said.

"They can't be everywhere at once." And they didn't move nearly as fast a vampire or a Gorgon fired up to Tier 3. "Look, I needed a distraction after everything, Nick brought me along one night and now...I don't know, I feel like I'm doing something useful."

"I know, but you and this Nick guy - you're not exactly trained for this, y'know?" Kaidan said, shrugging awkwardly. "Or accountable."

"I keep him accountable. And you know me. I'm not going to do anything to hurt anyone human, bad guy or not." It was a hell of a lot easier to stay in control when you weren't emotionally invested in the situation.

Kaidan held up his hands. "I'm just saying," he said, "You're not actually a civil servant, that's all."

"Sadly no. I think you need an actual heartbeat to qualify," Allie pointed out with a wry grin.

"You think people in our Baltimore are really going to check?" Kaidan asked, snorting. "Yeah, no."

"Is this turning into a career intervention?" she asked. "You mean I shouldn't spend next century tending bar and occasionally fighting crime?"

Kaidan chuckled a little self-consciously. "Yeah, maybe not," he said. "Y'know. Think about it."

"Maybe. After I finish things with Sarren." Because it was hard to make long term plans when you had a master vampire to kill.

"Sure," Kaidan said amicably.

He sat back and took a deep breath.

"It's a nice night."

"It is. At least until the rain comes, but the lightening show makes up for it." Allie gestured to the open space on the bench. "Take a seat. Watch the show."

"As long as we try to shy away from any trees," Kaidan said wryly. "I don't bounce back as quickly as you do."

"I don't know. That's pushing it a little more then even I'm comfortable with." There was taking risks for a reason, then there was just being stupid.

"Don't go out getting hit by lightening for kicks?" Kaidan said. "Now that's a surprise." Beat. "Bad joke, sorry."

"Hey now," Allie said, mildly indignant. (But only mildly, because she knew Kaidan had seen her act without thinking more then a few times.) "I'm only reckless when it matters."

"Most of the time," Kaidan said.

"Some of the time. Which, okay, probably is most of the time," she admitted. "I'd say I'd try and tone it down, but honestly, do you really see that happening?"

"I wouldn't believe you if you promised me to stay out of trouble," Kaidan admitted.

"That's because you know me." Honestly Allie admitted to herself, Kaidan probably knew her best of anyone at this point.

"Which means it's probably not going to surprise you when I tell you what i did after work last Friday night."

Kaidan immediately frowned. "...What did you do, Allie?"

"Probably what you're not supposed to do when you hear a wolf howl in the woods," she replied. "Common sense says you should probably go the other way. I bet you can guess what I did."

Kaidan took in a deep breath. "Allie," he said. "For god's sake."

"Better me then someone who could actually get hurt. I figured I could run interference in case someone else came along," Allie shrugged. "But it turned out to be Jack. We wwound up having fun, although the deer might disagree."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "You went running with Jack?"

"Stalking deer mostly. It was fun. Talking to him afterwards it seems like he doesn't get to go out like that often. Which on one hand I get why. But on the other, I don't know. It not fun to keep your instincts locked down all the time." She knew all about it. Which was why she'd found productive, yet mostly safe ways to channel her instincts. Like hunting deer with Jack or roaming the streets of Baltimore with Nick.

"You know what I wish actually stayed true to the way they show it in the movies?" Nick was going for a walk in the park tonight, wearing his leather duster over his civvies and a bit of a disappointed look. At least some of that disappointment faded when he spotted Allie on her perch. "I wish all the good street crime actually happened in the rain, for dramatic effect, you know? It's tough to break up a mugging when nobody's willing to put up with the weather long enough to get mugged."

Yeah, his life was so difficult, having to deal with slow nights in the vigilante crimefighter business.

"Hey, Allie."

"Hey Nick," Allie smiled. "Think of it as a sorting mechanism for criminals. If they're dumb enough to be out in the rain, they deserve to get caught."

"But what does that say about the costumed idiots who go out in the rain looking for them?" He gave her a crooked grin. "I really should have known better. I'll be running my rounds tomorrow in damp body armor, even if the rain lets up by then."

"The less said about them, the better," she teased. "But come by the bar tomorrow night. I'll buy you a drink to make up for the dampness."

"Sounds like a plan," Nick laughed. "My favorite way to spend a Friday night. Keeping good company over a good drink? How could I possibly refuse?"

Nick was in it for the company. But he'd insist it was for the booze.

"I don't know. You might get a better offer one night. Then I'd be stuck with just Tiny for company."

Watch it Allie, that almost sounded flirty.

"And Heaven forbid that happen," Nick chuckled. "How's it been, anyway? I need to start swinging by the bar on Friday nights again. Gorgon can't patrol the streets of Baltimore every night, or he'll run out of work to do."

But hey, it never hurt to have a visible presence, either.

"He was trying to teach me about soccer last week," Allie grumbled. "Which mostly involved ranking players by hotness. I didn't quite get how that worked with scoring on the field."

"Maybe missing a night or two will make them appreciate you more."

[Zzzzzzzzz...]

"I don't think Tiny's thinking of the same kind of scoring that the soccer players are," Nikolai mused. "But yeah, I'll start taking more Fridays. Why the hell not? It'll take those Baltimore punks a while before they figure out I'm keeping some sort of schedule, anyway."

[Night!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Park, later Thursday Evening

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject