gunslingerpose | Los Angeles, Sunday Afternoon

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Los Angeles, Sunday Afternoon

There were some things that were worth blowing off sleep and paperwork for, if you asked Nikolai. One of those things, as fate would have it? Would be island weirdness that actually worked in somebody's favor, for a change. Allie had called him earlier, and he'd suggested she come to a place that actually had decent weather instead of hanging around the freaking island in Febraury, and then there had been eating actual food, and hanging out in the sunshine.

... Well, okay, it was sort of a cloudy day. But it was still warm comparatively, and there was a lot more of LA to take in during the daylight hours than there was of Fandom. It had seemed like a win to Nick and Allie, anyway.

"So," Nick mused, tucking his wallet away after paying for their meals, "where to next? I figure the afternoon is still pretty young, we can take in as much as we can on the bike, or go somewhere for dessert, or check out the beaches or something?"

Options. Never let it be said Nikolai didn't offer a lady options during her day in the - literal - sun.

[OOC: Expecting the one! NFB for distance, obviously!]

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"Now I finally understand what people mean when they talk about a food coma," Allie said as she followed Nick out the door. For a tiny girl, she'd certainly eaten more then her fair share. "I think I need a recovery period. So maybe somewhere quiet a least for a little bit?"

"Quiet's good," Nick replied. "There's a park not far from here we could take in. Or we could head back to my place, leave the blinds open, watch a movie or something while we digest. Hell, even the beaches shouldn't be too busy this time of year. It's warm, but that doesn't mean it's swimming weather. Lady's choice?"

"The park sounds good. We can people watch if anyone's around." Because people watching in LA was definitely entertaining. "And then dessert later. After I've recovered."

"Okay, then to the park," Nick rattled off, turning to head that way. "There's a bench by a stand of trees that offers a pretty great view, and we get all sorts through there. Then we can hit up some place for ice cream or something, how's that sound?"

"It sounds perfect." Allie said as she fell into step with him. "Thanks for this. I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy the day."

"Yeah, well, you don't get opportunities like this all the time," Nick pointed out, shrugging his shoulders as he stuffed his hands into his duster pockets. "What kind of asshole would I be if I didn't help you make the best of it? It's gonna be ice cream and sunshine for as long as we can get away with it. And if we're not too worn out come nightfall, we can go kick some Seventeen ass while you're still here."

"You know all the ways to sweet talk a girl." Slipping her hand into Nick's arm, Allie grinned as they walked into the park. "Ice cream and violence. Could the day get any better?"

"Hey, what can I say? I know how to treat a lady," Nikolai chuckled, leaning sideways a little bit just to bump his shoulder against hers. "The bench is right over there. Overlooks the path, see? We can catch every jogger, rollerblader, and god only knows what else that decides to make their way through here."

God only knows what else turned out to be a roller-blading guy wearing the tiniest part of shorts Allie had ever seen. She waited until he'd rolled on by then turned to Nick and laughed. "I'm never going to unsee that am I?"

And Nick? Was just smirking. A lot.

"What? The crack of that guy's ass, or the other end?" It was really a miracle he wasn't laughing, honestly. "Welcome to Los Angeles, Allie. I barely even notice that shit, here. That's just a dead giveaway that I'm home."

"Do I have to pick one or the other? The whole picture is horrifying."

She was going to tease Nick about his home being weirder then Fandom, but back on the island a clock struck six and Allie's wish wore off.

Allie gasped in pain as her exposed skin started to redden and crack in the sun. "Shit!"

"Shit? What's so-- Fuck!"

Look, Nikolai's big thing was Westerns, but that didn't mean he didn't know what the hell he was seeing here, when Allie's skin started to burn. Which meant, as fast as he could slip out of it (which was pretty damn fast, considering), Allie was getting a big leather duster draped over her.

Still not the weirdest thing to happen in a park in LA. A few people gave them a weird look, but it wasn't like they cared enough to stop to see what was up.

Huddled under Nick's jacket, Allie tried to ignore how exposed she still felt and tried to assess the damage. The exposed skin of her hands and face were red and aching but at least the burning had stopped.

"Dammit, I knew it was going to wear off but I thought I had until tomorrow at least. Stupid island."

"Yeah, when the hell has it ever pulled a full-stop before everyone's gone to bed before?" Nick frowned as he started looking around for somewhere out of the sun to usher Allie off to. It was six on the island, but it was only three in the afternoon in Los Angeles, which meant there was still a bit of waiting to do before sundown, here. "Here, that restaurant we just came from is probably the closest. We can duck back in there out of the sun, and wait out the worst of the daylight from there."

They could duck into a bathroom stall or something to take stock of the damage, at least.

"It's a good plan," she agreed. "You're just going to have to play guide Gorgon for me."

"It's just 'guide Nick' while I'm dressed like this," Nikolai replied, though he still sounded pretty easygoing about it, even through the duster. He gently reached to take her arm. "Here, come on. It's like a two minute walk, I promise I won't let any rollerbladers in short-shorts run over you between here and there."

Allie tried not to flinch as Nick led her along. "Thanks. I'd like to avoid being Allie flambe on the sidewalk."

"I feel that 'extra crispy' would be a shitty look for you," Nick agreed, careful to steer her along less busy parts of the path. "Having already seen you at medium rare, I figure I'm in a good position to make that call."

"It's the right one. Definitely." She hoped they were getting closer to the restaurant. Not only did she hate feeling so helpless, now that the wish had worn off, she could feel the pull of the sun making her tired.

Nick nodded his head as they walked, even if he was well aware that she couldn't see. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't too far at all, and he was ushering her inside, giving a friendly wave to the man who had waited their table before as if nothing at all was weird about walking his lunch date around under a heavy leather coat and then ducking into the washroom with her in tow.

"Okay," he said, making damn sure to lock the door behind them, "no daylight in here at all, it's safe to ditch the coat."

Logically Allie believed him. But lizard brain survival instinct meant Allie hesitated for a second before carefully unwrapping herself from Nick's duster.

"Not too bad," Allie said after inspecting her hands. They were still obviously red and sore looking, but she could feel them healing. Another twenty minutes or so and she'd look almost normal again.

"Could've been worse," Nick agreed, pushing his shades up to rest on his forehead so that he could have a better look, himself. There wasn't any need to keep his eyes hidden in here if the door was locked and nobody else was going to get an eyeful, anyway. "How's it feel? How are you feeling?"

"Achy and sore. Kind of tired. But I'll be okay."

She flexed her hands, hissing slightly at the pain. "If I had some True Blood it would help things along. But I don't think the bar has that particular vintage."

"Yeaaah, no. This Los Angeles in particular doesn't get many visits from vampires of the blood-drinking variety, yourself excepted. I could probably knock over a blood bank somewhere, but I'm supposed to actually do my thing without depriving people of something that might save a life down the road."

A beat.

"Or something like that. How long'll it be, do you figure? Will you be okay laying low here for a while?"

Edited 2015-02-09 04:21 (UTC)

"No, no robbing blood banks. I'll just pass on tag tonight and book a portal home for as soon a the sun sets." Allie shook her head, trying to shake off the sun-induced lethargy that was creeping over her.

"We can lay low here. The worst that's going to happen is that I'm going to pass out until the sun sets." Hope your shoulder is comfortable Nick.

Well, his shoulder was solid, but at least it wasn't bony. Or dislocated. He seemed to have a pretty good track record going for him in that regard these days.

"Here it is, then. Once you're feeling up to it, we can make our way back out, I'll get the waiter to find us a table near the back out of the sun, and I can sit and drink coffee so they don't chase us out of here before it gets dark out."

Pity the Seventeens tonight. Gorgon was going to be wired.

"Sounds good. Cause my only other choice is grabbing your jacket, dashing back to the park, and literally going to ground until the sun sets." She poked gently towards his shoulder. "I think you'll be more comfortable. And you won't let anyone drag me off to a morgue."

"Yeah, I feel like having to rescue you from a morgue would be a... bad cap to this day? Call it a hunch," Nick snorted, shaking his head. "And this way you don't have to get dirt on my coat."

He'd be pretty sad about the coat, okay?

And, you know, he'd probably feel bad about making her go to ground in the first place.

"I see what's important to you. The coat," Allie teased. The burns had faded to the point where it just looked like a bad sunburn. It was probably safe to head out to the restaurant itself. "We should probably get out of here before they come knocking on the door."

"Who knows what they figure we've gotten up to in here, huh?" Nick smirked as he pulled his shades back down over his eyes. "But yeah, last thing we need is them calling the cops to try to nail us with a public indecency charge or something."

Not that he didn't think it'd be fun. Just, maybe it'd be best to not get into that sort of trouble in broad daylight. Just this once.

Come visit the island next week. They could be all kinds of indecent thanks to the sex pollen.

"I'm pretty sure I could make a good guess." Especially given Allie's slightly disheveled state thanks to her time under his jacket.

Well, he had been meaning to head to the island at some point for drinks...

"I wouldn't blame them much for assuming it, either," Nick decided, and then offered her his arm. "Shall we go get our seat back? Probably best if we beat the supper rush. Their waiting area has windows."

Allie took his arm, leaning a little more heavily then she ordinarily would. "Lead on. I'll do my best to stay upright."

"Aw, c'mon," Nick chuckled, "you don't have to worry about that too much. I can handle your weight if your knees decide 'to hell with it.'"

All of that weight-lifting he did had to pay off somehow, right?

"At least it's not a long way to go." He opened the bathroom door, gave a nearby waiter a little nod, and then pointed to the back of the room with his free hand. "One out of the sun, please. We're having a hard day."

"It was a good day though," Allie said, once they'd settled at quiet table in the corner. "Thanks for that."

"Hey, how often does the chance come up, right? I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass us by. Shitty the island decided the middle of the afternoon was a good time to end it, though."

He reached for a napkin, and started idly twisting it between his fingers for something to do with his hands.

"Next time, I'll come to you, how's that sound? Then at least you wouldn't be far from some safe place to take it easy if it catches us by surprise again."

"It's probably going to be a while before this happens again. If ever," she shrugged. "Instead we'll have to deal with gender swapping, turning into little kids, or having weird potential future kids visit us."

"No clue what the hell I'd do with a potential future kid," Nick admitted, "but I guess I could feed you spaghetti again the next time you go little kid on us."

She'd been adorable.

And he'd been wonderful to tiny waif Allie. "We're going to have to make sure Gunther has your number so he can call you if tiny me turns up looking for another meal."

"Really, what I need is some kind of automated calling system to let me know when shit gets extra fucked-up on the island, so I can show up with food, zip-ties, or a camera, whichever seems most relevant to the situation."

Nick smirked a little.

"In the meantime, yeah, leaving a number for Gunther would work too."

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Los Angeles, Sunday Afternoon

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