It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough Who: Nicodemus and Savvy Where: Chinese Restaurant When: Early evening
Heme might have been a good place to stay in the wake of a demon attack, but it was not the best place for a human to have dinner. Blood was their primary selling point, and though they did have an assortment of wine and beer, they weren’t known for serving food. Having eaten pizza for dinner the previous night, and cold pizza for breakfast, Nic was sent out for Chinese with a laundry list of an order. Zania had been the first to request it, but then others jumped on board, and by the end Nic had at least ten different dishes for the breathers staying at Heme.
Unable to say no, Nic went off to pick up dinner for anyone who asked, though he did draw the line at stopping elsewhere along the way. No, he would not get you Taco Bell. Get it yourself, dammit. As Nic pulled into the parking lot, he wondered just how the hell he was going to get all that food back to Heme on his bike and just shook his head. He’d really not been thinking when he took off, had he? Stepping inside, he walked up to the counter and rang the bell. At least they were open.
Savvy’s fridge was empty. No shit, she had just flown in that morning. As much as she wished she could cast a spell and - tada! - have food, it wasn’t going to happen. Had she been back in New York, she could easily call some take-out to be delivered to her front door, but she didn’t know a damn thing about this town. “And to think I thought I’d rather choke myself to death than move to a place without solid public transportation,” Savvy mumbled to herself while scrolling through Google in hopes to find something. Yes, the internet was the first thing she got set up in her apartment, even before making up her bed, which was currently a plain mattress on the floor in the corner. After trying to call several places in her search for food, Savvy found said places to be either A) closed or B) completely unable to speak the English language. So on that note, Savvy figured she could get out of the place and walk around until she found something.
You shouldn’t be walking out at night, Marvel pointed out while flying close to her mistress. “Well, my options are either starve to death or get mauled by a demon. Sorry, I’m taking my chances with the big, bad uglies to get my nom noms.” The owl just sighed and kept close while Savvy walked around downtown. She was beginning to regret wearing flats when she took a corner and found the only place open - a Chinese restaurant. “Score!” Savvy threw her arms up and immediately booked it down the street to the building, Marvel then perching in a windowsill nearby as her mistress went on in.
The place seemed empty. Actually it was, seeing she heard so little thoughts. There was one guy at the counter who didn’t seem to have much on his mind, but Savvy didn’t pay attention to him. She paused, only to crane her head back to look at the picture menu listed on the wall. “Oh god, I could eat everything,” Savvy spoke softly to herself, whipping out her iPhone to screw around with while waiting for someone to wait on this guy, then her.
“Excuse me?” Nic said, ringing the bell again and craning his neck, as if he could see through the curtain just by stretching oddly. No luck, though he heard enough noise back there that it seemed like someone was coming. Whomever just came in was murmuring behind him, and he turned to look while he waited. “Savvy,” he said, her name coming out in a soft whoosh as soon as he laid eyes on her. What was she doing here? Not in the Chinese restaurant-- she was clearly there to eat, stupid-- but in Scarlet Oak. Had he gotten in a wreck on the way there and died and gone to heaven? Nic was pretty sure Savvy would be there, in his heaven, but if that was the case the Chinese food confused him. Italian was his favorite and they didn’t do take-out. What the hell was wrong with him? If there was a place to go, up or down, Nic didn’t think he’d get a ride into the sky. Wow, again with the negative thoughts. Nic’s teeth pressed into his bottom lip and he tried to smile.
“You’d like to order?” A man asked from behind the counter. Nic nodded, but didn’t look away, his mind clearly elsewhere.
She didn’t hear her name, but she definitely heard the barrage of thoughts that attacked her. A bit disturbing when said thoughts were all centered around her. That was just strange, especially when she just got here and didn’t know a single- Oh fuck. By the time she brought her head up to see what was going on, it turned out that that dude at the counter? Yeah, not just some dude. Said dude was Nic. As in her ex from New York who cheated on her with a guy. Savvy froze, words completely lost as she blinked and stared at him. Her inner bitch wanted to scream ‘THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!’ but she wanted to at least walk away with food in tow, so being civil was sadly a must. Oh my god, why is he thinking of me like that. GAAAAH. Bad touch! DO NOT WANT.
“Please tell me I didn’t walk through some pocket dimension that brought me back to New York City, because I don’t have the money to fly back to Michigan,” Savvy spoke dryly with a look on her face that had a mixture of both fear and disgust. At least it was spoken like that quirky geek she was at heart.
If Nic could have shut his mind up, he would have, and it frustrated him to have given so much away without even opening his mouth. It was possible she didn’t pick up everything, but there was really no telling, so he’d just have to move on and worry about it later. Having his mind read twice in two days was exhausting, though, and his hands ran over his face and through his hair in an attempt to clear his head. “Yeah, Chinese restaurants are like that. You have to be careful cause you don’t know where you’ll end up. I’m hoping to end up on a beach when I walk out, but we’ll see.”
“Order, sir?”
Oh, yeah, right. Nic turned to the man to see he was waiting patiently-- Definitely not New York. “Yeah,” he said, digging the list out of his pocket. “I need three orders of general tso’s chicken, one beef and broccoli, two orders of steamed dumplings, one shrimp in chili sauce, one mu shoo pork, four won ton soups, fifteen egg rolls, and eight orders of fried rice.” Enough food for a freakin’ army.
Is this guy bugging you? Savvy almost jumped upon hearing Marvel, not even realizing she was in range for her familiar to pick up on everything. At least she could have a private mental conversation with the owl. Because I can fly in and claw his eyes out if you want me to.
No, I think I’m cool for now, she reassured Marvel. Knowing that was at least an option was nice. She did make a face at the laundry list of food he just ordered. Awesome, now she had to wait for all of that to get cooked up before her shit was ready. This was worse than finding a taxi in the city. Had it been another day - or, you know, years ago - Savvy would have laughed at Nic’s response, but instead she just stared with a raised eyebrow. Silence was usually never a good thing with Savvy. With a light sigh, Savvy put her iPhone away and swept her bangs out of her face. “Yeaaaah, I’ll make note of that while I’m leaving, but uh... humor me, what are you doing here? And no shit, sherlock, for Chinese, but you know what I mean.” The look in her eyes burned with the notion she wasn’t in the mood for fucking around. Hopefully Nic got that, even if he couldn’t read her mind.
He knew that look, the one that said lying or joking was the worst option possible. The truth was kind of boring, and maybe a bit unbelievable, but at least she’d know it was the truth. “I live here,” he said, his hands sliding into his pockets. “NYPD transferred me here to help deal with the increase in local vampires. That was back in May.” It was weird to think that any place other than New York would have a bigger vampire population, but that wasn’t the way to look at it. The number of vampires was smaller than New York, but the ratio of vampire to human was much larger than expected. With the nation’s first vampire bar, it was good to have a necromancer around, just in case he was needed. “What are you doing here?” Since he hardly thought she was looking for him.
He lived here. Oh joy. As much as Savvy wanted to call up that restaurant to let them know she quit the job and was going back home, she couldn’t. Not at this point. She needed the money and had to fluff up her portfolio if she wanted to get anywhere in life. At least back in New York they could hide in the huge city and never see each other, but with Scarlet Oak having a population of lolwut, she had a funny feeling this wasn’t going to be the last time she saw Nic. Awesome. “...wait wait wait, you work for the police?” Actually, no, she didn’t want to know about that, thus she brought a hand up in hopes to shut him up before he even began to explain that while rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Now the question was thrown back in her direction. “I... also... now live here.” She was reluctant to give him that bit of information, but might as well, seeing they were stuck in this small town together. “Got a freelance gig. These people actually want to pay me instead of expecting me to work ‘for the sake of experience.’” Savvy even brought her hands up to make quotation marks, all in a sarcastic manner before walking over to the counter to put her own order in: a large chicken lo mein, beef teriyaki, and a small crab rangoon. All she had eaten all day was airplane food. Girl was starving.
Nic couldn’t read minds, but he was pretty sure he could guess what she was thinking-- that he had no business working for the police. She’d know he wasn’t lying-- Nic didn’t even try to lie to Savvy-- and so he just raised a brow and shrugged. Yes, he’d worked for them, and he’d been damn good at his job. It felt good to be in control of his life, even if he’d moved on from law enforcement. He was still working, and in a line of work that benefited from what he was. “That’s great,” he said with a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Nic wished her the best, but wasn’t thrilled about having her in such close proximity. Her heart wasn’t the only one he’d broken-- there wasn’t a day he didn’t regret what he considered the biggest fuck up of his life. He’d moved on, attempted to get past it and learn from it, but he still wished he could turn back the clock and beat some sense into himself. “You should give Zan a call, since you’ll be in town. She’d love to hear from you. And maybe you’ll keep her out of trouble.” He smiled then, wondering what the chances of that were. More often than not, it was Zan dragging people in, not them pulling her out.
Oh fuck... why, Nic? Why do you have to have these thoughts?! Why did he have to be so nice and supportive of her now? Why wasn’t he like this back then? Obviously being away from New York was doing him some good, but it wasn’t like she was going to trust him again. For all she knew, he probably had a new girlfriend in his life... or boyfriend, whatever, she didn’t care. “Yeah, I haven’t talk to her in-” Wait a second... Savvy paused mid-sentence to make a face while looking over to Nic. She wasn’t sure whether to shit bricks or go blind. “What!? Zan’s in town?!” AND NO ONE TOLD ME THIS?! She knew Zania had left New York way before her, but didn’t really say why, except it was to follow someone. Probably some hot piece of ass she found, who knew. But now it made sense; it was probably to keep tabs on Nic, because holy shit, did that girl cling to her cousin. Now, it would have been, you know, nice if said redhead gave her a heads up about Nic being in Scarlet Oak. She had only been talking about moving here on her blog for a good week now! Why weren’t people checking the internet?! It had everything!
Nic couldn’t control his thoughts and had long ago stopped trying to. It was not thinking that had gotten him in so much trouble in the first place. He never knew what she heard or didn’t, and just hoped he didn’t embarrass himself further. He was good enough at that without the help of telepathy. “Yeah, I thought she’d have told you!” Nic said with a laugh. “She followed me out here, crashed in my spare room, and hasn’t left since. On the plus side, she’s bought me furniture, on the down side, it’s Zan’s taste.” The green couch really wasn’t his thing, but he really couldn’t complain when the other option had been sitting on the floor. Nic would have gotten around to filling the house eventually... it just hadn’t been a priority. “She DJs at Heme, the local vampire bar.”
...what? There were no words for this. At all. The only thing the redhead could do was stare at him with a look that just read, “REALLY!?” Of course, she didn’t say anything right away and just ran her fingers roughly through her hair. Yeah, way too late to back out of this job offer thing. “Uh... no... she didn’t tell me.” Now Savvy could feel that sassy part of her coming free. This was going to be interesting... “I’m happy she’s got a DJ gig out here and all, but...” She paused to scoff before letting out a sarcastic chuckle. “Actually, no, that makes sense that no one tells me. I’m not good enough to know either way.” It sounded like something the Castalia family would have said to her. She didn’t matter, so why was it her business? Easier said than done when Nic and Zania were both in Scarlet Oak now.
“Oh, come on,” Nic said, just barely stopping himself from reaching out to her. “You know it wasn’t like that. She didn’t even let me know she was coming. I found out when she showed up at work like she was there every day, then went home and found she’d parked herself in my house. Justin started calling around, asking where she’d run off to. There was no leaving you out.” If anything, Zania had left them all out of her plans, deciding to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, without giving anyone a reason why. The closest he’d gotten to understanding her decision was that it was working for him, so why wouldn’t it work for her? While Nic thought it was a good idea to put some distance between him and his family, he’d at least let them know he was leaving down and where to find him. Zania hadn’t extended that courtesy to anyone.
Savvy folded her arms against her chest while listening to Nic, knowing that he was telling the truth. Or at least his mind didn’t stray from what he was saying. Still, it wasn’t like his words were helping. “Funny, because I don’t remember getting a call from Justin.” Or maybe she had and she wasn’t by her phone when it happened and he never left a message... Savvy didn’t know, but it gone now. Something she didn’t have to worry about. What she did have to worry about was dealing with Nic in Scarlet Oak. “You don’t have to try and make me feel better or welcomed or what not, Nic,” Savvy sighed while turning away from him slightly. She leaned her back against the counter and stared out the window, trying not to let this consume her mind. God, I’m not going to sleep tonight...
Nic doubted that Justin had gotten to Savvy, since he’d go through the list of family first, but Nic really didn’t know. He didn’t like talking about Savvy to his cousins, who’d been critical of her up to the point when she’d left him-- then he’d been the screw up for losing her. While Nic agreed with them about the fault being his, he didn’t understand why they couldn’t like her when they’d been together. Zania had tried to tell him they wouldn’t like anyone that was yet to be permanent, but he thought it was all bullshit. It was too little, too late on their part, and it wouldn’t help either way. “I’m not trying to do anything,” Nic said, brow furrowing as his hands slid into his pockets. “I’m just...” Talking? Speaking the truth? Maybe he should have let it go. “Would it help if I was a jerk?”
Simply because he was speaking the truth didn’t mean that he was helping any bit. The truth hurt, after all, and Savvy knew that better than anyone. Seeing into people’s minds wasn’t something she asked for and she was always up in everyone’s business. Nic didn’t need to finish that sentence - she could already hear it in his mind. Yeah, letting it go would have been awesome. Maybe move on, too, while he was at it. And then he had to say that. Savvy didn’t know what to do except snap. “Excuse you?! Did you honestly just say that?! Did it really just hit you now, of ALL the times to have an epiphany, that if you start being a jerk, things might get better?! Oh my god, who are you? Last time I checked, cheating on your loving girlfriend because you were a pathetic drunk kind of qualifies a jerk stamp, unless I missed the memo, then you are more than welcomed to correct me.” She shifted her weight so she could face Nic again, the look on her face clearly reading that she was not in the mood to fuck around. Oh, she would wait for his reaction, because this shit just blew her mind to no end.
His eyes dropped to the floor, his teeth cutting into his bottom lip to keep from saying anything more. Nic couldn’t help but be anyone but himself, and while that wasn’t normally a problem, sometimes he made horrible decisions. He wasn’t sure how to take his mistake and respond appropriately to Savvy in the future, as if it was the kind of thing he’d done with the purpose to hurt her-- it was a huge regret for him, and just seeing her made his heart ache. If it would help her to be a complete asshole about it, he’d try, but more for her sake than it being his own honest reaction. Normally, Nic could summon up a pissy attitude if it was called for, but at the moment he felt just as pathetic as she’d called him on. “No correction is necessary,” he said quietly, willing himself not to make things worse. He’d give anything to go back in time and not fuck up on such an epic level, but that wasn’t an option. He had to face the consequences of his decisions, no matter how bad they might be.
Savvy was thankful that she could just read minds and not have some other ability, like feel emotions, because the thoughts swarm through his mind was enough to make her curl up into a ball and rock herself to sleep. Hell, she was going to have a migraine by the time they cooked her food... when they got to it. It was behind that crazy epic order that Nic put in for before her. It was going to take a while. Her heart kind of sank for Nic when he uttered those words. He went from snapping back at her one moment to being... this. Whatever this was. Savvy relaxed her arms and closed her eyes with a vicious sigh. You are NOT going to feel sorry for him. He hurt YOU, remember that. He is fully capable of doing it again. But she still felt somewhat bad... maybe a little. She didn’t say anything in reply at first, instead whipping out her iPhone to double check her top ten apps, then promptly put in a tweet that just said “RAAAAAAAAAAWR!!!!!11one1~ #thingsthatsuck #fml,” and finally placed it away. Her green eyes wandered there way back to Nic and she just rolled them. “Ok, so humor me finally... police department? lolwut?”
You know what made things a hundred times harder? Knowing your ex could read your mind. Nic had no idea what Savvy was picking up, but from the way she ran off to her cell phone, he could only guess. He still followed her blog, curious about how her life was going, but knew better than to follow her twitter. That seemed too intrusive for some reason. As she typed something furiously, Nic lifted his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath. He would not make things worse by saying something stupid. It was a thought he focused on until she spoke instead. “I wanted to do something... worthwhile. legal. take orders from someone that wasn’t family and wouldn’t get me in more trouble than I could find on my own,” Nic said with a soft snort. “After the Light of May, I told ‘em what I was, and they put me on a special squad. It was cool, till I pissed off the wrong person.” Nic shrugged. It was his own fault, but all everything he’d ever done, this was barely a blip on the radar. He’d made a bitchy vampire look like an idiot and she’d retaliated appropriately. “Now I’m a bouncer at the local vamp bar. I like it ‘cause I can do what I can do and it keeps the migraines at bay.” And the thoughts passing through were interesting enough. He’d yet to do anything more than listen it, but if something useful came up, he’d promised Liliya he’d let her know. Oddly enough, the stuff she wanted to know was the kind of thing that law enforcement would appreciate. He’d fallen in with a better crown, even if he was working for the vampires.
She couldn’t picture Nic as a cop. Not now or ever. It just didn’t seem to be in his blood to do. At least he got a good reaction after coming out as a necromancer. Savvy couldn’t think of a single reason why someone would be happy with her coming out as a telepath. People weren’t overjoyed by that kind of thing and they only liked her when she was able to sniff out information, like the whole thing with Zania. Even the thought of that brought a bad taste to her mouth. “A bouncer at a vamp bar?” Right, because he needed a reason to be closer to the booze. She actually didn’t know what to say aside from that. All she could do was blink her eyes in semi-shock before something eventually slipped out. “That’s uh... that’s a bit of a leap from the whole police thing.” What vamp did he piss off that landed him out of a job? Wasn’t it the other way around when it came to the whole pissing people off? Shit, he was a New Yorker! He was suppose to have that down. “That’s good, though, I guess,” Savvy nodded her head before finally saying. “Seems like you’re moving on quite well.”
“It’s different, but a little bit closer to what I’m used to,” Nic shrugged. He’d grown up in bars, knew how they ran in and out, and Heme was just like the rest. The biggest change was his own role-- he’d never cut it as a bouncer in a normal bar, and he wasn’t allowed to bar tend at Heme. This worked out for the best, since Nic really didn’t need to spend that much time with a bottle at arm’s reach. Maybe it would have helped that they served blood, but the booze was still there. It was better that he was a bouncer, a job that required him to stay sober while working, though after this conversation he might be begging them for a drink.
“What?” Why did she say things like that? It left him torn between correcting her and being proud that he could at least pull off appearing over her. The last time she’d seen him, Nic’s mental state had been reflected in his whole being, but he did better about locking that up now. He still missed her, still wanted her, and would do just about anything for a second chance, but wouldn’t put himself through the humiliation of begging when it was guaranteed to get nothing more than a laugh and dirt kicked in his face. “I’m trying,” he said. There, that was the truth. Too bad his first attempt at moving on was with a bitch that wasn’t half the woman Savvy was. He’d tried to be a nice guy, and look where that got him. “You seem good, as well.” Beautiful as ever. Confident enough to move out there on her own. Definitely his loss.
Why, Nic? WHY?! That thought of his that just screamed through the rest of his, the one that said she was beautiful as ever? Yup, that broke Savvy. She was never used to guys thinking she was pretty or even worth it. She was the geeky girl who was into the same things as them, and thus one of the guys. You didn’t just date one of the guys. Savvy had spent most of her younger years listening to guys’ thoughts and how they wanted that one girl and how much they loved her and blah blah blah. It always made her feel not worth it. And here was Nic, who had to be the only guy who saw past all of that and actually thought she was beautiful, even if there was no chance of them getting back together. The thought was enough to make her blush hard, quickly followed by averting her gaze. “Yeah, I guess...” She couldn’t remember the last time she got to vent to someone about her life that wasn’t the interwebz. Even online, she did he best to be vague when it came to specifics and names. He obviously still cares about you... Moved on, my ass.
Nic’s head tilted to the side as he looked back at her, wondering what was going through that head of hers. He wasn’t a mind reader like she was, so he just had to go off what he knew of Savvy and what she was willing to tell him. There was a lot built into the words she used, enough that Nic suspected she wasn’t as confident in herself as she should be, at least in his opinion. She was successful and independent, had everything going for her in his opinion. If Savvy didn’t think so, it was only because she wasn’t giving herself enough credit. “You do,” Nic said, “So even if you’re not, you’re good at faking it.” Always a good asset to have, in his opinion. Nic tried his best, but he suspected Savvy saw through him, even if she was kind enough not to say so. She left him his dignity, which Nic knew he didn’t deserve. “Do you have somewhere safe to stay right now?” he asked, realizing for the first time that if she was there alone, it meant she was probably living alone... which didn’t seem like a good plan in light of all the danger. Unfortunately, he couldn’t exactly volunteer his place without getting laughed at. Now was when it would be nice if Zan lived elsewhere.
Savvy always had to fake it. She wasn’t the type to walk around in tears all the time. It didn’t feel right. She didn’t want to be pitied on and thus opted to hold it in. Of course Nic would call her out on that, but Savvy didn’t say anything. Dwelling on such a topic would perhaps push her to cry more. As for the topic of whether or not she had somewhere safe to stay, she just shrugged. “Well, the castle on the hill with the moat and thousand guards wasn’t up for rent, so I took the next safest option.” Translation - how the hell was she suppose to know if her place was safe or not?! She liked to think it was, but Savvy had a history of liking to think things a certain way and then have them smack her in the face. “But uh... yeah, no, they don’t have demon insurance for apartments. And I already checked the phonebook and you can’t rent ninjas out here, so... just warding my place.” Which she totally hadn’t done yet, but it was on her to-do list. Priorities went internet, food, then protection spells. Maybe. Crying in bed might come before that.
“Did you check Craig’s List? I hear they’ve got everything these days,” Nic said, smirking just slightly. Savvy was still a smart ass, but that was one of the things he liked about her. She had quick wit and a comeback for almost everything. “I just mean, be careful. You’re out at night by yourself and--” I don’t want to see you get hurt. “--it’s dangerous. A friend of mine got attacked last night and all she was doing was going to work.” He was sure Savvy could take care of herself, but he thought that of Seer as well and she’d almost bled out in a span of seconds. He could still see the blood pouring down from her neck, the demon’s teeth nashing, hoping for a good solid bite. If Seer had been human, she would have been dead. “Is there a protection spell you can work on yourself? Or something you wear? Just to... make you invisible to demons, or something.” Not the demon blooded, though. That would suck.
A tiny snort was all Nic got for a reply in regards to Craig’s List. The internet did have just about everything, anyways. Though that thought slipped away the second she caught onto another thought of Nic’s. God, he was going to kill her with this stuff. Her heart went all a flutter for a second before she took in a deep breath. If you didn’t want me to get hurt, then you would have kept it in your pants. While she didn’t vocalize that thought, she did speak up on the next matter. “What? Like my invisibility cloak that I pack with me? Yeah, sure, I keep it right next to my emergency zombie kit.” ...except Savvy really did have an emergency zombie kit that consisted of a couple handguns, a baseball bat, and a fireman’s axe. She was set... minus the invisibility cloak. She didn’t have that on hand. Balls. “No, I can work a protection spell on myself. I’m not elite enough to make myself completely untraceable, but it’s better than nothing.” Worse came to worse, she could cut herself and use blood magic as a defense. She paused and felt herself rewind for a second, making a bit of a face. “...is your, uh... friend ok?”
If zombies were ever a problem, Nic thought he would be a much better resource than anything she kept in an emergency kit, but he just couldn’t see Savvy running to him for help. No, she’d pick up an axe, a frying pan, or any other tool used in Left 4 Dead and take them out melee style till she could get to higher ground or some place safe. Nic would have just told them to go away-- unconventional, but effective coming from him. He was glad to hear that, despite the sarcasm, she really did have a spell that would help hide her, even if it wasn’t perfect. “Better than nothing’s more than most have. The key seems to be running faster than the person next to you.” Or praying that someone else would take them out before you were caught. “My friend is fine,” he said, giving in to the urge to roll his eyes. Seer would have been appalled at the idea of Nic being anything more-- he knew; he’d been inside her head. It was always disconcerting to know when someone wasn’t attracted to you, even more so when you could sense their disgust. The more Nic tried to be friends with the girl, the more he thought it was a completely lost cause. At least she wasn’t like Bianca. That bitch had shattered what little confidence he’d had in properly moving on. “She’s a vampire, so she’s healing. It was a bit of a cluster-fuck, though. The demon ripped her throat open before I could kill it, and then she was bleeding out so fast I let her feed on me. Which is how I found out what my blood does to vampires.”
A vampire friend? That was interesting. Weren’t necromancers like, sworn enemies with vamipres? Or vice versa? Savvy stopped keeping track after while. Seriously, Marvel Comics crossovers and alternate universes were easier to keep up with than the Castalia family. The many incarnation of Wolverine? Oh yeah, she had that down. The existence that was known as Nicodemus? Whoosh! Over her head. And his thoughts weren’t helping, either. She honest to god thought she was going to blurt out, ‘Who the hell is Bianca?’ on the top of her lungs, because Savvy had a tendency to lose track of thoughts during conversation. Instead, she just took in a deep breath with her mouth hanging open, like she was going to say something, but then went off on another tangent altogether. “...wait, so what does happen when a vampire drinks your blood?” They weren’t getting weird looks from the workers behind the counter at all. Hell no!
Hey look! Something Nic could answer that wouldn’t make things worse! He might have done a little dance if the memory in question hadn’t been such a headache. “It lets the vampire than drank my blood read my mind, and the minds of other vampires. I think there’s a number of vampires out there who’d love to get their hands on something like that, but this one just wanted to go hide in a corner. Easier said than done, since we were using the vampire bar as a safe house.” Nic still wasn’t sure how long it had taken for the side effects on Saoirse to fade. She’d had a good amount of his blood and it was generally more powerful from the source. “She’s okay, though. And I drank lots of juice.”
Savvy would have had a lot more sympathy if she actually hated being a telepath. Actually, she liked it a lot. Had far more perks than it did downsides, even if said downsides made her want to curl up into a ball and hide. For the most part, it didn’t give her migraines or what not, so it was hard for her to initially click why this vamp chick wanted to hide. Took her a second, but she finally got it. “Oh god! Yeah, that had to be a bit unsettling. Glad she’s ok.” She paused. “Same with you.” Nic made her want to run around screaming for the most part, but there was that soft side that still felt for him. Don’t let him walk all over you! Gaaaah, you’re suppose to be over this, damn iiiiiiiit! Seriously, if those Chinese dudes could cook any faster, that would have been fabulous.
“Thanks.” He hoped she meant it, though he wouldn’t blame her if she wished all kinds of harm on him. He’d take it all if it meant they could start over. But he couldn’t prove he’d changed, and he didn’t expect her to believe him just by looking into his mind. Neither of them could predict the future and it was unpredictability that got him in trouble. The food was suddenly ready, all three bags worth, and Nic was left wishing it had taken even longer. He didn’t want to leave Savvy, suddenly scared he’d never see her again. Which was ridiculous. He shouldn’t want it, since she certainly didn’t. “You still have my number? You can call me if you need anything. Anything at all.” Toilet paper in the middle of the night, an extra round of shotgun shells. Nic would be there, if she needed him, though she did have to ask. He couldn’t read her mind.
Oh look, his food was ready, which meant he could be on his way and Savvy wouldn’t have to- OH FUCK. All she could do was stand there and stare when Nic asked if she still had his number. Savvy was never a good liar; she tended to ramble on and on and never make any sense whenever she tried to lie. So yeah, she was always honest. The silence probably didn’t help either, but Savvy didn’t know what else to do. Looking away from Nic and suddenly becoming fascinated with her shoes, she took in a breath before looking back up to him. “...yeah, I do.” Despite all her anger and sadness that had been caused because of Nic, she still had his cell number on her. Savvy could never bring herself to delete it. It was a constant battle she was fighting with herself. Why couldn’t Nic just move on? Why couldn’t he have some slamming hot girlfriend dangling from his arm? It would have given Savvy more incentive to move on herself. But it was easier said than done. Why? Because he’s the only guy who’s ever given two shits about you. As for the rest of what Nic said, Savvy just gave him a sad smile and nodded. “I shouldn’t be keeping you,” she motioned to his enormous bags. “You don’t keep starving people waiting, especially when fortune cookies are involved.”
He liked knowing that she still had his number, even if she’d never called it. He still had hers and was really glad he’d refrained from any drunk texting in the months that followed their break up, since there had definitely been the urge to do so. In the following years he’d kept it, always hoping it might ring one day, but too chicken shit to call her up himself. What was he supposed to say? ‘I’m sorry’ really didn’t cut it, no matter how much he meant it. Maybe now she’s healed a little and would at least be willing to have him near. “You’re welcome to join us, if you want,” Nic said. Zania was supposed to waiting, along with a host of other people Nic didn’t know and Savvy could meet. He didn’t think she’d go, and he really wouldn’t blame her, but he wanted to offer.
“No, it’s ok,” Savvy immediately responded, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “It’s pretty late and I’m tired. Been up since ass o’clock in the morning and all with the flying and stuff.” It was the truth actually, but the most part was that Savvy? Really didn’t want to go. She didn’t need to be around Nic like this and needed to go back to her apartment and... oh hell, she didn’t know, probably watch B-list horror flicks while shoving Chinese food in her face and crying her eyes out. Something like that. She did remind herself that it was awfully nice of Nic to offer. Savvy didn’t have much for friends out there, minus Kiley, who she needed to meet for realz soon, and apparently Zania, too. Nodding to Nic, she gave him a little wave goodbye and then averted her gaze. Why couldn’t he just leave already?
“Okay,” Nic said, smiling sadly as he picked up both the bags of food. He’d knew it was crazy, but he hated to say goodbye to her, afraid it would be the last time he saw her. But even if it was? It had to be better than the last time they’d seen each other. He’d had the same feeling last time and it had meant nothing. She was there now, and could always show up again later. “Have a good night, then. And be safe.” Call me if you need me. Yeah, she knew that part already, but he couldn’t say it. Shouldn’t. She wasn’t going to call him. Unless zombies attacked. Then she really might need him.
Just because Nic didn’t say it didn’t mean she didn’t hear it. Even when he was gone, Savvy found it hard to keep her chin up. Not too long after Nic left, her food was ready and Savvy snatched it and went out the door. Marvel was still perching above and swooped down to greet her mistress. Are you ok? “I don’t think ok even touches the surface.” Savvy focused on walking, holding her bag of om noms close by. Hard to do just that when she didn’t have a free hand to wipe away the tears that eventually came.