angelic_gabe (angelic_gabe) wrote in plainsite, @ 2018-08-13 17:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | gabriel allen, leah allen |
Who: Leah Allen, Gabriel Allen
What: Dinner and conversation
When: August 10
Where: A nice restaurant
Ratings: Mild (they're demons. There's gonna be some conversation about sex.)
Leah wasn’t on the hunt or looking to disguise her image and had gotten her beach fix in early that morning with some swimming and yoga, so she didn’t feel the need to wear anything particularly skimpy out to a late lunch that afternoon. The dress she had on was positively risque by the standards of her youth but downright conservative compared to some of the things she wore on the beach these days. She looked good in it, it was comfortable, and it looked elegant enough that she wouldn’t embarrass the man she was here to meet.
Still, she turned heads as she crossed the restaurant floor. It wasn’t something she could help.
Gabriel stood as his daughter walked his way -- some habits were hard to break after a few centuries. He kissed his daughter’s cheeks, glowing with health and the warmth of the sun, and smiled appreciatively at her.
“You look well, kitten,” he said, embracing her. “Come, take a seat. It’s frightfully trendy, but I saw a few things on the menu that looked like they’d appeal.”
There’d been some initial balking on his part when she’d decided to cut loose from the business -- but it was clear that she’d made a choice that, while not the one he would’ve made, was certainly making her happy and fulfilled, which was the least he could ask for.
“Thank you, Papa.” She smiled back and returned the embrace before taking her seat. “You look good too, but I expect nothing less.”
It had never been a secret that he hadn’t wanted her to leave the business world, and out of love for him she’d kept her certifications current instead of letting them lapse. Being burned out from the rat race and had already made more money than she’d known what to do with at the time, there hadn’t been any reason to stay in the game. Keeping up on the research necessary to maintain and increase her investments took up maybe an hour or two a day on average, the rest of her time was free to do what she pleased and Leah had yet to regret her decision.
She opened her menu and eyed him with amusement over it. “Just because it’s trendy doesn’t mean it can’t have good food. Everything is trendy when it’s new.” Nearing the century mark she felt confident in having enough years under her belt to make that claim. Though ‘farm to table’ being trendy was amusing enough since she was just old enough to remember when everything had been farm to table. Things had come full circle.
“There’s no decent beef,” Gabriel replied with a grin. “And no-one knows anything about proper sauces these days. If I ever decide to start a second career, it’ll be restauranteering.” He lowered his menu. “What have you been up to of late, my darling?”
“There’s over thirteen million people living in the LA region, surely there’s one restaurant that makes French cuisine to your satisfaction?” Leah teased after determining what she wanted and setting her menu aside. “You’d make a fabulous cook of course, I could just see you in the white uniform and chef’s hat running a kitchen like a well oiled machine.”
She smiled at the question. “Funny you should ask. I just agreed to partner up with Jorge Mendoza’s property group to put up an apartment building on those lots I bought on Miracle Mile back in the 80s.” Property never went out of style in LA, not for beings such as them. She had the money and the time to wait out blips in the economy, and short of a catastrophic collapse in civilization there would always be a demand for LA real estate. Just because she was out of the rat race didn’t mean she wouldn’t do deals now and then, especially if it would add to her income stream. “Luxury units, should be a good investment for the next few decades.”
“And what’s new in your world that I wouldn’t learn from Harper?” Her old friend was a notorious gossip so it wasn’t hard to stay plugged into what was going on at the studio through her.
“Oh, the usual suspects trying to scoop our projects, that sort of thing. Oh,” he added, tapping his fingers on the table. “There was an incident -- a human who had a run-in with the Fae. I think it was passive rather than deliberate -- wrong place wrong time -- but he just…” he snapped his fingers. “Appeared in the middle of a park, riding a horse, in full Union Army gear. You can imagine, he’s having a bit of an adjustment.” He tipped his head. “One of those remnants, I suppose. Hope we don’t have any other surprises.”
“It must have been interesting knowing the Fae.” Leah’s tone was a bit wistful. They’d been rare in the 19th century as iron and steel took over the world, and had left this realm entirely after the First World War, just around the time of her own birth. “I’d have liked to have gotten to know one.”
She shook her head at his story though. “Poor man, it must be difficult for him. How’d he avoid getting scooped up and put in the looney bin?”
“Ran headlong into our Molly,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “Which was some rather fortuitous luck. That girl can sniff out trouble. I hope she hasn’t bitten off more than she can chew, though -- she can be no end of stubborn, and not inclined to ask for favors when she should.”
He leaned back in his chair. “And they are… a loss. I knew a few in particular I think you would’ve liked. Fierce, mercurial, no end of a temper. They could be endlessly wise, and then turn around and be silly and petty. One had an appetite for poets,” he said, a little wistfully. “It didn’t go particularly well for them -- she could be cruel.” He shook his head. “Another time, another place. You might see how she’s doing?” He added, “as a favor. She doesn’t tend to open up around me as much as she might.” He grinned a bit. “I used to be… close with her mother. I wonder how Gina’s been lately?” He mused.
“I went to school with Gina’s aunt you know.” Leah rolled her eyes at her father, not that she was one that could throw stones. She’d taken home the grandson of one of her old lovers a few times in the last year or two.
“But of course I’ll talk to her, Molly’s a friend. I’ll see if I can’t drag her out for drinks some night this week, maybe get an eye on this man of hers and see if he’s worth a meal.”
“Good good,” Gabriel replied, the corner of his mouth curling up at the edge. “He’s a bit… traditional in his tastes -- and I’d make sure you weren’t stepping on any toes,” he added, with a small shrug. “She’ll most likely deny it up and down, but she blushed like a teenager whenever I even so much as suggested anything.”
The waitress came over to take their order, and once that was finished, Gabriel leaned on his hand, looking over at his daughter. “And you, darling? What’s the latest? Tell me everything.”
Leah raised an eyebrow at her father. “Everything? Goodness Papa, you make it sound like you haven’t seen me in ages! We just had dinner last week.” And they typically texted a few times a week about this or that, so it wasn’t as if her father didn’t know most everything going on in her life.
She tapped a finger against her glass, pondering. “What’s new, let’s see...I told you about the real estate deal but that’s business. I took on two new surfing students since we talked last, a man and a woman. The man is a transplant from Ohio of all places, Google hired him for their Santa Monica office and he wants to learn how to surf. And he wants to get in my pants of course.” It was said with a wry grin. “I’ll let him work on me a while before I have him for dinner, it wouldn’t do to be too easy.”
“There is something to be said for the thrill of the chase,” Gabriel replied, with a grin and a shake of his head. “Especially if they think they’re the one who’s doing the chasing.” He shook his head. “I’m certainly not complaining about how… accessible things are these days, how much freer everything is, but I’ll admit, I vastly prefer regular lovers to the disposable variety. Mutual affection is so much more satisfying. Call me old-fashioned,” he drawled, “and goodness knows, Tindr and Grindr are always fantastic for a snack, but it’s like popcorn instead of steak.”
The food arrived just then, and Gabriel laughed as his plate of carefully curated micro-greens, seasonal vegetables, and a small, delicate square of beautifully cooked fish was set in front of him. “No wonder people in this city are always so hungry,” he said. “Lovely, but good God, I’m glad I don’t need to subsist off of this sort of fare.”
“He might turn into one, never know.” Leah replied with a smile and a shrug. They’d see what there was to see when the time came. He was funny, smart, and relatively handsome. She’d done worse in the past.
“And you’re definitely old fashioned. But that’s part of your charm.”
She eyed the grilled chicken and veggies on her own plate. “Tastes have certainly changed in the last forty or fifty years, I agree. But the types I typically spend time with these days burn too many calories to put up with this nonsense, they need more than this to have fuel for riding the waves. You ought to try it sometime, you might enjoy it.” Her father had never cared much for the sport, much to her amusement.
“Darling,” Gabriel replied with a wry grin, “you keep telling me, and I remain unconvinced. I tend to enjoy it immensely when my feet are firmly on the ground, and I’ve had my fill watching you from shore, admiring from afar, my heart in my mouth every time you go out.” He laughed a little. “That, and it’s partially vanity on my part -- I know I’d look no end of foolish and awkward.” He speared a bit of meat with his fork. “I’ll tell you what, kitten, for you, and only for you, I’ll take a lesson. You’ll have to promise not to laugh too hard at your old man when he wipes out.”
“Please. I’m more experienced now than all but some of the professionals.” She realized it sounded braggadocious, and maybe she was, a bit. It helped that she’d barely aged at all physically since she’d taken her first lesson decades ago. Time was cruel to humans. “Not that I’m that good. But good enough to know when to try and ride and when not to, and how to look fantastic doing it.” A grin. “After all, whatever we do we Allens have to do in style.”
A genuine laugh bubbled out of her at his promise. “I’ll hold you to that and I know just the teacher for you. You’ll get along splendidly.” A wink as she raised her wineglass to her lips. “I might even say you could make a meal out of it.” She certainly enjoyed her share of surfers now and then, but unless she planned on having them be regular lovers Leah typically stuck to tourists or visiting pros. It kept things simpler and didn’t create drama on the beach or on the waves.
“You always look fabulous, kitten. I fully plan on looking like a clumsy idiot, so I might as well be taught by someone delicious. Tell me about them? Friend of yours?” He speared a vegetable with his fork, looking over at her with a grin. “I suppose I’d be a poor enough pupil to be bad for your business,” he joked.
“Oh, you’d be fine.” His daughter shooed the last comment away with a wave of her hand and roll of her eyes. “It’d take more than one gomer to ruin my rep, and I’ve taken on my share of seemingly lost causes. But yes, they’re called Emma. They’re one of my old students and I’ve known them since the nineties, I think the two of you would get along like a house on fire. If you end up not taking to surfing maybe you’ll take to them, and if not you should still get a fun meal out of the whole thing.”
Gabriel’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Ever thoughtful, darling. God, I love LA. Such delightful variety. I look forward to meeting them. And I’ll tell you what. If I can manage to stay on the board for more than a few seconds, I just might have to take you to Hawaii for a few days over Christmas so I can wobble around while you attract adoring fans.”
“Now that’s a Christmas present I could get behind!” Leah’s smile stretched ear to ear. “It’s been oh, at least a decade since I was last in Honolulu. You’ll have your own share of admirers on the beach, a handsome dark haired man like yourself.” She took a bite of her chicken and eyed him thoughtfully. “You’ll have to beat them off with a stick.”
“Consider it done. I’ll get us a lovely house by the beach. Separate wings.” He laughed. “See, now I have to get at least marginally proficient. I suppose I walked right into that one.”
He tapped the table with a finger. “Oh, kitten, before I forget entirely…” he frowned a little. “I’ve got a trial coming up next month in Family Court that needs a little footwork, if you can spare the time. One of my clients is trying to get full custody of her kids, and her ex is a real piece of work, but I can’t make it stick. There’s a mess of a paper trail because he called the cops on her a few times despite the fact it was self-defense -- I suspect the judge will just think they’re both unfit and take them away entirely.”
Leah accepted the change of subject with a raised eyebrow, and her expression darkened as he continued. If it was one thing she couldn’t stand it was bullies, especially bullies against women and children. “Of course. How can I help?” He would have the case well in hand if experience was any judge. She’d help in whatever way he asked, of course, it was just a question of what he needed.
“He has her phone,” Gabriel replied. “She password protected it, and he’s taunted her about how he has it, so he hasn’t destroyed it yet, but it has some evidence on it. Video. Photos. Texts.” He frowned. “He’d be a light touch,” he added quietly, with a twist to his features. “Other than that, I’ve been thinking about setting him up, getting him angry, making her think she’s with me so he’ll do something foolish, even though I’d have to tread carefully -- unless I can cover all my bases, it’s something that could get me up on ethics charges, which…” he shrugged. “I can get around. Still.”
“So you want me to get the phone from him?” Leah queried, raising an eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink. “I can’t imagine it would be that hard. Neither would setting him up if it came to that.” She honestly wasn’t worried about ethics charges, not with their reputations in the community. Worst case scenario would be she’d have to stay out of court for a few decades and reapply under a new name, it wouldn’t be the first time their kind had done that sort of thing.
“That would be ideal, yes,” he replied, “if you can manage it, it’d make all the difference. I wouldn’t ask unless it was a last resort -- and I can’t imagine he’d be even remotely satisfying.” He frowned a little. “And don’t give him anything that’d make it possible to track you down -- he’s jealous, and he’s mean.”
He wrote down some particulars -- the jilted ex’s name, address, phone number, and a recent picture from the cloud after some poking around to show her. He disliked involving his daughter in such matters, but he knew she was sympathetic to his clients, and this wasn’t the first time she’d had to wade in.
“Does she know if he carries it on him, or would I have to hunt for it?” If it were the former it would be a straightforward affair, the latter would make it more complicated but she’d dealt with worse. She waved a hand in dismissal of his warning. “I know the type. There’s only so much disguising I can do and still get his attention.” With a body like hers there was no disguising her curves without a mumu or fat suit, not that she’d be inclined to wear either in LA’s summer heat. “But I can change things up enough, and it helps he’s on the other side of the city from my normal haunts.”
A grimace crossed her features at a thought. “Worse comes to worst and he does track me down I can make sure he never hurts anyone again. Even if the thought of it makes me want to enter a nunnery.” Not that she had many qualms about sending such a man to meet his maker, but there were only so many times she could get away with that sort of thing.
“You’re far too grown for lecturing,” Gabriel replied, “but you can well guess how I’d feel on that count. I’d rather one of our vampire friends help out than have you face the consequences.” He frowned. “I think he keeps it on him. Last he said, he ‘never lets it out of his sight.’”
“Well that’ll certainly make the job easier.” Leah exhaled. “And you make a good point about using a vampire for that sort of thing if it came to that and I had the opportunity, it’s not something I’m particularly itching to do either way you know.” A deep sigh and shake of her head. “And now that this bit of unpleasantness is out of the way let’s talk about more pleasant things. There’s a trip to Hawaii to plan and a friend to talk up.”
“Indeed,” Gabriel replied, a smile returning to his face. “I’ve got just the house in mind…”