A Rebirth

“This weekend, we’re gonna to go out, surround you in broad-shouldered men, and get you the dick you deserve.” It had been quite a while since his last time attending a club that wasn’t explicitly designed for those with proclivities akin to his own, so he thought indulging in more straight culture would be a terrifyingly fun little venture. “Alright, well I’m sufficiently, uh…scared? I don’t know. There’s like a whole mixed bag of emotions I’ve got going on right now but none of them are good,” Clover told her, honestly. He didn’t like the thought of supernatural things becoming the norm, but he liked even less the connotation of what that would mean for those who wanted to live their lives separately from their species. The less people he had to worry about running at him with a wooden stake, the better. “If I ever decide to switch leagues, you’ll be the first to know.” He winked at her as he got up, smile beaming. “Yes! You won’t regret it; I’ve brought wine from my friend’s family cellar and also enough bottles of Хлібний Дар to last me until next year.”

“Sounds like an absolute plan to me,” the blonde agreed, snapping her rag against his ass as she walked passed him. A good fuck would help get rid of some of the tension in her back. Her vibrator really wasn’t doing for her. “Welcome to my world, милый. It’s a wild fucking ride,” Gianna laughed. It was a sharp and haunting sound filled with the pain she’d endured of the last year. A new chapter in a book of unmistakable insanity. The former stripper opened the storage cabinet at the back of the room to put away her cleaning supplies. “I better be! With all the shit you talk I absolute need to know if you actually have the skill to back it up, you whore,” the blonde teased, removing her rubber gloves. “You brought back real vodka? I could fucking kiss you.”

“Ah, snarky.”, he commented amusedly, more an observation than a comment, as his eyes followed the fight, “Why watch it then? There are knights in shining armor riding at each other with sticks, if that’s more your thing. Though I suppose we are entirely covered up.”

“Figure that out all on your own, did you?” She taunted, turning back to the fight. The larger man picked up the smaller one with a grunt before slamming him down into the pit, splashing the surrounding patrons with mud. Gia had enough time to stepped back to miss the unpleasant bathing. “Yeah, no. The uniform doesn’t do it for me either. I’m waiting for my sister.”

The comment from the woman next to her made Pandora snicker and shake her head as she kept watching two men that matched the very description. “I think the only people that enjoy mud wrestling would only be those kind of people.”

“That’s definitely not true,” Gia replied, glimpsing over at the redhead by her side. “I’ve seen plenty of matches with men that look like they can actually still see their dicks. They apparently just don’t exist here.”

“I suppose this is what you do when you can’t ride anymore.”, Astor halted next to the woman, a frown outlining his forehead as he watched what was supposed to be a match but felt more like degradation, “I’m counting on dying before I get to this stage.” He reached to brush his hair back, ruffled from the helmet he was now holding in his hand. “Fuck, it really does smell like a dead rabbit.”

Gianna crossed her arms, letting out an unladylike snort at the truth of that reality. Men and their fragile masculinity. It didn’t help that she could easy take most of the participants. “We all thank you in advance,” she replied, looking over at her company.

The vampire’s form shifted from one pole to the next after the first had been successfully wiped down. “Go out with me sometime. There’s no shortage of easy men going clubbing on the weekends. I’m one of them.” Waking up in someone else’s bed was never a difficult task for Clover. “Okay…what?” Her words had left him nearly too dumbfounded to continue wiping. If he hadn’t feared she’d throw things at him, he might’ve committed to being momentarily unable to multitask. “Please tell me that’s all metaphorical or something. I haven’t been gone that long,” he pleaded. These weren’t exactly human events and he didn’t think he had the capability of handling the aftermath of something so supernatural as blood rain being public knowledge. He’d come to New York to live a human life. This would surely put a damper on things. “Wow, Gia. I was kidding, but goddamn it if I don’t like being told what to do.” In one quick motion, he brought his hands up to his chest, slid across the polished floor, and looked up to his friend with hope dancing behind his eyes. “Please allow me to accompany you on this night, my deliciously leggy goddess. I would do anything.”

“I’ll just have to do that because you’re clearly having more fun than I am and that’s absolutely unacceptable,” the blonde stated, turning to lean back against the pole she just cleaned. Gianna could say that she was happy Clover had been out of town for so long. It spared him for the insanity that was the supernatural hub of New York. “You have been gone that long. And I absolute wish that was all metaphorical. It’s been an interesting couple of months...We’ll get into more detail about it later,” Gia promised, turning around to wipe off the sweat that had accumulated on the metal for a second time. Her life as kind of taken a on-eighty in terms of insanity and that was saying something. “Deliciously leggy goddess? It’s a shame you bat for the other team, любимцы. You really know how to turn a girl on,” the woman teased, patting his head. “Yes, you may bask in my presence for the evening.”

The task of cleaning the pole in relation to half of his own height didn’t take but a few moments. Clover was nothing if not efficient. “I can’t help that dicks are just constantly flying at me. It’d be rude not to catch them in my mouth like Frisbee.” He kept his face more humored than concerned despite the nature of his friend’s words. ‘Trying to stay alive’ wasn’t exactly a phrase that instilled confidence. “You’re gonna need to elaborate on that one. I feel like I’ve missed something,” Clover told her, voice even yet very clearly not willing to take any opposition. “Would you rather have me begging you to spend the night with me? I’ll do it. I haven’t been on my knees in…” He looks down at his wrist. “Nineteen-ish hours? That’s gotta be a crime somewhere.”

“You need serious help and to tell me where the hell you hang out. Because my god...I need to fucking get laid.”Talking to Clover always made Gia a bit nostalgic for the girls back at Palomino. They were just as vulgar and blunt as he was and it honestly gave her a sense of home. It was odd to think that the back dressing rooms of a strip club was the closest thing she could ever call home. “New York is going to hell in a fucking hand basket. Acidic blood rain? Terrorist attacks at Grand Central Station? That’s your average Tuesday morning here,” the green-haired woman scoffed, wiping down one of the last poles. She rolled her eyes but smirked at his talk of begging. Always the drama queen. “Well, I’m waiting. The begging isn’t going to do itself. I love seeing a man on his knees.”

“Even more reason for me to prefer hanging out with you than most other people.” He simply hated when people made such a point to prove themselves, it was tiring and fuck if he didn’t hate listening to it. Gia made it all the easier to relax himself, all pretenses near obliterated to make way for the semblance of friendship she’d offered. “I really hate wasting my time.”

“Flattery will you nowhere, дорогой,” she replied, the corner of her mouth lifting up in a cheeky grin. Gia was antagonizing by nature but it turned into simple teasing when she was comfortable around someone. Which was a feat in itself. “I get it. I’m fantastic and you love me.”

The consistent chittering of giggles became genuine, albeit low volume, laughter as he waltzed over to one of the other cloths. “Lucky for you, spicy is my favorite flavor,” he mewled as he doused the cloth in peroxide. Once finished, he made his way to one of the poles. “I can’t remember the last time I was anyone’s pain in the ass. Don’t really do a lot of topping nowadays.” With practiced movements, he began to wipe the metal down. Between helping out with this sort of task here in Gia’s class and sterilizing the poles at work, he was far more used to groping cylindrical metal than he’d like to admit in the light of day. “We have a lot of catching up to do, you know. I’m expecting a Hulu and hangout tonight. Whatever plans you had before? Cancelled. Clover’s magnificent return to New York deserves top priority.”

“I hate you,” she snorted, unable to hold back the a small bout of laughter. Gianna shook her head, heading towards the next pole. “And don’t remind me of the sex I’m not having please. I’ve been to busy trying to stay alive in this godforsaken city. It almost makes me want to go back to Vegas.” Almost. The last year or so had been far more eye-opening than she’d planned for. “You’re not allowed to demand anything you twat. You left.”

A look of mirth started to ripple across Frankie’s facial features when hearing the other female’s response. It was blunt and to the point just like she herself was. For a moment her gaze lingered on her before letting out a chuckle. She shook her head and couldn’t wipe the wide grin off of her lips as she threw a little lighthearted sarcasm towards her. 

“Say what’s on your mind….don’t hold back now, ya hear?”

A group of three rather well-dressed males passed just to the right and the young wolf was even more amused when she saw the indignant expressions they held.

“Hey guys…you ain’t wanting to buy this are you??… I mean…I gotta agree with…” She was about to say ‘friend’ when she stopped because she didn’t even know the other female. “….with…well…this fine specimen of a woman here…’cause…yeah it is pretty fuckin’ abysmal.” 

“I never do,” Gianna replied, cheekily. The woman lean around the younger girl, brushing her blonde green tresses from her face with an amused smirk. “They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but let’s be honest, любимцы, the only reason any of you would buy it is because of the price tag. It looks like someone’s half blind three year old painted it.” 

An elated chortle erupted from the man leaning against the door frame. It lacked any sort of mocking heat or aggression, simply existing as an airy admission of Clover’s entertainment. “Someone is awfully spicy today,” he teased emptily, cheeks still pressed up by his wide smile. He began crossing the room to close their distance as he spoke, legs carrying him in a lazy stroll. “Do you want some help sanitizing before class? Wiping off taint sweat seems like a job you wouldn’t really wanna suffer through alone.”

Gia looked up again and rolled her eyes at the young man. “Oh, look what the cat dragged in,” she snorted, truly unsurprised to see Clover in her doorway. When he’d texted her that he was back in town it was only a matter of time. "For your information I'm spicy everyday. Now grab a rag you pain in the ass. I haven’t got all day.”

“Okay, just… keep your head down, okay–”

The entire short trip to the Sanctuary, Elodie had probably been something akin to an insufferable, overprotective older sibling, constantly reminding her friend these people could kill her for fun. The wound in her shoulder had been magically healed–the details of which she currently kept to herself–but she still didn’t like the idea of having to step in to save her very human best friend should someone decide to get ugly. The pair made it through the door without a problem; the bouncer didn’t look twice at the pair of them. There was a decent sized crowd, giving the space a buzz of energy and noise that wasn’t painfully loud, but instead welcome, almost cozy despite the very prominent fighting ring nearby.

“You want a drink first?” she asked as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. 

@giaivan

Gia couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the Elodie’s overprotective mama bear mode. “Yes, mom. I get it. Don’t look at anything. Don’t touch anything. Everything can kill me,” she mocked, a tad bit of her annoyance shining through. The blonde understood dangerous situations. She knew when to bite her tongue and when to provoke. Elodie didn’t know that. “Oh, I’m allowed to drink? How kind of you,” the human deadpanned. “I’ll have a beer.”

“Are you always this sensitive?” Josie asked, contemplating leaving the class. But she’d already paid for it and she wasn’t backing out because of that. Maybe the next one before payment went through though. “I was only asking because I was curious.” 

“Do you always antagonize people as soon as you meet them?” She shot back, leveling the younger woman with an unimpressed look. Gianna had met plenty of people like her. Hell, ten years ago she had been her. “Ten years,” she answered with no elaboration.

Glancing around Bea realised she must be a little early for the class, the bluntness of the blonde’s words not bothering her. She wasn’t here to make friends, and Beatrix was fortunate enough to have a thick skin. This was not the kind of class most people would expect to see Bea at, but Beatrix had read about how good it was for fitness and for building up core strength. As a hunter, Bea was always on the lookout for anything that gave her the advantage. “Did you want a hand with that?” She offered, placing her bag against the wall as instructed. 

“I’m done,” Gianna answered, stepping away from the last pole. She moved towards the cabinet against the back wall to put away the cleaning products and her gloves. The woman hadn’t been the first to offer nor the first for the blonde to turn down. She’d prefer to do things herself in the studio otherwise they didn’t get done properly. “Thanks, anyway.”