Victory is in my Veins

“Well, I’ll let him know you said that,” Derek chuckled. “Fair enough; I’m sorry all the same. Perhaps next time you could win that date?”

"Oh god no I don't think I could actually, too scary, I'd rather get a date the old fashioned way with chemistry," she said with a grin.

“No, I’ve never been,” he admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I figured there’d be lots of rainbows and good food trucks. And I’m not wrong.”

Jess nodded, "yes the rainbows and the taco trucks for me are the main attractions," she said in complete agreement.

“Oh stop,” Naomi laughed, shaking her head. She flushed a little at the teasing. She didn’t like Kels that way, but it didn’t mean she liked being teased about him. “I mean, will it really be any different than us hanging out normally?” she exclaimed. “I only did it for the charity.” 

"I mean I guess it doesn't have to be any different compared to just normally hanging out. Doing it all for charity does seem like it would be a good way to get a date even with a friend," Jess said after a moment, the grin still on her features.

“You’re arguing you could change his mind mid-evening?”, Hunter raised his eyebrow for a second, smile slipping onto his lips as he leaned back in his chair and took a sip of the coffee, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses as he looked out towards the busy street. For someone terrified of getting too invested, he slipped into vague disinterest towards dates and one night stands with way too much ease. Her words drew his attention, but centuries had passed since the time he used to flinch at the mention of children, and all that came now was a small smile half hidden behind his coffee cup, “I can believe that. Although I’d probably fall asleep halfway through the intro, my attention span is abysmal. Do kids still watch that these days though? I thought the craze ended before 2010.” 

"Anything is possible, but it depends on the person's attitude to the whole thing actually," she said with a simple shrug and took a sip from her own coffee. The brunette shook her head, "I wish the craze ended back then, they just reanimated it and started it over, it's a booming series now, just had a movie come out on dvd and such," she said with a cringe. "Chloe loves it though, almost more than anything, has my little pony toys and pajamas from her grandparents who like to spoil her rotten."

“I was, but only because of the good dancing.” The man chuckled. Sure, he was confident. Yet, he was not going to go on about any other reasons he had gotten the title so long ago. “Thanks for complimenting my face though.” He smiled. “You have a pretty cute one yourself.” Xavier added. Her talking of her daughter made his smile grow wider. “Lily’s mother is a single mother, so I try to help out where I can because her late father was my best friend and Lily is the sweetest girl I know. I don’t know how mothers do it all in all honesty.”

"It's the makeup, covers the dark circles and warts on my nose," she joked with a shrug, but thanked him anyway with a smile. Her smile grew as well as he talked about Lily, "that's really sweet of you to hang around for them. Don't you know, us women are powerful, even more so when we are mothers," she said with a grin.

“If I wasn’t on auction myself, I’m sure I’d want to try and win a date with Tad Hamilton,” he teased, amused at Jess’ question. “It was a lovely event though. I’m sad to hear you couldn’t attend.”

"I don't know of anyone who wouldn't want to win a date with him," she teased back before shrugging. "Well when your kid is sick, you put away the expensive dress and you bring out the family recipe for chicken noddle soup."

          “I only made small bids, I wasn’t really interested in anyone of the bachelors being auctioned at the gala.” A chuckle escaped his lips as he attempted to remember who ended up with whom at the end of the night, “Tad Hamilton wasn’t being auctioned, though, but if he were, I guarantee you, I would have been the night’s winning bid… Are you feeling any better?”

"I would have attempted to be the winning bid for Tad Hamilton, but I don't have enough money in my savings account for any of that," she said with a laugh. "Oh! I'm fit a fiddle, my daughter had the flu which is why I stayed home for the night of the gala. She's feeling better though, bounced back like she was never even sick."

“If I’m here and I’m queer, I’m going to make it count. These glasses are letting me live,” Nixon was still unconvinced that he needed to go, but Lucian had insisted, and now the vampire was wandering through Pride. “You been to this before?”

"Amen," she grinned and took a sip from her water, "I was at last year's event, and you? Is this your first time here or have you done these pride events before?" She asked curiously.

“Me?” Yael snorted and shook her head, “yeah, that’d be a no–– starting bid was at like $700.” Maybe not a ton to some people but to Yael that was her rent. “I only went because I was gifted a ticket, even $75 is a bit steep for a party I think.” Though it had been impressive. “How’s Chloe doing, by the way? On the mend?”

"Damn! $700 is like breaking the bank for me, too expensive to get a date," she shook her head with a wrinkle of her nose. "Yeah it was just a flu bug, but the poor thing was so miserable, she's bounced back like she was never even sick though." She was in agreement $75 was a lot for a ticket.

“You are not going to believe the words that are going to come out of my mouth Jess but, I ended up not going,” she placed her hand over her heart as though distressed about it, “To make matters worse my plus one looked great and he had to go without me!”

@jesscollinsx·

"It's okay I didn't get to go either, not like I would have had the money to actually bid on dates either, Chloe was sick so I stayed home with her." She said with a smile and then gasped, "he went without you! damn!"

“Okay, first off, Tad Hamilton would have been fun,” Naomi laughed. “I did win though, with Kelsey Tallis.” She felt almost embarrassed saying it, just as she had when she had won. But it was for charity and Kels was a friend. She only hoped he wasn’t disappointed that he hadn’t been bought by someone else. 

"He probably would have been a lot more fun," she agreed with a grin, her eyebrows shot up when she said she did win. "Kelsey Tallis? That's a good catch," she whistled teasingly with a little nudge. "So what's the plan for the date? Or have you not planned that yet?"

“Tad who?” Camila wasn’t aware of a Tad Hamilton. Should she know who that was? “Oh no. I wasn’t able to go to that. I was flying back from San Francisco when that gala happened, but I heard it was great.” Laney her co-owner of the boutique had a ball and was trying to currently get Cami to go on a date with a few other bachelors who didn’t make the list of auctioned men. “Personally, if I were there I would have bid on Noah Bordeaux or Elio Alvarez. Both seem like interesting men. What about you?” 

"My daughter was sick, though fancy parties aren't my scene and I wouldn't have had the money to bid. Though I'm unsure of bidding on Noah, he seems too pompous."

“Honestly, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you. I was stuck at work for the entirety of it. I’m still trying to figure out this one case of mine and it’s not bugging. I wouldn’t have mind if Lewis Hamilton was a bachelor though. I’d spend all my savings on him.” 

"Oh yes, he would definitely be worth expelling a life's savings." Jess smiled, "I'd offer to help, but I'm not sure I'd even understand it."

“Well, not being good at dancing would have cost me the prom king crown. Wouldn’t it?” He teased back with a chuckle. “How old is yours?” Xavier asked his smile genuine. “Lily is six now. Just recently turned six and she is the sweetest little girl anyone could ask for.”

"Again, I have a hard time believing you weren't prom king, with that face and all," Jess grinned and sighed, "she is 3, a wonderful age and all moms should fear it," her eyes widened playfully. "She sounds adorable."

“With whom?”, Hunter turned to face the girl he’d been speaking to, a faint crease appearing between his brows, “Oh that. God no, I prefer them actually interested in me.” He’d spent his evening stuck in an endless loop of small talk and whatever alcohol he could get his hands on, half-glad it was not a formal event, half-agonised that it was very much an event he was supposed to participate in as a Davenport. “I don’t think my date would’ve appreciated it, the unofficial one at least. How come you weren’t there?”

"Real interest is just a bonus," Jess shrugged with a slight laugh. "You do have a point, it's bad date etiquette and all." The woman took a sip from her coffee and smiled, "my daughter was sick with the flu, spent my night watching my little pony and feeding her chicken noodle soup. Which might I add is the best date I've ever had."