— bite back.

▬

“What are you having? I’m still debating whether to remain on the same lane so I won’t get drunk or regret my choices next day,” though now as a werewolf that didn’t happen quite often, “or if I should try a new drink. Enjoy the evening outside, not being a mom for the night.” Which it wasn’t that regretted being one, she was just tired of only being seen as such. “It’s nice to meet you Nina and you do to. I mean, you’re a gorgeous woman, so the smile is just part of the whole package,” Aleyna chuckled. “Maybe another gin and tonic. I’m being basic tonight.” 

—

“I’m actually having a gin and tonic, so we can be basic together.” Nina didn’t seem to be bothered by the brunette’s words and she hoped it showed in both her body language and friendly tone. She felt for her, really. Most people deemed mothers to be just that: just mothers, and they were so much more. “In that case, Ally. I’ll buy you two drinks. One for the bet and one for your night off.” Nine settled with a smile, before offering her hand for the other woman to take, so she could guide her to the bar. She then ordered two gin and tonics. “Once we get our drinks, would you like to sit down? I’d love to hear more about you. I promise I won’t ask about Ally-the-mom, just whatever else you’d like to tell me.”

▬

The group picture, thankfully, sufficed their desires of being around a celebrity and once they were leaving, Charlotte could swear they took a picture of herself with Nina. “Let’s see how quickly the team will erase that picture once it gets to the internet,” Charlie hardly checked her social media or anything related to her name, she left that to her manager. And, well, they’d take care of that. She was finally able to listen to her own thoughts and appreciate being outside instead of indoors with her dog and cat when her attention was directed to the woman who had saved her day that particular moment. “I wouldn’t begin to know that. I’ve never had to deal with children,” even in the pack, she was constantly apart from the kids. “Thankfully it’s for the rest of mine and not yours, I don’t know how much I could for you once I’m dead… even if I could still be present in your life as a ghost,” Charlie teased in return, it was only fair she did so. And perhaps, she could’ve been by herself, enjoying her company. But she wouldn’t mind Nina being around, she definitely wouldn’t. “By all means, if there’s a chance you’ll appear to the media as my new love interest, you might as well take a cup of coffee with me.” Her hand pointed at the seat in front of her, offering it to the vampire. “So, how’s life?”

—

Nina glanced over her shoulder at Charlie’s words, not exactly knowing what had happened for her to say that, but not exactly caring. It wouldn’t be the end of the world to be linked to Charlotte in such way, whether it was true or not. Life was too long to be caught up worrying about rumors that did nothing to her. “You’re not missing much.” Nina replied with a slight wave of her hand. She could say that to her, most of her immediate circle of friends and acquaintances were so much younger that it almost felt as if they were children, but she would be lying. “Aw, you care for me that much that you’d even bother haunting me?” Nina playfully stuck her bottom lip out into a pout as one of her hands moved to her chest, pretending to be touched by the shapeshifter’s words. “I’m so touched. Just so you know--I’d haunt your ass, too.” Once invited to join her, the vampire sat down across from Charlotte, a soft chuckle escaping her lips as she did so. “Please. I’d be so lucky. Where do I apply to become your new love interest?” She brought in the coffee cup to her lips and took a sip from it. “Life has been... tense, at best. Pretty much just worrying about the humans in my life. After what happened to his daughter at the gallery, I’ve added James to my list of humans to care about, so pretty much I’m screwed. Other than that, I don’t have much to report. I’d rather focus on what’s been going on in your life! I heard you were cast into another TV show? Should I worry about my girl Phoebe?”

~-~

“At least your laughter is a lovely sound to my ears.” Atlas replies with a fond smile and a shake of his head. If anyone was going to laugh at him at least it was a friend and not a foe. Nina was rather good company to come along, and it is only now he realizes how long it has been since they had been alone together. This was not something that settled well with him, they may have eternity but that was no excuse to laze on ones friendships. “I am unharmed, except for my pride, but that comes and goes like a yo-yo on a string.“ Hazeled eyes took in the womans appearance, finding it far too tailored for such a location. “Did you come from work?” he asks though it was kind of obvious, he did not want to assume for she may have been to an event or a nice lunch earlier that day. 

—

“Always the gentleman.” Nina smiled. Sometimes, it made her wonder if she had taught herself how to disguise her true feelings with a smile, or if they were genuine. Given her temper and her own personality, it would have sense for her not to do that. Not to pretend... but life had showed Nina that sometimes, the best way to handle a situation was through a smile, whether it was genuine or not. In this case, she had no reason to doubt Atlas’ words, so her words had actually meant what she’d said. He was a gentleman. A bit old-fashioned like Bashiano, but old-fashioned was not necessarily a bad thing. “If it makes you feel any better... we’ve all been there and had our prides hurt, myself included, sadly. Your secret is safe with me, I promise.” She smiled while patting on the spot beside her, opposite to her shoes. “I did. Figured I could do some walking to clear my head. What about you? What brings you to these parts? Ah! Don’t say... you’ve missed me so much it--” Nina stopped herself when a gush of wind blew in their direction, the whiff of iron latching itself into her nostrils and causing her to lose her track of thought. “Do you smell that?” She asked, already pushing herself to her feet and bringing her shoes with her. “Blood. Human.”

―

The other’s slight disappearance from his daily life hadn’t gone unnoticed, but the conversation at the gallery had left him ― somewhat perplexed by it all. It felt as if something was caught up in the middle of them, which he had never faced before. As long as he had known the other, they knew what they wanted and spoke on it in volumes. They were not a fearful creature, neither were they one to keep themselves hidden from him or so he thought. Perhaps he had been the wrong one. Perhaps there was a lot more that he did not know, but the invitation meant that he would be less likely to live in the dark, so to speak.

He pressed the button to signal his arrival and the door swung open the moment that he arrived at her step, a smile at the sight before him that had yet to bring anything else. Even with the space, Nina was as beautiful as ever as he leaned in to press a gentle kiss to her cheek before slipping around and entering her home. “Dreadful. I stared for hours on end to see you come and save me,” he teased with a laugh. “I enjoy my time there. But I enjoy it more when you are around.”

—

Strangely, at the word dreadful, Nina’s bottom lip stuck out into a slight pout. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him. Sometimes, one’s work, despite how much they loved it, could be dreadful. “I should have come to your rescue, shouldn’t I?” She handed Bash a glass of blood she had poured them, freeing her hand so she could snake arm around his neck. His shirt smelled of beer, his hair smelled of beer and Nina couldn’t stand there and pretend like she wasn’t dying to rid him of his clothes and hope under the shower with him--but they were not animals. They were civilized people. Her primal instincts could wait. “I am here now. You have my undivided attention.” With that smirk still toying on her lips, Nina leaned in, aiming for his lips, but pulling away once she got dangerously close to them. Her gaze met his, even as her sight became blurred with the proximity. 

She repeated her actions a couple of times more, blatantly teasing him, before her lips landed on his neck, pressing a kiss upon his pale skin, then finally pulling away, hiding her smirk behind her glass of blood as she turned on her heels and waltzed around her living area to sit down at her couch. Once she sat, she stretched her arm out for Bash. An open invitation to come join her. Despite everything, she was oddly in a good mood, so, might as well take advantage of that. “And now that you have me, what would you like for me to do for you?”

“If I tell that you are stunning does it help with the case of not crushing your ego?” Aleyna questioned, smiling at the other woman before a laugh escaped her lips. “Not all of them are male, but the one who started it all is. I mean, it depends of the scenario, you know? I wouldn’t mind playing this with friends at someone’s house where we’re just being silly with people we already know but in here…” then it was exactly what the stranger had said: childish. At least, it gave her the chance of talking to someone else and stay far away from that game for awhile, maybe even find a way of leaving without calling their attention. “I won’t say no to that, if you’re expecting me to decline, you’re in it to lose,” she joked. “I’m Ally.”

—

“Only if you mean it.” Nina replied with a tiny little smirk toying on the corners of her lips and then winked at the other woman. And now that she’d thought about it, it had been decades since she had last tried out these modern, little mundane things such as going to someone’s apartment and playing these games with a group of friends. Perhaps when she was in college, getting one of her many diplomas. “I wouldn’t have offered if I was expecting you to decline.” She winked at the other woman, offering her hand when she introduced herself. “Nina. You have a very beautiful smile, Ally. What can I get you?”

when: friday, late at night

status: closed | @bashianofonte​

             — After their conversation at the gallery, Nina realized she needed to be more upfront with both whatever she was feeling and, with how she acted around Bash. While running away was, partially, in her nature, the younger vampire figured she should stop doing so. Running away from Bash had landed her nowhere close to a closure regarding her past, so why bother? Plus--they were supposed to be friends, right? Despite having explored more of the beneficial side of their friendship, they could still call themselves friends. She needed to learn how to trust him with her truth.

She had invited him to her apartment, something not uncommon between them, and when the buzzer announced Bashiano’s arrival, Nina let him in. She had enough time to prepare him a glass of blood and meet him by the entrance, welcoming him with a smile. “Luna della mia vita. How was work?” There was something both enticing and cheesy in saying his nickname in Italian. For one, Nina didn’t mind. 

          — Whoever invented bureaucracy, Nina thought, should have died a painful death. The Blood Bank’s system was down, so it was taking longer for them to load the information on her VSP card and while Nina waited, she saw a familiar face heading towards the exit, which prompted her to grab her phone and send Mateo a text, asking him to wait for her so they could catch up somewhere else. Seeing him at the gallery had reminded her of how much she missed chatting with him. Finally, once she had her blood bags inside her cooler, the older vampire made her way to her friend, offering him a smile.

“Thank you for waiting. The whole system was down, so it took them longer than usual. If we weren’t here, I’d probably suggest breaking some things, but since we’re here, how about a glass of blood and you let me in on what’s been going on in your life?”

— ◈ —

Not being forthcoming with Nina was her own fault. She knew that. There were a number of things in her life that had gone wrong and she blamed herself for it. Though feeling like she couldn’t share the hard stuff she did partly blame her parents for as well. “I know it won’t really matter in the future…” Elizabeth had heard plenty of times how she had the rest of eternity or whatever to figure out her life, but she couldn’t imagine feeling like  that any time soon. “All of this… It’s just that sometimes I feel okay with this being my life and then others… It was hard enough feeling comfortable just living before so being turned on top of that hasn’t been easy.” All the woe is me was probably as pathetic as it sounded, but she did feel rather pathetic most of the time. “I’m just bad with change, okay. It’s a shitty excuse but that’s just the way it’s always been for me.” 

—

“Honey...” Nina let out a sigh. She wished things were easier for Elizabeth to accept, or simply, to understand. Pulling the chair from across Liz’s desk, she sat down, crossing her legs under her pencil skirt and resting her hands on her lap. “What are you so afraid of, Liz? Being bad with change doesn’t seem to be the only reason for your hesitation.” Her eyes were trained on the younger vampire, trying to read her expressions. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s wonderful being immortal, because it is not always like that. But you will realize there is so much more than drinking blood and feeling so intensely.” Sh tried. “I understand what you’re telling me. Believe me. But has hiding away ever grant you anything so far?”

— ◈ —

“I’m sure you’d get sick of me anyway if you were,” he chuckled. He was always going to feel close to Nina and view her as family. “Well I will try to do the same then.” Adrian was bound to find something interesting to do eventually. “Yeah, I’m sure there will be.” Hopefully he’d only run into people he liked anyway. At her question, he shook his head. “Or, I did apply, but I haven’t heard back yet. But I’ve been checking out the campus anyway. Zakary and I have been auditing some classes. It’s been fun.” 

—

“I don’t think that’s possible, but I’ll take your word for it.” Nina knew she needed to be more careful around Adrian. Being a contradiction in herself, she knew that now that she’d welcomed the young man back in her life, it would be close to impossible not to feel motherly towards him, and, if he didn’t have a mother, things would’ve been worse. “I’ll check if I know anyone in the admissions office to see the status of your application.” Nina offered, although she was positively sure Adrian would tell her she didn’t have to. 

After a quick chat, they ended up going on their separate ways to enjoy their evenings. Since she knew his friends would be around, Nina didn’t want to play the overbearing parent who was always around their offspring. Because she wasn’t that person... and she definitely wasn’t Adrian’s mother. 

The night was going on smoothly until the lights went off, people started screaming and this one scream in particular was heard. As soon as the lights went back on, Nina followed Adrian’s scent as if her life depended on it. Once she found him, she pulled him into a hug. “Oh, thank God you’re okay.” Pulling away, she cupped his face in her hands. “You’re okay, aren’t you?”