Krave, Echo Bay, California, Saturday Night

[napking]

Krave was a warehouse in an industrial area, seemingly innocuous except for the parking lot full of cars in the middle of a Saturday night.

And the bass you could hear thumping through the walls as you approached the building. Also that.

A bouncer greeted the brothers as they approached, and then eyed Arden. "She human?"

"She's my friend," Gray said, which got him a narrow-eyed, suspicious look at the non-answer.

"Is she old enough to be here?"

"I dunno, man," Raiden told him. "You know we don't know that human age shit. She's in college?"

The guy thought about it for a moment, then said, "Eh, close enough. 21 is a stupid number, anyway. All right, Gray's friend, here are the rules. No fighting. Anyone in a fight will be made to leave. If you get in over your head, someone's hassling you, they won't back off, tell an employee."

"But first tell 'em you're with us," Raiden put in.

"Yeah, that works, too." He paused, then said, "There are no other rules. Have a nice night." He stepped aside and opened the door in one motion, gesturing them into the club.

At first glance, it might seem like any other nightclub. Music with bass that rattled your bones, green, blue, and purple lights flitting across the packed dance floor, bar stations along the walls, a sweet and smoky smell like incense hanging in the air. But when one looked closer, it was...different.

On a couch to the right, a woman exposed her slender neck as a man sunk his teeth into her throat, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Another man bit the opposite side of her neck, and her blissed-out expression said she wasn't having a bad time here. Another woman flitted around the room at an impossible speed, and when she stopped for a moment to talk to a group of people, small translucent wings trailing a glittery substance were visible on her back. In the corner, two men were making out, and when one slapped the wall clawlike fingernails were visible, protruding from his skin.

There were beings with blue skin and some with green. Some had small horns jutting from their heads, while others had tails. Men danced on raised platforms in various shades of undress. Gray gestured to one of them, a slender, gorgeous Nephilim with bronzed skin and dark hair, just as the dancer released his wings, shades of green mingling with the black feathers. "That's Daman." So Arden had sort of kind of met all seven brothers after all! Gray turned and grinned at her. "Welcome to Krave."

(For that totally-a-human-she-swears. NFB due to distance. Part of this post adapted from book one of my dumb Nephilim books, Galen.)

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[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden, wearing the gold dress that has won unanimous approval from Kamala and Cal. It had also been the deciding factor in which of Castor's other cars they'd taken tonight, because obviously they had to take the car that matched her outfit. Obviously.

Cars as the ultimate accessory was a new one to Arden. Being rich making the family more alien than being Nephilim ever could sure was continuing apace. (That being said, Arden did think it was a cool and sweet gesture, even if it was just to keep Castor from having to decide otherwise. And, she has to say, getting out of a gold luxury car in a gold dress with gold strapoy heels and glimmering in gold body glitter did make her feel cool af, so points to Castor for that, too. For men who were Avatars of deadly sins, Gray's family seemed pretty much as kind as he and Professor Raiden were and she liked them.)

"Holy shit," Arden said, looking around with wide eyes. The people making out made her flush a bit and quickly glance away, Daman's dancing also had that effect (dear Gray's brothers, please stop being so hot and also so unavailable, it's rude), and she seemed a bit surprised to see so many varieties of supernatural folks in here, but, the very sharp might realize that she didn't seem surprised by them. People having claws or wings or fangs didn't seem to throw her off at all.

On the other hand, they knew she was friends with sentient smoke who sometimes looked like a woman, so maybe her lack-of-reaction to the supernatural was taken as a given.

"You were not kidding when you said this place was awesome," she said, still drinking it all in. And then immediately darting her eyes away as one of the people in the booth she'd just glanced at started slid below the table with a wicked smile at their seatmate. "And...um, a lot," she added.

Like, a lot, a lot. But in a good way? Certainly in a new way and that was as exciting even as it was a little nerve-wracking.

Not that she had anything to be nervous about. She had the protection of Gray and his brothers. What could possibly go wrong?

"All right," she said. "We're in possibly the coolest club in the world. What do we do first?"

[thecursedsons]

"We drink!" Raiden exclaimed as he came back from the nearest bar with a tray of shots in hand.

Bellamy took the closest shot, downed it, and said, "Arden absolutely does not drink that. It has ambrosia in it." To Arden, he explained, "It'll knock a human on their ass."

Raiden just shrugged at that. "More for me!"

Bellamy looked like he was about to say something else, but then a woman in a corset and extremely short skirt wound her arms around his waist from behind and whispered something in his ear, and he changed gears and allowed himself to be dragged off with a quick, "Have fun!"

"Gray," someone said from behind them. "Who's your friend?"

[napking]

If Arden turned around with Gray, she would see a friendly-looking blond man with purple eyes looking expectant at them. "Oh, this is Arden," Gray said, reaching over to loop his arm through Arden's. "She's my friend from school."

The man's eyebrow rose. "I thought you went to a human high school." He sounded like this was a completely baffling choice, because, well. It was.

"I blinked and it's a college now," Gray said with a shrug. "I dunno. She's in college. Arden, this is Konnar. This is his club."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden was pretty sure she shouldn't drink the thing with ambrosia in it. She had no idea about her alcohol tolerance; maybe it was the same as an actual human's. But she was also heartily getting tired of not knowing anything. Maybe she was like a Nephilim and couldn't get drunk on anything that wasn't special. It seemed unlikely, but she didn't know. Callista, Duke, and Grimm hadn't exactly been forthcoming with details, and all the other Elementals had been slaughtered before she'd been born, so she was working with a real dearth of information here.

Fortunately, Konnar walked up before Arden could make up her mind to do anything stupid in the name of scientific curiosity. "Hi," she said, extending a slim hand to Konnar to shake. Hopefully that wasn't some kind of weird faux pas in this world or something. "I'm Arden," she repeated. "Gray was one of the first people I met when I started college last year, so I have free rein to tease him about his terrible taste in guys and even worse pickup lines." She gave Gray a saucy grin, the expression transferring to Konnar as she glanced back at him.

Purple eyes? That was just fucking unfair.

"Nice to meet you. I've been in your club maybe three minutes and it's already overwhelming, but, like, in the best way." Her smile fell away as she grew a little more serious. "I'm also not here to start - or cause - any problems. Just have a fun night out with my friend who is too baby-faced to get his flirt on at our school."

[napking]

"Oh, I see," Gray complained as Arden shook Konnar's hand (Which might be a bit cooler than a normal person's? Or might not! Canon loves to be vague!) "I see how it is. Everybody picks on Gray."

Konnar gave them both a smile that was very careful not to show any fang. "He should be used to it by now," he told Arden. "And he does have just the worst pickup lines." Gray squawked in outrage, but Konnar ignored that. "If you find yourself overwhelmed, you can ask one of the staff to direct you to Alastair."

"Yeah, he's hiding," Castor tossed in before he wandered off in the direction of the dance floor.

"He prefers the atmosphere of my private lounge," Konnar said.

"Which is diplomatic for 'he's hiding,'" Gray translated for Arden.

The corners of Konnar's mouth tipped up, and he did not argue. "Please, be welcome. Have fun. Tell my staff your drinks are on these reprobates' tab."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"It's not my fault that all the guys you like should be on the subreddit Fuck Yeah, Craggy Dudes," Arden teased. She wasn't going to mention the actual pickup line, though. See, Gray? She had your back. That was real friendship there.

"Thank you," she said, leaving off the 'sir' with a real effort of willpower. "And absolutely. I've been looking forward to tonight for weeks now."

In between bouts of anxiety, but who needed to hear about that?

She grabbed a shot to down in a kind of cheers gesture, but paused. "...Do they all have ambrosia in them?" she checked.

Curiosity or not, it didn't seem like the best time to get sloppy drunk.

[carbsliftthespirit]

Raiden leaned over and sniffed the shot. "Uh, that one's got blood in it," he said, and took it away from Arden and downed it for himself. Look, maybe she was into that kind of thing, he didn't know, some humans were, but the more for him the merrier.

He snagged a glass from a passing waiter and, after giving it the ol' test sniff, handed it off to Arden. "This one is human-friendly."

He was a helper! He was helping.

Konnar gave Arden another closed-mouth smile and a nod, and silently took his leave. Running this three-ring circus took a lot of work, after all. And if he gave Gray a What did you bring into my club? look on his way past, well, that was between him and Gray.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

A PERFECTLY NORMAL HUMAN GIRL WHO WOULD IN NO WAY CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS IS WHAT!

"Thanks," she said, giving Prof--giving Raiden a smile. She tentatively took the shot glass, trying to hold it the way she'd seen him grab the last few, and then said, "And I just drink it all in one go?"

You know, in case Raiden was wondering how much experience she had with drinking.

She didn't wait for an answer, just tossed it back the way she'd seen him do it. And successfully managed not to cough until after she'd swallowed, saving herself from a party foul. "It burns!" she gasped out, laughing. "I don't even know what it tasted like, all I could taste was burning!"

Magic? Just regular alcohol? Who knew!

[napking]

"It's okay if you don't like it," Gray assured her. "I don't really like alcohol. It makes me sleepy." So many things make you sleepy, Gray. "But maybe you should try some more to see if we can find something you do like...?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Absolutely," Arden said. "If I could find even one drink that I like, I can stop ordering cokes with limes in it to make me look like I'm drinking." She looked thoughtful. "Can I have, like, a sip of the ambrosia?" she asked Gray in an undertone. "I wanna see what it's like."

If Raiden overheard, he'd probably just think she was a human trying to push her limits, right? Instead of a sylph trying to find them.

[napking]

Gray looked around checking for his brothers paying attention, and finding none, Raiden having gotten distracted talking to some wolf 'shifter friends of his, he said, "Sure," and handed her one of the ambrosia-laced shots. "Just a sip, okay? We really don't know what it'll do to you."

Did somebody have like a magic Epipen, just in case?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden nodded fervently. "Just a sip," she promised. "I don't actually wanna spend the whole time, like, on the floor or whatever."

New goal: last more than ten minutes at a club without proving she can't handle her shit.

She took the tiniest sip, basically little more than wetting her lips and tongue and, yeah, good call. Warmth blossomed in her veins unfurling through her whole body, and she felt a rush like adrenaline but better. Something inside her yanked on it eagerly, demanding more, and when she looked at Gray, her eyes were blazing a bright gold. Her curls fluttered in a breeze that came from nowhere, carrying the scent of ozone and an oncoming storm. She blinked and shook her head slightly, eyes turning their normal amber, the breeze fading, her scent returning to its usual petrichor under cocoa butter. "Yeah, um. I think that was plenty," she said, a little faintly. Her head was still swimming a bit, body vibrating, but her powers were locked back down tightly. "Bellamy was right about the kick."

[napking]

"Uh," Gray said. "Yeah, I think...I think maybe you shouldn't have any more of that..."

Normal alcohol should be fine, though, right?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Why wouldn't it be? It was just normal alcohol!

"It tasted really good," she said, a little wistful before shaking her head because absolutely not. "Is there, like, Diet Ambrosia? All the flavor none of the...that?"

She waited until Raiden was done talking to his were friend - or, at least, for there to be a lull in the conversation that she felt comfortable interrupting - before asking him, "Do you have any suggestions?" she asked. "For someone who doesn't know what she likes to drink yet? Uh, current preferences are just 'doesn't taste like burning.'"

[carbsliftthespirit]

"Sure!" Raiden exclaimed cheerfully. Always happy to help someone find what they like. "There are lots of cocktails that don't really taste like alcohol. You could order a hurricane," he suggested, the drink probably brought to mind by their trip to New Orleans a few weeks ago. "That just tastes like fruit juice." Which made it super dangerous, but Raiden didn't think in those terms.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh, I've got to try a hurricane," Arden said, amused by the irony but unaware of just how deep it was going to go. "And drinks that taste like juice sound baller. Thanks, sss-Raiden!" Another averted 'sir'! She was doing so good!

This whole night was going to be a learning experience. Especially learning that 'drinks that don't taste like alcohol will fuck you up. Count carefully.'

"Okay, what do you say?" she asked. "Get me a hurricane and then we head to the floor to dance for a bit?"

[napking]

Gray's wariness at whatever that had been a minute ago was gone, replaced by enthusiasm. "Sounds like a plan!" he said.

Especially because he was aware of several tops guys of his acquaintance out on the dance floor who were also clearly aware he was around. He wasn't going to be the bad friend who abandoned Arden to get laid, but maybe he could make plans for later, if he didn't fall asleep before then?

Hurricane (the drink, not the...yeah) obtained, a few minutes later they headed to the dance floor.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

And on the dance floor, everything was, well, golden. The first hurricane - drunk much too quickly - made her forget to be nervous. The second helped her forget her feet hurt in these stupid (but so pretty) heels. The third pushed her to the last fringes of tipsy.

The dancing. Oh, the dancing was so good. She was surrounded by very pretty people who were all interested in getting to know (or, at least, 'know') Gray's new friend, a human who'd come into Krave. Lights were flashing, the bass was pounding, bodies were moving...it was like getting swept away, but in the very best way. No thinking, no worrying--head empty, no thoughts, just rhythm and music.

A waiter brought her a fourth hurricane, compliments of a very pretty vampire at the bar. Arden took it, waving her thanks and offering them a wink, before drinking half of it in one go. She was so hot and dehydrated that the cool drink tasted heavenly.

That fourth drink pushed her over the edge from tipsy to drunk. And chaos rose.

And twisted.

[napking]

Okay, it wasn't Gray's fault that he'd gotten distracted! A lot of tops guys were excited to see him after he'd been away for so long! And Arden had seemed okay? Every time he'd checked in on her she'd been drinking a hurricane and dancing, and how the heck was he supposed to know how many of those things she'd had?

But now... "Uh, Arden?"

Bellamy demanded to know, "What is going on out there??"

"I don't know!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden was in the middle of a knot of people that seemed to just keep growing. She'd never been so popular before! When she made eye contact with Gray, her eyes were a brilliant gold once more.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" she called with a happy grin, her North Carolina drawl in full force and made thicker by alcohol. She tried to push through the throng, but found it harder going than expected. Maybe the hurricanes? Everything was a bit...hmm. Blurry? "Hey, 'scuse me. Lemme through? Tryna get to my friend. Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Hi! Come to dance - hey, 'scuse me, that's my leg not yours - with us?" She beckoned him and then turned to frown at someone. "DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR!"

Goddess, she hated it when people touched her hair without permission. And for once, she felt no hesitation in calling someone out for it.

"Graaaaay! Graaaay, we're dancin'!" Wow, when had so many people gotten on the floor? She was starting to feel a little claustrophobic with all the bodies packed around her and it was getting harder to see Gray through the throng. She waved an arm at him, before someone - oh, the vampire from the bar! - snagged it and dragged their fangs over her skin. Not a bite, but a flirtatious precursor to one, it felt like.

"Gray?"

[napking]

"Ray, I might need some help over here," Gray requested as he started trying to peel people out of the group around Arden so he could actually get to her.

"Uh, hey, Arden? I think maybe we should go sit down for a--hey! You know the rules! No biting!" Okay, she wasn't biting yet but Gray didn't trust her as far as he could throw her.

Granted, he could throw her a pretty good ways if he got in the mood.

Gray resumed his appeal to Arden, "Don't you think we should go take a break?" He couldn't make her sleepy--well, actually he could, if it worked on her (unknown) and if he could get to her to touch her (presenting difficulties)--but he could appeal to sympathy, maybe?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yeah," Arden said, eyes still a burnished gold like old coins. "I think I'm tired of--hey, leggo! Let me--" Pushing through the crowd felt like she was trying to swim upstream, a lot of effort for very little gain. People were pulling at her now, hands tugging on her dress, her arms, her shoulders, tangling in her hair again. She could feel mouths on her, too, pressing kisses, flicking tongues, nipping at her skin, though no one had broken through yet. "I'm with him!" she yelled, pointing to Gray. "I'm with the Nephilim!"

Funny. She thought that would work better. It gained her maybe a foot as common sense warred with whatever was wrong with people, but soon hands were grasping once more. "Stop it!"

Fear was fighting the alcohol in her blood and burning away the haze in her brain, but it was far too late for that. Chaos - literally - reigned.

[carbsliftthespirit]

Hey, you know what this situation needed? 6'7" of muscle that could not even conceive of being attracted to Arden (though he was sure that she was perfectly nice for a female). "Okay, nope!" Raiden declared as he shoved through the throng to reach Arden. "We are not doing whatever the hell this is today! Sylvie, what the fuck, you know the rules!"

"Hi," he said to Arden, and then bent to scoop her up in his arms so they could exit this mess. "MAKE A HOLE!" he demanded in a shout designed to carry across a battlefield.

Daman had winged down from his suspended dancing platform and landed beside Gray, ready to provide backup if anyone decided to not cooperate with making a hole.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

In this moment, Raiden was her very favorite person in the whole world. She clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder, trying to make herself as small as possible while people still tried to grab for her.

Again, there was a waver through the crowd, torn between trying to keep her and listening to the very big Nephilim and for a moment it seemed like Gray and Daman would need to interceded anyway, but even Chaos couldn't completely trump self-preservation, and people fell back. They kept watching, however, and as Raiden moved, they followed, albeit at a slight remove.

"What. Is. Happening?" Arden whispered. "Why are they like this?"

[napking]

"You think I know?" Gray asked as he fell into step with Raiden, Daman falling back to dissuade pursuit.

Konnar met them on the edge of the dance floor, looking, shall we say, much less friendly than he had previously. "Follow me, please," he said, and led them to an elegantly appointed private lounge with its own bar and sitting area, where Alastair was waiting, sipping a glass of red wine and looking completely unruffled as if he'd been certain all along that they had everything completely under control.