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.)

Comments

[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.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden cringed against Raiden slightly at Konnar's expression but followed along. Not that she really had much of a choice. Not even considering that any of them could probably trivially grab her before she got a few steps in any direction, she didn't want to go back out to where the crowd was.

It had felt like she'd been in a zombie movie. She was okay with never feeling that way again.

When Raiden set her down in the lounge, she stayed put, looked around with amber eyes, noting how people arranged themselves, especially Gray and Raiden. Did they stay by her, did they stand closer to Konnar and Alastair, or did they range themselves away, curious but neutral?

[napking]

"You bring such interesting people to my club," Konnar said as he moved toward the bar, at the same time as Alastair said mind-to-mind to Gray,

"Completely ordinary human, huh?" He didn't have to sound so amused about it, even if you'd never guess it from his face.

Gray tugged Arden with him to sit on the couch across from Alastair, because hi, if they were at the principal's office here obviously they were at the principal's office together, and Raiden got immediately distracted by the dish of chocolates on the coffee table.

"Okay, I didn't know that was gonna happen!" Gray protested, and Raiden shoved the dish at Arden.

"Want one?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Sorry, Raiden, you had once more been replaced by Gray in her affections. Not having to face this alone made her pathetically grateful and her eyes nearly welled up because of it. She sat, one hand reaching for Gray's before it fell, joining the other as it bunched in the short skirt of her dress. And then shook her head at Raiden. "No thank you," she whispered, her stomach in knots. "But if it would be okay, umm, water?"

There was still a lot of hurricane left in her system.

"Excuse me, but, um. I still don't know what happened?"

[carbsliftthespirit]

Raiden jiggled the dish at her and asked, "You sure?"

Konnar came back from the bar, or rather the minifridge behind said bar, with a bottle of water, which he handed to Arden before taking his customary seat in the chair at one end of the seating arrangement. "That makes all of us," he said. "Nothing quite like that has ever happened in my club before, and there was only one new variable tonight, Miss Finch."

"It's something that could have happened to Bellamy," Alastair put in. "Before he got his power under control. However, he was having a threesome in his room...and still is, I believe."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I might throw up," she admitted to Raiden, which would just be the perfect fucking cap on the evening. "But thank you."

And Konnar got another murmured, "Thank you," as she took the bottle, cracking the cap and taking the smallest sip before closing it again.

"I'm not an Avatar of Lust, though," Arden said, shaking her head. "I'm not an Avatar of anything. I'm just...just...me."

She looked around, giving Gray an agonized expression for a second before she forced out the next words, feeling like each one was fighting her the whole time.

"Just a sylph."

[thecursedsons]

"And what exactly is that?" Konnar asked, glancing at Alastair, who shook his head minutely.

"Fiction," he said. "In this universe, at least. Air spirits from the work of Paracelsus. Sixteenth century."

Raiden had sat down on the couch on Arden's other side and was now steadily making his way through the chocolates. You'd had your chance, Arden.

[napking]

Gray shot Arden a 'Do you want me to take this?' look.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Have them with her blessing, Raiden. Hell, if she got back to the island unscathed, she might be sending you more.

Arden again gave Gray a mutely grateful look, but shook her head slightly. She'd already gotten him in enough trouble tonight, even if technically this one wasn't on her. "And in my universe, we're uh. I'm not sure. I think some kind of genetic aberration or something? My mother was a djinn, and my father was human, and I'm not either. Or even half of either? I'm a completely different thing. An elemental." She nodded to Alastair. "An air elemental. I do stuff with, um. Air. And wind. Which, um, is also air, I guess..."

Brilliantly put, Arden.

[napking]

"And with my patrons," Konnar observed mildly.

Gray was just going to step in here in his friend's defense. "Arden was orphaned at a young age, and she doesn't know any other sylphs. Apparently they all got murdered where she's from. Her home universe is really murder happy."

"Ah," Alastair said, and that was all. Just 'ah.'

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden quavered with the desire to not yell that she had not affected anyone.

She took another drink of her water. "I don't know why, but the first law of the Otherside - the name of supernaturals in my universe - is that elementals are to be exterminated on sight," she said, miserable. "I don't know if...I think I might be the only one left? I don't know. And most of my training was devoted to locking all my power down and burying myself so far under shields that nobody could tell I was anything other than human. Because pretending to be human is the only way to keep me from getting found by the Duskwatch and getting killed outright or, uh. Being given to a vampire for a blood pet, though, uh. My dead body has to be produced in three days...nobody needed that much detail, oh goddess, I'm so sorry, I'm just rambling and more than a little drunk, but I really don't think that was me! I've never done anything like that before and I wouldn't even know how. Or what!"

[thecursedsons]

...wow. Hey, Arden. Arden, come here. Come here. What in the actual fuck?

"She's telling the truth," Alastair told Konnar. "She didn't know that was going to happen." And also, transparently, Gray was telling the truth about Arden's home universe being murder happy.

"Hm," Konnar said. "Very well then, Miss Finch, you are not heretofore banned from Krave. But perhaps stick to mocktails from now on."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden opened her mouth to protest again that it wasn't her, that her powers didn't work that way, but...she'd spent awhile tonight bemoaning how much she didn't know about herself and what she could do.

"I...I...that was really me?" More tears stood in her eyes and she looked to Gray to see if he agreed with that. "Because I never--I wouldn't ever--" She was still only partially aware of what had happened.

How was she so bad at drinking that she started some kind of sexy riot?

[napking]

Some people would argue that you had to be really good at drinking to start a sexy riot. Bellamy, for instance. Probably Castor. Raiden, sure, but he had his mouth full of chocolate.

"Well," Gray said, "now you know that you have a weird reaction to alcohol? And possibly also ambrosia."

"You gave her ambrosia?" Alastair asked, sitting up even straighter, which seemed like it shouldn't have even been possible. "Gray."

"It was just a little bit! And it's better that it happened here than in whatthefuck murderworld!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden didn't know if they even had ambrosia in her world, but that seemed like maybe something that needed to be said.

"Mocktails," Arden said fervently. "Definitely sticking to mocktails."

[thecursedsons]

Alastair set his wine glass down and declared, "I'm taking the two of you home," and then clarified, "Back to our house," lest Arden think he was threatening her or something.

And he'd thought the situation of the Nephilim was bad.

Gray wilted a little, because it looked like he wouldn't be getting laid this month, either, and Alastair gave him A Look. "Don't you even start."

"You didn't really think she was human, did you?

"Of course not, but that's not the point."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden also wilted, but she was looking Gray a little apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to cut your evening short." She looked at Konnar. "Or cause you any trouble. I honestly had no idea."

And then to Raiden and Alastair. "And for lying. And, uh. Asking Gray to lie to you, too."

[thecursedsons]

"I must admit to being unclear on why you insisted my brother lie to me," Alastair told her. "Sylphs are entirely fictional here. You are in no danger, and knowing ahead of time that you are not human but do not know your own powers would have helped us be more prepared to host you."

"I thought you just turned into a cloud of smoke like that lady Bells banged and I didn't get why Gray was being so cagey about it," Raiden admitted. Oh, look, all the candy was gone now.

"Gray and I are going to be having a conversation about need-to-know information," Alastair declared as he stood up, and if Gray looked extremely miserable about that, the good news was that it wasn't Arden's fault. The bad news was that he couldn't exactly explain that to Arden at present.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Not knowing why the misery existed just made Arden feel worse. "I can explain?" she offered. "If you wanted me to, I mean. I do have reasons?"

She just wasn't sure if they'd consider them good enough, at least in light of this whole mess.

[thecursedsons]

"By all means," Alastair said, wondering why Gray was such a wreck.

He would find out eventually, if by 'eventually' one meant 'a few years from now when fate hit him with a celestial steel chair.'

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Poor Gray. Just. So much therapy.

"Well...there's a couple of reasons," she said. "First, I do my best to always tell people that I'm human. I'm not great at lying, so the fewer people who know my secret that I have to keep track of is easiest for me. Also, the Detente says that telling anybody about the Otherside means that both the person who told and anybody that was told is in violation of the Detente and will be executed if the Duskwatch ever finds out. Which means nothing to me..." because oh noes! A second death sentence! What are they gonna do? Kill her harder? "...But I don't wanna put anyone else in danger. Even if it doesn't matter?"

Yeah, she didn't think the other Nephilim would care about what the Duskwatch would do if they ever found out.

"But, the biggest reason is because, um, Bellamy knows Grimm. Grimm helped raise me so she knows what I am, but I'm absolutely not supposed to be telling anyone. Because helping an elemental is also a death sentence, and so by telling people what I am, I'm also putting her in danger. So if she finds out that I'm telling people what I am, she'll freak out and, best case, she'll tell Callista where I am because I clearly can't be trusted to be by myself. And Callista..." She looked away. "My legal guardian. I. Uh. Ran away from her last year. For reasons."

[napking]

"The Detente isn't the thing with Nixon and Brezhnev," Gray piped in. "I already asked."

No one else had thought that, but they didn't say that.

"Miss Finch," Konnar said, almost gentle, "I just want to point out that we are in a different universe. And I think I speak for everyone here when I say that none of us want to go to your universe." A beat, and then added as an afterthought, "No offense meant."

"I could go there," Gray muttered.

"Please do not," Alastair said.

"Oh, what are they gonna do? Stab me? They probably don't even have celestial steel."

"'Probably' is doing a concerning amount of lifting there."

"Furthermore," Konnar continued, pretending he couldn't tell when the brothers were having a mind-to-mind conversation by now, "Bellamy does not generally issue repeat performances, so I wouldn't worry overmuch about him and your...Grimm."

"She was fancy, though," Raiden pointed out.

"So I'll tell him not to," Alastair said, unconcerned by Grimm's fanciness.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"But you all come to the island sometimes," Arden points out quietly. "So even if no one in my world would come here, there's no saying they won't try something there." A beat. "And Gray is on the island."

And Gray was vulnerable when he was asleep. And sure, Raiden was also there, but he didn't know what was happening to Gray all the time.

"None taken, by the way. My universe sucks. I know that. Finding out as a kid that there's a bounty on your head because of how you were born kinda makes that real clear." Which was why she'd ended up in a galaxy at war for twenty years! Still the better option.

[napking]

Moving really was her best option!

"I would just like to point out that there's only one thing that can kill me and people from other universes probably don't know what it is," Gray muttered. "Just for the record." He already had six overprotective big brothers, Arden. The overprotecting Gray slots were full up, he swore. Ignore the way Alastair softened incrementally at the notion that Arden was trying to protect Gray. Ugh. See if he gave you a fun birthday present that backfired horribly next year.

"We're happy to lie to people from your universe for you," Alastair assured her, and Raiden nodded enthusiastically. "I'll speak to Bellamy in particular."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"They could take you," Arden pointed out. "I don't know if they could keep you, but I'd prefer if they didn't take you anyway."

She wasn't trying to protect you (exactly), Gray! But you were her friend and she didn't want bad things to happen you. Especially not things that were because of her.

And besides, she had a whole year to convince you that she deserved a fun birthday present that backfired horribly!

"If they set up an exchange, what do you think I'd do?"

IT WOULD BE SOMETHING STUPID, GRAY. SELF-SACRIFICING AND STUPID.

[carbsliftthespirit]

Of course it would, Arden, because you were an urban fantasy heroine. You didn't have a choice about such things. However, "You'd tell me," Raiden said, because he was not having any stupid self-sacrificing on his watch. "And I'd get my brothers, and we'd go get our brother back."

"Assuming he hadn't gotten himself back already, which is a very big assumption," Alastair said. "If it will set you at ease, Miss Finch, I give Gray permission to do whatever is necessary to free himself if these...people do manage to take him." There was an odd sort of reverb in his voice on the words 'whatever is necessary' that Arden, with her keen hearing, miiiiiight pick up on.

"We'll have to put it to a vote," Raiden reminded him.

"I'm sure the others will agree."

Gray hunched his shoulders defensively and asked, "Do I get a vote?"

"Of course, Smalls," Raiden assured him. "We just assumed your vote would be for not staying with the tent people any longer than necessary." It was the Detente, Raiden.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It was really annoying, being an urban fantasy heroine. Sometimes you saw a grenade and just couldn't help but throw yourself on it, even when there was a perfectly good Grenade Containment Device right next to you. Probably bringing you to various locations to eat delicious food on the weekly.

Arden looked very curious about what they were talking about, but again, this seemed less like a time to ask.

Instead, she just nodded. "Sorry," she said. "I'm not used to...Uh. Never mind."

Look, she'd had a decade of 'if you're dumb enough to get yourself caught by the Duskwatch, we're not going to save you' drummed into her head. Remembering that there were other people that could help - other families that wouldn't hesitate to go into danger for one of their own - was kind of an uphill battle.

"If anything like that ever happens, you'll be the first person I call," she promised Raiden, which was much better and more decisive than continuing to explain bits of her tragic backstory to these nice people who all had their own and yet managed to be competent about things anyway.

[thecursedsons]

The Grenade Containment Device even had 'make sure there's a non-poultry option for Arden,' written in his notes for the class, Arden!

"Well," Alastair said. "If you're confident you can travel without vomiting in my car, how about we go home and you can sleep this off?" And in the morning, Raiden would make breakfast. The dream.

It helped that everyone else in this conversation wasn't a teenager, even if one of them had, for reasons the rest of them found absolutely baffling, opted to pose as one. You grew out of dramatics eventually, or your brothers all mocked you without mercy until you did better. One of those.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

And here, canon wasn't kind enough to give Arden siblings to laugh at her and call her a dumbass until she wised up. Tragedy.

Arden paused to take stock of her stomach. It didn't seem to be terribly sloshy and she nodded. "I think I'll be okay. Though if maybe I could use the bathroom first?"

She thought about the dancefloor.

"...Is there one for this lounge?" Otherwise, she could hold it.

[napking]

Canon was deeply inconsiderate that way.

"Right this way," Konnar, who didn't have an icon, said, standing up to show her the way to the bathroom. "Remember to hydrate, dear," he told her, "and if you have any painkillers with you place them by your bed before you sleep. This lot don't have to worry about hangovers for more than twenty minutes, but who knows for you." Yes, he was a vampire, but you didn't last in the nightclub business without knowing a few things.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Thank you very much," Arden said, appreciating the consideration he was showing her. "Um. If it's okay, can I apologize one last time? You don't have to accept! I just really do feel awful about it--" and that she could do it at all, what the fuck magic??? "--and you've been nothing but kind."

All of them had.

Regardless of his answer, Arden used the facilities, splashing water on her face after washing her hands (it did nothing for her makeup, but looking pretty was not high on her priorities list), and then returned, ready to head back to the brothers' place and just climb into bed. Maybe she'd wake up tomorrow and they'd tell her that she'd drunk too much, passed out, hit her head on the ground, and all of this had been a concussion!

The fucking dream, yo.