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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[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.