undergrounds | do you fly in the day, darling

[A June catch-all! Pick an option and say hello, or start something more specific in the comments. Hit me up on plurk if you want a specific starter!]

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A Just another Saturday night out, Nancy's lips painted blood red and staining the side of her low-ball glass. Her legs are crossed at the ankles, black pumps and fishnets on full display under her short leather skirt. It's a night out, another night working. People around here knew who she was, what she offered. It was easier in supernatural bars, Nancy knew, to find vampires looking for a feeding, or even just a john wanting some company.

She props an elbow up on the bar, and looks down the the way, eyes peeled for any familiar, or unfamiliar, face. She'll just try not to think about how great it would be to be watching Netflix right now instead of work.

B Do you believe in fate, baby, ask me, ask me, the music played in her earbuds as Nancy jogged in place at a cross-walk. Trainers on her feet and hair pulled up in a pony-tail, she was doing her usual exercise routine. Always good to be fast on your feet, she'd learned as a child, and running was a great way to keep that up. Even if she had ways to get away, her feet were still just as important.

Besides, there was something relaxing about running, she'd found. She could shove the world away and concentrate on the music and running and the city. She'd found her way down to the Thames, and was running on the paths near it, past youths with skateboards and graffiti'd walls, business men grabbing a bite to eat right outside the Globe. It was astounding the way the culture and history blended together so seamlessly. She'd never get over that.

The light turned green, and on she ran.

C Choose your own! Private starters in the comments.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's something I think we can both agree on." She extended her pinky again in a show of solidarity. Team Keep Stiles From Dying! Too bad it wasn't catchy enough for t-shirts.

"Me, too." So her best friend was Canadian. Close enough, right? "Summer's start of tourist season. You get used to it."

Heiji returned the gesture with a smile. "Wonder if he'd be put out if he knew about it, though. I mean, he don't seem super proud, but you never know." At the very least, Stiles was one of the less prickly personalities he knew here.

"I guess ya do. First time I got here, I thought someone was throwin' a festival and I didn't get the memo."

"He'd be devastated. We'll just make sure he never finds out." She beams over at him, teeth white when they flash through the smile.

"You're a funny guy, Heiji," she says with a laugh, her ponytail bobbing slightly as she turns towards him. "Next time there is one, I'll throw you a memo, how's that?"

Well, those certainly were some pearly whites. "I'd appreciate it! Don't actually know much about holidays around these parts. I'd hate to show up as the only one who wasn't in on the joke. Speakin' of which, Christmas is pretty big around here, right? You eat dinner with family?"

"Yeah, it is- that's in December, so we've got over six months to go. Usually, yeah." She'd go over to Fagin's and eat with the boy, and then go to work because lonely people existed, too. She generally made a killing.

Heiji smiled. "Yeah, it's totally different in Japan. People spend Christmas with their date. Or if you're not seein' anyone, it's kinda a tradition to go to KFC."

K...FC? Like the fast food chicken place?

Yes.

Wait. "The American chicken place?" She repeated with a blink. "That's-" Actually kinda what they did on Christmas.

The big celebration for Fagin was Hanukah, despite being Fae. Christmas, their dinners tended to be take-out chinese. But they had them, anyway, as many of the boys weren't Jewish. It was only fair.

"That sounds standard for me. Christmas is always Chinese food- I was raised Jewish, so it's just a quick dinner with the boys that celebrate it."

"Yeah, they ran a great marketing campaign back in the day. So now it's kinda like a tradition." Thanks, America.

He brightened as Nancy mentioned Chinese food for Christmas. "Oh, I heard about that! 'Cause they're the places that're still open on Christmas. Who're the 'boys', though?"

"that's amazing. yeah- exactly. and go to the movies, that's another part of it." they didn't bother to spend the money on films. they just pirated them.

"they're... something like my foster brothers. Live with the man that raises me."

"Oh yeah?" Heiji had to consider that for a second. Like her foster brothers? The man who was raising her? Wouldn't that be a father or foster father...? Apparently there was a slightly unusual situation going on there. Would it be rude to ask about it? Probably.

"Well, quick or not, I'm glad ya got someone to celebrate the holidays with. Hope they ain't get on your nerves too much; brothers can be a pain in the butt."

Yeah, it would be. And it was complicated, anyway. She was never comfortable calling Fagin Dad. Her real father was somewhere out there, and he was not Fagin. And the boys... Bless them, they deserved so much better than that old devil.

Right. Anyway.

"Yeah- thanks. I am, too. But they're amazing, for the most part." Don't tell anyone but Dodger was her favorite. Then probably Charley Bates. "But! It's alright, 'cause we've got six months yet till the holidays."

"Yeah, and plenty of time to buy presents. If you ain't a procrastinator, that is." Surprisingly, Heiji wasn't much of one himself. When you had to buy a lot of presents, it was best to start looking early.

"If," she says pointedly. Days tended to blur together more often than not for her, and as a result: accidental procrastination.

"So what are you up to for the rest of the day?"

"Me?" He took a second to think this over. "I got a new book or two, maybe I'll give it a read. Or swing by this hardware store; turns out I know one of the clerks there and he didn't tell me where he worked. I'd say that's worthy of a bit of investigation!"

In other words, he was going to bother someone.

"What are you planning on investigating at the hardware store? Just the clerk?" She paused for a moment. "Wait- that was awfully questiony of me." She needed to stop hanging out with Stiles and Kenzi, she was making up words again. "You don't have to answer, if you don't want to."

"Well, the clerk is pretty cute, if you're into that kinda thing," Heiji admitted. He smiled; no harm, no foul.

"But nah. I'm mostly just goin' there to bug him. He's got a mouth like ditch water. I don't mean foul language, just... y'know, subtlety isn't his strong suit and you wouldn't believe the rude stuff that keeps fallin' out of his face."

"I don't date," Nancy said with a wrinkling of her nose. It would just get way, way too complicated. At least, unless someone knew her, knew what she did and was okay with it. She figured that was pretty rare.

"Well that'll be an interesting afternoon, at least!"

So the only one dating humans around here was the fae, sounded legit. "Yeah, I keep hearin' that from people. Anyway, I guess I better get going. Nice catchin' up with ya, though!"

Oh, it wasn't just humans. Just... everyone.

"Of course. Shoot me a text or something sometime. Thanks for the walking break!"

do you fly in the day, darling

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