undergrounds | The Fool On The Hill

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The Fool On The Hill

A. Cooper needed to get out more. This was quite apparent to him as word reached him of Millicent’s latest plans. Letting her vamps run wild seemed like a bad, bad idea to him. He knew a thing or two about losing control and knew none of it ever came to any good. There was no fool like an old fool. Not that Cooper would ever say such words aloud where they could get back to Miss High ‘n Mighty. He liked living, thank you very much. There was nothing to do but go for a ride. He dusted off one of his motorcycles and took off into the night.

After a few blocks, any worries he had seemed to be far away. The only one he currently had was avoiding the suicidal public, who seemed determined to walk in the middle of the road. He yelled out in annoyance at the latest person to get in his way. “Hey! Get your head outta your arse and move it!” When would he learn to keep his mouth shut? Probably never.

B. Leaving the bike behind, he hit the local pubs. It occurred to Cooper that he was a bit peckish. Seeing as how he was out of contact with his usual blood donor, he was going to need someone else to bite into. It didn’t take long for his eyes to land on someone who looked like they might be up for being used as a blood bag. He sidled on up to them and crossed his fingers there were no overzealous hunters working in this part of town.

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"Good." She almost smiles at the thought of it. Almost. Honestly, she didn't think she was going to live a very long life. This past year was proof enough of that.

"You did a really crummy thing." At least he admits it. But. "I'm stubborn, you know that. I don't forgive easy. But..." She gives him just the sliest of smiles, because she does miss him terribly. "But I think I'd rather be happy to see you than fight right now."

Without him firing back at her, besides, it took a lot of fun out of fighting. "But seriously, where the hell have you been?"

Cooper reaches out a hand and tugs on her arm until she's seated beside him. "Keepin' my head low. I decided gettin' turned into a furry rat-dog was a sign that perhaps I needed to take a step back 'n reevaluate my priorities. I've just been doing my duties for the nest and not much else." It's been boring, but at least he hasn't been cursed again or gone on a fae blood bender.

He twists a strand of Nancy's red hair around his finger. "I don't suppose the same can be said for you. Why'd you end up moving?"

It feels so natural to come sit next to him on the couch, it doesn't even take much to get her to sit. "I'm just glad you're safe," she tells him, with a warm smile.

Her eyes dart to where his fingers are in her hair, but she says nothing. She likes when he plays with her hair, always has. "I was no longer welcome there." She didn't want to worry him, this time, telling him about the time she spent in the hospital.

Cooper continues to run his fingers through her hair. She always smells so good, especially to his vampiric senses. Probably has to do with keeping up appearances in her line of work.

"What happened? Do I have to go punch someone?" Cooper's solution to all of life's problems: if you hit someone in the face enough times, eventually the problem goes away.

She was lucky, too. She did actually happen to care about how she looked.

It's so great to be back in Cooper's arms, leaning her head just slightly on his shoulder. "Please don't punch anyone- Eames already punched Fagin for it, I don't need another person getting in trouble for hitting what looks like an old man." She just... doesn't want to tell him he was the man that put her in the hospital, leading to removing her from her apartment.

Cooper knew that Fagin was bad news. Of course, most fae were, but Nancy had given him enough details to paint in a vivid picture. He had just started dipping his toes back into supernatural affairs and wasn't about to run off and do something stupid. "Well, I've learned a lesson about stayin' away from the likes of him. I've no desire to end up bein' turned into a bug or gettin' squashed like one either."

"You were so cute, though," she tells him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"D'you want something to drink?" She asks, suddenly. "I could use a gin." She wasn't offering her veins to him. Not yet. But she would.

"If you've got any scotch, I'll take some. Or, y'know, anything at all. I'm easy that way." Cooper shifts as Nancy gets up to make the drinks. It's so easy to fall back into the same routines with her. It makes him think of the last time he had fed on her, an experience that makes a faint flush appear on his pale cheeks. There was always a sexual element, feeding off of people, and Nancy was no exception. Indeed, with her, there was something just a little bit...more.

"Who do you take me for?" She asks him, glancing over her shoulder. She exits into the kitchen, and a few moments later is back with two glasses, a scotch and a gin.

She remembered when he'd last fed on her, too. Tangled up on her old couch. She wants to ask if he's hungry, but... "Here you go." She hands him the scotch and slides back down on to the couch with him, a little closer this time.

"I really did miss you, you idiot."

"I missed you too, sweet-pea. You're the kind of friend a vampire only makes every couple of decades." Cooper happily snuggles up next to Nancy. A better man might swear never to leave her again. But Cooper is too pragmatic for that. Who knows what the future may hold for him? The time may come when he has to leave, whether he wants to or not. So, instead, he makes the only kind of promise he can.

"If I disappear again, I'll be sure to say goodbye. I swear I will." Then he takes a large gulp of his scotch. Heavy talk such as this requires alcohol.

Nancy's happy to let him rest his head on her, and even snakes a hand up to his neck to gently play with his hair. She likes being close to someone, physically. Likes the mundane little platonic things like this. Her job, there really only are cuddles if it's someone like Cooper. And then it's always after feeding. Sometimes she just wants to sit with someone on the couch and drink, while being near them.

"Thank you." To what statement, she doesn't clarify. But she is becoming that friend for two vampires now, it seems. Cooper, and Kenzi.

His eyes close as her hand plays with the short strands of his hair. It looks like things are going to be alright between the two of them. That takes a worry off of his mind. He'll ask her later on if he can feed off of her, but not right now. That might spoil things again between them and Cooper feels that he so rarely gets nice things in his life.

This is nice. Calming, relaxing- gosh, she hasn't felt this relaxed in a long time, she realizes, and wonders if it's the fact that Cooper's back and safe. She shouldn't feel this way, Nancy knows. He's her friend, he's a client and if she's going to keep her job she can't exactly go about falling in love wth clients.

"Oh, I have something for you," she says, sitting up straight. "I managed to hide it, before Norrell's men would have found it and took it from me." Her slave ring had been completely depowered, as had the wand her mother had used. Just a fancy piece of wood, now.

If they had just kept their relationship professional, things would be a lot different between the two of them. But their personalities had just meshed together so well and the intimate act of feeding had brought them close together.

"Oh?" Cooper perks up. "Something for me?" He's completely forgotten how they had discussed getting him a daylight ring the last time they had been together. Being an Earl didn't make it a necessity. Still, having one would make things a bit easier for doing his duties.

If only.

"Yes. Give me a moment, let me find it." Nancy disappears into her bedroom, and the sounds of rummaging can be found. A minute or two later, she reappears in the doorway with a small box.

"Here, catch." She knows what it looks like and she can't exactly properly give it to him, because then she's giving him a ring and there's a ceremony there that she doesn't want to touch on. Nope.

Cooper catches the box with both hands and opens it up. He stares at the ring inside for a long moment, tracing one of his fingers over the bright blue lapis lazuli stone set in the middle of the metal. Then he takes it out and puts it on the ring finger of his right hand. It's a perfect fit.

He looks up at Nancy with a grateful smile on his face. "You shouldn't have, sweet-pea."

"You asked," she told him with a sly smile as she came to sit next to him.

"It's the least I can do. What do you say tomorrow we go for a walk in the park, maybe?" She doesn't want to guess how long it's been since Cooper's been in the sun, but she wants to be there for him, when he steps into it again.

"It's the first I've ever made- no doubt Kenzi will ask for one, next."

"I'd say that sounds like a very good idea. Granted, you'll have t'keep prodding me awake. Noon is like the middle of the night for me." He laughs. Sleep deprivation is a small price to pay for once again being able to walk in the sun.

"Kenzi?" He wears a puzzled expression on his face. "That little witch? What happened to her?"

"We'll get you copious amounts of coffee or something. Maybe go to bed early tonight?" She shrugged. "Or we could go later in the day. Whatever works for you." She likes the way he laughs.

Nancy purses her lips. "She, ah- it's my fault, really." She gestures vaguely. "After I was cursed, she started looking for the people who did it, and got in too deep. I told her to stop, but it was too late. She was dying..." It's still hard to talk about, and she doesn't really want to. Yes, Kenzi was still here, but she'd still watched her best friend die. Her best friend feed off of her in order to finish the transformation. She loved her dearly, and she was so happy she was around. But that didn't mean it was easy to have watched her die, even knowing she'd come back.

Cooper winces. He knows better than anyone the agonizing process of being turned into a vampire. He can only hope her death was quick. Not like his own, a noose around his neck, strangling slowly from being too small to properly have his neck snapped. He shudders at the memory and pushes it away, not wanting to face it when he was previously in such a good mood.

"Who was her sire? Did they stick around?" Newborn vamps required at least some supervision, lest they run wild.

She's thankful, really, that he doesn't press it. Not tonight. Not sober, though she's quickly reaching for her gin and having a drink. She needs it, because she can still feel Kenzi's blood on her hands.

"Yeah, some guy named JC?" Nancy rolls her eyes. "He owns Guilty Pleasures.. Kenzi likes him, but I can't stand the guy." She needed someone to blame that wasn't herself, so she had JC. JC and Faolan.

"JC?" He thinks for a minute and then snaps his fingers. He wouldn't have been much of an Earl if he didn't keep track of all the vampires in the nest. "Oh, Jean-Claude. No comment there." He likes to get along with most vampires, even if they don't always get along with him. "Least he should keep her from biting everything in sight."

Nancy nods. "Yeah- that's the guy." She wrinkled her nose. "He came to visit me, when I was in the hospital, which was... nice of him, I guess." She hadn't expected it, nor particularly wanted it, either.

Oh, crap, but now Cooper was going to zero in on the hospital thing.

Cue Cooper freaking out over the word 'hospital' in three...two...one... "Hospital? You didn't tell me you were in the hospital!" A note of alarm enters his voice. "When? What happened? How long were you there for?" He's got all sorts of scenarios running through his head, mainly focusing on the dangerous services Nancy could offer. Vampires, of course, were dangerous enough on their own, but even a john could have done something to her if she wasn't able to cast a spell fast enough.

"It wasn't important!" She tries, reaching out to put a hand on his knee. Something to ground him a little. He knew what sort of trouble she could get in- hell, he'd nearly killed her when he was high on fae blood, and Kenzi- Kenzi had nearly killed her twice now. She rubs at her neck.

"Just a few days, I tripped on an icy stair coming down from seeing the boys." It's an easy lie, one she's practiced thousands of times. But she doesn't know how long he still gets the benefits of having drank her blood. Hopefully, he'll believe her. She doesn't want to get into the details of what had really happened.

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