undergrounds | in the company of strangers

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in the company of strangers

Kyle had been away for too long, first following Alex and then focusing on his own leads to try to find an old commanding officer. The hunt was futile, leaving him feeling played and used all at once. With Alex out of touch in her search and too many dead ends, the former soldier finally returned to London, feeling a bit reckless and angry while simultaneously eager to connect with recent friends.

A; I CAN'T SEE STRAIGHT ANYMORE (DRINKING)
Generally, as a rule, Kyle made a deliberate effort to avoid getting drunk. With his training and issues, it was a recipe for disaster and he was a responsible enough person to choose not to engage in such an unnecessary risk. Generally. Right now, he felt like shit and had very few responsibilities to worry about.

Which was why he was wandering casually from pub to pub, from early afternoon to late in the evening, having a beer here and a whiskey there. Mostly beer. He wanted to ride the buzz, to sit in his temporary angst like a cliche, 20-something American and make bad choices. Be the stereotype of the loud tourist for once, instead of always trying to defy expectations. He sat at the bar, ordered another beer, let his gaze slip past the wood grain of the counter back into his own mind to block things out. Here, he was just another guy drinking in London. No supernatural bullshit involved. Until, of course, it was.

B; GONNA HIT THIS CITY (HUNTING)
After and in between his bouts of reckless drinking, Kyle opted for another form of reckless behavior: hunting. He was a soldier, not a hunter, as he had explained to at least a dozen people in the last year. Yeah, he killed vampires, but that was the mission. He didn't go looking for the supernatural. Except that now he was. He was bored and angry, with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove, stalking the night and trying to find more vampires, werewolves, witches, whatever. He might not actually attack them, might only get to know them. As a human, it was all dangerous. But it was fun too.

C; WELCOME TO MY HOUSE (AT HOME)
Kyle's plans to move in with Alex were nixed before they started and his invitation to Nancy didn't fair much better. Which meant he returned from Germany to an empty apartment, barely furnished, with the unfulfilled potential of something now lost to time. He dropped his keys on the counter and leaned back against it, staring out at the window. The rumbling of his stomach reminded him how empty his fridge was and he immediately left again for the corner store, to grab some basic groceries and return to cook up a simple meal. Maybe a few drinks too.

[OOC: Feel free to bump into him on his way to the store or, for existing CR, to know or have found out where he lives.]

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Whatever that tone is, Nancy doesn't recognize it, and is able to breeze on happily about her current favorite subject.

"He's wonderful to me, been nothing but a gentleman. He's Irish, and a bit of a grumpy old man." Which she absolutely adored, even if he was, technically an old man. "Surprisingly thoughtful, though you wouldn't know it." Just talking about him, and she's beaming.

"I think he's attractive, of course. And, ah, yeah." She brushes her hair behind her ear, almost sheepish. "Yeah, he was."

Nancy goes for the food, taking it all in. "This smells amazing, thank you, Kyle." And raises her glass to him.

"You're welcome. To Paris!" Kyle clinks his glass to hers in toast before taking a sip and setting it down. It's clear that he takes a deliberate moment before speaking again, trying not to be an asshole as he asks what concerns him.

"How did he go from being a client to your boyfriend? And you said he was a friend before that?" He bites his tongue before he can ask what kind of friend pays their friend for sex, or how someone hiring a prostitute can be a gentleman. He tries so hard not to judge what she does, but he can't help but judge the guys that see her. Dating one seems like a doctor dating a patient or something. It seems wrong. And it kicks that protective instinct into gear.

"I definitely want to meet him."

"To Paris!" She echoed with a bit of childish glee. She'd never really had the opportunity to be much of a child, and occasionally, it really comes out just how young she is.

Ah, yes, that old question. She doesn't want to explain that he was a vampire client, so soon. That they'd never actually had sex until that day in her apartment. "There was a bit of a gray area..." She says by way of explanation, poking around at her food. "We enjoyed spending time together, even when I wasn't working. And it really went from there." He threw a client out of her flat, threatened to rip his head off, and yelled at her about seeing her with other people. There were some tears, but by the end, she had a boyfriend. And she didn't regret one bit of it.

"Oh, good! I want him to meet my friends."

"Isn't that a little dangerous? Mixing work and pleasure?" He asks, oblivious to the actual danger she's in and thinking more of the general idea of hanging out with her clients. Why pay for what they can get for free, after all. Kyle's trying not to assume anything about the guy, but there are a lot of openings to do so.

"Why haven't you mentioned him before?" Not that there was a lot of time to do so, exactly. They didn't speak much about either of their lives outside of him being injured and later asking her to move in. All he knew about any of her friends was that some were vampires, which wasn't much to go on. At least this guy was human.

Oh. Kyle. You sweet summer child. Cooper was far, far from human. Though it would probably make Kyle feel a bit better about things to know that the two of them had never actually had sex before they started dating? Maybe?

"Maybe. But he's been absolutely wonderful about it." Threatened to take another man's head off, sure.

Nancy shrugged, dismissing the idea. "He was out of town for a few months. He got back a bit ago, and we started dating once you left. Other than that, I suppose it just never really came up. I don't talk about my romantic life much- for obvious reasons." It was mostly her work life, rather than anything else.

Speaking of. "How's your girlfriend- am I remembering that right?" She'd heard something at some point, she was sure.

Kyle remained skeptical. This wasn't the time or place to pursue the idea much further though. He trusted Nancy and if she trusted this Cooper guy, then Kyle would try to trust him as well. Instead, he took another sip of his drink and returned his attention to his food. The important thing was she seemed in better spirits. "Congrats, Nance. I'm glad he makes you happy."

At the latter question, he slowed his bite to a stop, glanced over to her, then swallowed. Kyle let out a small sigh and lifted his glass, poised to continue drinking. "She's good. We're, uh, taking a break though, I guess you'd call it."

Nancy beams over at him. "Thank you. He really, really does." Everything was better, for the most part, when Cooper was around.

Kyle's actions say it all, even before he announces that they're on a break. Which is really just a silly way to say broken up, if you ask her. "Oh- I'm sorry to hear that. I know you really cared for her." She offers a sympathetic smile. Awkward. Now what?

Oh, maybe she'll just. Tell him about the party. "So I was hoping to have a small get-together, sort of dinner party at my Enfield flat, in a week or so. Let you meet some of my friends, really introduce Cooper to everyone. I was hoping you'd be able to make it?"

Kyle's grateful for the easy out, moving on from the subject of Alex as quickly as it came up. He sips his drink and then gives a nod to the latter, even if a party to meet Nancy's new boyfriend sounds a little like hell immediately after breaking up with his girlfriend. He's genuinely glad his friend is happy and that's what matters.

"Of course I'll be there," he grins. "You couldn't keep me away if you tried, Nance."

His smile fades a little. "Inviting your vampire friends too? I'll still come. But I want to know what to expect."

"Thanks," she says genuinely. It's good to know she can count on him, even for silly little things like this.

Oh. Right. Ahhaaa, good story about that one, Kyle. "Yeah," she tells him. Lying wouldn't help them, and it would be pointless. "One or two." Likely just Cooper. No, certainly just Cooper.

"I was thinking, maybe, if this goes alright, then we'll have our answer."

"One or two," he acknowledges with a nod. Kyle takes a long sip of his drink, swallowing down the disgusting taste of the species with the bitter taste of the liquor in one fell swoop. Then he gives her another smile. "That's a good plan. But you know, even if we're all on our best behavior and nothing happens, I still won't like them and they still won't be allowed over here."

Nancy's smile falters for a moment and she hides it quickly with a big drink. Fuck- her plan was completely over with, then. When she'd said she'd consider moving in with him, she hadn't been with Cooper. And she'd been hoping so specifically to give him permission.

She'd grown accustomed to waking up with him, and the thought of losing that was sobering.

"I wish you'd give them a chance." Softly spoken, almost wistfully. It didn't seem fair. At least be able to look at it on a case by case basis, was the least she felt she could ask for.

"Do they feed on people?" He asks simply. Natasha doesn't. It's the reason he's given her a chance. If Nancy's friends really don't feed on humans, or maybe- maybe if they feed off a blood bank or something similar, maybe he'll give them a chance. But he highly doubts that's the case. Natasha's a rare breed.

"Look, I don't want to fight, Nance. But I don't think it's unreasonable to not want to share the same space as my natural predator."

Nancy hangs her head. Cooper mostly fed off of her, but she wasn't going to tell that to Kyle- he'd hate knowing what could be going on in the next room over.

"I know." She doesn't want to fight, either, but: "I could always charm your room. Put wards up to keep you safe." It'd be hard work, but she could do it if she set her mind to it. "I don't think it's unreasonable to want to share a bed sometimes with my boyfriend."

Kyle freezes for a moment, then turns to look at Nancy with a frown. He understands now why it's so damn important to her to have vampires in their apartment, why she can't seem to let it go.

"Your boyfriend's a vampire." It's not a question, only a confirmation. He doesn't know what to say. It's not his place to tell her who she can and can't be with, but like hell does he want to have some vampire hanging around. He feels protective, helpless, angry. It feels like a betrayal, even though he knows it has nothing to do with him.

Nancy presses her lips together. Obviously, she cannot and will not lie. It was better that he knew now, rather than giving him permission to come over only to realize later he was a vampire. That would have been awful of her.

"Yes, he is. And I love him, and he loves me." She hadn't set out trying to fall in love with him. But things had happened, they'd grown close and when he'd left she'd missed him. When he'd come back, things felt right again, in a way they hadn't in a long time. Being with him... she felt happy.

Kyle was silent for a moment. But a moment was all it took. He stood from his dinner, half finished, and shook his head.

"I'll be at your dinner party. You can see yourself out." The former soldier grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair and made his way for the door, having every intention of leaving to go for a long walk and figure things out from there. He didn't want to cut Nancy out, but trying to understand her sympathies for them was like trying to understand ISIS or apartheid. It didn't make sense to him.

She was going to lose Kyle over her boyfriend, she could feel it already as she watched him stand. The tension in the room was murder, and she found herself remaining seated, watching him walk out the door.

Her shoulders hunched up towards her ears, and Nancy looks down at her hands. "Alright." And, because it seemed wrong without it there: "I'm sorry." For being unable to have any sort of control over her heart. It had always been one of her biggest flaws. But what the heart wanted, the head never listened. Not in her case, anyway.

When he comes back, she'll be gone, leaving the kitchen and dining room table spotless. A quick hand-written note on his fridge, stuck with a sticking spell, will explain the leftovers are in the fridge, and thanking him.

She was going to fight this with every fiber of her being.

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in the company of strangers

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lmk if I need to change this?

not at all <3

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