gonna drink bacardi like it's yo birthday [nancy's 20]

[stauncherhearted]

Twenty. Gods, Nancy could hardly believe it. She didn't expect to still be here for this day, truth be told. She knew the sort of life she lived, and the sorts of people she associated with. But against all odds, here she was. Twenty-years-old by Fagin's count, and as wonderful as that was...

It was odd. She'd been a teenager for so long, and now she was officially a twenty-something. An adult, for real this time, not like when she'd turned eighteen.

It didn't exactly help that Charley Bates had decided it was a great idea to call her 'old'. She'd hit the back of his head for that, refusing to consider herself old. She was still so young, at least in comparison to those she spent most of her time around, people that were centuries older than her.

This, of course, caused her some angst. She hadn't particularly wanted to celebrate her birthday. It wasn't anything to be glad about. She was, as she realized, three years physically older than Cooper. And that just felt... weird. She knew, mentally, he was far older than she was. And as he always said she was stuck with him until she was old and grey, but...

Would he still love her, then, she wanted to know? How weird would it be, an haggard old woman next to this cute seventeen-year-old kid. A chill ran up her spine when she thought about it, comparing the wretch that Fagin was to her hypothetical-old-woman-self.

If she lived that long.

Still, people want to celebrate with her. Eames, wonderful Eames, had surprised her with tickets to go see a show on the West End, and taken her out to an amazing restaurant. She'd even brought cake over to the boys', knowing a few of them had saved up to get her something. Or, likely, stole it. But she didn't reach out, not really. If you were lucky enough to know it was her birthday, however, she'd happily entertain any and all plans. There was no need to be rude, after all.

---

Nancy's 20 aww yiss.
Uhm, this is an open post. A few starters in the comments. Want something specific? Please let me know!

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[baisant]

Jean-Claude does not use such technology as Facebook or even computers, if he can help it. There was no app or alert or anything else that informed him of Nancy's birthday. But he heard it through the grapevine nonetheless. Through the friend of a friend of hers, with the mention of her relationship with Cooper and the general gossip of the Nest that none of the dancers ever thought that he heard but he held onto like the lifeline into the minds of his people that they were.

He did not know Nancy well. They were not on the best of terms either, not after Kenzi, how he had saved her, and how he had failed as well. He felt something of a duty to Nancy because of that. Not only because of Kenzi, but he feels also something like empathy for Nancy herself. He had not been in her exact position, but he'd certainly known something like it. And while he might not out and say that, he feels as though now is the time to reach out. For her birthday. And so he gives her a call. Because if not computers, at least he has moved up to being able to use telephones by this day and age.

He waits for her to answer before speaking himself. "Bon anniversaire, mon amie," he leads, leaving no question as to who might be on the edge of the line.

[stauncherhearted]

The new Duke of Islington is on the other end of the line. This is the first thought that dimly passes through her mind when she picks up the unknown number. She's not surprised he knows- so many people in the Nest now seem to. She blames Cooper, naturally, and she idly has to wonder if her anti-birthday reasoning has him complaining to others.

More likely than not.

Part of her, though, is impressed. He's picking up the phone to call her- some lowly member of the Nest- to most she was just a hot meal and a bit of fun. She knows of their connections beyond that, of course. He was there when Kenzi died on her couch, putting her in an awful position. Her blood had finished what he started. And something about that felt so wrong.

But she'd learned early on in life the importance of connections, and as a veritable hanger-oner of the nest, a refuge from the late Midnight, she knew having an ally in Jean-Claude would prove invaluable.

And make Cooper's life significantly easier.

But that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to be happy about the decision.

"Hullo," she says again, beginning to wander aimlessly around her apartment. She doesn't ask how he knows, or how he got her number. "Thank you, Jean-Claude. And congratulations." She'd never met Raymond. But he'd not been someone she'd supported by any means.

[baisant]

Jean-Claude lets out a soft chuckle at her congratulations. She had not been there, she had not seen him in all of his glory. Decapitating the former Duke and overthrowing his regime, together with the rest of the vampires. Perhaps that is for the best, though. He cannot help but think that she might have had something to object, at the sight of such bloodshed. Most people did, even when it was a necessary evil, as they say.

"Thank you," he replies. "I hope the results of my efforts have been satisfying thus far." He knows that they have been for himself, and as far as he can tell they have been as well for those that had joined him there, in the club. But he will admit, he is interested to hear the outside perspective. They have many other non-vampiric allies in the Nest, after all. But that is not why he had called.

"I would request your evening, mon amie. Though I recognize that you are most likely busy with friends on this night. Please, I invite you to suggest a day that would be more agreeable with your schedule." If this is rather old-fashioned of him, Jean-Claude pays that fact no mind. He is a rather old-fashioned individual, after all.

[stauncherhearted]

"Well," Nancy has to admit, because she knows Jean-Claude knows exactly what she is, "business certainly has been getting better." Having a place to actually consistently work was a huge benefit to her. Not just for sex, but for blood, as well.

His offer catches her off-guard, and Nancy's narrowed eyes dart up towards the ear she has her phone pressed against, like she didn't quite trust it.

"I'm sorry- in what capacity?" She doesn't want to assume he wants to catch-up with her when he's actually just wanting to hire her on for the evening. Which, as it turned out, she wasn't sure she could actually say yes to.

[baisant]

"You will be twenty, if I am understanding correctly? It is a milestone to be celebrated, and it would be my pleasure and my treat." There are those who will never reach twenty years old, after all, as Jean-Claude is acutely aware, and thus it is doubly worth the celebration.

"If you would do me the honor," he adds. "I understand you will be quite busy tonight. Your time will be better spent elsewhere. But let me know when you are available for me, and I will accommodate. You know how to reach me, mon amie." And with that, he leaves it to her to decide how to proceed, and ends the call.

[stauncherhearted]

"Oh." That was not what she expected from Jean-Claude. But she couldn't say she wasn't pleasantly surprised, however. Which was why she went over her schedule before calling him back, and letting him know that she'd love to celebrate with him.

The time is decided. The location, however, is up to him.

[baisant]

The location is easy, though he does not let her know what it is. Not so far in advance, and certainly not over any telephone call. Instead he instructs her to dress well -- not too well, but not too casually either -- and that she should meet him at the club. It is a neutral space, and as he had learned the hard way with Eames, not everyone likes him turning up at their door unannounced.

It is yet early in the night, before the club has opened for business. He's instructed her to ask for him and has let the bouncers know to expect her. In the meanwhile he sits at his customary seat on the edge of the bar, nursing a glass of wine he will never truly appreciate.

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy has no idea what she's in for, when she steps through the doors of his club. She'd actually never been, even when Kenzi had been working there. She prefered to meet her afterwards somewhere else. She knew that, as a prostitute, most of the workers there looked down on her. In the sex-worker hierarchy, whore was the lowest of the low. She knew it.

Doing as she was told for once, Nancy's dressed appropriately. She's not in a ball-gown, but rather in a nice dress, opting for red and black. Her shoes were a rare pair of flats- most often if she wasn't at work, or dressing something, she was in trainers. Hopefully she was dressed for the occasion- so often she was sent clothing to wear, with shoes worth more than her life. But this time, she was on her own, and had done what she thought was best.

Approaching him at the bar, she wonders briefly if maybe she should courtesy or something- she was meeting with the damn Duke of Islington.

"I hope you're not treating me to the buffet," she said, given that strip-club buffets were notoriously terrible. But she smiles and offers a hand. He was not in hugging territory yet. She wasn't sure if he could ever truly be. "Thank you for inviting me, Jean-Claude."

[baisant]

Jean-Claude turns in his seat as she approaches, rising from it in greeting as she reaches his side. He takes her hand as she offers it, and in a fashion true to himself, he bends to press a kiss against the knuckles of the back of her hand before releasing her.

"Thank you for accepting," he says, with a smile. "How have you been, mon amie?"

[stauncherhearted]

Under the lights, she blushes.

"I've been well. Things are looking better than they were just a few months ago." She smiles still. "Thank you for inviting me out."

[baisant]

He inclines his head at her graciously. He knows that she is probably puzzled by the invitation. He knows that it will have come as a surprise, that the Duke of Islington Nest should be inviting her out to a birthday dinner. He has his own motivations for doing so.

He just doesn't really feel like explaining them to her.

"It is my pleasure, mon amie," he replies. "It is not every day that we turn 20 years of age, non? It is a thing to be celebrated. And I wish to celebrate it with you, if you are willing." Which he's guessing she is, since she's accepted this much already.

[stauncherhearted]

Oh lord. Birthday stuff.

Nancy resits rolling her eyes like a 20-year-old. "No, it's not." There's a tiny grimace there, remembering how Cooper had reacted when she'd told him her fears.

"Of course. Who am I to turn down a celebration with the Duke of Islington?" Islington had happily taken her in, even with Harris in charge, after the fall of her circle. It still stung, what had happened to them all. And it would for some time.

"What did you have in mind?"