For Nick, Sunday had been a good day. Teaching the rest of the group how to shoot a gun, and then later helping them learn some self-defense, was in his wheelhouse, so it helped keep some of the stress he’d been under From Saturday evening’s Danny shenanigans at bay for the time being. As long as they took it seriously, which for the most part they did, he didn’t mind helping out. If he were to be honest with himself, it was nice to not have to worry about something that someone like Danny might try to pull.
The evening presented the return of the stress and some complications. He’d earlier left a message for Brandon, and then went to meet up with him in order to learn more about what he was capable of learning or doing – what he could expect. They hadn’t really gone into much discussion when Brandon’s butler, Emilio, leaned in and started talking to Brandon. Whatever it was intrigued Brandon, and he’d soon found out why.
It would seem that he was on the verge of an awakening, to become a mage much like Sayuri. Emilio could evidently speed that process along, and was indeed willing to do so. That it wasn’t supposed to be possible. More over, for some reason Emilio wanted to do this, so Brandon was inclined to let this happen. The problem was that, much like anything worth substantial reward, there was inherent risk, of the most pricey variety – loss of life. It could be Emilio’s, it could be his own, but Brandon would allow it if Nick wanted to go through with it, and though there was some hesitancy, he agreed.
Of course, there was more to the bargain. After all, Brandon stood to lose a lot. So now, he owned Nick. He’d made it clear that he didn’t much care what Nick did during the day – provided it didn’t interfere with his own agenda. After agreeing again, Nick went off with Emilio who began the process – by locking Nick into his worst fear, for what felt like a solid two months. It had been stated clearly beforehand that there wasn’t actually a box there, but Nick’s fear wouldn’t let him see past that, until an epiphany happened, and the box disappeared.
He’d had little time to recover from that, when roughly six months of instruction was download into his head via Emilio’s magic. So now, here he was – let go from there and barely capable of walking, needing to make his way home in order to get ready for work, as it was now seven in the morning, and he’d barely have time to make it home and get changed. He somehow made it, slowly processing the glut of information given to him and making it through to a lunch break before checking his phone for messages.
There were several from Sayuri, wondering what was going on and if he were alright, but there was also a frantic voicemail from his sister, made at midnight, begging him for help because something had happened at the school. A quick call to her later and she explained that something had happened to Shauna, that she had been taken to the hospital and no one would tell her what was going on.
He was pinching the bridge of his nose and mentally swearing, but he managed to keep himself calm enough to tell her to calm down, and promise her that he would try to find out what was going on and take her to see Shauna. He set up a meet with the group for after work to go over a few things, figuring he could call Cindy to see if she knew anything, and then pick up Liv after. A visit to that kid that had been hanging out around Shauna couldn’t hurt either, if it seemed like he were a problem.
With the group, they went over some things they needed to do still – find out more about the people in the desert, which from Sayuri they learned were a group of some kind of shifter. They also discussed following up on the vampires by heading back to the LARP, meeting with Bobart, and heading to the goth bar. Nick was exhausted just thinking about it all, and he didn’t know how he was going to handle everything. While it was starting to get to be a blur of conversation, he was still doing his best to participate, and agree to visit the campsite, even though he just wanted to get some sleep soon.
Before getting in touch with Liv, he contacted Cindy, learning which hospital she was at with Shauna before collecting Liv with Sayuri and Joseph. Shauna, who’d been in his life enough to practically be his sister (she and Liv often joked that they were sisters), was laying there in a coma, with doctors thinking she may have overdosed. Externally, he was calm, but inside? Inside he was angry – angry that this had happened to someone he considered family, and angrier that this had happened so close to Liv that it could have been her.
He promised Cindy he would talk to a sketchy guy he’d heard about her being with before, someone he’d looked into. She gave him a key and directions, in case he needed it, and swore that if he needed one, she’d give him an alibi. The key, he learned, was to a gun cabinet that contained a small arsenal – something he didn’t like to see a private citizen hold, feeling as though anything more than a handgun was overkill. Hell, he’d seen firsthand the kind of damage some of those other guns could do. Grateful they weren’t dating anymore, he closed up the locker and left her house, getting his own sidearm in case he might need it for his own defense.
He and the others had found him easy enough – just checked his Facebook check-ins for the most common one, and had gone there. It was an old school game arcade, and he was in the back playing one of the machines. Attempts to talk to him reminded him of trying to get Danny to take things seriously due to all the snark. Then…the kid insulted him. It wasn’t even harsh – just calling him a boomer and going back to the game. But, it set off something inside him, and he lost control.
It was as though he were a puppet, and someone else was controlling the strings while he watched on helplessly as Kyle, this drug dealer kid, was being beaten to a pulp. Joseph was attempting to drag the kid away while Sayuri attempted to stop him, him silently rooting for them to succeed while unable to make himself stop. Finally, Sayuri managed to knock him to the floor, and then did some magicky thing to make it more difficult for him to get up. The problem was that it made him feel claustrophobic and he lost it, and just broke the fuck down.
How he got to the back of the truck was sort of a blur, but he remembered Sayuri demanding he hand over his sidearm and them questioning Kyle, who was scared out of his mind, and rightfully so. They learned what she took, and what he’d cut it with, which made Nick angry all over again. Still though, he wasn’t completely callous, and took Kyle to an emergency room – it just happened to be at the same hospital that Shauna was at. He spoke with cops, giving a half-assed cover story that he knew they didn’t buy, but he didn’t care. He just wanted them to analyze the damn coke to make sure of what it had been cut with so that Shauna could be helped.
More exhausted than before, he just collected Liv since visiting hours were nearly over before checking on Shauna’s parents. Evidently, no one had been able to get in touch with them yet, and it was concerning. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to be home when he went to check, and he was hoping nothing had happened to them, that they’d just got caught up at work or something and that’s why no one had gotten in touch with them yet.
By now he was practically read to pass out at the wheel, and was going to mention just dropping everyone off, when a text message came in. Of course it was a group text, and of course it would be Brandon wanting them out there. None of them imagined it was anything good, and he felt like they’d all be in trouble for what was essentially his own fault. With an exhausted sigh to himself, he made the drive out to Brandon’s, where they found a Billy looking less like his normal chill self and more like a small child that had been scolded by the principal.
While he paid attention, the most Nick got out of the meeting was that Billy had been demoted and was no longer their liaison, that they now had a babysitter, and those that were taking his blood could get it from either he or Endrik (which happened to be their babysitter and a friend of Brandon’s). In essence, don’t fuck up, and don’t bother me with petty shit that has nothing to do with what I want from you.
The Endrik guy seemed nice enough, fairly up front with information in exchange for helping him learn more about the modern world – something about having been asleep for a couple hundred years. He would be staying with Sayuri, who kind of jumped at the chance to look good. He couldn’t blame her, really. Anything Brandon was mad about had been before she joined up, so none of it was her fault, but she was lumped in with them anyway.
Not much more could be said for Monday night – he dropped everyone off again, and headed home, fully intending to let Chase do his duty and just sleep before having to go to work the next day. Instead, he found Liv waiting outside his apartment. I really should just give her a key already he thought. Turns out, their parents were having fun times again, and he couldn’t blame her for wanting to be away from that. Maybe I should talk to them…this is getting ridiculous.
She took Chase out and shooed Nick away to bed, and he was too tired to argue, having been awake for at least thirty hours, though it felt more like several months. Sleep was fine, except for the nightmares about being trapped. It was not fun, and he was pretty sure that, in one of them, he’d been buried alive. When he awoke, he had still managed to get enough rest to be alright, but was unable to find his phone. Or figure out why he’d been stripped down to his boxers.
He found his sister with Chase in the living room, and he learned not only had he slept in until one in the afternoon – which he couldn’t recall having done in years, and only when sick – but that Liv had been the one to undress him since he had been talking in his sleep about being trapped, and called him off of work (and herself off of school). It was a relief that he hadn’t jeopardized his employment. At least, he hoped not. She made lunch for them while he got cleaned up and dressed, all the while making not so subtle platitudes that she would make an excellent roommate. Should I just let her? he wondered, though he valued his privacy. At the same time, he knew Liv needed a little more freedom, and might calm down some if she did. His lease was nearing an end, so maybe it was time to look at a different place anyway. To keep her from going on, he promised to think about it.
Nick decided to treat this unexpected day off as just that, and do something he actually wanted to do, instead of help other people. So he called up Ryan, asking him to meet up, inadvertently causing Ryan to quit his fast food job. He’d been honest in the conversation though when telling Ryan to pursue something he’d be happy with rather than slugging along at something he dreaded. After quitting, it didn’t take him long to get to the apartment, and Nick sent Liv away with Chase, so they could have some alone time.
Talking for a bit, Ryan offered to take her by the youth center where he worked to try and get Liv in on some good influences, enticing her there by dishing some dirt on Nick. While Nick wasn’t sure about the last part, he agreed that it was good enough temptation for his sister, and that Ryan was probably right. Putting all that aside, he let Ryan shower to get the grease and food smells off him, though they showered together and had plenty of fun doing so, eventually moving from the shower to the bedroom.
It was… great. Beyond great. More than that, it was something he’d desperately been needing a release, a way to wash the stress away that he didn’t know how to get by other means. Touching Ryan… being with him again like this was like bringing back all the good parts of their past relationship, and not just the sex. But as far as past sexual exploits went? They had been experimental, to an extent. In fact, it wasn’t until late in their previous relationship that they’d decided on their preferences, most notably, learning that Ryan was a bottom, and Nick not so much.
They were well into another round when they heard a loud OMG – his sister had caught them, and yelled that they should close the door, and slammed it shut. It was a mood killer, to be sure, so the two of them dressed and headed out to the living room, where she chastised them for scarring poor Chase. He nudged Ryan to talk to Liv, saying he’d needed to see what he had going later in the day, when Billy called, kind of frantic.
Evidently, there had been a mishap, and Billy was not as careful as he should have been. Alyssa was in town, and she had his address. Nick’s heart pounded a little when he heard the info. He hadn’t heard from her in a while and had been wondering if she was okay – he wanted to see her badly, but was also hoping that it wouldn’t cause conflict with Ryan. Deciding to keep honest, he told Ryan that she was in town, but that as far as he knew they were still on good terms and there shouldn’t be any problems.
Ryan left with Liv not long after, and he’d made plans with the rest of the group to meet up at Sayuri’s for dinner and go over plans for the evening. After Endrik, who wanted to be a part of things awoke, they opted for visiting the shifters, then the goth bar, leaving Endrik in the truck while they spoke to the shifters. It was an interesting meeting, to be sure, but they were welcomed. In fact, the bracelet he’d been given meant they were seen as family now, for having helped them in a time of need.
After sitting and talking for a while, Michael, one of the other members – probably older side of teen, was able to give them information. They learned of two new vampire hangouts, and learned that in the city there were some other shifters that might be able to teach Billy a few things about what he was and what he was theoretically capable of. In thanks for the information, they offered to take him to town for supplies, though warned him he might not be comfortable with Endrik, but he said he would be fine, and there was no issue.
It was decided that the group would split into two – Sayuri, Billy and Michael going shopping for supplies for the desert shifters; while Nick, Joseph and Endrik would head to the goth bar. Along the way, Nick explained about the two new locales – one of them being where all the vampires gathered each full moon. Endrik seemed very pleased by this, calling it their Elysium and explaining it as holding a court like one might in medieval times. Nick only hoped that the information would erase some stains off his record with Brandon.
Nick was not at all pleased that Joseph wanted to get into his Goku costume, he couldn’t argue with the results that it has gotten previously. Needless to say, the vampire was over enthused to see Joseph again. Endrik muttered something about understanding, and after a little while longer, he split ways with Joseph and Endrik to meet up with the others, drop off supplies, and head home.
He was expecting Liv to be waiting for him, even if it was late, but instead he found a note form Alyssa, starting she had dropped by. She left a number, stating to that she would be in town a few days. He wanted to call her right then and talk to her, hear her voice again… spend time with her. He sighed, heading inside and putting the note on his coffee table, looking at her handwriting over and over, finally dropping it and flopping back onto the couch.
He was starting to feel guilty again, just like he had when he’d had the dream about Alyssa when he was camping with Ryan. He wanted Ryan, but wanted to reconnect with Alyssa too. Damn it all. “Why the hell does my life have to be so complicated right now?” he grumbled aloud, getting up to head to his little studio and just pluck out a few tunes before heading to bed, hoping things would smooth out rather than get bumpier.