October 31st, 2006

[nomorekaraoke]

Ahh, the late October evening air is crisp and sizzling with the bustle and excitement permeating 6th Street. Just an hour or two ago, the streets lay quiet and calm, like before a storm. And what a storm it is. Tonight is the biggest night of the year for Lorne - the only night he can go out with a bang (so to speak), and glam it up without having to worry about mobs and pitch forks and torches and all kinds of peer pressure. He can be lean and green and having a fabulous time. For any other demon with a sense of dignity, Halloween is the be all and ban all of faux pas-es. It's a night where silly wannabes co-mingle. It is just not done.

But Lorne will do it and do it well for every year he can muster. He'll be in his hundreds, old and wrinkly and hunchbacked, and he'll still come here for the big event.

***

And when the darkness has fallen over the city, and the parade lights up the city streets with eerie lights and chilled merriment in equal doses, Lorne dances down the line like it's 1999, all feathered up, glammed up and having a ball.

You never know who you'll bump into, and the best part? You can pop into a coffee shop or a restaurant on the way, get to know someone better anytime you want to. If he should be so lucky tonight, it would be the icing on the cake and the cherry on top.

Comments

[nomorekaraoke]

Poor thing, Lorne muses, so on edge, like a little birdie fallen out of Momma's nest.

"Over a year ago, pumpkin. Not the local branch, of course, but you don't need to know more. Not from my lips, you don't."

[sunnydalealum]

Not the local branch. And over a year ago. So this ... doesn't have anything to do with the attack she saw. Not that she saw very much of it, from her vantage point of hiding under a desk and praying for it to be over soon.

Then we got involved with the big W-H crowd, and then they didn't trust us anymore.

"So," still slowly, "how do they feel about you now? The Watchers' Council?"

[nomorekaraoke]

"As far as I know, all they know is that I left it all behind me. Everything." Everything from his precious little smashed up bar to his biggest mistake of all time. Everything.

"And I intend to keep it that way."

[sunnydalealum]

She swallows. "Yeah."

It's that same note of fellow-feeling, of right there with you, that started this whole conversation.

"You ... you got on the wrong side of both of them. How did you get them to leave you alone after that?"

[nomorekaraoke]

How in the world does he even begin to answer that question? How does he even begin to recall it, lost and not-yet-found in the haze of his alcohol-soaked memories.

"Let's just leave it at 'I got connections and ain't afraid to use 'em'." Yes. Let's leave it at that.

"I brought my skills and my network, collected favors from people, the usual. Lots of hard work on a lot of people's behalves. Only lately, it looks as they might be on to me. Or, alternatively, they may find me while snoopin' around for someone else entirely. Not. Good."

[sunnydalealum]

"Connections."

She rests her chin on her upraised knee, staring at the pavement underfoot.

A touch bitterly: "Must be nice."

[nomorekaraoke]

"Not really, no. It means you gotta put your trust in people, and from where I'm standing, that's the one thing you can't afford when you want to remain incognito. They're, whatchacallsits, 'a necessary evil'."

Yeah. As if evil could ever be necessary. It's just, yes, sometimes it can be, no matter how much you do not want.

"How 'bout you, sugar pie? How're you keeping yourself under the radar?"

[sunnydalealum]

A long sigh. "I dropped out of college. I don't go anywhere near my friends or family, or even any of the places I used to hang out. I don't try to touch my old bank account."

She looks up at him, and her eyes are still invisible behind the mask but there's apology in her voice. And something else; something like shame.

"I don't use my real name."

[nomorekaraoke]

"Aw, honey." He smiles at the sound of her voice; and reaches out to pat her hand, whichever of the two are closest to him.

"Neither do I."

Come on, lighten up? Please? Pretty please?

[sunnydalealum]

It's more comforting than it has any right to be.

"So here I am," she says. "Here we are, I guess. What now?"

[nomorekaraoke]

"Well..." He pauses, for drama and consideration in equal measure.

"This is where I give you my card, I do believe." Fetching a seemingly no-frills black card with black and gold trimmings. Okay, so the gold might count as a frill, but...

There's only the one word on it. Aequitas. Something the demon might seem a bit too pleased about, but then, he's quite fond of his charmed little business cards.

"If you wanna come find me, all you need is that card."

[sunnydalealum]

She takes the card, reads the one word on it, turns it over. Turns it over again.

Looks back up at him, puzzled.

"How do I ...?"

[nomorekaraoke]

Of course, it's a green card with the above trimmings, so as to make some sort of aesthetic sense.

"You'll know where to go, when the time's right. Just keep an eye on that card every now and then."

He isn't being all mysterious for any other reason than it being so much fun. Besides, he's always been a tease at heart. Hopefully, it won't scare Emma far, far away.

"Maybe next time, you'll let me buy you a cup of coffee. It was very nice to meet you, Emma. All kinds of abrasive, rough-started goodness, but that's the way it goes, huh."

He holds out his hand for a shake buh-bye.

[sunnydalealum]

She studies the card a moment longer, then slides it into the pocket of her jeans.

In that moment she realizes she's decided to trust him.

"Thanks," she says, barely audible, and reaches to shake his hand. "For letting me talk."

[nomorekaraoke]

"No problem, precious." He winks, shaking her hand warmly, gently as ever before getting up - making sure all his feathers are where they should be - and waves ta tah.

"No problem at all."