rebekah’s rager: at the end of a long night, jeremy and nicola catch up // @sunnysxrcasm
Tonight had been a mess. After her breakdown in the bathroom with Isaac and the subsequent clean up she had to do to her face, she wasn't feeling the party mood of those who stayed oblivious to the horrors of the night. She didn't need to go outside to know what had happened - just like Lydia, she had seen it. So, she took a break in the living room, sitting in a slightly quieter area than most and simply people watching, as peacefully as she could. Until someone sat beside her.
while this hadn't been his first rodeo at a mikaelson mcmansion party, tonight had been wildly different than any of the others. silver lining? no one would yell at him for drinking now that jeremy was an adult. when he saw nicola sitting by herself, he grabbed a drink for himself and one for her and decided to join her. "you look like you could use this?" jer passed it to her. "having a rough night?"
"Oh... thank you." Nicola accepted the drink readily, pausing before downing at least half of it - crying apparently made you thirsty. She held the cup in both her hands, shuffling in the seat to angle her body towards Jeremy, so she was at least facing him and not the crowd of people. "You could say that. I've been to calmer raves than this." Even though she tried for a joke, her usual 'sunshine' (as Liam liked to call it) didn't quite shine through.
"didn't turn out like prom at all, did it?" he assumed regular kids' prom nights didn't involve near-death experiences or actual deaths, but jeremy wasn't sure he'd ever been to a dance where someone's life wasn't on the line. "do you wanna talk about it?"
She couldn't help the small giggle at his call back to their conversation. Somehow, she wasn't nervously stuttering this time, no doubt because her nerves had been fried. "No, it's nothing like the prom. And to think I got all dolled up for hell to break loose." She had been staring at the drink in her hand most of the time, but upon his question she looked up. "I'm... not really sure you want to hear it."
"honestly, i wouldn't know. i didn't go to my prom." hard to attend prom when you're dead. jer gave a small smile. "i don't know about where you're from, but getting dolled up just for hell to break loose is pretty standard for me." he took a quick drink and met her gaze. "only if you're comfortable talking about it."
"Oh... If it makes you feel better, prom's aren't all that interesting. I went alone to mine, which was frowned upon by literally everyone, and I was so bored I left. Suppose no one wants to dance with the lonely girl though..." She cleared her throat quickly to dispel the memories. "Well, Ohio isn't exactly this exciting so I'd say it's unusual for me." She finished the drink, ignoring the burning of her throat. "Buckle up, Pretty Boy, as I tell you the tale of how my night out went to shit."
"must have just been your school. any of my other dances were always killer." he hated himself for the awful joke, but it brought jeremy a little bit of solace in this otherwise terrible night. "hm. virginia was a nonstop party for me, but please do continue."
"Well, it started when I picked this stupid dress in a bid to get someone's attention, which didn't work. Then I had a fall out with a friend. Then somebody died in the garden and I had a breakdown in a bathroom over it... And now I'm sat here in wonderful company trying to recover from it all." She fiddled with the cup in her hand before placing it down. "So there."
jeremy gilbert was an observant man as far as the supernatural was concerned. but romance? not even a little bit. "i don't think your dress is stupid at all. and, uh, sorry about the fall — somebody died?" what the hell had happened when he was fighting with rebekah? holy shit. "okay, you win for shittier night." silently he passed off his own cup to her, nearly full.
She glanced down at herself, huffing. "You don't? Because the longer I wear it the more ridiculous I feel for trying." She gladly accepted his drink, finishing it off as well before placing the cup next to her own. "Oh yeah. It's a mess out there, I'm sure." Nicola sighed, trying for a smile. "But hey, I'm enjoying this a bit more now."
"no. i mean, i'm just some guy who knows shockingly little about fashion, but it looks like a really nice dress to me. and you look really nice in it." she was hitting on him, right? he wasn't out of line for saying that? "did you — did you see it? did you know the person? are you okay?" why was she so calm about someone dying? like he was one to talk, but there were reasons for that. "you are?"
"...Thank you. You don't look to bad yourself." She smiled, genuinely smiled, for the first time in an hour. At least something good might happen at this party, even if it was just a decent conversation with a guy. "I didn't see it happen but all you have to do is look out of a window." She didn't feel like explaining the banshee thing. "I didn't know them, I'm okay... well, now I'm okay." Nicola hesitated for a second before nodding. "Yeah. I really am."
"thanks. i call this look: the one suit i own. took me hours to put together." jer laughed, and it was the closest thing to a genuine laugh he'd felt all night. "don't take this the wrong way, but you sound super chill about seeing someone die." and he was super chill about hearing about it. "well i'm glad you're okay. and that you're enjoying yourself now."
Nicola burst into a fit of giggles before putting on her best fake posh accent. "Well I say, Mr Gilbert, it's fabulous." The smile dropped, however, at the mention of her calmness. "Well... Part of it is shock. The other is because I'm used to uh... seeing death." She wasn't going to bore him with her tragic backstory - no one wants that. "And the latter is all down to you, so thank you."
"much appreciated." jeremy nodded. he understood. more than almost everyone at this party, except maybe its host, he understood. "i know what you mean. and not just in a "oh i understand what you're going through" bullshit way. i mean it." he felt like there was something she wasn't telling him, but he was also guilty of that, so he wasn't going to push it. "oh. wait, really?"June 13, 2020
“It sucks, doesn’t it? Losing time and time again...” Hers was a lonely existence, she had known that since she was sixteen but it didn’t make it hurt any less. Still, Nicola felt bad for lingering on something so negative at a party, especially after seemingly unloading a bunch of emotions already. “Yes, really. Is it really so shocking to you that someone would enjoy talking to you?”
"everyone i've ever loved dies." he wasn't saying it for pity. it was just a fact of his life. and maybe a little bit of a warning. "so i get it." dead parents. dead aunt. dead sister. no less than three dead girlfriends. and alaric, status unknown. "honestly? a little bit."
“Everyone I’ve ever loved either died or abandoned me. Mom left, grandmother died, a loads of my friends died and then my dad kicked me out... so I guess we get each other.” Her smile was more of a soft one this time, different to the usual grin she had. “Why?”
"yeah. i guess we do." tentatively, he reached his hand out towards hers. "i've been going it alone for the past few years, so regular old conversation's a bit foreign these days."
She glanced down at his hand before gently taking it in hers. “Well, unluckily for you, I am probably the chattiest person in town... as you embarrassingly saw earlier.” After she had calmed down from the insane night, she’d be back to her old giggly self and she knew it, so she was taking full advantage of her weird confidence.
"listen, nobody does embarrassing like me. i'm sure i'll figure out a way to top it." jeremy's entire human life was an embarrassment as far as he was concerned, so it probably wouldn't take long. "you're just chatty because i look good in a suit."
“Mhm, sure, is like to see you try to be more embarrassing than ranting about how attractive someone is to their face.” She laughed, so easily and carefree the first time through the whole party. “I’m chatty anyway. I’m extra talkative to guys who can pull off a suit this well.”
"okay, yeah, fine. that's definitely up there. gimme time, i bet i can think of something. i was such a stereotype annoying little brother to my sister and her friends growing up. i'm not sure there's one standout moment as it is fourteen years of cringe." jer hoped the lighting was bad enough to hide the little bit of red that had appeared on his cheeks. jesus, he was rusty. "right. and i'm sure the alcohol has nothing to do with it?"
“Fourteen years and you can’t think of a single moment, right now, that beats me blabbing on to you about how you’re cute? Oh my god, how dumb am I?” She shook her head in disdain at herself, but a smile remained. “I’m not drunk, if that’s what you’re implying. I’m hardly even tipsy, but I have enough liquid courage to say you’re hot all the time, not just in a suit and not completely regret it.”
