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[makemywayhome.insanejournal.com]

Who: Piper, Lena, & Nikkie
What: Pizza, drinks, and talks
When: Monday night
Where: Pizza place that also serves booze


Piper had come out of her love haze towards the end of the 15th, and it had taken her a while to remember where she was. Charles was there, and he'd looked about the same way she felt. She'd gotten so flustered, she left and hid in her room for over a day. It wasn't her proudest moment, but she didn't really care about that much right now.

She took a taxi to the address Nikkie had given her, arriving after the other girl, as she saw when she stepped inside. Nikkie pulled her into a hug, gesturing to the table. "Come on, sit down," she said. "Let's get you a drink." The waitress came by and Piper ordered a margarita, and settled back into her chair, pulling off her coat.

"Let's wait for Lena," she said, sighing, and Nikkie just nodded.

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[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

Lena wasn't far behind, and she entered the parlor with her usual elegance. She spotted Piper and Nikkie easily enough, and was sure they had seen her too, considering she stood out. "Hey," she said, sliding into the booth. She was usually more exuberant and loud, but poor Piper was going through something.

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Piper and Nikkie both said, "Hey," as she sat down, and Nikkie gestured for their waitress to come back.

Piper smiled at both of them. "Thank you, both of you, for coming out tonight. I just needed some company, and to get out of the house."

Nikkie gave her a half-smile. "'Course," she said. "You sounded like you needed a girls night."

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"You sound like you could use a few actually," Lena spoke up. She ordered a beer and a vegetarian pizza and then turned back to Piper.

"Seriously, girl, if you want to stay at mine for a few days, you're welcome to. Sometimes Florian walks around without pants on but if you throw pillows at him he gets the picture."

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"That is actually not that far from the truth," Piper told her, ordering another drink and a meat lover's pizza, because why not. Nikkie ordered cheese and another beer of her own, and the waitress left.

That made her snort out a laugh, and her smile was more real this time. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea," she said. "Just until I get my head on straight and figure out what my next move is. Throwing pillows at Florian just sounds like a bonus."

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"Our place is huge, you can make yourself at home," Lena said with a nod. "And hey, if you have to toss pillows, aim for the nuts. Maybe it will teach him to wear pants."

Lena was never bothered by nudity, even sibling-nudity. She had grown up on an artist's commune; pretty much everyone had been naked a great deal of the time.

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Nikkie snickered into her beer. "That should be entertaining," she said.

"If you're sure you don't mind," Piper said. "Two, three days, tops. I can't avoid him forever." Her eyes widened. "Shit, I'm supposed to mind the shop tomorrow afternoon." She clunked her head onto the table. "Fucking gods," she told her feet.

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Lena grinned at Nikkie and she nodded. She loved Florian but she also found it pretty funny when he hurt his balls. As long as it wasn't serious.

"I don't mind at all. What even happened? I mean...if you want to talk about it," she asked before accepting the beer that was brought to her and taking a long sip. "Can't someone else watch the shop? Hell, I'll do it, but I have no idea how."

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"It was so weird," Piper said, lifting her head from the table. "I mean, we'd gone out for coffee and kissed a few times, but waking up on Valentine's Day, it was like...he was suddenly the most important thing in the world to me. I just knew that I was in love with him, and I had to tell him, and I did." She gulped down some more of her drink.

"We didn't...I'm positive I didn't sleep with him," she went on. "But we did spend a lot of time together. And then, the next day, it wore off sometime in the afternoon, and I just...I didn't know what to do, I couldn't look at myself, or him, and I just sort of fled to my room and hid there. Probably not the most grownup thing to do, but I panicked."

"Fuck, I would have too," Nikkie said softly. "Someone messed with your head, with your emotions. Of course you panicked."

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"Exactly," Lena added. "I wouldn't have stuck around after that, fuck. He probably feels the same, to be honest, but you have to take care of you. If you want me to check on him, I wouldn't mind."

Lena was acquainted with the authors already, having travelled with Jacob Grimm in Vienna.

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"I just...dove headfirst into my bed and stayed there," Piper said. "Me and Netflix. I only came out to eat when it was quiet." She slumped a little in her chair.

"Beating yourself up about it won't help," Nikkie said, squeezing her shoulder. "Like Lena said, you have to take care of you, and people cope differently."

"That would be so awesome of you," Piper said gratefully. "Someone needs to remind him to eat, sometimes. Make sure he's doing alright."

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"I'll check on him tomorrow. Now it's you time. I would have hidden as well, but this isn't your fault. It's bullcrap."

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"Thank you, I appreciate it," Piper said, falling silent as the waitress came back with their food.

"It really is, and underneath all that embarrassment, it's a seething mass of anger," she said. "Some idiot godling took away my ability to make choices about how I want my relationship to go."

"I said he was a moron," Nikkie agreed. "Offered to set me up before we'd ever even met in person. This was back before I even knew such things as gods existed, and I just thought he was crazy."

"Yeah, well, you weren't wrong in your assessment," Piper muttered.

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"He sounds like he needs to have his diapered ass beat," Lena growled. "What a fuckhead. I say we do shots." It wasn't really a solution, but it would probably make Piper forget about her troubles for a while!

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"It does sound like he needs that," Piper agreed.

"Shots!" Nikkie cheered. "Best plan. I wonder if they make those...what are they called...oh! Irish Car Bombs! I love those."

Piper rolled her eyes, but it was a fond expression. "Shots it is," she said with a smile.

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"Well I volunteer to kick Eros' ass, though it might get me smote." She shrugged and then laughed at Nikkie. "We do this delicious one called Vampire's Kiss at Lugosi's. I should feel bad about drinking a lot where I work but I don't."

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"Don't get yourself smote on my account," Piper said, smiling. "I like my friends whole and alive."

"Ooh, that sounds good, what's in it?" Nikkie asked. "Shoot, I probably wouldn't either, but that's sort of a moot point since I work for a Saint."

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Lena laughed and she nodded, "well alright, but I'll send hateful thoughts his way."

She described the shot, which was easy enough to replicate if the bar here took suggestions. "Just drink it slowly because Icebreaker is always a shock unless you're already so drunk you can't feel it. What is working for a saint like?"

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"Which is perfectly fine with me, as long as you aren't hurt in the process," Piper told her.

"Ooh, that sounds fantastic, I'll have one of those," Nikkie said. "And it's pretty awesome, actually. The whole building's warded, so I feel safe, and he's a nice guy. Lets me go home early if I need to, and I remind him to eat. Works out really well."

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"Warded building sounds handy," Lena had to agree. "Do all immortal men forget to eat? Christ."

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"It's really nice, gives me peace of mind while I'm there," Nikkie said. "And as far as mine goes, apparently he died a few times from forgetting to eat. But I don't know about any of the others."

"I'm not really sure," Piper shrugged. "I do know I sort of took over his kitchen and cook as stress relief, but that's me and my little quirk."