On the Town (Seph/Open)

[Vivian Nazarova]

  For Vivian, Saturday night had always been no different to any other night. She'd stay at home, read a book or two, maybe even work if she was scheduled to waitress at the Hogs Head. Then Scott had come into her life and Saturday nights turned into a couples affair. But then Scott had gone and, well... Vivian was determined not to fall into the same rut of despondent solitude.

  So, that's why she was here. Looking unusually tarted up, apprehensive, and waiting for Sephora under the flickering street light outside the Hogs Head. Careful application of makeup (after much trial and error) had managed to make her look a few years older, but she was unsure how far that was going to get her. Hell, she didn't even have a clear idea what her vampire friend had in mind. Seph always managed to look like she knew what she was doing, so that was a start.

  The winter weather was starting to release its hold, so tonight was unusually mild. Although the temperature had no effect on her, Vivian was privately thankful. It would make the short dress and heels she was wearing look less conspicuous. Before parting ways yesterday Sephora had managed to slip in a snide comment along the lines of 'dress nice for once' and Vivian had taken that as a personal challenge. She was pretty sure she hadn't given the other woman anything to complain about this time, but with Sephora (who always managed to look nothing short of dazzling) you couldn't really be sure.

  She was starting to understand what people meant when they said 'women don't dress up for men, they dress up for other women'. She'd never felt bad about the way she looked before, but Sephora had a magical talent to always make her feel sub-standard.

  The girl leant against the pitted bricks of the pub, holding her arms around herself as though cold. She could easily have waited inside, but the idea of awkwardly waiting about her workplace wasn't very appealing. Ed would ask questions about what she was doing and where she was going and... well... she just wanted to get out tonight. Have fun. No questions asked. Sam was out working, but she wasn't going to kid herself into thinking he wouldn't notice her absence. She could deal with him later. For now she was hoping she'd racked up enough trust-worthiness points that he wouldn't go hunt her down and embarrassingly drag her back home.

  The faulty street-lamp outside the pub was still flickering and Vivian frowned at it, readjusting the strap of the black handbag she'd dug up to bring with her. Seph was normally pretty punctual, so she wouldn't have to wait long. Oh well. At least Seph couldn't possibly find anything wrong with the shoes - she'd picked them out herself.

[Sephora Forrest]

Why was nothing there when you wanted it? After several minutes and a series of threats and curses, Sephora Forrest emerged from her wardrobe triumphant – clutching her favorite pair of Louboutins. Finally it was getting warmer again, which meant wooly coats were out, anything remotely skimpy and skin tight was in, paired with whichever pair of perilously high stilettos took her fancy.

Reassessing the hair situation, Sephora made final adjustments to her outfit before nipping out the door. Vivian could wait a few minutes extra; it was the cupboard’s fault anyway. She really needed some more space to house her growing shoe collection. Somewhere with a walk in wardrobe would be nice: she’d need to talk Si into giving her a raise. Shame that was never going to happen.

Stepping into the fireplace, she took the Floo Network over to the Hog’s Head. If anyone asked, Seph was just trying to maintain the integrity of her appearance. Really, she was just feeling rather lazy. The familiar pub was almost more balmy than being spun around a fireplace was, so the breath of fresh air from outside was a relief.

Spotting the rather uncomfortable looking changeling standing all by herself like a lost puppy, Sephora made her way over. Luckily Vivian wasn’t really a lost puppy or her greeting wouldn’t be nearly as friendly.

“Good to see you know how to dress yourself occasionally,” said Sephora cheerfully, assessing Vivian’s appearance. Those heels looked awfully familiar, if Sephora was not most mistaken they had been bought on her advice. Smart choice. Actually, Vivian had clearly gone to some effort tonight, which Sephora appreciated. Collectively they’d look less like a pair of high school girls at least.

“Right! Now that you look the part, we’re going out – properly. You’re technically over age right? Oh well, not like it really matters,” said Sephora, pausing briefly to try and remember Vivian’s actual age. She’d have to be buying just in case: the vampire did still look painfully young despite her make up. “But first, we’re going shopping again! No night can possibly be complete without shopping!” She was actually certain that the world might end if she didn’t bring at least one pair of shoes home with her from shopping trips.

“Where are we thinking? London? Cardiff?”

[Paige Nicholls]

A simple wardrobe was all Paige had because, well, she was a simple girl. Only a handful of well-loved jackets and a litter of shoes the majority of colours of the rainbow made up its contents. The coats were a few seasons old but Paige maintained that they still looked good; good enough that she could still look stylish wearing them. She stood in front of the wardrobe and chewed her lip in indecision as her eyes raked over her meagre collection of coats and footwear. A pair of pitch-black tights showed off her legs to the world while a pair small shorts kept her modest, and a low cut t-shirt hinted at her chest. All that she needed was a jacket and a pair of Converse to complete the outfit.

All her life she’d been toeing the line between tomboy and girlish. A love of Converse sneakers had always put a boyish edge to outfits normally otherwise only seen on girls. Tonight Paige settled on a pair of bright red ones, as well as an above-the-knee length charcoal grey coat, then painted her nails to match. She took care applying her face but was still unsure where and with whom she’d show it off. Her girlfriends had bailed one by one and she still wasn’t sure where that cute guy in her department hung out when he wasn’t at work. With a huff the girl resolutely decided that her lack of company wouldn’t ruin her night, instead it was an opportunity to meet new people.

With a nod at the thought, Paige scooped up her wand, a jingling purse and a spare tube of lipstick and set out towards the Hog’s Head. She didn’t have to use the pub’s fire but the bartender was cute and her floo powder levels were getting dangerously low. Besides her small fireplace was incredibly dirty and not to mention sparse on the space side of things. Although it was March the spring air still had bite to it that made Paige glad on her choice of coat as she weaved through Hogsmeade’s residential area. Nearing the pub she spotted an early chance at new friends. Two women stood out its front looking more than ready for a night outside the sleepy little village.

Without hesitation Paige swept up her long red hair into a ponytail and strode over to the two women, a broad friendly smile across her face. ”You two headin’ out tonigh’ too eh?” she asked through a thick Scottish accent, her smile never faltering. The taller of the two strangers nearly dwarfed Paige through the sheer size of her heels alone. Without meaning to, Paige’s face wrinkled up as she spotted the high heels. The memories of the pain they had brought her last time she had worn them were burned into her brain. ”Where yeh headin’ off to this fine evenin’ if yeh don’ nay mind me askin’?”

[Vivian Nazarova]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/H2/Viv12.png,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/Viv1_02.png][atrb=style,padding:0px 50px;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;]   Oh drat. Why didn't she bringing a watch? Vivian was starting to suspect Seph was late, but with no way of knowing for sure, time was going torturously slow. Fashion had won over practicality tonight and Vivian's poor beat-up old wrist-watch was sitting dejectedly on her bedside table upstairs. Why didn't she just put it in her handbag?   Handbag. Oh lord. It felt weird just thinking about it. Heels, shoes, hair, over-glorified face paint. When did she start growing up? This was all Seph's fault. Still, she couldn't deny she felt pretty, which was nice.   Vivian barely finished making up her mind to quickly duck upstairs and grab the watch when Sephora finally breezed through the door to the pub, looking as self-assured as ever. Vivian breathed a sigh of relief, standing up and readjusting her bag for what felt like the four hundredth time, but not before doing a double-take at Seph's cheery greeting.  ... Okay, that was technically a compliment, right?   “Where are we thinking? London? Cardiff?” the woman continued without waiting for answers to any of her questions.   "I did not check weather for Cardiff." The idiocy of her statement hit her right away. What did vampires care about the temperature anyway? Still, it wouldn't be fun to pop up in Wales and immediately have bucket-worth's of rain dropped on their heads. For some reason she'd assumed they were going to London.   Out of the corner of her eye she spotted someone making their way over. Not unusual for the pub, but the girl appeared to be heading right towards them, not the door. Friend of Seph's maybe? Had to be. Although how she'd survived without Seph guilting her out of those converse was a good question.   " Where yeh headin’ off to this fine evenin’ if yeh don’ nay mind me askin’?" the girl asked in a distinct Scottish brogue.  ... Err...   "Good question."

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[Sephora Forrest]

Sephora raise a painstakingly sculpted eyebrow at Vivian’s response. Since when did the weather matter when you were going to be spending most of your time indoors? Besides, she was supposed to be a vampire. And Seph herself had no problems when it came to temperature, but perhaps that was because she of the opinion no pain, no gain.

“Ok, since Cardiff clearly isn’t your thing, we’ll go…” began Sephora, before she noticed Vivian’s attention had shifted to a region somewhere just over her left shoulder.

Turning to check what was more interesting than their conversation about shopping locations, Sephora noticed a fiery headed girl making her way over. And by the looks of it, she was in serious need of a retail makeover herself.

Maintaining a stoic expression, Sephora looked the new comer up and down not-so-subtly. It had crossed her mind briefly that this may be another vampire – heck, she was no friend of Seph’s so she must belong to Viv – but although she was pale enough she definitely was human. Call it paranoid, but Seph was on high alert for anyone without a heartbeat, and this girl was alive and kicking.

Her first evaluation was confirmed when she got closer: yup definitely human. Probably one of Viv’s little friends from a former life. Although, she did look a bit older, to say the least. Interestingly, they shared the same appalling taste in shoes. In fact, it‘d be fair to say that this new woman was worse! Never ever, in the history of all things stylish, had Converse shoes been fashionable. And certainly never on a girl. Sephora had always despised girls who dressed up like men – they looked daggy and revolting half the time, so what on earth would possess an upstanding young woman to try and imitate them? It was madness.

Oh and Redhead was Scottish too, there was no mistaking that accent. Seph couldn’t really say much about accents though, but she thought that her Australian twang was almost indistinguishable now days. It soon became clear that Vivian did not know this girl, or at least Seph didn’t think she did. There was no recognition there.

“We’re going out,” she replied sweetly, smiling in not exactly the most friendly way, “Aren’t we Viv? Shopping. London.” She eyed the girl’s outfit once more. “I’m sorry, were you heading to the pub?” Surely she wouldn’t be planning a similar night as they were. Although, with that coat and those shoes it was entirely possible she only went shopping once every four years.

[Paige Nicholls]

Patiently Paige looked from one girl to the other with a genuinely pleasant smile on her face. Evidently she was not bothered by the cold but, unlike the two girls before her, not because she was some sort of magical creature. The icy early spring air was something she was used to having grown up in magical Scotland and spent her youth wandering up and down the streets of Hogsmeade with her family and then as a student. ”Oh! Did I hear someone mention Cardiff by ‘ny chance? ‘pparently it’s rainin’ cats and dogs there. Spring storms and all tha’,” she spoke up suddenly, remembering a snippet of conversation she’d caught on her way over to the strangers. Cardiff brought up a whole new train of thought for Paige –she hadn’t been there for age and it was such a nice city.

Before she could suggest they all go there the smaller, younger looking girl cut her off with a statement that made it obvious Cardiff was not the final destination and the older, taller of the pair was in charge. Paige ignored the way the girl raked her pale blue eyes up and down, obviously scrutinising her. She was used to it but most of the time people looked her up and down trying to figure out if she was related to a certain famous wizarding family. The other girls who worked in and around her office at the Daily Prophet however fixed her with a gaze similar to the taller girl’s. Just like what she did with them Paige answered it with an unfaltering, I-couldn’t-care-less-what-you-think smile.

”Ou’? Wha’ a coincidence, me too!” the redhead exclaimed happily, again ignoring the less-than-friendly body language being directed her way,”I was goin’ ta see if I could meet up with a guy from work bu’ shopping sounds like a grea’ idea too.” London had been Paige’s planned destination; she thought she’d heard the cute guy from her office mention something about drinks at a pub there. if only she could remember what the name of the pub was. ”I was headin’ to a pub but not this one. Headin ou’ to London, same as you two. I’m Paige by the way. I know you’re Viv,” she turned to the girl the older of the two had addressed as ‘Viv’ and smiled as if nothing could please her more than being in her company. ”Wha’ do they call you, if you don’ nay mind me askin?” Paige turned to the leader and inquired after her name politely.

Although normally she paid no heed to people who looked her up and down the same way the girl had, Paige had decided to give the girl with the extraordinary blue eyes a chance.

[Vivian Nazarova]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/H2/Viv12.png,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/Viv1_02.png][atrb=style,padding:0px 50px;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;]   The new girl seemed to be weathering the pressure of Seph's disapproving looks quite well. Unwavering confidence had never been Vivian's strong suit and she always found herself jealous of those that had it. Of course, if Scott was here he'd have said that--   Erk. No. Thoughts of Scott were exactly what she was trying to avoid tonight. He'd been swimming in her head and darkening her mood for long enough. The last thing she needed was to start tearing up in public again.   She swallowed forcefully as though that would get rid of the pit that had formed in her stomach and turned her attention back onto the red-haired girl. She seemed friendly enough, and that helped to put her more at ease.   "Vot is pub name?" she asked curiously. The thought of drinking was suddenly more appealing than it should be. It wasn't like she didn't have experience with pubs or anything (hell, she worked in one) but that was only because Ed was being extraordinarily lax on the age rules. Other places wouldn't be quite so forgiving when it came to letting her in. Maybe she could use some of Dacian's stealth training to try and get in through the back?   ... Might need to take the heels off for that.

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[Sephora Forrest]

Seph almost audibly groaned when the mismatched redhead’s eyes lit up at the mention of their shopping trip. Clearly she didn’t quite catch the hint that she was not invited. What did she look like, the sad sorry little fashion criminals collector or something? No way was she putting more time and effort into another one – especially one who wasn’t like Viv, who would clearly be more of an asset than some Scottish witch.

And why did she look so damn pleased? She was going to get goddamn awful wrinkles when she was older from smiling too much. There was the momentary urge to just attack here then and there for looking so cheerful, but Sephora disregarded it. Firstly, she wasn’t really hungry. Secondly, it was in the middle of a public street and Viv would probably make a noise. Thirdly and most importantly, she was female. Seph didn’t do girls.

Fuck. Seph hated coincidences. In her experience, they usually weren’t so circumstantial at all. Seph had hoped for a (mostly) vamps only night out with Viv – they wouldn’t get tired, and she didn’t have to hold her mouth in an annoying manner to prevent herself from ‘flashing’ any close observers. Tag-along witches were just going to be a pain in the ass, she knew it. Why? Why her? What did she do to deserve all these annoyances? Aside from occasionally eat people.

As the redhead introduced herself as Paige, Sephora shot a glare at Viv. So she had brought this nuisance down on them! Coincidence indeed, she’d invited one of her little friends to tag along. There was no way in hell Seph was babysitting them both tonight.

“Sephora Forest,” said Seph icily, momentarily withholding her hand before shaking Paige’s. Firmly. “That’s Sephora to you.”

And then Viv went and showed interest back. Quietly hissing in breath, she massaged her temples for a moment. She’d have to teach that girl when to hold her tongue to avoid the riff-raff. Not that might have helped in this case – Paige had practically invited herself.

[Paige Nicholls]

Although they had just met Paige decided she liked the girl called Viv with the strange accent. She was willing to chat, sort of –she didn’t say much- but she was friendly enough. Her friend wasn’t nearly as pleasant but for all Paige knew she could have just been protective of the younger Viv. ”Tha’s a good question. Can’ fer the life of me remember,” the redhead answered with a sigh. Cute guy from the desk near hers would just have to wait. Next time he announced to the office where they should all meet for drinks she’s pay more attention. ”I guess we could try a few.”

She’d said ‘we’ without even meaning to and, when she realised what she’d said, a hand flew to her mouth. Paige giggled but didn’t correct herself; she wanted to see whether the two other girls would notice her very presumptuous slip-up. The older one groaned and, try as she might, Paige couldn’t resist calling her out on it. ”I’m sorry, was there somethin’ wrong? If yer cold should we go inside. It’s warm in there and the man behind the bar isn’ bad on the eyes.” She winked and continued to smile pleasantly at the other girl.

”It’s nice to meet yeh, Sephora. I have to say tha’s quite an interestin’ name you got there. Suits yeh.” As well as being the truth it was also a thinly veiled experiment. Paige wanted to see how Sephora would react to compliments; whether they’d make her warm up a little or not. ”Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll buy you two a drink.”

[Vivian Nazarova]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/H2/Viv12.png,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/Viv1_02.png][atrb=style,padding:0px 50px;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;]   ‘We?’ Did that mean Paige was coming? Oh well, Vivian certainly couldn’t see anything wrong with the idea, so she decided to just go along with it. Paige seemed harmless enough, and the more the merrier. It would probably do Seph some good to lighten up around strangers.   At Paige’s crack about Ed, Viv was fairly sure she’d accidentally pulled some sort of confused face. She regarded Ed a lot like the brother she’d never had, so hearing women talk like that about him was still odd. “He has girlfriend,” she pointed out, aware that she was ruining the joke but unable to stop herself. Ed and Cassie were too cute and had worked too hard to stay together for strangers to accidentally step in the middle of things.   Okay, so sue her. She was a little protective of them   “Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll buy you two a drink,” Paige offered kindly. Normally Vivian wouldn’t be such an ingrate, but she really wanted to avoid the Hogs Head. The longer she stuck around the quicker Ed would spot her, and then he’d ask questions. Questions were bad. She was feeling awkward enough just standing around like this.   “Maybe ve should go to London first?” she suggested instead, with a look from Paige to Seph and then back again. “Vhile shops still open.”

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