[One for all] I Can't Believe a Year Went By So Fast

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Nikola is bored, a fact he finds patently unfair as it's his birthday, and for once he's not holed up in an abandoned manor somewhere with no one but unintelligent, undead minions for company.

He thinks there should be cake, at the very least, so he's wandered down to the kitchen in an attempt to either scrounge some up or make one himself.

Probably someone should intervene before the Big Guy finds him snooping around the kitchen.

Comments

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Nice. I'm assuming that some kind of vampire metabolic thing as opposed to actual moderation?"

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"One of the few things I regret about altering myself, yes," Nikola admits. "My metabolism is far too high for any quantity of alcohol to actually affect me. I got a buzz once in the twenties after drinking a fifth of absinthe, but that's been about it."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"That's too bad, but absinthe is legal in the States now," he points out, finishing the cake's assembly.

Grinning, he grabs a tube of bright blue cake gel and draws a little cluster of sparks on the side, before placing the finished product in front of Tesla.

"Happy birthday, Nikola. I'm assuming you don't want me to sing at you?"

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"Yes, but it's watered down. Europe at the turn of the century was the only good place to really get absinthe."

He arches an eyebrow at the cake gel, but he's willing to let it slide this once. "Only if you never want to use your vocal chords again."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

Will laughs. "Good. I wasn't up to doing my Marylin Monroe impression anyway."

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Nikola gets a far off, fanciful look on his face. "Mmm...there's another thing I wouldn't mind seeing..."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Maybe for your 160th birthday," Will answers with a grin, grabbing a cake-knife. "Big slice or little one?"

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Nikola chuckles. "Yes, but by then you won't be nearly as cute.

"Big one. High metabolism, remember?"

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Don't know. In another seven years, I might have actually started to look like one of the grownups."

He cuts the cake into quarters, takes a sliver off one of the pieces, puts it on his plate, and glances at Tesla, gesturing to what's left. "Too big?"

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"The trouble with boyish faces," Nikola says, finding a fork and pulling the cake towards himself, "is that they tend to skip right over handsome and move into 'really quite disturbingly old'."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's why I moisturize three times a day," Will answers with a laugh, taking a small bite of cake. He thinks it's pretty good, but it's Tesla's reaction that counts. "Hopefully I'll at least still look trustworthy..."

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"Yes, well...appearances can be deceiving," Nikola says as he takes his first bite.

He chews slowly and swallows. "Satisfactory," he eventually remarks.

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Hey, coming from you, 'satisfactory' is fairly high praise. I'll take what I can get and work to improve the recipe for next year."

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"That's supposing I'll still be here in a year's time."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"You think you won't be? I don't see this thing with the Cabal being over any time soon, Nikola. And, as long as it is, you're welcome here. Beyond that, too, I'd think."

(ooc: there'll be a little lag to my answering your reply; RL calls, but I'll be back shortly)

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"Neither do I, but welcome or not, I'm not used to staying in one place for very long."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Well, even if traveling is second nature, there's something to be said for having a home to come back to when you need... want a sense of belonging."

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Nikola laughs. "I don't belong anywhere, my boy. I never have."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"I used to feel that way, too. But maybe belonging is what you make of it. There must be somewhere you fit."

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Nikola shakes his head, smiling. "You still don't get it, William. You keep trying to fix me, but you don't seem to realize that I'm not broken."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"But don't you ever get lonely, or..."

He shakes his head, poking at his slice of cake while he tries to wrap his brain around the idea of not having friends or a family or a home and being perfectly okay with that fact.

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Nikola cocks his head curiously. "No. Not really."

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"I don't mean to be invasive, but... are you happy that way?"

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"I wouldn't be this way if I weren't happy about it," Nikola says, bemused.

[w-zimmerman.livejournal.com]

"Um, okay. I guess if that works for you..."

He shakes his head. "Wow..."