Okay. So. Honestly? Originally, Bailey had wandered into The Abyss out of some kind of morbid curiosity about the new club. Venue. Place. He hadn’t seen much about it and no one he knew had been here and he was just…curious. So he’d wandered in, in the evening and boy had it not been quite what he expected. By the time the crowd had ushered him further in he was wide-eyed and a little slack-jawed at the fire dancer on one podium, the way she moved effortlessly, and then the male dancer on the main stage with dark hair and piercing eyes, body covered in silks that flowed in time with the music somehow. He was ethereal.
He vaguely remembered paying for the drink that was in his hand, but he was truly mostly completely overwhelmed by the performances in front of him, condensation beading on the glass and hanging off the base in beads as he just stared. He had no idea people could move like that, or even look that good and beautiful and sexy, even with all their clothes on. (Not that Bailey was opposed to people stripping, it just didn’t happen around him at all other than the full moon kind of thing and he just—well this was all new to him okay? Give him a break.)
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Arden had a knack for being able to spot those who were out of their depth or fishes out of familiar water and the moment the tall curly haired handsome wolf stepped into his club he spotted him, letting his interest fix and linger as his attention fixed on the stage because of course it would fix there, that was the whole point of The Abyss after all.
And besides, it was his Childe performing, Jinhae was truly at his most beautiful when he was performing so why would he not draw and hold attention?
Arden himself was dressed for an occasion but that was in many ways just how the Strigele liked to present himself to the world as he had gone from nothing to having absolutely everything so why not show it off? Also, he liked being pretty, feeling attractive, being wanted and having people look at him. It was fine silks, soft fabrics, carefully chosen rings, an assorted arrangement of bracelets, intricate braids in silver hair, the strands of which were decorated with gemstones and exotic hairpieces.
A soft chuckle escaped him and with stem glass in hand he breezed over to where the werewolf was.
“He truly is breathtaking, isn’t he?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey had been so caught up in the performance that he actually hadn’t noticed someone joining him, so he jumped a little, glad he had a bottle of soda in his hand rather than a fancy cocktail that might have spilled. He swallowed, turning his head away from the dancer—somewhat reluctantly—to look at the person who had just joined him.
A breath in confirmed it was another strigele, like the one on stage, and he blinked a couple of times, like he was trying to work out if answering truthfully or not would get him in trouble.
“I—yeah,” he managed, because as he looked, the man that had joined him was ethereal in his own way, dressed beautifully in a way that just enhanced what he had in a way that made Bailey feel jealous and overwhelmed and just—well, it was a lot and he coughed, breath catching in the back of his throat. “It—yeah, wow. He’s good.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“Oh, by all means, don’t let me distract you,” Arden replied, clearly bemused by the werewolf’s inability to tear his eyes away from the stage. “Jinhae, the dancer on stage, is a born performer.”
He rested his glass on the table and dragged the tip of his finger around the rim of it before he captured the cocktail stick, drawing it between his teeth, capturing the olive a moment later.
“I’m guessing this is your first time.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey’s thumb brushed along the neck of the cola bottle in his hand and he put it down to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly. He tore his gaze away properly. Which was probably a bad idea because the man next to him now that Bailey was looking properly was…
Well.
“I— uh, is it that obvious?” He asked, shyly. “I wasn’t—I mean I wasn’t really sure what to expect.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Eyes outlined in dark kohl and decorated with hues of gold lifted to regard the wolf as his lips curled into a slow smile. “You have a certain deer in headlights look about you.” He lifted his glass and took a sip. “Is it better or worse than what you envisioned in your head?”
A glance at the stage drew a clearly prideful expression.
Jinhae was truly breathtaking.
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
On the stage, there was a moment where Jinhae’s eyes met Arden’s as he was spinning, seeming to slow time down around himself as the silks he had in his hands twirled around him with the momentum of his turn, and his lips curled up into a small, intimate smile before his attention returned to the dance, his eyes sliding shut.
“It…it’s different. I have no idea what I expected? A club, maybe? But it—the performers here are so good. So talented and it—yeah, it’s amazing. From a…y’know…talent perspective.” Wow. Words. “But it’s nice. Classy. Not that I didn't’ think it would be but I just—”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
As their eyes met Arden winked before he let his Childe return his full focus to his dance and entertaining the crowd. “It’s okay,” Arden reassured. “You’re certainly not the first to get the wrong idea about The Abyss. Thankfully those misconceptions lasted just about as long as the ability to focus on something other than the performers did which was not very long at all.
“Arden,” the Strigele said as he offered his hand. “I’m the owner.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey’s eyes widened significantly more and he opened his mouth to immediately apologise, “Oh my—shit, I—Jesus I had no intention of insulting you or anything, I really didn’t—this place is really amazing.” He did take the offered hand, after first checking for silver rings because the last thing he wanted to do was end up making an even worse impression because of silver burns in public. Once he was sure he wasn’t in danger of being burned he took Arden’s hand.
“Ah—Bailey. That’s me. Yeah, I’m Bailey. It’s nice to meet you, you have a really nice place here. And, uh, I guess welcome to Mercy Cove too?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Arden couldn’t help the way his lips pulled into a slow amused smile as Bailey got very flustered at the realisation he was speaking to the owner of the establishment. There was no concern over silver as all of Arden’s jewellery was supernatural friendly, all supernatural types friendly.
“Pleasure to meet you, Bailey,” Arden answered smoothly before he released the wolf’s hand and returned it to his glass. “Thank you for the welcome. Are you local?”
He finished what was left of his drink and as if by magic somebody passed by to remove the empty glass and replace it with another.
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“Yeah,” Bailey said with a nod of his head and a little smile, the conversation slipping into something he was more familiar with. Mercy Cove was comforting territory for him. “I grew up here, I’m part of the local pack but you could probably at least tell that much, being… y’know.” He didn’t know much about strigele other than that they weren’t meant to get along with each other. He waved his hand demonstratively. “I’ve been—I’ve lived here all my life. What brings you here? It’s not—y’know, it’s not a popular place. Or a big one.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
What brought Arden and by extension Jinhae to Mercy Cove was… complicated to say the least and certainly not something that could be openly discussed outside the Liu family. “Family obligations,” was the response given. Simple, to the point, and just vague enough that it didn’t invite any further questions.
“And, yes, for the record I can tell that you, Bailey, are a werewolf.”
Absolutely no never mind to him.
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“Oh, I can understand those,” Bailey said with a nod, smiling a little and letting the matter drop. After all, there was never a good time to share family business with a stranger, and more than that, it really wasn’t any of Bailey’s business anyway. But he did understand family obligations: he was part of a pack, after all. And he and Addie both had their mom to look after, which also… well that was its own set of problems.
He rubbed the back of his neck again, realising belatedly that the other’s glass had just been spontaneously replaced with a full one, but he supposed that was the wonder of being a club owner. Bar owner? Something owner, he still wasn’t entirely sure how one would classify this place.
“I figured you could. I’m not—I’ve not met many like you. Not through any kind of, y’know, dislike or whatever. I just…they’re all generally super rich and I’m super not. So it’s like… worlds don’t collide and stuff.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“The benefits of living as long as we do,” Arden remarked ruefully. “And wise choices in financial advisors.” He lifted his new drink to his lip and took a sip. “Reassuring to hear that you don’t have an issue with my kind, some wolves do.”
He smirked faintly.
“Well, your world has collided with mine this evening.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“I—yeah, I guess it has,” Bailey admitted with a little grin, sipping at his soda. “I didn’t mean to, like, come in uninvited or anything. But the pack here are pretty cool, we’ll not cause problems for you. Not like the Eureka guys, they’re all jerks. So they should probably be banned already, y’know? Well-known troublemakers that you don’t want coming around here.”
He tilted his head, “Is it rude to ask how old you are? Probably—fuck—sorry.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Arden couldn’t help but think about how Bailey reminded him in some ways of Jinhae, how curious and alive he is. He hadn’t had the chance to be around many wolves so Mercy Cove was certainly a treasure trove of possibilities.
“That depends.”
He leaned forward, elbow braced against the table, chin perched in his palm and long fingers framing his face.
“Will you judge me if I tell you?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey glanced over at the stage, but the performer from before had moved away, and there were a few others doing some choreographed routine of their own. This time, though, they were losing bits of clothes. Bailey felt his ears warm up and looked back at Arden.
“I—uh—yeah, no. I won’t judge you. I just think it’s incredible how long-lived some people are, you know? How many things you’ve probably seen. It’s then like… super cool when you guys don’t treat us like babies.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Well, that was just adorable.
Arden turned his head to also watch and appreciate the performers and how they took their time with removing articles of clothing, teasing and tantalising the crowd.
“At last count,” he began as he turned his attention back to Bailey. “I was seven hundred and fifty years old.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey had made the mistake of taking another mouthful of his drink when Arden answered his question, and the surprise at the actual number he was given made him inhale sharply, drink going up and then out of his nose, hand lifting to cover his face as he coughed.
“What?! Are you teasing me?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“If I were teasing you, honey, you would know about it,” Arden assured Bailey before he took a further sip from his drink. “Though I will take that as a compliment as in I don’t look my years.”
Immortality had that neat trick after all.
Plus, he took care of himself.
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey blinked, nodding his head a few times after clearing his throat and clearing the burning tears from his eyes after the soda-up-the-nose escapade, “It—yeah, I—yes, you don’t look like you’re anything older than like… thirty. If that. But I’m not great at the guess-the-age game and that’s even harder when you’re dealing with people who are immortal, you know?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Arden’s lips seemed to remain steadfast in the smirk that overcame him at the sheer flustered nature of Bailey’s reaction to his admission. “We do have a distinct advantage,” he admitted with a rueful chuckle.
He steepled his fingers beneath his chin and regarded Bailey closely.
“I would guess you’re no older than twenty-two or twenty-three.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey ducked his head a little and nodded, “Yeah, the first one,” he offered, feeling like a toddler at the adult table next to someone so dignified. And old. But mostly dignified. And a Strigele, too. Everything was just a lot right now.
“I won’t look as you do when I’m the same age. It must—must be nice? Knowing you’ll stay handsome forever?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Handsome? Arden reached over and with the lightest of touches he brushed his fingers beneath Bailey’s chin and by doing so lifted the wolf’s chin so he could meet his gaze.
“It is very nice to know I’ll look this way forever,” he murmured with a considering tilt of his head. “But sometimes the greatest of beauties can only be appreciated in a limited amount of time.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
“I guess,” Bailey murmured, not quite getting the point that Arden was making, letting the strigele lift his chin, bashfully meeting his gaze. “I mean, Helen of Troy was only human, right?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Oh, he had definitely missed the point. Perhaps Arden hadn’t been obvious enough?
He hummed softly as he continued to touch and hold the young werewolf’s gaze. “She was and look at what she inspired in men.”
“I’ve found you should never underestimate anyone.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey’s breath stuttered a little and he just nodded his head, not breaking eye contact but clearly a little overwhelmed by the attention Arden was paying him.. “It—Experience, I guess? It must be nice that people can still surprise you?”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Arden brushed his thumb along the sharp edge of Bailey’s jaw before he finally withdrew his touch, giving the werewolf a chance to catch his breath. “I love it, Bailey. It is quite honestly the thing that keeps my immortal life interesting.”
He reached across the table to secure the wolf’s hand instead, manifesting a pen from seemingly nowhere and writing his number onto his palm.
“If you ever find yourself in need of something surprising give me a call sometime.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Bailey nodded, somewhat stupefied by everything that had suddenly happened around him and he looked down at the number written on his hand, knowing he needed to get it into his phone sooner rather than later.
“I—Uh, yeah, okay. I’ll do that.” The promise was accompanied by a lopsided half-smile as Bailey rubbed the other hand against the back of his neck, fingers curling protectively over the digits written in his palm. “Thanks.”
▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣-▣
Arden smiled again and with a final slow once over the Strigele pushed away from the table and gave Bailey a small wave before he threaded into the crowd, getting lost in a matter of seconds.