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Shelby didn’t usually talk to strangers in the library. If she was going to be social, she was going to do it outside of the place designated to quiet and reading, but this guy had stumbled into them while they were looking at different fashion trends throughout the ages—it was fun to look back at the memories.
“Sorry! So sorry”, the man apologized as he helped them up. “I didn’t expect anyone else to be here, it’s usually empty in this section.”
“That’s okay!” Shelby replied with a smile, brushing off some dust from their skirt. “I wanted to switch things up a little, I mostly go to another library.” She studied the guy in front of her. Blonde, red flannel, skinny jeans with boots… “I like your style! What’s your name?”
“Jimmy!” said the guy, reaching out his hand. “And thank you! What about you?”
“I’m Shelby”, she replied, gingerly taking it. Someone sitting at a table nearby shushed them, and she cringed. “...Maybe we should move to another section."
Which led to the two of them sitting at a table near the front of the library, eagerly talking about the different styles of the 80s. Shelby held herself back a little, as they allegedly had been born in the 80s and thus wouldn’t have more memories than just the remnants of it, just like Jimmy, but they had fun nonetheless.
“Shelby?” she heard a familiar voice call out to her, and she turned around to see Scott walking up to the two of them. "Drift is waiting outside… now who's this guy?"
Shelby could physically hear the moment Scott deemed Jimmy attractive, and had to resist rolling their eyes. "Scott, this is Jimmy, Jimmy, this is Scott", she gestured, "I met him in the fashion section."
"Oooh, you're a man of style, I see", Scott grinned at Jimmy. She could hear his heartbeat picking up, and knew Scott could too.
"Well, uh, yeah! It's mostly 'cause my mates and I were planning a time-travel gig", he flushed. Shelby knew otherwise, as he'd talked about his interest a lot. As well as the band he and his friends had, but that was off topic. "It's nothing much."
"No, no, I like it", Scott encouraged, leaning on the table. Blatant bastard, Shelby thought. "I enjoy a guy who's not afraid to explore that."
Blush started creeping up Jimmy's neck, so Shelby intervened, lest the conversation went south. "Right! Scott, you said Drift was waiting outside?" she smiled innocently, collecting her things. "We better get going, unless we want to be late for the plane."
"The plane?" Jimmy butted in as she stood up. "Are you going somewhere?" Shelby felt mildly impressed he was able to talk. They'd met several guys deemed speechless after just one line from Scott. Suppose millenia of flirting will do that, they shrugged.
"We're picking up some friends", Scott replied. "I can't imagine it would've done Pearl any good, not being able to run around on the plane… Poor Cleo."
Jimmy blinked. "Is—is Pearl a dog, or..?"
Scott glanced at Shelby, who was doing their best not to giggle audibly. "Not… really", he chuckled, and took out a note from his back pocket. "Hey, give me a call some day, will you?" And, with a wink, he was off, leaving Shelby and Jimmy.
"Don't feel any pressure to call him", she sighed, grabbing her purse. "He does that with every attractive man that catches his eye." She gave it some thought, and added, for Jimmy's sake, "Which, to be fair, ain't all that many. Well! I'll see you, maybe!"
And with that, she left the man at the table, clutching a pre-written phone number.
Shelby was more or less climbing on Drift as they stood in the queue to the café. It was one of their favourites, mostly because of the view, but because the owner was a vampire that Abolish had somehow helped out at some point, and through loose hoops and leaps and perhaps a bit stretching of the truth, they got fairly cheap blood-coffee and drinks mixed with chicken blood. Fairly, because it was still New York, the rent has to be paid somehow.
Scott was rolling his eyes at their behaviour, as if he wouldn't do the same to any of the boyfriends he entertained himself with. Well. It didn't matter to Shelby, as they had Drift, and that was more than enough for them.
Luckily for Scott, however, Shelby had connections. And one of those connections knew one of Jimmy's bandmates, and was able to recommend the café to him. Thus, hopefully, he'd be walking in through the doors at any moment now!
…And maybe Shelby was a bit impatient and tried to hide it by smothering their girlfriend in affection. What was so wrong with that? The only one having any issue with it was Scott!
She'd just ordered and turned to Scott to ask what he wanted when she saw a familiar face entering the café behind them. The café was busy enough that no one turned any heads towards Jimmy, though he did earn a nasty glare from one of the old ladies sitting by the door.
"Oh! Jimmy!" they called out, and his head snapped to them. Scott halted his order midway through, and she could see him stiffen. Time to play innocent.
"Shelby? What are you doing here?" Jimmy asked, ever the helpful angel.
"Oh, me, Drift and Scott come here quite often!" they smiled as he approached. "What about you, are you getting something or were you just checking the place out?"
"Uh, both?" he said sheepishly, before Scott turned around and dramatically revealed himself. Shelby very nearly rolled her eyes. The spinning-around looked better with a cape. A shame they'd gone out of fashion. She'd tried to tell him that, to no avail.
"Jimmy! Fancy seeing you here", he said with a grin, glancing quickly at Shelby before narrowing his eyes. Well, shit.
"I'm going to join Drift at the table, have fun, Scott, don't freak him out!" they rambled before turning around the corner and sprinting off to Drift where she'd taken a table in the back.
"What's happening? Why are you running?" her girlfriend asked, alarmed. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah, no, I'm fine", Shelby replied smugly. "You know Jimmy? The guy I talked about when we were picking up Pearl and Cleo a while back?"
"...Yeah?" Drift guessed, squinting. "Mhm, yep, totally know him."
They rolled their eyes. "You'll see him in a bit, I invited him here so that he and Scott could flirt some more."
"What?!" Drift exclaimed. "Shelby…"
"What? It's a good idea!" they defended. "And I didn't invite him personally, I asked a friend to do so. And also, he likes historical fashion too! It gets boring to only have one person to talk to about that."
"Okay, well, next time, tell me before you do that, okay? I wasn't expecting anyone to join us today…" she replied, worrying her lip. A pang of guilt flashed through their chest, and they reached out to take Drift's hand.
"I'm sorry", they mumbled. "I wasn't thinking about that, I should've told you." They glanced over to the queue, where Scott and Jimmy stood to the side waiting for their orders and talking. Based on Scott's smile, and Jimmy's blush, that part was at least going well. "And, it might look like we'll be getting the table just to ourselves, anyway."
Drift turned her head to look for the two. "Oh yeah, you're right… Well, if it means I get you all to myself, I guess I'll have to forgive you", she teased.
"Hey! Yes you do! I'm the best wingman ever", Shelby scoffed, though a smile played on her lips.
…Maybe she was taking the whole wingman business a smidge too far, Shelby thought as she lay in hiding in a bush. In bat form, of course, the bush was way too small to fit an entire human-sized vampire in it, and she needed plausible deniability.
The reason—or reasons—for her hiding were currently walking towards each other, unknowingly. Of course, Scott would probably smell Jimmy before Jimmy spotted Scott, and could thus run away, but… a gal can hope. And so, with a little bit of planning, and backup in the form of Cleo and Pearl running interference, everything was now set up for the two to… accidentally stumble into each other, just two days after they just so happened to hit it off at the café.
Finally, they spotted Scott, and smelled Jimmy. They could see Scott scrunching his nose, and hoped he could at least act like a person, even if the park was empty at the moment.
Hm. Maybe 10 PM wasn't the best time of the day to have a planned accidental meeting. They really should've thought of that before. Oh well, if anything happened, there were two vampires and a Pearl ready to help!
"Scott? Is that you?" they heard Jimmy ask as the two got closer to each other, and snapped their attention back to the path.
"Oh, Jimmy! Hi", Scott replies with a somewhat friendly smile, looking Jimmy up and down in a way Shelby wasn't too keen on. Come on, Scott, remember all of your work, she urged him silently. "You're out late?"
Jimmy made a face. "Yeah, we ran overtime with band practice. Usually, we only do two hours with a break or two, but we had a kind of rough day, so we were at it for a couple more." He ran a hand through his hair, and Shelby could practically feel Scott following the motion with his eyes.
"That's no good", Scott tutted. "I guess everyone has bad days sometimes, how long did you practice for?"
"Uh…" They could smell the hesitation on him. "Like, five hours? We forgot about the time."
Scott sighed. "Jimmy, that's no good", he said, fixing something on Jimmy's collar. His heartbeat sped up, loud and clear. "No one is productive after two hours or so, especially not if you're all not in the headspace for it."
"Yeah, I know", the human groaned. "We just kept going at it, we really need this gig in a few weeks to work out."
"A gig?" Scott hummed. "Was that the one you mentioned to Shelby a while back?" The mention of their name sent a shockwave through the little bat hiding in the bushes. Had they been found out? Was Scott onto them? Oh no, this could be bad. Or good! Best play it cool.
Jimmy blinked. "You remember that?" he asked, incredulous. "Well– yes, it is that one. We're hoping it could be the thing that really gets the Rejectz out there, y'know? So far it's been mostly small stages, and all that."
"Well", Scott said, taking a step even closer. "I do hope everything turns out good, then. When is it?"
Jimmy opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Then he opened it, and promptly closed it, looking down at the ground, only to look back at Scott. "You– you want to come?"
"Maybe", the vampire shrugged noncommittally, grinning. "If you're any good, of course."
"I would say we're pretty okay", he mumbled, very obviously trying to not look at Scott's lips. Shelby cheered internally. This was just the thing they'd hoped for! Now, just a little further…
"You'll have to show me, sometime", Scott smirked. "Maybe not in the park. There's so many… listening ears, if you catch my saying." Shelby fell off the branch she'd been perching on.
Jimmy somehow got redder in the face. "Of course! Of course. Uhm. Yes." He hesitated. "See you around, then?"
"I definitely will", the vampire chuckled, taking a step back and patting Jimmy's shoulder. Patting his shoulder! Are you kidding me! After all that tension, he steps back, and gives a heterosexual pat on the shoulder? Shelby let out a disappointed squeak. She'd been found out anyway. "Bye, Jimmy", he called out, and disappeared into the shadows. The man in question was left standing dumbstruck on the path.
Aaand that was Shelby's cue to leave, before Scott got to them. They at least would have the protection of Cleo and Pearl, right?...
"I thought I heard some rustling of leaves in this direction", they heard a voice behind them say. "Who knew I'd find a little bat?"
"Scott!" Shelby greeted nervously. "What are you doing here? That's crazy, I was napping in this bush, and I forgot about the time, and I just woke up. Bonkers, right?" Nailed it.
"Mhm", said Scott, and leveled them with an unimpressed look. "We'll talk at home. Let's go."
"Fine", she sighed, and so the two of them took off.
The line to the movies was long enough that it almost went outside and onto the street, but the three of them had somehow managed to get there early enough that it wasn't too bad.
Scott had gotten them tickets to The Devil Wears Prada, which, honestly? Shelby was really looking forward to it. She hadn't done any of the usual wingman business, just left it, and now, they were just going to have a fun night out with their girlfriend and best friend.
At least, that had been the plan, until Jimmy somehow appeared further back in the line. Scott glared at Shelby, who vehemently shook her head.
"I haven't done anything this time!" she hissed. "I swear, this is just some freaky coincidence."
Scott rolled his eyes. "All right, fine, I believe you."
"He's not that bad though, right?" Drift frowned. "Weren't you the one who talked about how you'd love to take him out, Scott?"
"I didn't phrase it like that!" Scott fretted, glancing over to where Jimmy was still standing, oblivious to the three vampires' presence. Shelby blinked. That was definitely not normal Scott behaviour.
"Wait, Scott, you actually like him!" she realised aloud. Scott sent her a murderous glance, but Drift started giggling.
"You do! Oh, this is great", Drift teased. "Imagine if he accidentally got the tickets like, right next to us. Wouldn't that be soo cozy?" She elbowed Scott, who looked ready to massacre everyone in the theatre. Sensing the danger, Shelby quickly interfered.
"Well, that's very, very unlikely", they hurried to placate. "The theatre is big enough that he doesn't even have to see us, in most cases."
Scott frowned, but nodded. This was serious business. The only other people they'd seen him actually care about was them, and Drift of course, and the coven, back when they'd been turned. Never, ever since they'd gone to New York, had a human actually caught his interest like that. It was very fascinating to observe, she had to give it that.
"Exactly!" Drift added, taking Shelby's hand. If she'd had a beating heart, she was sure it would be pounding at the gesture. Distractions! "Shelby hasn't done any meddling, so the chances he'll end up close to us is really unlikely."
"True", Scott sighed, and there was his normal persona back in action. "Well. No use doing anything about it now."
"Shelby! Scott! Hi!" they heard a voice behind them say, and turned around to spot none other than Jimmy himself. "I didn't see you in the queue!"
Scott raised a quick eyebrow to Shelby before putting on that normal, sweet voice. "Really? Well then. Where's your spot?"
Jimmy looked sheepish, blushing a little. "Well, uh. Right here, it seems." He pointed to the empty chair next to Scott. Shelby shared a glance with Drift, eyes wide. Drift, of course, was suppressing laughter, the betrayer.
"I guess we're having a double date then", Scott sighed dramatically, pulling Jimmy down on the seat. "Thank you for not letting me third-wheel those two again." They had to give it to him, even if he very obviously was panicking inside, he saved the situation very nicely.
"Uh– of course?" Jimmy replied, looking confused but happy, before adding, "If you need any more saving, you know my number."
That was news to Shelby, and it seemed to Drift as well. Scott must've called him when they'd been out, because neither had heard anything like that in the apartment. Huh. The more you know.
"Scott, c'mon! Drift will only be occupied for so long before she notices that we're gone!" Shelby whined, dragging Scott into the flower shop.
He rolled his eyes. "I think she noticed when you slammed the door to the apartment."
They winced. "Well… maybe so, but she doesn't know we're here! I need to get flowers for her, and it needs to be perfect!" But he had seemingly stopped listening. "Scott!"
"Scott?" said a by now very familiar voice from the checkout. "What are you doing here? Shelby?"
"Hi, Jimmy", Scott smiled, wrestling his wrist out of Shelby's grip and made his way over there. Shelby just stood there, stunned. "We were just planning to buy some flowers for Drift. Or, well, Shelby was. I'm just here to admire the staff."
…Had her best friend seriously stalked Jimmy to the point where he knew where he worked? That sounded a little bit worrying. Unless Jimmy was into it, but Scott wouldn't know that!
"I thought I'd told you, I can't entertain you when I'm working", Jimmy sighed, and Shelby's eyes doubled in size. They'd met up? Without her knowing? Or orchestrating? At Jimmy's work, which happened to be the flower shop Scott had recommended? Her wingman business was failing in a very strange way. There was no way Scott had brought her here for any other reason than to just mock her! Ugh. She shook her head.
"What do you mean? I'm just here with my dear friend Shelby, who's going to buy flowers for their girlfriend. I'm innocent!" Scott purred, leaning on the counter. Right. Time to run interference before they took it too far.
"Mhm!" they piped up, walking up to the counter. "Scott, you had the list, right?"
"Of course I do", he drawled. "You wouldn't last a day without me."
Shelby elbowed him in the ribs.
Scott checked off everything mentally. The Rejectz would be playing at 8 pm, so he'd be there at 7. Shelby and Drift were in Drift's room, probably cuddling while watching a movie—he could hear the TV sounds clearly through the walls, even without his enhanced hearing.
The outfit he'd chosen was impeccable, as it always was—and, with the time travel theme of the show, he could use some of his old shirts! Really, if he hadn't been so intrigued by Jimmy, he might've gone anyways, just to show off. But, well, after the little stunt the blonde had pulled at the cinema, arranging their seats like that? He wanted to look his best, and not just for himself.
Jimmy had proved to be someone actually putting in some real effort, someone who seemed to actually, genuinely be wanting to be around him for him, and would even pull some strings in order to make that happen—well. Let it be known that Scott Goldsmith had a type.
He left quietly, the two other vampires not noticing even as the door softly clicked shut, and then, he was off. Pointedly ignoring the stranger that looked awfully familiar to Abolish, he made his way and waved for a yellow cab. Those were quite nice, even if it wasn't one person driving him around, fearing his every movement, they still acted properly so long as he paid them right. And with a few favours cashed in, a few strings pulled, and one or two unfortunate disappearances, it wasn't as if he was lacking funds in any way.
The cab stopped and he gracefully got out. There weren't all too many people just yet, with an entire hour before the show started, but Scott wasn't there to stand in a line or sit on a sidewalk for an hour. Instead, he stalked around the back, looking for the back door he had prepared the day before, and got inside.
He could hear Jimmy's bandmates talking in the kitchen, and carefully avoided the light, easily slipping into the shadows. He found Jimmy in the lounging area, doing some last-minute reading of the notes, humming softly while sipping on a can of some cheap beer.
"Jimmy", he sighed, stepping out into the light, "I thought I told you you should switch up your drinks. Beer is, quite frankly, almost insulting."
Jimmy jumped, nearly spilling the drink on the table. "Oh my god, stop doing that!" he chuckled, standing up to greet him. "You scared the life out of me. I can't play if I'm dead, y'know."
"Are you sure?" Scott laughed, hands finding their way around Jimmy's waist. "I'm pretty sure I could find a way to make that happen."
"Sure you would", Jimmy rolled his eyes fondly. "The others don't know you're here, do they?"
"If you mean Drift and Shelby, no, and if you mean your bandmates, also no", he replied. "I thought I'd come to give you a good luck gift."
"A good luck gift?" Jimmy raised an eyebrow, taking a step back. "What is it?"
Scott pulled out a poppy from underneath his cape. "Here. I thought it contrasted your eyes nicely."
Jimmy's heart rabbitted loud and clear in the room as he quietly allowed Scott to tuck it behind his ear. "Was it the one you bought last time?" he breathed, cupping Scott's cheek. The warmth of the palm on his cool skin almost made him lean into it, and he let his hand fall down, resting on his nape.
"Flowers are the least I can buy you", Scott smiled through half lidded eyes. "Did you know that the poppy symbolizes both eternal life, deep love, and sacrifice? They hold a lot more meaning than those etiquettes you put on them at work."
The human's breath hitched. "I– thank you." He opened his mouth to say something more, but Scott heard how BigB, Skizz and Joel were finishing up in the kitchen, and placed a delicate finger on the man's lips.
"Shh", he grinned, allowing his fangs to glint in the dim light of the studio, "I'll be watching from the audience. Good luck with the gig." And, with a quick kiss pressed to Jimmy's lips, he went outside, closed the door, and watched from the shadows as the rest of the Rejectz made their way from the kitchen. He smiled. After the gig's successful closing later that night, he'd make the proposal.
Maybe they'll need two apartments, instead of one.