Date: 96-11-01 02:51:28 EST Poster: Cat MacLean Subject: The Morning After ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - THE MORNING AFTER (1/1) Disclaimer: The standard disclaimers apply. Obviously Nick and Nat and the gang don't belong to me. I've just sent them to a little party and promise they'll be returned to TPTB in fine shape. This is my first posting so be kind, especially if I've messed up somehow in getting it to the list. This little story came to me in one fell swoop on Halloween night after reading all the other stories posted for the occassion. Did I mention this is my first posting, so be kind? Thanks ever so... THE MORNING AFTER Natalie woke to the steady and annoying drip, drip, drip of something sticky falling onto her face. Gingerly, she reached up and physically pried her aching eyes open. It was _not_ a good idea. What pale light was seeping through the shuttered windows was piercing directly into her, apparently only semi-functional brain. She barely found the strength to utter a groan as she clearly saw that the liquid falling slowly from above her was dark, and it dropping from the edge of a piece of furniture. Down here was, obviously to her now, the floor. It was _cold_ down here. Carefully, she began to take inventory of aches and pains that were making themselves felt. First and foremost was her head; it felt as if a hive of killer bees had set up housekeeping. She tried to swallow with a desert dry mouth and only succeeding in starting a coughing fit that didn't help her already raw throat. Steeling her will and holding her pounding head with both hands, she finally managed to sit up. A _huge_mistake. Natalie clutched the coffee table with one hand and scrabbled for the couch with the other, leaving her head to fall off by itself or not. She didn't much care which. Natalie eased her shoulders up and then down carefully, wary of what was going to hurt next. She stiffened her spine and tried to sit up straighter, tilting her head gently from side to side fully expecting it to roll away from her at any time. She shuddered involuntarily and then moaned in earnest. She let go of the supporting couch and table and rubbed her hands over her face, trying to wipe away the hangover from hell and making sure all the parts were still present. Hard to tell since most of her face was as numb as her brain. Finally, she made the herculean effort of getting to her feet and stood swaying dizzily for moments before giving up and dropping like a stone to the cushions of the couch. Or was it? Her new line of vision clearly showed her part of what she'd been doing on the floor. Looking down at herself, Natalie realized why she'd been chilly. Most of her clothes were strewn haphazardly around and on the various living room tables and the couch itself, which had left her spending the night on the floor in nothing but black silk lace nothings that didn't keep a body warm nights. But the signs were all there; one high heeled, black pump was lying on the hearth stone of the fireplace while it's mate was actually in the now cold ashes of the fire. Her black leather skirt and vest were draped over the arm of the couch while her black silk blouse was performing it's new function of lampshade. Frantically, Natalie jumped up and began to gather her clothing, dressing hurridly, terrified that Nick would come downstairs and see her like this. She wriggled into the party clothes from the night before, twisting in the cold leather awkwardly, trying to get the blasted zipper up with shaking fingers. The tiny jet buttons of her blouse weren't cooperating either. She shrugged the leather vest on and pulled it closed in the front to compensate for her gaping buttons. Natalie knelt before the huge fireplace and tried desperately to fish her once expensive shoes from the ruins of the fire. She didn't want to have to move the heavy andirons and had to do some manuvering on her hands and knees to reach all the way into the back of the fireplace to retrieve that one elusive pump. "Looking for these, Nat?" came Nick's bemused voice from the upper staircase. Surprised, Natalie jerked upright and immediately regretted it. She sent a a baleful glare in his direction. Dangling from his hand were the objects of her search; her black stockings. She shook her head as if to remove last night and this morning from existence. Another huge mistake. A wave of nausea flooded throuth her and she clamped her mouth shut resolutely. Instantly, strong, caring hands were lifting her from the floor and setting her gently onto the couch. "Sit still, Nat. I'll get you something." In a flash, Nick was back and pressing a smooth glass into one hand and a damp towel into the other. Feebly, Natalie reached for the glass and sipped. She needed it, but was leery of it at the same time. She fumbled for the towel, but Nick didn't release it. "Here, let me." She felt the wet coolness take away some of the layers of confusion as he touched the pulse points of her face and neck. "Oh, God. Don't stop. That feels wonderful." She laid her head back on the couch, closed her eyes and relaxed into his care. "That's just what you said last night, Nat." She could hear the smile in his voice and she slitted one eye at him. "What does that mean?" There was a hesitant note in her voice. Nick just continued smiling and slid the wet towel around the back of her neck. "Better?" "Yeah, much." Taking the towel away from him, Natalie sat up straighter, pulled her vest together again and looked him in the eye. "Give. What happened last night?" "You mean you don't remember? Really?" Nick shook his head sadly. "I must be losing my touch after all these years." Natalie's patience snapped and she punched him in the arm. "Give it up, Nick. What happened?" Nick massaged the spot she'd hit, half-heartedly. They both knew that she hadn't hurt him. But, if it made her feel better. "Want to hit me again, Nat? It's OK." He was still smiling, damn him. How dare he look like he'd had eight hours sleep? But then she guessed he hadn't spent the last eight hours sleeping on the floor under the coffee table either. "I just might. Or, maybe, I'll go find me a nice sharp stake somewhere around here, too." She couldn't keep from smiling just a tiny bit herself. "Come on, Nick. You've got me. Tell me what idiotic, compulsively stupid thing I did last night to make _this_ happen." Natalie gestured with the half full glass of orange juice still in her hand and Nick caught it up before she dropped it and placed it behind him on the table. Natalie dropped her head into her hands and began rubbing circles on her temples, trying to dispel the sensation of manic hampsters running in little wheels behind her eyes. "Here, move over and let me do that." Nick slid onto the couch beside her and pulled her back against him. Natalie sighed and laid back against him as his cool touch seeped into her fevered skin. "Don't stop." Feeling him take a breath to speak, Natlie elbowed him in the ribs to prevent his words. "OK, if I said the same thing last night, tell me, just what was I talking about?" "Well, we were sitting here, in front of the fire. Remember?" Feeling her head move slightly in a negative manner, he continued, "Do you remember coming back to the loft after the party?" Another faint shake of her head. "How about the party?" Concerned, Nick leaned forward to look down into her face. Natalie reached up and placed her hands over his, coercing him to resume his ministrations. "Don't...I mean that feels nice, keep going." "Yep, you said those things, too, Nat." His voice drifted lazily down to her. She elbowed him in earnest this time and turned in his light grasp. "So help me, Nicholas B. Knight, I'm going to get up and look for that stake." She sank down to his lap again, moaning, exhausted by her efforts. "Right after I rise from the dead here." "Been there, done that. I don't recommend it, Nat." "Oh, you _are_ impossible this morning. OK, Nick, please, no matter how embarassing it is, and I know it will be, please, just tell me?" Natalie's voice cracked with her frustration and Nick could feel her skin flushing. He decided to take pity on her. "Well, first of all we were at the precint Halloween party. Everybody was there, remember? Tracy even brought Vachon. They did a reverse number; Tracy had on a tuxedo and Vachon was in drag, remember? I know that's something _I'll_ never forget. And I thought that there were a couple of male Vice cops that looked bad going undercover." Nick shuddered in memory. That blond wig with Vachon's dark five o'clock shadow...and a dress that would have looked better on one of Natalie's morgue customers. Natalie just looked at him dumbfounded; Vachon in drag? And I can't remember? Oh, this is just not fair. "Who else was there? Refresh my memory." Nick continued, "Captain Reese had quite a clever costume. He came as a water cooler; empty of course." Now that _did_ sound rather familiar to Natalie or was it just that some cold, fresh water sounded wonderful to her parched system? "Nick, what were you?" Natalie looked down at herself again. "For that matter, what was I?" This time Nick actually laughed out loud. Taking her hands into his cool ones, he squeezed lightly and said, "You were a vampire. Fangs and all. You spit them out around here somewhere. They were getting in the way." Natalie was astounded. "You're kidding?! I don't have that kind of warped sense of humor!" Nick snorted and she had the grace to look sheepish. "OK, so I guess I do." Another snort. "OK, I admit it I do!" "In fact, you were wearing some contact lenses that even made your eyes yellow in the dark. You fell asleep with them in and I had the devil of a time getting them out for you." Now the conversation was turning to the most confusing part. "Uh, Nick, just when did I fall 'asleep', anyway?" In answer, Nick gathered her closer to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. "After." "Huh?" Natalie's eyes flew open and she stared at him. "After...what?" Her waking vision of finding her clothing strewn all around the loft came back to her with blinding clarity. Had they, you know, after all? "You know..." Nick kissed her forehead then let his lips slide down her cheekbone, tracing her jaw with his other hand. Natalie felt her neck for traces of bite marks. Surely if they had...engaged...in any kind of, well, relations, she would have fang marks to prove it. And damn her luck, if they had, and she couldn't _remember_! "No, I didn't bite you." Nick's lowered his voice self-consciously. "I wouldn't, Nat. Even if I drank too much...which I did." He held her away from him for a moment, to emphasize the sincerity of his words. "We did sit down here in front of the fire for quite a while and I admit you were _very_ tempting. But, I think I've learned a _little_ self control in 800 years." "Then what happened? Exactly, Nick...I need to know." Natalie pleaded with him. "All right, the whole story." Nick settled her back against him again and idly toyed with her her straggling curls. "We sat in front of the fire, you drank and insisted that I drink with you." He ruffled her hair and chuckled. "Last time I let you talk me into champagne. It wasn't all that bad to taste, but apparently it has the ability to make vampires 'tipsy'. Well, after four bottles of the stuff, anyway." "Go on, get to the point." Natalie wasn't at all sure that she wanted to hear the rest, but anything was better that not knowing, wasn't it? Maybe not. "Well, as I said, there was some nice music on the stereo, lots of champagne, we talked...and then we stopped talking." "We didn't...did we?" She couldn't look at him. In fact, Natalie had her eyes shut tightly against his answer. "No." Regret and apology was in his tone. "We didn't." Nick cleared his throat as if his next words were unwilling to come out. "Well, almost, but then you still had those fake fangs in your mouth and..." "I remember! It's starting to come back to me, Nick!" Memory flooded over Natalie and she clasped her hands over her eyes to shut it out. "Oh, you must think I am _such_ an idiot!" Nick only hugged her closer. "It's OK, Nat. Really." He slipped his arms completely around her and turned her around on his lap. He glanced quickly away, looking almost embarrassed himself. "In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. So much so that I had to just leave you down here to fend for yourself. I had to put a little distance between us at that point." At that point...her memory was complete. Natalie thumped her head down on Nick's chest in mortification. "Oh, God, Nick...that was it. You drank four bottles of champagne all by yourself?" She feld him nod above her. "And I had, how much? A bottle of my own?" "At least." "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, Nick, that you got to be on the receiving end for a change, but I'm telling you right now...that's the _LAST_ time I get carried away enough to actually _BITE_ a vampire that's full of champagne!!! Another hangover like this one would _KILL_ me!" Nick forced her chin up and made her look at him. He kissed her softly and then with more intensity. finis Hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, comments and virtual flowers (allergic to chocolate, even virtual) to Cat MacLean hawksrdg@pacbell.net. Cat MacLean N&N Packer with Shades of Grey Closet Vaquera * 2nd Cousin Once Removed