New Tricks

The lights danced around the club, the mixed beat throbbing through the place as she weaved her way through the crowd. This was nothing new to her, not at all. In the past, on breaks, or periods of complete lack of care for school, this had been her every night. A few other regulars in fact acknowledged her with their gaze alone. Ninette had never been around to make friends - at least not of the platonic variety.

That however, was not even what she was here for that day. Same old place, still the same old Ninette - only there was one small change. A desire to change, just a bit. A desire to give herself at least one thing to live for - a slight personal responsibility.

Clearing her throat as she approached the DJ, she raised an eyebrow taking the microphone, "We got a deal, yes?"

The soft deep rhythmic music took over the deep base. A smirk played on her lips as she took to the middle of the stage, winking as a light focused on her.


Her voice crooned lowly, a slight growl to it, as she moved her hips to the music.


Song

Lisette strolled into the club, smiling slightly as she noticed a couple of familiar faces in the large mix of people. She used to come here all the time with Ninette, and her sister had even tagged along once or twice. Her deliberately messy curls bounced gaily over her short black dress.

She was clothed carefully so that she could look amazing while still blending in. She wasn't really looking for attention tonight. She only wanted to feel the atmosphere of the place again. It always made her feel less lonely.

Lisette sat down at one of the empty tables, her eyes trained on the soft glow of the candle in it's center. A slower, jazzier song came on, and her attention strayed to the various couples around the room as they took it as a sign to take their flirting to the next level.

She twirled a finger in her hair and hummed along to the song for a few measures before stopping abruptly. There was something terribly familiar about that voice... She looked up at the stage and, almost instantly, her jaw dropped to the floor.

Her gaze swept the darkness as she continued to croon, enjoying herself greatly as she took on the persona of the song, lost a little bit of herself and gained a little something else in return. A roll of her eyes at a couple near the front that had never heard of "get a room" (At least Ninette had almost always had the decency to know when to do that), and a smirk for everyone else.

She hadn't been booed off stage yet, that had to be something, didn't it? If she was successful enough, she might even be able to wager herself into a reoccurring gig. Maybe even some money. A little more pocket change never hurt, did it?

A half stumble of her words, a slur that no one in the room noticed as her gaze met a pair of familiar - and completely shocked - ones. Recovering instantly, she merely smirked back, as if this was something everyone expected to do, and continued her singing.


The last note of her song was still echoing around the room as she weaved through the crowd, pushing her way through couples - intentionally rubbing closer to the more attractive men - until she had slid herself across the table from her friend. The music had changed, and Ninette's face didn't give away that anything unusual had just passed.

"Can you believe the music in this place?" she drawled a little smirk tugging at her lips, "They'll just let anyone in here."

Lisette's face melted into a smile and she leaned back in her chair as she noticed Ninette's eyes meet her own. She leaned back and grabbed one of the cuter waiters by his tie, giving him a large smile, "Could I have some iced tea? Thanks."

She turned back to Ninette, crossing her arms and trying not to look too impressed as she finished her song. Her drink arrived just as the other girl reached the table. She couldn't help but give her friend a wide grin. It seemed like it had been so long since they'd talked to each other.

"You know, it's been years since I've heard you sing. You've gotten a little rusty." She said with a small smirk.

Stealing the drink before her friend could grab it, Ninette took a sip, made a face and slide it back to her, "Not even spiked Lissy. Have I taught you nothing over the years?"

Her signature smirk was in place as she grinned and nodded at a waiter. She was here enough that she didn't need to make an verbal request. They knew what she wanted, and would bring it to her in due time.

She did love this place dearly.

"You think?" she cocked her head to the side, pulling that smirk into a thoughtful frown, "I don't know. I think I've gotten better. I'd like to see you go give it a try Josse."

Winking at the waiter as he slid her glass onto the table, Ninette leaned back in her seat, "So what are you doing here anyway?"

Lisette smirked as the tea landed in front of her, running a finger along the side to make a thick line through the little water droplets accumulating on the glass, "After the events of this year, I've decided to give 'following the rules' a try, if only for awhile."

Her eyes followed the waiter without moving her head. Their steely-blue movements were only accentuated by her pitch-black eyeliner. Lisette flicked her gaze back to Ninette and laughed, "Well I suppose your tone's improved."

She took a sip of her drink, then shook her head at the request, "I really couldn't. I've made a point of never singing anywhere outside of the shower. Ever." Her eyes flashed at that last word, and she considered the discussion closed.

"Oh, you know." She said with a small shrug, and a smile, "Nostalgia mostly. I also like to come here after a breakup. Seeing all the desperate singles trying to find a one-night-stand is usually depressing enough to lift my own spirits."

Scoffing Ninette shook her head, "It shall never last. "By the rules" is far too mundane for girls of our calibre. And if you do stick to this new change of yours I'll have to wonder how we became friends." Ninette's expression was the darkly amused one that always crossed her face when she was joking, however there was a grain of truth behind her words. She never understood how she gained any friends, why they decided to befriend her in the first place, nor how they managed to get passed her walls and worm their way into her heart.

Snorting she rolled her eyes and did not give the other girl a comment. She nodded to the waiter as he put down her glass, winking and meeting his gaze with a flirty little grin before she turned back to Lisette. Singing was the one thing that Ninette was in truth quite sensitive about. This was one of the first times in a long time she had actively attempted to sing in front of anyone. However, she also knew Lisette, and knew what accounted to a compliment in their odd little relationship.

What she had just got was.

"Depressing lifts your spirits," she raised an eyebrow glancing one such pair, instead of meeting her friends gaze, "And what about sympathy for the others? Aren't we supposed to feel that? Compassion, and all that crap."

"You're so right. It probably won't stick for any longer than a week." She rolled her eyes up at the ceiling and tilted her head, "At least we both know that we'll never wind up in a convent."

"I remember how we became friends," She poked one of the ice cubes in her tea, watching it bob up and down upon impact, "We both had a crush on the same boy- I can't remember who. We were mad at each other for awhile, but then he snubbed both of us in public at the same time, and after that we were pretty much inseparable." Lisette couldn't help but giggle, "It's so funny to think that was all the way back in our first year."

She eyed Ninette's drink with the smallest of smiles, "Don't tell me you've flirted your way past a missing ID yet again. I can only handle so much reckless fun in one night."

With a groan, the girl rolled her eyes dramatically and dropped her head onto one hand, propping her elbow on the table, "I am sick and tired of compassion. I tried it, and it didn't work. It's just not for me. I think I need to move on from it."

"If I ever do by a freak chance, please come kill me, it will be a mercy."

She had forgotten. Of course she had forgotten. It was easier to forget than to think that-

Her green gaze focused on the same ice cub that was bouncing up and down in her friends drink. Under the table her hands had clenched, nails digging into her palm to stop the childish memory that was slipping into her head now from slipping away. She forced herself to focus on the girl across from her, the friend that she had made, rather than the face of the boy they had fought over. The face that lingered, not so boyish any more, not so idolized in darker corners of her mind.

"Aldric," she murmured softly before she could stop herself really. "It was Aldric Moreau. Two years a head of us. He had this scruffy auburn hair, and these eyes-" she swallowed, and stopped talking then. Taking a healthy drink of what she wished had booze in it - that she really had flirted her way passed the idea - but was as non-alcoholic as the tea her friend was drinking.

Setting the drink down she made her best attempt at a careless smirk, "Then I won't tell you."

"Is compassion the only thing we're moving on from?"

Lisette looked up at Ninette, her eyes not quite betraying her surprise at the girl's sudden change in tone. The two knew each other, well. Even if there were long spans of time when they didn't see each other, they could each tell when something was wrong. And the way she was talking about Aldric....

Ninette never talked about guys like that. Not even Zander or Julian or Marcus. It wasn't the first hint that something had gone down between the two of them, but Lisette was reluctant to go looking for information. If it was something Nine didn't want her to know, then she had to have had a good reason.

The girl raised an eyebrow as she tried to come up with a response, then gave a defeated sigh, shaking her head at the table, "Of course it isn't. I-" She almost said something about Zander, but even now, saying his name out loud was just a little bit too painful. She paused to find a way around it, "I think I'm entering a new phase of my life."

"I mean, yes. I'm leaving school soon, but that's not just it. Everything in my life seems to be... shifting. I'm sure you heard about my sister..." She stopped talking. The casual way she said those words threw herself off guard. After all, Juliette was technically dead, but was still walking around as content as ever. It was going to take her a really long time to get used to.

Looking over her glass, she raised an eyebrow at her friend, meeting the sharp glance she had been given. Ninette felt something constrict in her chest, worry, fear that she might have said too much, that her friend might begin to question her further. She had no desire to share what had always been kept to herself.

"Problem?"

Nodding slowly, gratefully they seemed to be off her for a moment, she gave a tiny little smirk - her still serious eyes the only thing saying she actually was taking what Lisette was saying seriously, "Shifting huh. Are we moving on to bigger and brighter things then? Or just slinking off into a dark corner and giving up?"

She froze for a moment, eye raising with curiosity.

"I have heard rumours. But, nothing from a source I trust."

Lisette opened her mouth to say something, then deflated as she reminded herself that she was trying to start doing rational things. She shrugged and looked down at her drink, "It's nothing." Besides, Ninette probably wouldn't tell her even if she had asked. Which she already had done on several occasions. It was never really met well.

The girl gave a small laugh, "I wouldn't really say better. I'm just trying to be less of a complete idiot. I mean, that's what's gotten me into so much trouble. It got my sister into trouble, and now she's dead!" She was shocked again by how easy it was for her to say. "Well, sort of."

Once again, Lisette got that sick feeling in her stomach that she felt whenever she was reminded of her sister, "Technically, she's undead. A vampire." She shook her head vigorously, her fingers pressed to her temples, "Oh my god, it's so weird."

Nodding her head, Ninette was silent as she took another sip of her drink. She was not sure if she was relieved or disappointed that her friend chose not to pursue the topic. She wouldn't have told her, even if she had, she wouldn't have, but it was just...

There was a part of her brain that longed for it; she should want to tell people, didn't they?


"I don't know if you can get smarter Josse," her tone was almost teasing, almost fond. It was their way. Kind words were rarely spoken between the two girls, not usually. Though her head canted to the side at the next comment, her eyes narrowing in confusion until the words were explained more fully.

Slowly she nodded, "I thought she looked a little... pale, last time I saw her."