Chapter 26
A/N:
1 – I know absolutely jack about New Orleans. I don't even live on the American continent. I tried my best with research.
2 – I also only watched about a season and a half or so of The Originals (don't shoot me, I enjoyed it, I just haven't gotten around to watching it all) – so again, working off of research.
3 – Aaaaand it's not that I condone underaged drinking, but in my country the legal drinking age is 18, which would mean for me this would be completely normal where I'm from. (But kids – don't drink! It leads to massive headaches and bad decision making.)
4 – Music? "But it's better if you do" – Panic! At the Disco ; "Of all the gin joints in all the world" – Fall Out Boy ; "Rooftops and invitations" – Dashboard Confessional ; "She Wolf (Falling to pieces)" – David Quetta feat. Sia
(…)
"Is this like, a family owned place?" Josie asked with warm cheeks as she watched Hope and Freya over the rim of a glass that contained something that was distinctly not juice or soda only.
"No, al though that would have been cool." Hope grinned, her own cheeks somewhat rosy as she looked around the bar and its lively occupancy. There were people everywhere, huddled in groups around tables and seated inside booths. To one side of the large room was a small stage where a jazz band was crooning out its best Friday night tunes. People clamored around the bar counter and raised their glasses to friendships and family; to success and even heartache. It was a beautiful thing to observe: the liveliness and the exuberance.
"Rousseau's is more like… a common home, if you will. You know how on the show Friends they always hang out at 'Central Perk', or on How I Met Your Mother they have 'MacLaren's'? Well, I guess that's what Rousseau's is to us, especially the supernatural community of the French Quarter." Freya explained as she relaxed back in her seat. It wasn't often that she was able to relax and enjoy herself. Often the eldest Mikaelson felt that she carried the world on her shoulders, especially when it came to taking care of her family.
But for now, Freya was just happy to take care of her niece and ensure that she and her friend had an enjoyable, yet safe, night out on the town.
"Are you almost done with that?" Hope gestured at Josie's drink. Freya had allowed the girls to consume just a little bit of alcohol under her adult supervision. It was the weekend in New Orleans, after all, and she felt that for teenagers that had so much drama to deal with as these girls did, that perhaps it would be good for them to just be teenagers for a change.
"So impatient, wolfy." Josie grinned and winked at Hope before swallowing the last of the red liquid in her glass. The liquid she had been consuming thus far throughout the evening was awakening an uncharacteristic playfulness within her – something that Hope thought was wildly attractive.
Hope blushed further as she pushed her own empty glass to the side and stood from her chair, then looked down at Freya. "Is it cool if we go explore?"
"I'll wait here for you girls. You have 2 hours. And you know the rules, Hope!" Freya smiled at her niece with a raised brow, waiting for a response.
"Yes ma'am! No more drinking, no magic, no wolfing, no dodgy strangers, return at the first sign of anything that seems off." Hope rambled out a set of rules that Freya had by now drilled into her whenever she would visit in New Orleans. Simple yet effective rules, all for the sake of keeping her niece safe and guarded. The Mikaelson family could never be sure that there were no more enemies lurking in secret shadows, so Freya liked to be cautious.
"You're such a mom…" Hope whined playfully at her aunt as she grabbed Josie's hand and tugged her to her feet. "See you later aunty Freya!" And the two were out the door of the establishment.
The warm and humid air outside did nothing to ease the lightness that had by now settled into Josie's mind, but either way she was spellbound by her surroundings. Hope watched her fondly as her doe eyes travelled up and down curiously. Freya had made sure to place a sort of illusion spell on the girls for the evening to hide their wolf eyes that tended to flare up at the slightest opportunity. They definitely didn't need to draw unwarranted attention this night.
"So, I take it you've never seen Bourbon street on a weekend evening?" Hope grinned as she moved over to Josie and tugged on her hand, then slipped her fingers between the brunette's. She had a good excuse, of course – the streets were busy and she most definitely did not want to lose a slightly tipsy Josie to the throngs of people moving up and down the pavement.
"It's amazing. It reminds me of the last trip Lizzie and I took to Europe to visit our mom. But she'd never allow us to go out wandering the nightlife like this." Josie giggled, knowing that neither of her parents would approve of her current surroundings or activities. But all she wanted for one night was to just not care! She was so tired of caring, of worrying, of always being cautious and in control.
Just for one night, she thought, would it be okay if she lost it? Just a little.
Hope answered her question for her without a word as she tugged Josie along the street, coming to stop at a cart selling drinks. Her blue eyes twinkled mischievously at the siphon, before glancing over the oddly shaped plastic containers the vendor held behind him in his fridge, ready to go. "You haven't been to Bourbon street if you haven't tried a hand grenade." Hope laughed as she ordered two.
"Hope! Freya said…" Josie started protesting, but Hope quickly cut her off.
"Freya is very aware of the fact that I never keep to the rules." Hope shook her head as she received the two drinks from the vendor after paying and handed one to Josie. "Relax…" Hope cooed as she stepped closer to Josie and into her personal space, casting a somewhat seductive glance at the taller girl from beneath her lashes. "Just. One. Night."
(…)
The rest of the evening was a bit of a mosaic of blurred images and memories, for both Hope and Josie.
There was a flash here and there of the pair in Jackson Square, enjoying being entertained by a troupe of jugglers and acrobats. One young gentleman's slight of hand trick produced a beautiful red rose for Josie as he kneeled before her, causing a jealous Hope to roll her eyes and pull her mate away from her new admirer. At another point Josie had encouraged Hope to toss rings at milk bottles and win her a massive panda teddy bear. Hope, of course, cheated and Josie dragged a life size stuffed animal around with her for the rest of the night. There was a moment of panic when Josie thought she had lost Hope among all the people, only to find her pulling up next to Josie in a horse cart, holding her hand out gallantly for Josie to join her on a moonlit ride.
It was amazing how many shenanigans the girls could get up to in 3 hours (because Hope always broke the rules – as Freya expected by now), but she always kept it within reason. And no matter what they did or what they consumed or where they went, Hope was never more than a step away from Josie. She would give her life in a heartbeat to make sure Josie was safe, inebriated or not.
The time was nearing their inevitable return to Rousseau's when they found a particularly enjoyable band performing on a corner close by. Josie let her panda sit this one out as Hope reached for her and pulled her in close to dance. With every movement of Hope's body, Josie felt the heat within her own grow, and every time she put her hands on Hope's hips, they could both feel the intensely restless feeling of their wolves from within. The smooth jazzy bass and beat was intoxicating in the moment as Hope pulled Josie closer still, wrapping her arm around the brunette's lower back. As Josie stepped into the tight space molded for her by Hope, she could feel her hips slide into a perfect fit with Hope's as the two moved in unison. Hope allowed her free hand to dig into the back of Josie's hair, while Josie herself wrapped her arms around Hope's neck. She watched the tribrid closely, her mouth squeezed into that beautiful pout as her eyes travelled from Hope's eyes to her lips and back again. There were no words to explain how badly Josie had wanted those lips in that moment. The way Hope was moving her body against Josie's was just too goddamn sexy for the siphon to deal with.
"Okay, home time!" Freya seemed to appear out of nowhere as she stepped up to the girls, each one of her hands wrapping over the girls' eyes. "Either the spell had worn off, or you two are just… making it really difficult to hold." Freya smirked. She had made no error of judgement in the strength of the spell she cast. She knew very well that the girls' attraction to each other, being fed by their wolves, was breaking through her magic. This also meant that the unison of the two of them could lead to a power of epic proportions – a power that some hungry might want to harvest if they were not careful in the way they dealt with the pair and their bond.
"Aunty Freya, wha…" Hope whined. She was really enjoying the hypnotic moment of getting lost within Josie.
"You two are lit up like Christmas trees… in more way than one." Freya was also very aware of the fact that the girls had had more to drink and by now needed a tall glass of water or two. "Let's get out of here."
By the time they dragged themselves away from the crowds to head home, they were already too distracted to notice the intense pairs of eyes that had been watching them from a shadowy corner.
(…)
"Josie…" The brunette heard her name whispered against her ear, the heat of warm breath causing goosebumps to spread through her neck. She moved, sleepily, though not yet ready to open her eyes.
"Jo… wake up…" The whispers were soft, but insistent. Pleading, but also demanding. It could not be morning yet, Josie knew. She had barely fallen asleep in the bed in the spare room of Freya and Keelin's house and her head was still spinning just a little.
"Josette…" The whisper was a whisper no more, but rather a husky utterance of her full name that caused a shiver to run down Josie's spine. Hope was by now resting over Josie's body on all fours, effectively pinning her down between her strong limbs.
Looking up into Hope's brightly shining amber eyes caused Josie's gaze to flash into a fiery copper.
She swallowed hard as she laid pinned to her back.
"You're supposed to be sleeping downstairs…" Josie whispered huskily.
"I'm not sleepy." Hope licked her lips.