n-slick

[n-slick]

renegadecassidy‌:

Even as an awkwardly cold sensation spread over her body she couldn’t help but smile up at Nicky. Everything about him made her being sing, of course she’d never say such a thing out loud to him. She liked their close relationship which was hard to pin down with a definition. They were just Nicky and Cass, always and forever doing their own thing, definitions were pointless. She watched him look down at Aspen and her heart stopped beating for a moment. She’d tried so hard to keep them separate knowing that if he ever saw the little girl it might upset things between them. Having Aspen had been Cassidy’s choice, a choice made after she’d spent time with him on tour outside of Muddy Waters.

Days of them in a darkened room, drinking each other in came to a quick halt when she realized she could be pregnant. in the night, she’d packed what little things she’d brought and left their little sanctuary without so much as a goodbye. Instinctively she knew he’d never want to be a father, and it surprised Cass how much she, herself, had wanted to be a parent.

She let a chuckle leave her lips at his statement. “And what a subject you would be.” She said, scrunching her nose at him. “You want to sit?” She waited for a moment, before looking down at Aspen. “Sitting down doesn’t mean anything changes…and trust me…she won’t know the difference.” She looked down at his guitar, a knowing look in her eyes.

“I bet if I get the lighting just right…I could catch the way the sun glints on your guitar…” She said, her voice lilting, almost taunting him.

Things were easy with Cass, at least usually. Even with the complication that was the baby, it hadn’t proved to be much of one until this moment because she was always willing (or at least, he could always convince her) to leave the baby and home and come have fun with him. Having fun was pretty much their MO, though it could be said that it was Nicky’s all the time, and that’s all he’d thought it was when she’d run into him on tour over a year ago now. There was something magnetic about the two of them, at least when they were together, so they’d spent days practically in one room, just being together, and they were still good memories. Nicky didn’t even think he’d gotten high as much with her there, since she’d been his new drug for the time being. There was always something about Cass, ever since they were kids, that had drawn him in. She, of all the people he’d been with, was the one he was always happy to come back to, to keep being with, even if it was in an unofficial way. Nicky tried not to analyse feelings too much but even he knew Cass held a special spot in his life and maybe even his heart. It wouldn’t do to say that out loud, though, why ruin the good thing they had? 

He had wondered what the deal was when she’d just up and vanished, though, since even through their many times of coming together and parting again, it was almost always on amicable terms and not so sudden. It had put him in a little bit of a funk before he dove headfirst back into his crazy life and managed to put it behind him. It wasn’t until he’d moved back to Muddy, after the accident, that he’d figured out (or rather, been shown) why she’d done it, and he supposed it made sense. Nicky didn’t want to be a father, even if he was now in some, nominal way, and Cass had clearly known that about him. 

His smile widened as she played along with his distraction technique. “The best one you’ve ever had, obviously.” He balked a moment when she asked him to sit down, shooting another almost panicky look at the baby, but swallowed when she reassured him to some extent. “Yeah, okay, sure. Might as well.” He moved and settled on Cass’ other side, about as far away from Aspen as he could get. Maybe he could just ignore her. Truth be told, Nicky didn’t really know how he felt about having a child, other than awkward and vaguely frightened, so he just tried to not think about it and Cass put no pressure on him so it was made a lot easier. 

Nicky heard her tease and glanced down at his guitar case, forcing himself to smile though it probably wouldn’t fool her. “Could you? I don’t know, it’s pretty cloudy today...” His tone was convincing, but his expression probably wasn’t. Damn, he should’ve taken more pills, or mixed them with something else. But maybe Cass being here would keep him from taking the guitar out of the case and give him something else to focus on. 

[n-slick]

renegadecassidy‌:

@nicky-slick

Cass let her gaze linger over from her sketchpad to her cooing daughter for a moment, smiling as she did so. Now that the baby had gotten older she’d taken up sketching again, something that had always given her a sense of peace. They were sprawled out on a blanket in the park with all of Aspen’s favorite toys, the little girl enjoying her tummy time and chewing on everything she could get her hands on. Cass’s eyes went back to her the sketch in front of her, trying to get the shape of Aspen’s head just right to capture the little girl’s beauty. The day was chilly, but they were well protected and the sun shone down on them without cloud cover making them warm for the most part.

Again, she’d snuck out of the house with her own child, not ready for her mother to come and spend time with them here. Quality time with her child was important especially quality time when her own mother wasn’t around.

Cass glanced up from her sketch and turned her head to the sky, basking in the sun a bit, eyes closed. She was, for the first time in a long time, relaxed. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, glancing around the park when she saw a familiar figure. Blood drained from her face for a moment. Nicky.

He’d yet to even meet his daughter, which Cass had said from the beginning was his choice and she’d respected it. She didn’t know whether to call his name or not and then all of a sudden her sullen face made itself say, “Nicky!” Why did she just try to catch his attention? Because he was Nicky and she was undeniably attached to him, even after all they’d been through. “Hey, you…”

It was a stupid thing to have done, but then Nicky was well known for doing stupid things. Comparatively, this was actually pretty minor for him, but it was still dumb and he regretted it but here they were. Had it been force of habit that made him grab the guitar before he headed out? There it was, in his hand, as he walked down the street and he was cursing himself for it even as his feet carried him to the park. It was kind of chilly, hopefully no one would be there. But then he couldn’t carry the guitar around without trying to play it and playing it in public would, undoubtedly, not end well. Not that playing ever ended well for him anymore. If he was really dosed up he could play and almost enjoy it, but the hell it wreaked on his hands whenever he came down almost wasn’t worth it. Still, sometimes he played through the pain, but that’s when the tears and the rage would come along too and it would end as a very, very bad night. Why he’d thought he could do that all in public, he didn’t know. 

Still, he’d arrived at the park, guitar case in hand, with the park seemingly mostly deserted. That was a good thing, at least. Maybe he could find a small corner and just pluck out a few things. It didn’t hurt too much to play simple tunes, though that in itself was frustrating. He’d doubled up on his pain meds anyway, which made things a little fuzzier, but that would take the edge off. It almost seemed like he’d planned it, because of that, but he’d mostly just done it because he knew he’d play and always had his pills on him anyway. Well, some kind of pill, not necessarily the ones he’d been prescribed. 

He’d just spotted a nice secluded place when someone called his name and he turned to look. Cass. And...well, shit. That must be Aspen, the little baby on the blanket. Cass’ daughter. His daughter, who he’d up until now managed to avoid while still seeing Cass. He smiled in spite of himself and walked over, eyeing the kid and not at all sure how to act around her. Nicky didn’t have much experience with babies, and seeing her didn’t make him feel a sudden swell of fatherly attachment or anything either. But then, he’d known it wouldn’t. 

“Hey. Soaking up one of the last nice days?” He asked, still friendly because he pretty much was to a fault. He wouldn’t want Cass pissed at him. He couldn’t seem to stop nervously glancing at the baby though, as if afraid she might bite him. Shit, this was super awkward. Luckily, he spotted the sketchpad and latched onto that instead. “You need a model? You know I’m always happy to pose.” 

[n-slick]

jesse-childs‌:

@nicky-slick​

Jesse was sitting at a table in the Rise & Grind, technically on the clock but doing nothing work-related because it was slow at the moment and he didn’t want to. He looked up from his computer when he heard the bell over the door but he made no move to get up when he saw who it was, instead watching as Nicky stepped inside. 

“Did you knock my sister up?” He asked bluntly, ignoring the looks from the other customers who were trying very hard to mind their own business. 

Coffee wasn’t usually Nicky’s drug of choice, there were so many other much more fun drugs, after all. Still, it was sometimes nice to just go to a cafe and have a hot drink, especially on a cold day. Not that he couldn’t have made something at home with his espresso machine, but he was a social being and wasn’t really made to live alone, even though he currently did. Therefore, the Rise and Grind was a good place to go where he could still be in the company of others and maybe even strike up a conversation with someone. There was always a good chance he’d be recognized, after all. 

He was in a fairly good mood as he pushed open the door, hoping there might be some new holiday flavours to try. His pain meds were in full swing and the uppers he’d taken paired nicely with them so it was a good day. Any pain free day was a good day, really, and he tried to make them all as pain free as possible. That was, until a familiar but accusing voice rang out over the cafe and Nicky looked over to see Jesse sitting at a table. He blinked at the question and walked over. 

“Um...yeah? That was kind of a while ago, though, considering the baby’s been in the world for a long time. Cass and I already talked about it so there’s nothing for you to worry about. Was there something you were worried about?” Nicky didn’t like confrontation and hoped Jesse wasn’t about to blow a gasket. That would be awkward and would probably harsh his buzz considerably. 

[n-slick]

nando-vos‌:

Nando snorted at the obvious offer, shrugging and bending closer to speak. “You’re extremely generous.” The sounds coming out of the rock star reminded Nando of his grandmother’s pet pig rolling in a mud puddle. He didn’t comment, since saying so would probably just inspire Nicky to keep going. And it was funny. It was a shame Bash wasn’t here, his friend liked almost no music but appreciated his cake mate’s guitaring. Not that Bash would have fanboyed, but he’d probably have grunted out something resembling a compliment. Nando returned with a coffee, wondering if he should have gotten two but reasoning that Nicky could easily have ordered his own. “You’re easily pleased.” He didn’t feel the need to defend his love of pie, just shrugging again and pushing the plate back towards Nicky. “I really couldn’t, I just wouldn’t appreciate it the way you do.” He let Nicky keep his coffee as well. He was being incredibly magnanimous today, but then, he’d gotten in the habit lately of babysitting adult children, so maybe it was just becoming normal. “I will admit, I don’t normally get called upon to break anything up around baked goods. I’m pretty sure if I tried it back in the city, I’d get taken out by a soccer mom with a taser.” Slouching back, he sighed comfortably. “Are you in the habit of getting into fights in bakeries?”

Nicky beamed. “One of my many good qualities.” He wasn’t showing a lot of them off at the moment, given the state he was in, but the kissing and the cake had drastically improved his morning already. He’d just need to go home and dose himself up with something so it could keep being better. The painkillers were kicking in a bit, though, at least it seemed like that, but they only took the edge off the pain. Nicky needed so much more these days to keep himself going strong. He snorted when he was accused of being easily pleased. “Isn’t that a good thing? You get more joy out of life that way, after all.” Nicky obviously liked to suck down every drop of joy he could in every way he could, but the more things he enjoyed the easier that was. Nando refused his two bites and Nicky gave him a look but wasn’t going to refuse having the cake back. “You’re seriously missing out, but okay. Guess I’ll just pay you back a different way.” Nicky would not be above sliding under the table and doing just that. After he’d finished the cake, of course, which he took another delicious bite of. Nando didn’t ask for his coffee back either but Nicky only took another big gulp before he put it in the middle of the table. Maybe they could share it. The soccer mom startled a laugh out of Nicky. “Are they really that rabid? I don’t have much experience with them, they don’t usually travel in my circles.” Weirdly, he thought of Cass for a moment, but still couldn’t picture her as a soccer mom, even if she was a mom now. He chewed another piece of cake thoughtfully as he turned over the question. “That’s actually not one of my habits, even if that’s what it looked like. But then I usually don’t need cake so badly so I guess if that becomes more of a thing then it might happen more often.” Nicky shrugged. “I try to avoid fights as much as possible, really. Not my thing.” Generally because he desperately wanted everyone to like him, but he didn’t need to come out and say that. 

[n-slick]

nando-vos‌:

Once the conquest of the cake was complete, and Nando was petty enough to enjoy the win for the moment, he returned his attention to the pretty rock star who’d seemed very open to the whole fake relationship. Patting him on the head, Nando laughed and pushed Nicky away gently. “Fine. I’ll take what I can get.” He picked up the cake, not judging Nicky’s hands up to the task, and depositing it, and Nicky, who he was still holding up, at a table. “Sit, eat. You earned it. I’m getting coffee.” He’d come to get coffee for Atreus, but decided that he could take a moment. Atreus at least was fully capable of using his phone if a problem arose. Sitting back down, he swiped some frosting off of the cake and licked it off his finger. “It’s good, I can see why you made such a fuss. Still not sure it was worth the fight, but I’m more of a pie man anyway.”

Nicky would’ve been happy to keep up the fake relationship and the kissing for a while longer, but Nando pushed him away so he took the hint and didn’t try for more, at least not right now. There was cake to be had, after all, delicious carrot cake. “You can get a lot more after I have the cake.” Nicky grinned, allowing himself to be deposited at a table mostly because the cake was there as well. He nodded as Nando left and dug in with gusto, making nearly pornographic noises after the first few bites because it was actually that good. Belatedly, he realised he should’ve asked Nando to grab him some coffee too but it was too late now so he’d just have to stick with the cake. It was already half gone by the time Nando came back with his coffee. He grinned when Nando tasted the icing and agreed that it was good. “Because it’s the best carrot cake ever and it’s literally the only thing I wanted this morning.” Nicky made a face and took another bite of the cake when Nando stated his preferences. “Really? Pie? Cake’s obviously way better but to each their own, I guess.” Almost reluctantly, he pushed the plate and fork toward Nando. “Take your bites before I finish it all.” He flexed his hands slowly and winced a little before leaning back and just watching Nando. “So was that your first time breaking up a fight in a bakery or are you secretly the hero we need?” Since Nando had his cake now, Nicky reached over and grabbed his coffee, stealing a sip as he smirked. 

[n-slick]

nando-vos‌:

Nando didn’t know what had to happen in life before cake was vital to your well-being, but he assumed it wasn’t good. The rock star with the battered hands who was technically a Rascal but mostly just a mess probably qualified. Nando liked him well enough, he was pretty and almost constantly high, but he was always wary with addicts. Just look at Mrs. Alvarez. Too much damn work. This town seemed to create addicts with ease. Maybe something in the water or something.

He let Nicky cuddle against him, even sliding an arm around the other man’s waist, which ended up being mostly load-bearing since Mr. Slick couldn’t seem to keep his knees under him. Kissing the side of his head, and noting that his hair smelled nice, Nando deftly slid the plate of cake across the counter and gave the woman a look that was somewhere between “try it” and “can I help you, you milk-faced cow?”. It worked and she turned red, muttered something about the town going to the dogs, but put her hand out and actually took the cake back. Nando was so close to just clapping at the sheer balls of it, but he was feeling generous today.

“Sorry, angel.” He tilted Nicky’s face towards him and kissed him gently, then leaned the man against the counter. “I hate to have to do this, but you understand, the things we do for love, eh?” He slid his jacket off as if he was getting ready to fight and the woman squeaked and slid the cake back over. Nando stabbed it expertly with a fork, the tines hitting the plate after going all the way through. He grabbed Nicky back and kissed him again, with tongue this time, which successfully drove the woman from the shop completely. “I think you owe me at least a bite of that after my masterful performance.”

Nando, thankfully, not only supported his weight but did, in fact, play along and Nicky relaxed against him as if he really was his boyfriend. Not that he’d ever had a boyfriend, but how he imagined it would. His actual relationships, such that they were, had always been with women so he’d always been the one leaned against and such. This was nice though and he even closed his eyes and smiled a little when Nando kissed his head. He would make it better and get the cake for him, Nicky trusted. Not that he knew much about him but he was part of the bigger, supposedly scarier gang that Nicky wasn’t apart of and openly was carrying again and was not only hot but also built. He just seemed like a person who could handle or fix things. 

Nicky’s eyes opened again when he heard the plate slide across the counter and smiled, seeing that Nando had pulled it close. The smile abruptly dropped off when the woman actually pulled it back and he felt something between a whine and a groan bubble up in his throat. Only a portion of the noise escaped, more whine than groan, before he was suddenly being kissed and pushed against the counter and that was enough to distract him for at least a moment. His ruined hands moved up to clutch, lightly because clutching too hard hurt right now, Nando’s sides as he spoke and he nodded, catching on a moment later. “Mmhmm.” He was somewhat easily distracted by the kisses, but he was still keeping half an eye on the cake, smiling when Nando reclaimed it. The next, more intense kiss, actually did make him forget for a handful of seconds and he slid his hands up higher, curling them in Nando’s shirt. “You can have two bites for that. I’d say half but I wasn’t lying about how much I need it.” Nicky murmured, though he was suddenly reluctant to stop kissing Nando now that it had started. 

[n-slick]

nando-vos‌:

Nando viewed most things in his life as transitory, or at the very least replaceable. He could buy new clothes, a new car, a new house, a new life, if required. He’d done it at least once before. He tried to be Buddhist about the whole thing and not cling to material things. But it still bothered him to see people damaging property unnecessarily. There was nothing wrong with appreciating something, as long as you weren’t bound to it. That’s why he liked his current job, babysitting his best friend with former benefits’ quasi-boyfriend/pet. The art on the walls were nice, Etch-a-Sketch (he refused to refer to Atreus by his supposed real name), his boss/babysitting gig wasn’t hard on the eyes, and people tended to leave the place more aesthetically pleasing than when they came in.

Having gone out for coffee and donuts, he was currently watching the townsfolk arguing over some sort of baked good at Sweet Cheeks, wondering why everyone was so materially-challenged in this town. Maybe that’s what floods did to you. Made it harder to give things up. Leaning against the door frame, he whistled, breaking up the fight as they both noted he wasn’t even trying to hide that he had a gun on his hip. “Hate to interrupt.”

“No, no, no, see, I actually really need that piece of cake. Like, it’s vital to my continued well being because I’m having kind of a shitty morning and the only thing I could think about was the carrot cake here with the delicious cream cheese icing and you don’t wanna deprive a guy of that, do you?” Nicky was uncomfortably aware that he was very close to begging for a piece of cake with a woman at least twice his age who looked like she’d swallowed at the very least two lemons but he kind of didn’t care. He’d woken up in a pretty fucked up state this morning and his pain pills hadn’t kicked in yet and he’d stumbled out here with only the thought of the carrot cake in his head before he’d had the sense to drink anything that might numb him. He was uncomfortably close to sober and very, very irritated but trying his best to hide it because he didn’t want this woman to freak out on him though she was already being incredibly unhelpful. 

His tenuous grip on his last shred of niceness had just about slipped as the woman began some sort of diatribe about ungrateful millenials (what did that have to do with anything?) when someone whistled and Nicky glanced over. He breathed a sigh of relief that it was just Nando, who he’d had a few two person parties with, even if he was ostensibly on the other side or whatever. The gun didn’t exactly scare him but it seemed to have abruptly shocked the woman into silence and Nicky leapt on the opportunity. “No, please do. I mean, she was just trying to steal the last piece of cake from me but you won’t let her will you, hon?” Nicky hoped Nando would play along, his voice having gone lower and a little syrupy sweet as he slid over to Nando and put an arm around him. He leaned against him more heavily than he meant to because he was tired and he ached but he didn’t think Nando would mind. If the gun didn’t scare her, maybe the gayness of it all would and he’d finally get that piece of cake. 

[n-slick]

katherine-dimants‌:

She felt his fingers brushing against hers and smirked. It wasn’t difficult to tell that he wasn’t entirely sober, the overly dilated pupils and easily distracted nature was a tell-tale sign. Hopefully that’d make this an easy sell. 

“That’s perfect,” she said, carefully drawing her hands and the cards back to her. One fingernail “accidentally” slid along the underside of his wrist to keep his attention. She shuffled the cards three times and then dealt the top three cards. “These three cards represent the past, the present, and the future,” she explained. “The page of wands, but it’s reversed. You used to have a very stable financial situation. Money and adoration coming in, am I right?” she asked, smirking at him. Of course she already knew that was true, he was a familiar figure. “Tell me about the blonde woman from your past.” The page of cups did have an image of a fair haired woman on it, and the card held lots of feminine implications, but she also knew that every man over the age of 12 had a memory, good or bad, of a blonde. 

He certainly noticed when she dragged her fingernail along the skin of his wrist, it tingled slightly and there was a ghost of pain there, but his wrists and hands were always fucked up. Nicky himself was messed up enough on his usual cocktail of alcohol and drugs so it was more like a memory of pain rather than real pain so he smiled and took it for the flirtatious gesture it was. Maybe he’d be able to lure her away from her little fortune telling table. 

Nicky leaned forward when she starting to deal out the cards, nodding as she explained and eager to see what she’d tell him. Well, she got the past part right so he nodded. “Yep, got it in one. Though I don’t like to think of it as in the past. I still have plenty of adoration coming in.” He smirked and winked at her. She asked about a blonde and Nicky blinked. “Which one? I mean, there’s been a lot of blonde women in my past...” He trailed off, flickering through his mental library of women, somewhat distractedly. “There was that groupie who tried to cut off some of my hair and save my toenail clippings. She was crazy. Dynamite in bed, but crazy.” 

[n-slick]

katherine-dimants‌:

Katherine smiled at him, fanning out the cards expertly and then sliding them back into a neat stack. “I’ll tell you what I see,” she replied. She’d made it a habit to avoid saying specifics. The future was vague; a flap of a butterflies wings could start a tsunami or whatever chaos theory actually taught. When people pressed for hard and fast answers, she had to work carefully to remind them that the decisions people made could change the course of the future. Whether or not that was true was hard to say, she wasn’t actually psychic. 

She held out the deck of cards, not trusting him to shuffle them himself. “Touch the deck. Hold them in your hands and think of what you’d like to know and then we’ll see what we can discover.” 

“Sounds good.” He watched as she fanned out the cards, always sort of interested in the imagery on them. They were definitely better than regular playing cards, at least the pictures were more interesting. Nicky didn’t necessarily believe in this stuff but it was always fun to try it out. And hey, maybe there was something to it, how would he know? He’d never tried to tap into the infinite (other than through drugs) or whatever this woman did with the cards so it’d be fun to see what came of it. 

“Just have to hold them, huh? For how long?” Even as he spoke he placed his hands on the top and bottom of the deck, maybe brushing his fingers over hers lightly as he did so and focused on what he wanted to know. His mind was going everywhere so it was hard to pick just one thing but he finally settle on a semi coherent question. “There, locked it in. What happens now?” 

[n-slick]

katherine-dimants‌:

It wasn’t hard to commandeer a booth to set up in, Katherine had learned long ago that if you acted confident and in charge, people tended to believe that you were. She laid her cards out and sent some teen aged boy to find or make her a sign announcing fortune telling for a discounted price – it was for charity after all. Not that she liked to consider herself a charity case, but she was as needy as the next person. 

“Here to have your cards read?” she asked in an accented voice, looking up at the person across the table from her. 

“By a beautiful angel? Always.” Nicky’d happened to be walking by, well strutting was more accurate, when he’d heard the question. He was dressed as Ziggy Stardust so strutting was the only way to move, really. The platform boots would have been a mistake if his system wasn’t already full of a cocktail of drugs and alcohol but since it was neither his feet nor his hands were bothering him. Sometimes he couldn’t feel his extremities at all, which was always kind of exciting. 

Sitting down, he grinned at the woman, just in the right zone between dizzy and euphoric where he felt awesome but could still mostly make sense of everything that was going on and still form coherent sentences. The best place to be, really. “Are you going to tell me what my future has in store? I think I already have an idea but I’d love to hear what the cosmos predict for me.” 

[n-slick]

ash-borden‌:

Ash was surprised when Nicky gave him an actual answer, caught off guard because he’d been expecting some form of upset. Most people couldn’t take a joke- and certainly not Ash’s particularly ugly sense of humor that was less about teasing and more wishful thinking that you’d fall into a hole of insecurity and self-loathing over time. He’d always been a bully- and not the kind that grew up after high school. 

“I’m married.” He stated flatly before pulling out the bar stool and taking a seat, indicating that his statement had been anything but an excuse for refusing to drink with another man in a seedy bar. “But you really shouldn’t ignore it.” He suggested idly in response to Nicky’s offer to forget his comment, the edge missing from his tone this time as he eyed the bartender behind the bar. 

After ordering a drink he glanced sidelong at Nicky, wondering if the guy was stupid or just properly motivated to overlook the fact that he was going out of his way to be rude to him. “Are you working here?” He asked, unable to keep from sounding condescending even if he’d tried.

Nicky shrugged at the information. “If you say so.” He’d heard that before but it didn’t necessarily mean that the person wouldn’t end up in his bed. Fame and looks along with his natural charm could get people to stray, he’d discovered. Not everyone, of course, but a surprising majority. Was just about everyone who was married unhappy? That’s how it seemed to Nicky. 

At least Ash had joined him, that was a step up, though he was still harping on his hair and Nicky sighed. “I really don’t think it’s that bad.” He argued, trying not to pout but maybe doing so, a little. He thought his hair looked good and he figured everyone else would as well. 

“On my tab.” Nicky instructed the bartender, absently. “Whatever he wants.” His attention returned to Ash at the question and he smiled a little, in spite of the condescension. The pain in his hands was barely noticeable now so at least the drugs were kicking in properly. “Yeah, minimally. I’m the emcee. Announce the girls, hype the crowd, easy stuff. Why? You figure I should be on stage?” His smile widened, as he’d take that implication to be a compliment to his looks, though he was probably just opening himself up for another insult. 

[n-slick]

Muddy Waters Task: Monster Mash

Nicky Dumont as Ziggy Stardust

[n-slick]

renegadecassidy‌:

“You should be,” she quipped, raising an eyebrow and giving him her signature Cassidy smile. She knew that tonight she’d be partaking so there was a stock of milk in the fridge for her daughter. Tonight was the first night in a very long night that she didn’t feel the need to hold back. Tonight she wanted to greet the side of her that had felt lost, even if she felt somewhat conflicted doing so. “I don’t give my attention to just anyone,” she teased. When he leaned into her, she instinctively leaned back, years of doing so made it almost a reflex in her body. She tried not to let her breath catch in her throat was his breath sent chills down her spine and when he pulled away he matched his eyes with dark eyes of her own. “Depends on if you play your cards right…” She said, canting her head to the side before her eyes lingered over to the bartender.

Things had always been this way for Cassidy when it came to Nicky. He’d been one of the first boys to ever show attention in her, one of the first to treat her like she was more than a shy little geek. Their relationship had always been on and off, hot and cold, but no matter if they were together, just friends or friends with benefits, she couldn’t stand to be away from him for too long. Something about him drew her like a moth to a flame, as if he were a magnet pulling her north. If she were honest with herself, which she never truly was, she’d know she would always have feelings for Nicky. But she learned early on that she had to let him fly, that he wasn’t one to be tied down to long and she had to be okay with that. So when she got pregnant with Aspen, she didn’t tell him. In her eyes, he didn’t need to know. “Tequila shots, I say. I’ve also got some killer weed I haven’t smoked in awhile. Really smooth…I think you’d love it.”

“I am. Truly.” He quipped right back, his smile matching hers. Things were easy with Cass, which was something he greatly appreciated about her. They were so comfortable with each other from their long history that they could fall right back into things like no time had passed. It was perfect and exactly the kind of relationship Nicky preferred. All fun and nothing hard, since she wasn’t pressuring him about the baby issue and he liked that. He’d yet to make up his mind on his feelings about that anyway and would rather just leave it to the side where he didn’t have to think about it or deal with it because it was difficult and complicated. Nicky liked it best when everything was easy. “Only those who deserve it, right?” He murmured, knowing that he didn’t actually have to seduce her but enjoyed playing the game anyway. Nicky’s smile only widened as she played right back. “Good thing I’m an excellent card player...” He trailed off suggestively, loving that look in her eyes before she broke the contact to look at the bartender. 

While Nicky tried not to think about or analyze feelings too much, Cass was one of the people he knew he wanted in his life at least in some way. Sure, they’d spent time apart, sometimes for long stretches, but before he’d gotten too caught up in things he’d tried to stay in touch and he’d always made sure to look her up when he was back in town. He really did care about her and figured she was just one of those staples of his life, someone he could always come back to no matter how much time had passed. There were feelings there, he knew it, but he tended not to go into that too much and wanted to just have fun instead. It was always just easier to have fun. “Tequila shots it is.” He ordered a few for each of them and a bottle of champagne then turned back to her. “I would love that. Throw the uppers I’ve got on me into the mix and we’ll have ourselves a real party.” His eyes glinted with excitement at the thought. He wouldn’t feel his hands at all by the end of the night if they did everything they were going to and that was just fine by him. 

[n-slick]

ash-borden‌:

There was only one reason that Ash would ever visit Saint Sabrina’s and that was to collect the things that he’d left from when he was running things for the Rascals out of the back office there. Ash didn’t miss dealing with this shit and he certainly didn’t miss the grody strip club that he’d been forced to enter because of it. 

He stopped short when he realized that someone was speaking in his direction, everything in him hoping that it wasn’t for him. “You’re in the wrong club.” He stated flatly, buttoning his jacket as he moved towards the door. “And you should kill your barber. Or at least sue him.” 

Nicky’d heard about and at least knew of Ash Borden. He’d seemingly been on his way out as leader of the Rascals around the time that Nicky was coming back in. He’d seen him a few times but they’d never really interacted and this was not a good first one, if that was anything to go by. He might have said something different if he’d realised who he was talking to but, then again, maybe he wouldn’t have. Still, it wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for and Nicky frowned as the guy snapped at him, touching his hair briefly. No, he knew he looked good, so that was just uncalled for. 

“I’m pretty sure Muddy didn’t have the right kind of club, last time I checked.” If Ash was referring to a gay bar, anyway. Nicky’s voice was still friendly and he sipped his drink, lounging back against the bar. “Would I have had better luck with you there?” His eyebrow rose inquisitively. It never hurt to ask and Nicky was still hoping to win the guy over, even if the coldness in his eyes was a little intimidating. “I’ll ignore the hair comment if you sit down and have a drink with me. On me, of course.” 

[n-slick]

billie-copeland‌:

“A sharp jaw like that and a famous backstory to boot, is it any wonder most of the folk here prefer to look at you than poor Nikita?” Billie replied, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. It wasn’t that Nikita wasn’t a looker but she held less allure than Nicky did. It was easy to see how he had entranced people both here and in the music scene. Hell, Billie would have been lying if she said she hadn’t put on his music in her garage before, enjoying the roar of Nicky’s guitar. She’d always been a fan of a good guitar riff -  something she’d gained from her father’s days of blaring Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and many more. 

“For me, at least, I’m just sad Ginger’s set is over. I prefer redheads over blondes.” Billie tossed a mock mournful look to where the previous stripper had disappeared behind the stage. Briefly, she wondered if the stripper was going to want company again tonight. Hopefully not, her jaw was still sore. She glanced back to Nicky, raking her gaze over his face. She’d watched him throw back the pills with ease, offering no words of reprimand or concern. As always, who was she to judge? It wasn’t her place to pry and involve herself in things but still, she found herself wondering if she should. He was, after all, Cassidy’s ex. Billie pushed the thought from her mind, telling herself that she’d figure that out later. After a long day spent under cars, she just wanted to drink somewhat decent whiskey and watch pretty women take off their clothes. 

“They just give you the good whiskey? They tried to cheap me with the shitty stuff before I got pushy.”

“You’re right, there really isn’t any contest.” Nicky loved someone who’d feed his ego. It was like the rush he used to get on stage, from the thousands of adoring, screaming fans, and with that absent he practically craved any other kind of positive attention he could get. Her compliment earned the woman a hundred watt smile and he turned more towards her. He knew her from the Rascals, somewhat vaguely, she ran the mechanic’s place and the fight club, though other than the general atmosphere, Nicky didn’t go in for the for fight club much. He certainly didn’t ever go in the ring. Just the idea of punching someone now, with the state of his hands, made him wince. 

The woman mentioned Ginger and Nicky glanced towards the stage where Nikita was doing something that Nicky could never dream of being flexible enough to pull off. “Nikita has her charms.” He spoke from personal experience, after all, though there were few of the strippers here he hadn’t hooked up with since he’d been back. Nicky never had trouble finding someone to warm his bed. He looked back to Billie, sipping his drink again, and noticed that she seemed to be studying. “Like what you see?” It was half a tease, half a come on. She was clearly into women, with her comment about hair colour, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t also into men. She’d complimented his jawline, after all. 

Glancing at his drink, he chuckled a little. “Pretty much, yeah, after the first time. I clearly wasn’t going to stand for that swill and they really should’ve known better than to try it with me.” 

[n-slick]

renegadecassidy‌:

Being a Rascal was one of the most essential parts of Cassidy’s life in Muddy Waters. From the age of 15 years old she’d idolized them. Their camaraderie, how free they lived, how they all looked out for one another. No one had ever judged Cassidy for being the weird shy kid and, as a matter of fact, they taught Cassidy that a new way of living and being was possible–and that’s when her true self came to light.

She was loud, her laugh was usually heard above the music at a party or the chatter at a poker game. She loved fiercely, each person who opened their hearts to her got her heart opened in return and she would gladly take a bullet for any one of them. She’d gained the reputation of catching what she liked to call the ‘anything job’. Cassidy flitted from task to task among the Rascals, always doing anything they asked of her without question or fail.

Saint Sabrina’s was a fun place to be on most nights and why wouldn’t she support a Rascal establishment? She brought the girl’s some food from Rusty’s, gave them extra tips, and cheered them on as they danced, making sure no asshole reached up to touch them. She nodded and smiled at each Dancer and patted one of the security guards on the shoulder before moving over to Nicky. Her body responded to the music, the old Cass spilling out of her without hesitation. Aspen was with her mother tonight…and she’d told the woman she’d be with Nicky. She’d known him for so long and still…sometimes she sight of his face gave her a feeling she didn’t even know how to describe. It was hard to stay away from him, and in earnest, she was checking on him as well as wanting to spend time with him.

“You know the answer to that, babe,” she said, leaning against the bar on the other side of him, shooing the girl away and turning his attention to her. Her dark eyes settled on his lips for a moment before she let them linger up to his eyes. Short black dress and curly unkempt hair was Cassidy’s persona tonight. “Mama’s got the night off.” She hadn’t seen him take the pills before he downed the drink or she would have tried to persuade him otherwise.

The Rascals had just been a good fit for Nicky, way back when, and he supposed they still were now. School had never interested him as much as music and all the other interesting pursuits his hormonal teenage body and mind had him chasing. A rebellious gang that looked out for each other and needed a smooth talker as a distraction just made sense. He was still a smooth talker, though he wasn’t doing anything specific for the Rascals at the moment aside from being the emcee here at the strip club. It was a good gig and they knew they could count on him, so maybe they were just letting him recover. Granted, it had been several months and he was as recovered as he was ever going to be so maybe he should be asking for something more to do. Then again, he was just as happy being able to do whatever he wanted and not be beholden to anyone. It was the kind of life he’d had for a long time and wanted to keep having, ignoring the parts where he’d been expected to be a good bandmate because even that had fallen by the way side in the last few years. 

The woman he’d addressed, who’d seemed pleased that he’d noticed his attention, was forgotten as soon as he heard the familiar voice on his other side and he turned to see Cass, smiling at her and barely registering the fact that the other woman went away. Cass was always interesting and fun and she looked like a knockout tonight. Clearly she wasn’t in parent mode anymore and Nicky was pleased. “And she’s choosing to spend it with me? I’m honoured.” His grin widened as he gave her a very obvious once over and wet his lips. “How much of that time are we going to spend in public, I wonder?” He brushed his lips against her ear as he muttered the suggestive words, fingertips lightly brushing down the length of her dress which hugged her curves just right. Laughing, he pulled back a little and signalled the bartender. “Let’s start the night off with a bang, then. Shots or champagne? You know what, screw it, let’s do both!” Nicky was at his best when he had someone to entertain or someone to play off of, always determined to please and make the experience just as enjoyable for the other person as it was for him. “The champagne’s not exactly top notch here but we can go back to my place later and have something better.” He didn’t ask about Aspen, even though she was his at least biologically, because he didn’t want to remind Cass of her responsibilities. Nicky was the person people came to to forget them for a while and he excelled at that role. 

[n-slick]

Full name: Nicholas “Nicky Slick” Dumont

Age: 29

Birth date: June 17th, 1989

Gender & pronouns: Cismale, He/Him

Affiliation: Northside Rascals

Occupation: Former Rock Star/Emcee at Saint Sabrina’s

Faceclaim: Jack Falahee

B i o g r a p h y »

Nicholas Dumont was never supposed to become a rock star. His mom, Felicia, did everything to prevent it. A groupie who got pregnant, she moved to Muddy Waters to raise her baby in a small, respectable town where he would stay far away from the dangers and vices of his father’s lifestyle. Some things are just in the blood, however, since Nicky showed musical talent from a young age. Torn between protecting him and trying to encourage him to do what he loved, Felicia eventually did get him guitar lessons, hoping he might just do it as a hobby and go on to different pursuits. That wasn’t to be, however, since Nicky excelled at guitar and had a clear passion and love for it. He liked music more than he liked school, though his mom was fairly strict about keeping him in class. She realised that Muddy perhaps hadn’t been the best choice in town when Nicky started getting involved with the Northside Rascals. Charming even then and with a knack for being able to talk himself and his friends out of most trouble, the Rascals found that he was useful for causing distractions. He mostly helped in that sense and between music and the newfound thrill he got from being in the gang, it was a struggle to graduate. Nicky fell in with other rebellious kids, like Cassidy Childs, and pushed school even further out of his mind. His eventual graduation was pretty much only because his mom forced the issue, though he didn’t even consider college when he was done, determined to pursue music. Eventually getting his father’s identity out of his mom, Nicky packed up his guitar at 19 and headed off to track down his famous father.

It wasn’t all that difficult to find him and Nicky was, surprisingly, welcomed by his up until then absent father with open arms, especially once the older man learned how talented Nicky was. Helped along by his father’s connections and his own talent, Nicky joined a band called Dead Man Revolution and Nicky Slick, lead guitarist, was born. Their debut album skyrocketed up the charts and Nicky plunged headfirst into the lifestyle his mother had tried to keep him from. Sex, drugs, alcohol, and parties became a way of life and Nicky loved it all. The adoration from fans inflated his ego and his natural charm made him even more popular. He got to live fast and free and he loved every minute of it, each tour and album plunging him deeper and deeper into what was really an unhealthy if wildly entertaining lifestyle.

The more famous the band got, the more reckless Nicky seemed to become. He believed in his own invincibility and there was no drug he wouldn’t try. His focus on the music, which had always been his first love, even started to slip a little as he got more into the partying and it was getting harder for his bandmates and manager to reign him in. While at first, he’d made frequent trips home back to Muddy, to see his mom, reconnect with people there (and hook up with a certain teenage love interest), the more out of control he got, the less he went home. He still kept in touch somewhat sporadically but it was a pleasant surprise to run into Cassidy on tour about a year and a half ago. As they often did, they ended up in bed together and she actually stuck around for a while, which pleased him, though she more got sucked into his lifestyle than put any sort of check on him. She slipped away after a few months and he wasn’t entirely sure why, but it wasn’t something that he let bother him too much since there were so many other things to distract him.

The accident brought it all crashing down. Drunk and high, driving a sports car with several girls he was taking home to party with, Nicky spun out of control and crashed the car. Miraculously, no one was killed, but several people were grievously injured, including Nicky himself. He could’ve dealt with most injuries but the ones to his hands and wrists were extensive, so extensive that he wouldn’t be able to play guitar again, not at the level that would allow him to maintain his career. Suddenly, Nicky wasn’t as invincible as he’d thought and, after he finally got out of the hospital, still in shock, he ended up moving back to Muddy Waters. His mom was there and she helped him recover, but it was still difficult for Nicky to accept it. It wasn’t long before he was resuming some resemblance of his old lifestyle, living fast and free, the only difference now being that there was no more music and chronic pain in its place. Oh, he was also a father. Having run into Cassidy relatively soon after coming back to town, her situation was very obvious and he was informed that he was partially responsible for it. Not knowing how to deal with that, he continued to dive back into his old life as best he could. The pain pills he was prescribed were just an added bonus to the party drugs he was already taking. Since he didn’t have the band anymore, he fell in with the Rascals again, doing non-specific things but willing to help out. He eventually took a job as the Emcee at Saint Sabrina’s, his fame and rather public downfall giving the place an added draw and stirring up more business than it was used to seeing. That’s where he can be found most of the time now, either that or swanning around, signing autographs, seeming for all the world like the suave rock star he’d been for years, with few realising that underneath it all he’s actually lost, angry, and afraid.

P e r s o n a l i t y »

Nicky’s a fun loving party guy. Incredibly charming and seductive when he wants to be, most people like him and he can often win over those who don’t. It’s very important that people do like Nicky, especially since the accident, because he needs the ego boost now that he can’t get it from thousands of adoring fans. While he doesn’t obviously want it to look like he��s bending over backwards to get people’s approval or attention, he will do quite a bit, it just tends to come out in reckless behaviour or making what he’s doing seem so much fun that other people will want to join in. He can get testy if he can’t win people over quickly, his own ideas of self-worth having taken a hit now that he’s not able to advance his career anymore. While he does genuinely enjoy the partying and the lifestyle he’s become accustomed to, it’s also become a big distraction from dealing with how he feels about the accident. If he’s not high or being numbed by some kind of substance, or in some other way entertained, he tends to spiral into anger and resentment. Occasionally he takes this out on other people but mostly he ends up turning it inward since his nearly pathological need to be liked prevents him from driving people away too much. The whole idea of fatherhood is baffling to him and while he has seen his daughter several times and is actually spending quite a lot of time with Cass, it’s still a responsibility he’s largely avoiding. Nicky barely knows how to take care of himself and doesn’t really want to have to look after someone else if he can’t do that by showing them a good time. He has a lot of growing up to do and neither the accident nor becoming a father has been enough to force it, though the second has more potential to do so. Conflict and problem avoidant, Nicky’s desperately clinging to his rock star persona because he doesn’t really know who he is without it.

Played by Sam