<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Bloodedge]

Leon was to speak no more... but would he listen? Certainly not. He hadn't even heeded his own advice to shut up; he wasn't going to take Nikki's. Immediately following Ronni's mention of Sir Paddington II, Leon was there with an extended finger. "Ain't no sneakin' King Don the Second though, is it?" Suddenly, that earlier line about raising a child made perfect sense. A silent 'oh' passed Donnie's lips. "King Don... the Second? Bro, you buggin'," he said with a gentle laugh, which only extended when he heard about Nikki's cat. "So, like, there's a real cat somewhere? Bet bet. Thought I was trippin' when I peeped the collar," he said. Whether that outed Ronnie or not, well... it didn't much matter. At this point, Donnie was just adding himself to the way this group already functioned.

Soon enough, Nikki was accepting the blunt and taking its smoke straight to her lungs. Donnie had become rather decent at telling how new smokers often ruined their own hits ─ especially those who'd smoked cigarettes and the like before. Nikki had no such issues. Perhaps she didn't need to hold the smoke as long as she did, but that was a different sort of warning to give. "Damn shorty, what you tryna prove? You hit it like it stole somethin' from you!" he said. Beyond that, there was the matter of Donnie's speech pattern. It seemed they didn't frequent the phrase 'or nah' in this area, but Nikki was quite fond of it. The gears in Donnie's head were turning, which resulted in a bit of silent contemplation as he stared aimlessly at the lass. "Bet bet. Keep lettin' me know when you like somethin', birthday girl~"

[Apollymi]

Leon couldn't leave well enough alone. Nikki was in no mental space to argue with him currently... no her mind and body were separating so she could have an experience. And in that same moment, she'd not even noticed the absent tracing of Donnie's abdomen beneath his shirt, which she didn't want to part with, even as she was taking her next couple of hits from the blunt. "Well I mean she could try... but I don't think she could slip something like that by my senses~" Ronnie said. "Not now anyway..." she added with an almost cheeky smirk. But she knew the truth, her sister, had been planning a wedding and marriage to 'King Don' for as long as she'd known he existed, but she wasn't going to out her nor would she be caring that she was outed either, "That collar is mine, but there is an actual cat. She snuck him into the flat when she was 11 and I couldn't make her let him go. Still don't know why he ended up named the second when he was the first cat, but... couldn't give a toss, since it kept her company~" Ronnie said as Nikki finally settled into the notion again. 'I could have King Don's babies, I gotta prepare better names than that... I'm not an animal,' she asserted mentally completely dismissing Leon. "You wouldn't get to help with naming," she said to Leon as if this were a completely joking matter, but somehow Ronnie felt like that part had more serious connotations.

As Nikki was clearing her lungs after that second inhale she shrugged at Donnie's question, maybe. She felt like her body moved but the end result was her simply ending up more comfortably tucked into his physical form with a hand still exploring his torso freely after giving up the blunt, most likely to Donnie himself. "Come off it, mate. It wasn't like that..." she said joking around as she settled in, "Just figuring stuff out~" she added. As far as the lad's speech apparently it was something he'd be contemplating. And it would seem that both of them were studying each other in their own way. He claimed to want to know when she thought of something else, "You're first on the list, mate... here take this before I forget that I'm holding it..."" she said about him knowing things she liked about how he spoke and making sure that blunt left her hand and made it to his before she forgot what she was doing or became too engrossed in relaxing against his physical form. He'd definitely be the firmest body pillow of her life, but she could already imagine it. Gently wrapping her legs around his, half-laying over his chest fingers tracing with nothing holding her hand down but a cover. It would be magical.

[Bloodedge]

If there was one person in the room who didn't care if they were exposed, it was Veronica. So freely did she admit to being that collar's owner, even dismissing it as a thing of shame. "Bloody tart, she is," Leon commented. Ah, but Leon was being banned from certain things... like involvement in the naming of babies between Nikki and King Don. "What for? Oh wait, yeah... can't have King Don the Second. That one's mine, innit? King Don Junior!" he corrected. Donnie chortled. "Bro, that ain't even my government name. Shit would be wild," he said, much to Leon's apparent confusion. "Wait, it ain't just King Don?"

That question hung in the air like a helium-filled balloon for a moment. Donnie couldn't have been more confused if he tried. In fact, he hesitated to grab the blunt offered by Nikki, thinking twice about what was in Leon's weed. "... I gotta stop smokin' this shit here," he surmised even while claiming the next round. The next hit Donnie took involved multiple draws to fill his mouth before it all went to the lungs. The eventual exhale passed through his nose as he sank further into the couch, staring at the coffee table full of pizza and snack foods. Sadly, he couldn't move without disturbing the pair in his lap. "Damn I forgot. We got Oreos and shit with that, right? I'm always fiendin' for some Oreos."

[Apollymi]

Leon in his understanding of the lack of shame that Ronnie had, called her a tart, and all she would do at such a thing, was laugh. She definitely easily made the top 10 most desirable single women list every year since she was 19. "Bruv, I'm a supermodel, tart's a compliment~" she pointed out, not seeming to care how she was seen. In fact, she saw herself as the happy one, given she was either, tied up with someone useless, or tying herself to some standard of behavior that shouldn't actually exist and because of that, not getting what she wanted. Meanwhile, Nikki was banning her cousin from naming input, at first it was simply going to be a joke about his lack of experience with good names as only one person in his immediate family had a good one, and now... it was turning into something else. "Bruv... I'm about to check you 'cause aren't you supposed to be the biggest fan besides me? And you don't know!?" there was another one of those fan based tirades coming and Ronnie simply rolled her eyes. "Ah, this one's gonna be good." Ronnie said, finally shifting to pull snacks closer if only because she wanted to eat while watching the story unfold.

"Of course his name isn't King Don... he's bloody American, his name is Donovan King. Are you taking the piss? Next you're gonna tell me you don't know when his birthday is... and then I'm going to disown you!" Nikki chattered, but such was the relationship between her and her cousin. Meanwhile, Donnie was questioning Oreos, and Ronnie pulled that snack closer as well. "Wait, there's biscuits?! I love Oreos~" Nikki commented she definitely be having some, whenever she finished chewing out her cousin over his fake fan mentality.

[Bloodedge]

According to Ronnie, 'tart' was a compliment to someone like her. She would say that. With no proper comeback for the woman, Leon only performed an exaggerated mimicking of her words using his lips and hand. Such was the case until he was called out as a false fan of King Don. How could Nikki betray him like that? Well... apparently he was wrong about the other male's name. "It's really not King? Like one of them famous people changin' their names and all?" he asked for clarity. "Nah man... it ain't," Donnie said, his lungs full of smoke.

Leon was in for it now. The name 'Donovan King' was one he'd seen numerous times before, but never one he'd attributed directly to King Don. "You serious? I thought that was one of the baby names!" Leon exclaimed. As for him not knowing the rapper's birthday, he certainly didn't know the exact date... but he knew one thing! "I don't know the day, but it's gotta be around mine 'cause he's a Leo, innit? What with the whole Lion King thing?" he countered. Donnie could barely hold his own laughter while reaching for a pack of Oreo cookies. In fact, he chortled again so hard, he had to pass the blunt Ronnie's way. "Hell nah, bro! My nigga, I can't even let that one slide. I heard you quoting my shit earlier!" Yet again, Leon was lost.. and Donnie hadn't even gotten around to explaining the 'Lion King' thing yet. "What quote? You never said your birthday in a song, right?"

[Apollymi]

Ronnie watched Leon's reaction to her acceptance of the term tart and could only smirk like she was the super villain in this particular situation. She wasn't the type to be upset about having her fun called out, most people would never be able to understand the type of person she was, and it wasn't her prerogative to try and appeal to everyone. "I know you don't understand that most people don't end up with crazy names, but come off it, bruv..." Nikki asserted, not even bothering to hide potential disdain. Of course, she couldn't do that, this was King Don, and one of his self-proclaimed biggest fans wasn't even sure of regular readily available information about him.

The bad part about the situation was, that Leon had seen Nikki at the peak of her mania as a 14 year old girl. Watched her write Donnie's full government names in random scrips with rather other symbols and the like as she tested out potential tattoo designs and the like. "Not that it isn't a good name, but why would that be the pattern of baby names? Also... not even sure why you'd think that when you saw me trying to figure out the best combination of names," Nikki said. she'd settled on the combination of 'Corbyn-King' like the American independent types, as it had the nicest flow with her given full name. But then the most ridiculous thing came out of Leon's mouth, he assumed that Donnie was a leo based on Lion King references. And Nikki was shocked, Leon had been quoting the song that contained Donnie's birthday as a title multiple times this day, Donnie himself had even heard one of them, so what exactly was he claiming in a moment like this. "The real is back, the ville is back? Come off it. There's no way you're this much of a twit. You've really been quoting this man's birthday song, January 28 all day, and you didn't know it was his birthday. Also makes him an Aquarius , just so ya' know. You were the one who told me it was out? What the hell were you thinking was going on?!" Nikki couldn't help but be confused by her elder Cousin's actions. All the while Ronnie had casually opened a bag of chips and was gently crunching away as if slightly amused.

[Bloodedge]

Today was a day Leon could never recover from. First and foremost, he'd been able to meet King Don himself. His weed was being smoked by the man, the myth, the legend... and he was smoking it in the same circle. There were few greater victories in this world. Alas, great rises were often followed by great falls. In this case, Leon's fall happened during the aforementioned rise due to his own ignorance of some 'minor' details. King Don's name was Donovan King. That was fine; he'd chalk that up in his mind as a common misunderstanding. Nikki's pattern of behavior didn't even seem so strange the way he saw it. "What? Maybe you didn't want to be Nikoleta Don or something, so you went with King. That's what I always figured," he explained as if that justified anything at all.

Ah, but the worst had yet to come. The song he quoted most, January 28, was apparently the legitimate birthdate of King Don. He recited the fist verse as if it were part of his personal bible whenever King Don was a topic, and now... Nikki was doing so to prove how stupid he was. Even King Don himself wasn't letting this lapse go. As the one who announced the song's release to Nikki, Leon could only take fault this time. "I thought it was just the big release day for King Don's biggest comeback! Most fire bars ever, innit? The song even came out that day." All the while, Ronnie wasn't the only person highly amused. Donnie had taken an Oreo, popping one of its cookies off with his teeth to chew it. "Let him live. I did drop that one on my birthday though. It was part of the party; I was really feelin' myself then. I mean... I did say check the birthday at the end, though. Figured that would make it obvious."

[Apollymi]

Leon was indeed having likely one of the best days of his life. Nikki remembered the pair of them talking about what would happen if either of them ever actually met King Don. Actually, this plan had been part of their bonding. All the specifics weren't exactly there, but they did promise to make the necessary introductions when the time came. And here they were, having a chin wag, a smoking circle, snacks and the like with King Don of all people. And in this moment, some subtle intricacies of Nikki's psychosis surrounding the rapper made an appearance. Not loudly but quietly, naming patterns, talk of weddings, talk of children... childhood dreams being expressed as points of not so crazy potential realities in the current moments. "Of course not, why would I do that. I was planning a tattoo and a future name choice for myself..." Nikki claimed as if that wasn't a completely wild thing to admit to.

What was way worse by her own account, was the fact that Leon didn't know Donnie's birthday. Even though he'd been the one quoting the song which had it as his title. Nikki was seemingly about to roast the man, but Donnie asked her to lay off him. She held her hands up, took an Oreo and had it going towards her mouth. "Fine, but I'll have him for being a tourist..." Nikki asserted like a cross child still so well cuddled in that she didn't seem to want to move as they sank further into the couch. "Good show~ But I thought you wanted crisps..." Ronnie claimed as she snacked casually, watching as the pair went on about their day. and while they sat around and started the snacking process. Nikki still hadn't quite gotten to the proper start of that cookie yet only laughed. "Change my mind. Oreos are great~ I still want the crisps though..." Nikki managed halfheartedly knowing she iddn't want to remove a hand from Donnie's torso so she simply went for the easiest option.

[Bloodedge]

What Nikki had in mind as a tattoo and a future name, Leon always figured was the construction of baby names and future clothing designs. How was he to know she was so deep into planning a future with King Don? He was always busy entertaining his own thoughts that fell into the more 'normal' side of fanaticism. "Should've gotten around to baby names. Now you're up the creek, and you're gonna look like a git when it's time to name the little king!" he complained as though trying to flip the script in a moment.

Nikki was willing to leave Leon alive for the moment, but his 'tourist' behavior was on notice. Donnie was far more interested in... the aghast reaction he wanted to have when Nikki reached for the Oreos. He nearly fought her for it right then and there, but... she was the birthday girl and a certified 'baddie' as he'd put it, so that was fine. "Girl I almost threw you over a cookie," he said. Finally done chewing the first part of his initial cookie, Donnie began casually licking at the cream filling now exposed. "Ay bro, can you hook me up with some of that milk over there? I don't wanna move anybody," he requested of Leon, who silently complied with a nod.

[Apollymi]

Apparently, Nikki should have been thinking of names for children. According to her cousin she'd be up a creek when the time came. "I've been thinking of names for children ever since I first learned the story behind yours, don't worry about it bruv," Nikki admitted without giving a side eye or even sounding like she was discussing anything other than the weather. Ronnie for her part in this, nearly choked, "For fuck's sake I thought you were letting 'im live?" Ronnie choked out after a singular moment.

Ah but that wasn't the only oddity. Nikki reached for an Oreo, and found herself on the receiving end of an interesting information. Apparently Donnie had almost tossed her off his lap over a cookie. "Over a biscuit, come off it mate~" Nikki claimed. All the while, her eyes were drawn to his eating and the moving of his tongue. Perhaps she would have been more ready to argue without the visual. Ronnie was also watching and both women were thinking a similar thing. "Brilliant bloke, maybe an Oreo is worth it..." Nikki uttered with a casual disinterest. She couldn't even focus on anything else. Still there wasn't anything else to watch so the girl's would be focusing.

[Bloodedge]

Baby names should have been Nikki's primary point of focus, in Leon's opinion. Ah, but it seemed that was no cause for concern... as she'd been thinking of baby names since she learned about his. Ronnie started choking immediately, and Leon gasped. "Oy..." he said, pulling away until Donnie requested a cup of milk. Leon would be pouring in silence before sliding a filled cup across the table. "'Ere, mate," he offered plainly.

Of all the snacks and sweets in the world, Donnie had a special thing for Oreo cookies specifically. When he had a pack, the pack was his. It was surprising even to the lad himself that he left Nikki to her devices in the moment. "Over an Oreo. These shits got crack in 'em, I swear," he added to the original clause, as if Nikki's reaction wasn't understanding enough of the situation. He'd been in fights over those cookies before. Several moments later, Nikki was expressing the thought that Oreos might be worth a toss. Why? Well, that was clear in the shared staring of her and Ronnie. An intoxicated Donnie had a certain method to approaching those cookies, but... perhaps that wasn't entirely the cause this time. Either way, he'd be clearing that second half of its cream, doing so with an intentional swirl before holding the cookie between his teeth. "On God it is♪~" he sang teasingly.

[Apollymi]

Nikki had opened her mouth and an honest thought had fallen out. If she'd been more sober, she likely wouldn't have said that. At the very least she would have lightened it a bit. In this case, she barely registered that she'd said anything. Perhaps she thought that was in her head. "What?" she asked which only made Ronnie laugh a bit more. "Hahaha~ Honest high person. Didn't expect that..." Ronnie said lightly amused. Of course, she also knew that disagreements between Nikki and Leon weren't the types of things that lasted for very long, even if Nikki just hadn't caught up to what she said.

And how could she possibly try nad catch up to hr brain's thoughts, when King Don was sitting right underneath her, eating an oreo with the tongue work of someone whose face would make an excellent chair. "Yeah, they are pretty addictive..." Nikki said, looking at the man with an intensity that said she wasn't really thinking of anything else. All that tongue work and Ronnie was also unable to watch anything else. "Had to have done that on purpose," Nikki comment. "Still do it though~" Ronnie said and Nikki would be reaching out at the same time that the other girl did and they slapped each other's hand like they had both just accomplished something. Soon Nikki was finishing her own Oreo and chewing slowly, thinking about what had just happened and all the things said. "Wait, Have I been talking out loud this entire time?" she asked, as if confused about what everyone else had said.

[Bloodedge]

"'Preciate it big dawg," Donnie said to the mood-altered Leon, who'd gone back to the act of joint rolling after passing that milk. "Righto mate," was Leon's only response. An honest high person was a dangerous sort just as quickly as they were an amusing sort. In Leon's case, he'd been the sacrifice for the dangerous side to rear its head. His tribute would not be forgotten by the likes of Donnie.

Ah, but Donnie had priorities. He had to pull in that cup of milk when reaching for another cookie, but he also had to deal with the mostly-silent communication between Corbyn sisters. "It was just a little bit," he murmured about doing that maneuver intentionally. It was, in fact, how he consumed Oreos when smoking. There was a missing oddity, however ─ one they would see in a few moments as he ate the first cookie-side of the second Oreo. As for Nikki's question... "Yyyeap~" Donnie said with the slightest raspberry occurring as he ended the word. "Oh, but Lee, you not too far off with that Lion King thing. I mean it ain't got shit to do with the Lion King, but it's crazy how it works out," he started, finally remembering some details not given in the moment of utmost relevance.

[Apollymi]

Donnie thanked Leon and the man who'd been so active an excited was rather quiet. As the proper older sister type, when everything was said and done, Ronnie would help smooth it over, after she and her younger sister were done being high and weird. Nikki's type of high person, had been established, warnings could now be given in the future... that was how someone like Ronnie saw it anyway.

Beyond that point, Donnie had indeed done that tongue thing on purpose. Though he claimed it was only a little bit, Ronnie scoffed. "Only a little, no way~" Ronnie commented almost absently. Both she and her younger sister agreed, not verbally but spiritually that they'd be trying something when the time was right. At the same time, Ronnie realized that Nikki's honesty was well and truly not something she'd been in control of, when the girl questioned whether or not she'd been speaking aloud for a while yet. The answer that came from Donnie was a resounding one, "Blimey..." that little utterance of a sound was one which meant that Nikki had some understanding of the gravity, she could hope it wasn't bad, and then pray her high self remembered to fix it when she sobered up. "I can't let that get away from me... like that one too," she said said about the sound the man made, all the while she was reaching forward for that bag of crisps she'd asked for so she could relax further. In the time they were speaking Nikki and Ronnie both became quite enamored. Though not the same level of fan as Nikki, Ronnie was interested in any anecdotes she could get. "Well, go on and spill it then~" she said wanting to hear him out. Everyone had snacks, everyone was settled all things were in arms reach so all was well.

[Bloodedge]

As a manner of distracting from the potentially awkward moment between relatives, Donnie addressed a misconception Leon had about his nickname. He figured someone who was so openly a fan would like having the information anyway. So, while Leon was licking a joint sealed, and while everyone got further settled into high relaxation, Donnie worked through a milk-dipped Oreo and began the story. "Fun fact, no cap: Simba is Swahili for lion. They named the young nigga lion in Lion King!" he started. That much was already a surprise to Leon, but there was more still to come. "Anyway, the story is: my dad moved to the US from Rwanda when he was a kid. I got an uncle back there who wasn't even born back then, so we all linked up when I was young. I had a lil' attitude, but he could dig it. Unc started callin' me Simba Mchanga in Swahili. It sounded cool as shit, so I started goin' by Young Simba, picked up the lion theme, all that kinda shit," he explained.

Regardless of the situation just before, Leon listened very attentively to Donnie's story. The lore behind the rapper's most popular additional alias was intriguing. "So you're, like, African-American? Like a proper one, not just like regular black folk?" he asked for clarity. Donnie took a moment to think about that. "Well... nah. I mean, my dad is. I was born in Harlem. Full Nuyorican boy~" he answered in the end. "The hell is a Nuyorican?" Leon asked. "Ma's from Puerto Rico, New York's the city. New York Puerto Rican," Donnie explained. And so began minutes of munching, drinking, smoking and storytelling... which would eventually have Donnie far more relaxed after a few rounds, lying stretched across the sofa with one leg propped up and one hanging off the edge. "Man damn. I didn't think y'all had green like this around. This hit like some Cali shit."