:: Sir Basil opens the door and steps in. He turns to Nicolette and smiles.::

"Two bedrooms, kitchen and, of course, a bathroom. Is this what you imagined?"

::Nikki walks around, a huge smile on her face.::

"Oh it's lovely. Not too big but not to small."

(Ok goldilocks, reign it in. I swear you're acting like you've never been on your own before. Wait...have I?)

::She turns her attention back to Basil.::

"It's perfect. Just what I pictured. Thank you."

"Excellent. I'll leave you to it."

:: Basil smiles as he leaves.::

::Nikki drops the one miniscule bag that she had with her and heads into the bedroom on the left.::

(Hmm, I wonder if the other one is bigger.)

::She goes to confirm her theory and finds that, yes, the other bedroom is bigger.::

"Dude. Walk in closet! Score!"

::She yawns and turns back towards the bed.::

(So inviting.)

::She quickly tosses her shirt off and slides up under the covers. Before long she's asleep.::

::Nikki awakes to a rumbling stomach. She sits up, narrows her eyes, and pokes the offending body part.::

"Hush you."

::Her stomach rumbles again.::

"Right."

::She heads into the bathroom and takes a quick but oddly satisfying shower. Once done, she scrunches her hair into ringlets and allows it to air dry. Dropping her towel on the bathroom floor, she heads into the living room where she'd left her bag. She dumps the contents of the bag out onto the sofa and rifles through her belongings.::

"This is pathetic."

(I need clothes. Lots more clothes. Oh yeah, and some food would be nice.)

::She throws on a pair of jeans and a tight black t-shirt then she sets to scrounging around for a phone book. Finding one in a side table, she begins to flip through it.::

"No. No. No. Ah, there we go."

::She quickly jots down the address and stuffs it into her jeans pocket. She then flips back a few pages in the phone book and finds the listing for cabs. She calls the first one on the list.::

"Twenty minutes? That's fine. Thanks."

::She gathers any essentials and tosses them into her purse. Grabbing a jacket and scarf on the way out, she locks the door and heads downstairs to the front entrance to wait.::

::Nikki enters, shivering, and tosses her soaked jacket and scarf to the side. She sets down the clothes shopping that she'd managed to save..::

(Oh my god, so damn cold!)

::She dashes to her bedroom and strips down, changing into a pair of dry pajamas. She wraps a spare blanket around herself and heads to the kitchen to make a glass of tea. Once it's done, she curls up on the couch with her tea and takes to watching late night tv.::

::Nikki sighs, feeling restless now but not tired enough to sleep. She takes her mug to the sink, throws away the tea bag that's left over, and places the cup into the sink.::

"I'll wash it later."

::She states to herself. Looking around, she spots a notepad.::

"Hmm."

::She snags the notepad and a pencil and begins to write a message. Once done, she slips out into the hallway.::

::Nikki enters and locks the door behind her. Still in her pajamas, she curls back up on the couch, this time grabbing a book to keep her mind occupied. Before long, however, she's gotten comfortable enough to fall asleep.::

::Stretching and yawning as she awakens, she narrows her eyes when she sees that it's morning.::

(Wench didn't come by.)

"Whatever."

She says as she kicks the blanket off of her. She stands and stretches again and her stomach growls.

"Ug."

She declares as she remembers being kicked out of the grocery store without groceries.

"I'll just go take a shower, get dressed, and see if I can't go buy some things today. Surely the guard has forgotten about me by now."

::And she does just that. Once she's dressed she heads out into the hallway, locking the door behind her.::

::Nikki enters, leaving the door open like she'd said she would, and takes to putting all the groceries away. Once done, she begins to pull out all the ingredients that she'll need to make the pancakes.::

::Having mixed all the ingredients together, she pours the batter onto the skillet. One by one she pours, flips, then stacks until she's got a tower of chocolate chip pancakes.::

"Mmm."

::She moans as she takes a step back and surveys her work.::

"To wait for Brownie or no, that is the question."

::Nikki gives off a growl, having sat down to wait for Lirie, and heads for the door.::

(Wench is gonna make me go file a report on her if she doesn't come back soon.)

::Nikki heads out into the hallway.::

::Nikki leads Jeri inside and shuts the door behind them. She releases Jeri's hand, hoping the other woman didn't mind the contact, and heads into the kitchen.::

"Make yourself at home."

::She says as she begins to fix them both a huge plate of pancakes and bacon.::

"I hope you like chocolate chip."

::She says as she places their plates on the coffee table and then heads back into the kitchen to fix their drinks.::

"I know it's a little late for breakfast, but we'll just be fancy and call this brunch. What would you like to drink?"

::Jeri sits down on the couch and looks around her.::

(Nice place she's got.)

"Chocolate chip, my weakness."

::She smiles, a chocoholic by nature.::

"Don't suppose you've got any orange juice? I could kill for a glass."

::She relaxes against the back of the couch.::

"I do."

::Nikki nods and takes to fixing herself a glass of milk and Jeri a glass of OJ. She heads back into the living room and plops down next to Jeri, laying both glasses down in front of them. She turns to Jeri, a grin on her face.::

"Well...go ahead, guests first."

::Jeri gives an awkward smile to Nikki and tucks in, taking a mouthful of pancakes.::

"Mmmm this is good."

(See? I told daddy those cooking classes weren't a waste of time.)

::Despite her level of hunger at this moment, Nikki prissily cuts a bite size portion of pancake off of her stack.::

"Mmm."

::She compliments herself and finishes her bite. She then takes a napkin and pats at her lips daintily.::

"So. What brings you to Frisco?"

(What did bring me here? Well I was... in that room and...hmmm.)

"Change of scenery."

::Jeri answers not entirely sure what else to say.::

"Got to be better than New Orleans.::

(At least my family isn't here.)

::Nikki's eyes go wide and it's clear that she's trying hard not to squeal.::

"You're from NO too? I was born and raised there!"

::She fully turns herself and her attention towards Jeri, her food now forgotten.::

::Jeri breaks into a genuine smile.::

"Yeah. Used to work for the PD for a while, Civilian Officer."

"You're Kidding! I worked Narcotics! How in the world did we never meet one another?"

::Jeri's eyes widen.::

"You did?"

"Yeah, special task force."

::She leans back in her seat, grinning at the memories.::

"They'd pretty much get me all slutted up and make me go under cover at some seedy bar. You'd be suprised how fast the dealers will find you when you're prancing around in a halter."

::Nikki smirks, quite pleased.::

"Oh... we may not have met, but I heard about you. Weren't you half of the pride of NOPD? What was it they used to call the two of you? Nikki and.....?"

(None of your damn business.)

::Nikki shifts uncomfortably, really not wanting to talk about this.::

"Nora. Like the couple. Real funny, huh?"

::Her tone makes it clear that she doesn't find it funny in the least.::

(Damn I was only making conversation)

"So, how come you moved here?"

::Jeri understands Nikki's tone and doesn't want to push her.::

(Cause the whole squad found out that Nora and I were a couple and gave us so much hell about it that she freaked out and left. I coudln't stand being there without her so I left too.)

"Needed a change of scenery. Why'd you leave?"

(My girlfriend left me for a man. My family disowned me for being me.)

"Let's just say I'd rather be as far away from my family as possible."

::Jeri looks away.::

::Nikki looks to the ground, searching for something to say to break the akwardness that had suddenly found it's way into the room. She offers Jeri the best smile she can muster and attempts some good-natured teasing.::

"Hey, look at it this way, at least you'd rather be away from them. I actualy kinda miss my Daddy, old fashioned as he may be."

(I need to call him...)

"My Daddy stopped talking to me when I joined the PD. Apparently it was no place for his daughter."

::Jeri turns to face Nikki again.::

"Mama, well, Mama took his side in everything."

(And kicked off when she found out I wasn't going to give her grandchildren. Funny thing is, I never knew I was adopted until that day.)

"Yeah my Daddy pitched a fit for about a month. Said that I was a Beaumont and much better than the knuckle draggers in blue. He finally accepted it though."

(That and alot of other things. I really am lucky.)

"I don't much know how my Mama woulda taken me joining the force, though. She died when I was five."

"I... I'm sorry."

::Jeri tries to avoid Nikki's gaze.::

(I bet she didn't deserve to.)

::Nikki shrugs.::

"Not your fault. Not anyone's fault really. She had breast cancer."

::Jeri isn't sure what to say. She searches for something, anything.::

"That's something about being part of my family, I'll never know what I could inherit health wise."

(Why are you opening up to her, you're complete strangers!)

"Why not?"

::Nikki asks before she can remind herself that she does, in fact, possess a little bit of tact.::

(You've started something now Forrester.)

"Well if Mama's to be believed they got me from that little Catholic orphanage a couple of blocks from the PD."

::Jeri takes a sip of her drink.::

::Despite the seriousness of what Jeri had just revealed to her, Nikki is finding it hard to suppress her desire to laugh.::

::Jeri stands and walks over to the window, trying to hide her feelings.::

(Why did you tell her? Why put yourself out there like that?)

"Hey now."

::Nikki stands and follows Nora to the window, laying a hand on the blonde's shoulder.::

"I'm sorry I laughed but you have to admit, it's kinda funny that you turned out to be a cop and your adopted parents are catholic. I figure they wanted you to marry a nice man and become a baby factory."

"Yeah they did. Let's just say I failed to meet their criteria."

::Jeri doesn't flinch under Nikki's touch but doesn't look at her either.::