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Drink, Anyone? //OPEN//
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 7, 2017 23:26:57 GMT -5
Amidst the bustling waiters and the clinking of beer mugs was a lonely man situated at the bar’s countertop. With a blazing red vest adorn on his person, he was definitely one of the few eye-catching patrons. Few was right, as it was not the busiest hour of the day, but it was after school hours so a teacher or two might be on the premises. Cade was just one of them. He didn’t have a ton of friends to go bar hopping with, so he tended to stick it out on his own. He usually made certain that the taverns didn’t have any winged bartenders beforehand. He generally had bad experiences with them.
Within his clutch was a rather fancy and expensive looking drink. He couldn’t recall the name of it, he tended to go by the most expensive drink on the menu, mostly for mild curiosity in regards to what the establishment boasts as their best drink. He certainly had no problems affording it despite being a teacher.
The drink itself was nearing its end, which meant that it might be time to weigh his options on a suitor for the night. He slowly spun his stool around to analyze what was the cream of the crop. His eyes wandered about as he lightly stirred his drink. He bounced between a few potential targets, some lonely women that he wouldn’t mind spending an evening with. A few were women he had encountered previously, so they were immediately off the list. Others seemed a bit too drunk for his liking, especially the loud ones. He honed in on his perfect target though. A petite woman with a fiery hairstyle. She was already seated at a two person table, it was like she was inviting him to take the chair opposite to her.
Mr. Lemaire splashed the rest of his drink down his throat and began to strut his stuff over to the young woman. With a shimmering smile and a brush of his buzzed blonde hair, he bowed to the tightly dressed maiden. He took the seat before she could say anything. “Bonjour, mon petit fleur” he opened, channeling his French accent. He was a bit rusty, but it was a language he grew up with, so it was difficult to forget. “A drink? Something cold I’m guessing, that flame you’ve got going on there must be terribly hot” he stated, motioning his hand toward the woman’s burning scalp. “I’d say you’re hot, but I imagine you get that joke a lot, so I’ll refrain from the fire puns” he continued with the naturally soothing tones of his voice.
The female smirked at that at the very least, though didn’t seem overall impressed. It was still early in the night, so Cade hadn’t quite hit his stride. She laid out the menu in front of Cade and then pointed to a fruity cocktail. The math teacher obliged, attempting to hail down a waiter, but the thumps of a heavily built creature arose behind him. “’cuse me, you’re in my seat” the deep voice from behind Cade inquired.
His eyes peered back momentarily, noticing the rock that replaced the man’s skin. The other man’s size was also quite commendable, more so than Cade’s slightly above average build. He very quickly rose from the chair and held both his hands up. “My mistake, sir” he apologized with ease.
The rock skinned man seemed to be taking the situation incredibly well, lacking any sort of harsh expression despite the fact that Cade was clearly flirting with the woman a mere couple seconds ago. “Its fine, you didn’t know” he waved off rather easily.
The woman on the other hand didn’t look so pleased. “That’s it?” she replied with a tinge of disgust. “Romeo here is showing you up, and you’re just going to let him go like that? I’ve only known this guy for ten seconds and he’s already shown more moxie than you” the female stated whilst crossing her arms. “Might as well be leaving with him.”
While the ego boost might have been appreciated, Cade immediately gave her the ‘please stop talking’ stare. She was clearly trying to provoke the man made of boulders and while Cade was not a light weight when it came to fighting, he could not take on a rock man. “You don’t mean that” the colossus replied calmly. He was very quickly answered with a stingy glare.
Cade began to think quickly on his feet, raising a brow at the female, then turning to her male counterpart. He tapped the man of stone on the shoulder and nodded his head not too far away from the lady and her table. The two momentarily walked off, being out of ear range from the female, though she spied on their conversation carefully. Cade seemed to be making hand motions as though he was trying to discuss land claims with the other person.
Everything seemed to be going well until Cade extended his hand out, as though he was wanting a handshake. “…Sundays and Wednesdays, deal?” Cade chimed up as their conversation came to a conclusion. He held the grin of a sleazy car salesman, and the answer he got back was similar to one that someone in that line of work would get.
“You slimy sack of shit!” the rock skinned man exclaimed as he punched the math teacher directly in the gut. It was enough to make Cade’s feet fly a few inches off the ground momentarily, before the pain of the impact forced him to curl into the fetal position on the wood floor. The man of stone simply walked back to his table and soon after motioned toward the exit with the woman. Cade was left attempting to regulate his breathing patterns again.
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Post by pizza on Jul 8, 2017 5:51:42 GMT -5
Chathra held her cheek in her palm, which was supported by her elbow on the back table where she was seated across from her abysmal date--some handsome schmuck she met through Tinder a few nights before that she hadn’t quite been able to break the ‘I was drunk and your profile pic was shirtless but you’re lousy to talk to’ news to. They had been sitting in silence, coddling beers until she’d ask a question, hoping to start conversation, only to be met with brief answers and no ask-backs. Maybe it was like this because she told him she had no powers. Or maybe that was just the self-loathing talking.
In her eye’s corner, she could see the schmuck peer up from his glass and over her shoulder--she instinctively turned her head. It was a classic scene, something she’d seen too familiarly as a kid raised by daytime TV--the smoky red-head, the man hitting on her, and her ripped boyfriend, only the boyfriend also happened to be part Mount Rushmore. Chuckling, Chathra turned back to her schmuck. Finally, something interesting.
“Like a straight-to-TV, right? Wanna take bets?” “Huh?” The Tinder schmuck jolted slightly at Chathra’s words, and it occurred to her that he was probably staring into the distance. “What do you mean?” “That,” Chathra grumbled, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, but by then the men were moving away. “Oh…” The schmuck went vacant, smiling inoffensively. “No, I’m good.” Chathra’s expression darkened as she tilted her head with attitude. Thank god she hadn’t bothered to upgrade from her ‘tank top and cargo pants’ combo for this.
“Well,” she sighed, grabbing her motorcycle jacket from the back of her chair and rising. The schmuck rose too, but she made a vague wave-down that said he wasn’t supposed to follow her as she continued, “this has been a fun five minutes but…” Chathra shrugged, “my back kind of hurts from all this conversation-carrying…” She could tell her wordplay was confusing the Tinder schmuck. She had to be her blunt self. “You’re boring, I’m going. Good luck with your other matches.” “Oh… ok…”
The tone in his response said he couldn’t care less. Chathra had to keep herself from cringing as she turned--and almost walked into the trajectory of a stone fist on her way out. Her eyes widened at the close call as she watched the smaller man crumple. “Hey,” Chathra called after the living rock formation, smacking the ground for emphasis since she didn’t have it in her smoke-addled throat to yell. “C’mon man, he didn’t know.” She looked to the gut-punched curl before her and realised she had knelt to the floor to check up on him, her hand moving to clap his shoulder. Well, she couldn’t leave him like this. “That was some bad luck, bucko, holding up ok? Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.”
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 8, 2017 16:27:27 GMT -5
The lumbering rock man continued his walk away, mostly hoping that no one would confront him after that brief scene with the vest wearing guy. His eyes bulged out a bit once he heard the woman call him out, to which he subtly turned his head sop that he could get a brief look at them from the corner of his eye. She wasn’t security from the looks of it, so it was best that he left before a bouncer or two came by. He sighed and stroked his boulder-ish head. “…I know” he muttered to himself with a stench of regret on his breath.
His fiery headed companion seemed to be wildly enthused with the outcome, so much so that she instantly ran to his side and wrapped her slender arms around his titanic biceps. They proceeded to leave the premises, leaving Cade to his exploits.
As planned, it didn’t take long for someone to swiftly run to Cade’s aid. The man punched him a bit harder than he had expected him to, but he supposed that the ‘no-holds barred’ approach made it seem all the more natural. Not that it made Cade feel any the better for it.
He wheezed once more, and felt a hand rest on his shoulder. A feminine hand at that, so things were going swimmingly. His head popped out from his fetal position, his eyes immediately darting toward the door to make certain his stony friend was making his exit. The next target was the woman kneeling over him, a rather angular face looking back at him. There were so many lines defining her facial structure she looked she was low on polygons. Not a huge detractor though.
Another impromptu cough to make certain that all the squishy things inside him were in the right place and he began to speak up again. “So long as my spleen finds its way out of my trachea, I’ll manage” he mused with a lively undertone as he slowly began to pick himself up and brushed off his flashy vest. “I’ve lived through worse” he added as he rubbed his elbow impulsively.
To the offer of another drink though, Cade had to reassure that he hadn’t had too much already. He was quite for a few moments, allowing his thoughts to go wild in order to see if he would just randomly speak off the top of his head. No slip of the tongue yet, so he was still sober enough to function. He could change that in the merest of instants though.
The math teacher patted the concerned female’s hand on his shoulder in return and quirked his brow in the direction of the bar’s counter. “Yes, something to make my brain numb would be nice. Gotta fool it into thinking my body’s good enough to walk home” he answered, groaning a bit as his abdomen shifted in order to regain a proper footing.
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Post by pizza on Jul 8, 2017 22:13:13 GMT -5
The anatomy talk made her brows buckle in confusion. “What?” She only understood the gist, but it didn’t matter. If he was trying to wisecrack little quips, he was probably fine. Chathra sighed, half-relieved but half-weary as she eyed his peach-fuzzed face. Unless he was one of those immortal types, that probably put a decade between them. Guys his age always said they’d had it worse, or something slick to that degree, as if to compensate. She exhaled sharp in amusement and smirked, clapping his shoulder again for some patronising reassurance, only to frown when she realised he’d gone silent. “Hey, stay with us here, you could say ‘trachea’ before, you can’t be that bad.”
Chathra snapped her fingers a few times and moved to nudge him, but stopped when she noticed a shadow shifting across his shape. She turned to see a concerned server steadying a tray of glass stacks packed high. “Sh-should I call a doctor or something?” “He ain’t bleeding, the red vest’s just a choice,” she muttered, waving the server away. “Besides, didn’t you hear? He’s lived through worse.” Just as she was about to point a thumb over her shoulder back at the silent man and snicker, she felt his hand touch hers and looked back at him. Finally, he spoke.
“Ah, I’m sure you make your brain numb all on your own,” Chathra continued her teasing as she got up and watched him groan before pitifully extending an arm to help him up and to the bar. “I’ll call you an Uber or give you a ride myself if you can’t walk,” she said. “Drink’s gonna make you feel better anyways. You got a name, Peach Fuzz?” Chathra glanced towards the counter for a bartender, hoping to get an order in before they actually got to the bar itself. She was keen to get him talking, drinking and distracted from the pain, on the off chance the blow really was gut-busting enough to make him black out.
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 9, 2017 19:13:57 GMT -5
The pain wasn’t nearly as prominent as the initial impact, but it was still sharp enough to make him wince if he positioned his torso the wrong way. Given an hour or two, it should fade into a duller ache. He was no stranger to such types of body blows, but the fist in question being made of rock was definitely a new experience for him. Whether or not taking the hit was a worthwhile experience was yet to be seen, but the immediate future promised a free drink, so it couldn’t be too bad.
His body lightly bobbed from left to right momentarily, a sort of makeshift test to see what positions would affect him the least, in addition to being caused by general wooziness. His posture was straightened up a bit by the helpful woman’s extended arm, replying to that action though, Cade slipped his arm down her back and around her waist, you know, for added support.
He nodded along with her conversation, chuckling a bit by her observations. “I mean, only for important decisions. What’s the point in having a brain if you can’t turn it off once in a while?” he answered in his usual pseudo-inquisitive tone.
Cade wasn’t entirely certain what an Uber was, though heard the term a decent amount of times in the past. It was something that the young socialites talked about, though he never cared enough to question what it was. He supposed that was a cause and effect of not being in touch with social media in general, mostly considering that putting information about himself out in the open was not a smart idea. He just sort of rolled with the idea for the time being, but if he wasn’t leaving with her he’d probably just end up walking home regardless.
He found himself absently stroking his fuzzy chin after the invention of his new nickname. “Cade Lemaire, of the New Brunswick Lemaires” he replied smoothly. He couldn’t quite remember what his background was on his Witness Protection papers, but he commonly used New Brunswick as his province of origin regardless. With a slight tilt of his head and a raise of his brow, he looked to the shorter woman. “I assume you have a name as well?” he counter questioned
While awaiting for her response, the man investigated the bar menu from the corner of his bizarrely tinted eye. He was a bit curious to see how much the woman would be willing to put down for him.
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Post by pizza on Jul 10, 2017 8:12:00 GMT -5
The hand sliding down to her waist was traced by dark, narrowing eyes as the man straightened beside her. She felt her slouch uncoil into a stance, her body tensing as her elbows buckled slightly to guard her body a little more closely. She wasn’t sure what to think of the movement. But--she thought, rolling her shoulders as much as she could to loosen her muscles while keeping the man supported--it wasn’t worth thinking too much about. Probably a slip of the arm, an involuntary movement in the attempt to adjust, but even if it wasn’t, she went to move his arm so it wrapped around her shoulders, her expression neutral, her eyes avoiding his as she kept them ahead on the bar. Un-acknowledgement. “Guess that makes sense,” she lukewarmly muttered to his musings. “Sucks when you’re always sharp.” When Chathra glanced back at him, it was to respond to his introduction with a contemplative furrow. “Yeah... I'm gonna just stick with Peach Fuzz,” she said, smirking wider this time and stroking her chin too, except she thrust her chin out further than his for emphasis. Her smirk widened into a grin as she added, “you can call me Chathra, of the who gives a damn.” She paused to make eye contact with a bartender, and spoke as she nodded for him to come serve them at the counter, “so, how come no buddies to help you take on guys like Mount Rushmore?” “How can I help you?” “I’ll take whatever you recommend, man, Peach Fuzz here will have…” she glanced to Cade Lemaire of the New Brunswick Lemaires and pretended to size him up, looking him over. “...You guys do bellinis?” [i'm still not sure how the NPC thing works but please feel free to take the wheel during your turns]
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 10, 2017 15:13:35 GMT -5
Cade mildly shrugged at the woman’s replacement of his arm. He probably shouldn’t be trying to make sexual advances on a woman that was trying to help him out, but he was already a tad buzzed by his earlier drink and, generally speaking, making stupid decisions was his specialty. She was a bit more hardened than his usual pursuits, and in that way she somewhat reminded him of Serenity. Of course, that would also mean that she was probably going to be as tough as she was to crack.
The woman’s reaction cracked enough of a smirk out of Cade to bare teeth. He reeled back a bit though, avoiding the wrath of her pointed chin. “Fair enough, I suppose. You might want to be wary of where you point that thing though” he stated as he tapped the end of his chin. He made note of her name though, wasn’t one that he could immediately recognize. Most people around the island had something to do with the school, so perhaps she was a co-worker that he just hadn’t met before.
His lack of friends was a question he had to think about briefly though. It mostly stemmed off the notion of who would actually go with him to the tavern. He didn’t really have a notable batch of friends to begin with, so that was a difficult task to answer. “Oh, the unfortunate outcome of being a recluse. Most of the other teachers are very… boring conversationalists. While it would be nice to have muscle every now and again, it wouldn’t be incredibly worthwhile if I had to spend an evening with them” he explained with ease as he sat himself at the counter. His eye twitched a bit from the tenderness of his abdomen. He really only went into detail about half the problem. He did know people outside of the school, but they were primarily contacts for his on-again/off-again drug addiction fixes. He was currently in the off category, so keeping away from them was probably the better option.
Cade allowed Chathra to place the order when the bartender arrived on the scene. He didn’t pay much mind to the conversation until she looked over to him and suggested a drink. He winced at the offer and attempted to hail the waiter before they could make such an abomination. “Oh, could you add a dash of cyanide while you’re at it. The sweet embrace of death would be the only thing I’d be looking forward to” he sarcastically remarked as he shook his head.
The bartender gave off a bit of a puzzled expression, clearly not being certain about the situation in general.
“Glass of Screech if you have it. I’ll pay the difference” Cade corrected and then waved off the bartender.
(OOC: S’all good).
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Post by pizza on Jul 11, 2017 7:04:19 GMT -5
So, a teacher, huh? Initially, there was a look of ambivalence from Chathra, a lone brow raised as she examined him under this new light. She had kept her distance from the teachers from day one--unavoidable as her hours stationed her in a single room, but at the same time she wasn’t exactly dying to take meals into the staff dining hall. Amongst the academic types, she imagined she’d belong there the same way metal belonged in the microwave. Where did this leave Peach Fuzz? Well, it was difficult for her to even believe he was a teacher. After all, she’d given him his nickname for a reason. The topic had to be pushed aside for the drink-ordering shenanigans.
“Alright, calm down, Fuzz,” she muttered, shaking her head briefly at the cyanide sarcasm. She didn’t like suicide-type jokes, especially in response to girly-type drink suggestions. “It’s just another peach joke.” She went to clap his shoulder as if to say she meant nothing by the suggestion to begin with, leaning forwards against the counter as she did to get a better view of the bartender. She liked watching the drinks get mixed--the fluid routine of their expertise kept her eyes busy as she talked. “I wouldn’t call you a recluse,” she said, continuing the conversation from before. “Kinda would mean you ain’t the type trying to get lucky with some red-head in a bar.”
Chathra chuckled absently at her own remark. She glanced to Peach Fuzz without moving her head, then it was back to watching the drink-mixing with a small sigh. She was avoiding the topic of their shared workplace and she was doing shit at it. The drinking wasn’t helping her come up with more interesting things to talk about, either. She had been meaning to talk to a teacher about that guidance counselling gig she knew she was the worst material for… the whole thing, Chathra decided in a split second, was inevitable. But first, she’d try messing with him. “So, a teacher, huh? I hear the food you get in that gig is really something.”
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 11, 2017 23:01:28 GMT -5
Cade’s countenance quirked curiously at Chathra’s response to his jest. He supposed that the joke didn’t quite land with her, either because it struck a nerve with her or she wasn’t one for dark humour. Or perhaps he sounded a bit too offended by the notion, though with further reflection it probably wouldn’t have bothered him too much, it was more so a gut reaction if anything. As she placed her hand on his shoulder again, his confused gaze on her straightened. He supposed he owed an explanation if nothing else. “Yeah, I got that. Kinda force of habit though because, well, if I was ever caught drinking something like that, my dad would’ve caved my nose in” he elaborated as he flicked his nose with his thumb. His tone wasn’t incredibly suggestive of one emotion or another, he was more or less stating it like a fact of life. He gave off a bit of a belly laugh afterwards though considering that he didn’t devote much time to thinking about his father, or their… complicated relationship. He sighed with a slight twitch of pain. “I don’t miss that asshole” he added lightheartedly.
At the change in subject though, Cade bobbed his head a bit at her deduction. “Recluse might not have been the right word. There probably isn’t a singular word to describe my habits necessarily. If there’s something in the dictionary that’s defined as ‘a person that chooses to avoid people unless they tickle their fancy’ then maybe. And perhaps substitute ‘tickle their fancy’ with ‘might make for an interesting bedfellow’ on certain occasions” he explained whilst looking as though he was in deep thought. “Self-important prick might come up, but I’m always looking for a fancier and more optimistic term for it” he continued as he brushed his chin hairs yet again.
Chathra’s last statement perplexed him a bit. From whom would she hear about the quality of food from the cafeteria? Better yet, did he even have a formulated opinion on the food there? He had to think on it for a bit considering that the most time he put into thinking about the food at Foresta was his curiosity towards that one table in the cafeteria that the food just magically appears on. His response was a bit of a shrug. “It’s better now than it was when I was a student. They relied way too much on magic to summon food and that stuff tasted like garbage. Pretty much anything would be an improvement over that. Not something I’d write home about though” his statement ended slightly puzzled.
With that though, his demon drink got placed down in front of him, a sad echo of the treacherous morning to come. He ignored the warning.
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Post by pizza on Jul 12, 2017 7:48:36 GMT -5
What slid across the counter towards her was some tropical-looking fruit cocktail from the menu, complete with toothpick umbrella. Her eyes shot up to the bartender to flatly stare, as if to say, this is your recommendation? She shrugged and tasted regardless, the glass lowering to reveal a smile. “Nice, thanks,” she nodded to the bartender before waving him off.
She kept her glass to her lips as Peach Fuzz talked daddy issues, her eyes avoiding him again because he was using that ‘just something that happened’ tone. She knew that tone. It was the tone she used when she spoke of her brother, the one that meant ‘I’m not trying to be sad, I’m just telling you’. “I hear you,” she muttered in solemn agreement. It wasn’t like her parents were great about gender roles either—somewhere they were still out there, hoping she was married. “But he ain’t here,” she said, following Fuzz's light-hearted tone by plucking the toothpick umbrella from her glass and attempting to garnish his drink with it.
What he said next had her fingers tightening around her glass. As he talked, Chathra looked at him from the corner of her eye, but as he went on… her head turned to stare at him with those narrowed eyes from before. Best case scenario, she only tickled his fancy. But it was still too early to tell—as confident as she was in her own attractiveness, she had a hard time believing he was into her for the same reason she found it hard to believe he was a teacher. “Tch,” she sucked her teeth to sound disapproval, shaking her head. “I’m not great with words, or optimism while we’re at it, but I’m getting more of a ‘sad boy with no friends’ vibe now.”
She cracked her usual smirk at him. “Consider it payback for saying it ain’t worth writing home,” she said, chuckling and sipping her cocktail. “At least I ain’t losing my job to a summoner any time soon,” she added.
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 12, 2017 23:56:02 GMT -5
“Yeah…” he sighed in response to the woman’s reassurance that his father wasn’t around. It was never an issue of him witnessing it, but rather some of his men that would shadow Cade from time to time to make sure he was safe. A good portion of his life that was just something to be expected and accepted. He sometimes wondered if there were still people watching him. Probably not, but he felt he had valid enough reason to think twice about someone who let their gaze linger too long. He almost felt compelled to share that information, but that might spark too many questions about the backstory of his father, which was not a smart move to divulge. Instead, he took a swig of his rum and cringed a bit at its spices.
He caught the toothpick umbrella between his teeth and began to twirl it about with his tongue. After the little show though, he turned his head to face the woman and lightly blew the umbrella back at her with a slight smile as his lips connected back together again.
Cade nodded with Chathra’s diagnostic. “That might not be far off” he agreed whilst breaking into a laugh himself. As more alcohol was being poured into his system though, his eyes lingered a bit longer on the woman’s body. He had an immediate fondness for the female or rather as a potential sexual partner, but the drink was definitely accelerating the process. His vision funneled over to his drink momentarily. “I’m a particularly picky person, so with my choices being relegated to co-workers or students, it is probably a natural outcome” he continued before taking another sip of his drink.
Cade was caught a bit off guard by the woman hinting toward her working at Foresta. He supposed he should have realized that the previous statement about the quality of the food was setup for such a revelation, but that was neither here nor there. “Well, if I knew you had something to do with it, I would’ve said it tasted like shit” he chuckled yet again, offering back a warm smile. “Didn’t take you for someone that worked at the school. Haven’t met a staffer that didn’t want to show me their powers in the first five minutes of knowing them. When they aren’t already a ten foot tall robot or golem anyways” he jested.
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Post by pizza on Jul 13, 2017 7:35:37 GMT -5
The toothpick umbrella licked her square in the face and fell to the countertop, revealing Chathra’s ‘the fuck was that’ expression—lips slightly parted incredulously but teeth still grit, and yet another set of buckled brows shading her features. She stared for a few seconds. Was that supposed to be flirting, or just goofing off? Considering the matter of age, she guessed it was both. “Lucky for you, I ain’t picky about my drinking buds,” she muttered a bit flatly after he joked about the food. She was hoping specifying ‘drinking buds’ over something like ‘company’ would mercifully tell him where he stood with her.
She tilted her head to look at him as he spoke about the other staff and their powers. On the island, too often had the question, ‘what’s your power’ come up early in her conversations with others. Imagining how those interactions were supposed to go when both parties had powers was beyond her scope. Part of her was curious to know more about it, but she resisted asking. The deal of staying as a normie was that she wasn’t here to play human zoo—unless it was relevant, these types of things were none of her business. But in her experience, this interaction always went to ‘so why are you here’ and ended in, well, why she was here.
Talking about Dilan wasn’t the hard part. It was people’s reactions that were so visceral, so sorrowful on her behalf as if it had only happened yesterday, when it really happened ten years and many therapy sessions ago. Being even a little at peace with things always felt wrong in the face of those reactions—she’d be left feeling unemotional. Detached. “There isn’t much to show off,” Chathra muttered vaguely. “Makes me seem mysterious.” She was already regretting those words.
Come on. He’d spoken lightly on his father—all she had to do was the same on her brother. Chathra cleared her throat. “But really…” she continued, “I’m uh, un-gifted.” It was her turn to use that fact-of-life tone from before. She gave a small shrug, wanting to glaze more nonchalance onto next words, “my brother wasn’t.” Eager to make it clear that she wasn’t down to discuss it further, she downed the rest of her drink in a swift motion and signalled the bartender again. “Whisky neat, please. And another one of those,” she gestured to Fuzz’s drink.
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I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart - I am, I am, I am. |
Thunder Goddess
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Post by Seren on Jul 13, 2017 19:14:50 GMT -5
[ooc; *sneaks in through the window*]
Serenity wasn't particularly fond of the appearance she had to take tonight. It was that of a young pretty eighteen year old girl. She had jet black hair that stopped beneath her shoulder blades that made it seem that although her eyes were still that striking pale blue color, her disability would be less notable. She stood at an average height for a teenager and appeared slim and very breakable.
Just a few days earlier the Headmistress had come to her and Tem making them aware of some complaints she had received of an older man preying on the high school girls that would come into village. Seeing as how most of the girls were capable of either running away or defending themselves with their powers, nothing terrible had happened ... yet. It seemed though that after a discussion with the Mayor, he asked the Headmistress if she could have her campus police take care of this discreetly. His officers were naturally busy with more important matters.
Serenity also knew that some of the students liked to sneak into the tavern at night, it was a hard thing to keep control of since there were a select few teachers that came to the tavern and even more select few that actually paid attention to their surroundings here.
Having approached Tem with her plan, Serenity proposed that she be the bait - since both of them could change their appearance (Tem having a bit more of a choice then Serenity did). Since Serenity had dual roles in the school, recently she spent a lot more time being a teacher than being the campus police. She was feeling restless and was wanting a more active role in this particular situation.
Having come in through the back of the tavern, Serenity approached the owner of the bar before she had changed her appearance - making her aware of the situation so that she wouldn't have to deal with any issues later.
Now, looking like a young innocent girl - despite the fact that she was blind, Serenity grew extremely aware of every person she passed that could be potentially looking at her. The woman was a natural at predicting movements, but the one thing she would never actually know is where people moved their heads. If people looked at her, she would only know this if they spoke to her or told her (or if they popped their necks in any manner thanks to the sound).
Serenity found her way over to a table, letting her fingers run over the wood gently before taking a seat. There was a chance that the perp wouldn't be here tonight, he could be out prowling the streets instead. That was exactly why she asked Tem to use a teenage girl disguise as well. As far as she was aware, the sand golem was outside somewhere.
Now, it was time to wait - and to see how many people tried to approach her. Serenity forced herself to relax and assume an easy sort of naive expression. She could be here for hours or merely minutes, it was all situational at best.
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Post by Redgrim on Jul 15, 2017 0:01:11 GMT -5
Cade’s buzz had already gone down a peg to certified drunk. The rum was quite potent in alcohol, so that was probably to be expected. When the woman hailed for another round though, he sorrowfully looked down on his half full (or half empty depending on one’s outlook) glass. Downing the rest of the one he had was probably going to make him even more drunk and obnoxious than he already was, he couldn’t even tell what a second one would do to him. He nodded as the drinks were called though, a voice echoing in his mind something along the lines of ‘oh, that’s not a good idea.’
The teacher took another swig of the drink and tried to gather up what the woman said previously. Between the blow to his stomach and the sparking of spices in his mouth, he was getting a tad loopy. She wasn’t gifted, shame really. Her brother was though. He wasn’t sure why that information was significant at first, but the past-tense added to it gave him some semblance of reason. There was a certain type of power-enhancer floating around the black market that had the side effect of the user losing their powers. For some reason, that was the first tidbit that came to mind, so he assumed that her brother lost his power. He shrugged once again and answered with “eh, easy come, easy go.”
When Tem was approached for the job offer, she scoffed at the notion that the police officers were too busy to handle the situation. She’d been on the police force for decades, a bunch of worthless meat sacks they were. She was glad to have left that part of her life behind, all the intrigue was with the campus police.
What she didn’t enjoy though was the role she was given. She hated having to disguise as something so frail and small, she could barely fit a third of her body mass into a teenage girl. She left pockets of sand hidden around the tavern though so that if anything accelerated she would be able to take full form. Not to mention that if any of her bonded sand were to go limp, she could just easily replace it before anyone could catch what was going on.
Her disguise was revealed as she exited the girl’s washroom, a dainty little thing with minimal and form fitting clothing, tube top and short shorts to be specific. It was as close as she could get to literal jailbait, not to mention that it was much easier to sculpt than clothing that had dimensions. Her robotic march from the restroom slowly transitioned to a carefree stroll through the tavern. Occasionally she would giddily wave at some of the patrons as they looked her over, mostly because she felt it was a bit more in character than loudly questioning which human would be interested in sexual relations.
In the meantime, Tem adjusted her short blond fauxhawk-esque hair so that it didn’t look like someone slapped play-doh on her head. Hair was a difficult thing for her to replicate, but it looked like gel might be keeping it in place if an onlooker didn’t know any better.
As she scanned the vicinity though, her sparkling green eyes caught on a familiar face. The math teacher. They were supposed to be on the hunt for a sexual weirdo, and he fit that role. Previously she’s had to remind him about harassment of co-workers in and outside of the workplace, in more ways than one, so this could merely be an evolution of him taking his ‘needs’ elsewhere. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that it wasn’t the case, but her superiors might think that it is merely her jumping to conclusions. She would need proof, so he would have to take the bait.
The ditzy blond began to merrily wander her way over to the counter, making note of the other that was sitting with the man. Upon initial investigation of the back of her head, she didn’t recognise her, but she was well aware of her situation. She’s been through it three times already and she knew that was more than she ever needed. He babbles on about how he doesn’t usually talk to people, she caught his interest, and that she should feel proud about that because he’s a picky person. The worst part was that she had to pretend to be interested.
As she approached the scene, she briefly questioned what an adolescent human sounded like. She was around them all the time, this is something she should know. “OMG, Mr. Lemaire! I didn’t know you were cool!” she announced with a slight vapid tone to her voice.
The student sized girl rushed to the bar top as Cade’s head perked up in confusion. He didn’t recognize the voice, nor was her statement making any sense to him from a contextual standpoint. In his drunken stupor, his gaze fell upon the teenager as she plopped herself on the stool next to him… looking incredibly excited to be seeing him. “Uh…” was the most he could muster as he squinted his eyes, hoping that the girl would disappear if he did.
“You know, drinking and stuff!” she added as the context seemed to be lost on the teacher. Anything coming out of her mouth seemed to be mystifying the man, so she supposed that she should also put in a frame of reference. “Hello, I was in your CALC one class last year. You’re, like, the only teacher I’ve had that made math interesting” she elaborated as she leaned forward and placed her elbows on the countertop, gazing at the man with glossy eyes.
Cade glanced back at Chathra, absolute befuddlement being quite present on his face. He wasn’t certain on what he should be thinking in this situation and perhaps his drinking… associate would fill in what exactly he was missing.
Once Chathra’s face was visible to Tem though, she immediately asked “who’s she?” with a sense of wonder still present in her tone.
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Post by pizza on Jul 16, 2017 7:31:35 GMT -5
“…the fuck’s that s’posed to mean?” Chathra had only muttered her response to the teacher, but every word was taut with terseness. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it more, but she couldn’t stop herself. The topic was too close to her and she was becoming too tipsy to excuse him. How could he say that about one of his own? The next round came and after thanking the bartender, Chathra drank generously from her glass, head tilting to the side with her teeth grit. The head tilt slowly became a full turn—she was noticing other heads turning in the bar and found herself looking in the same direction. Christ. She was struck with memories of her former co-workers dragging her out to the clubs back in New York, teeming with toothpick-limbed twenty-one-year-olds twist-and-shouting to remixes of High School Musical. The toothpick-looking girl at the table she was looking at was even younger than Peach Fuzz—Chathra had a pair of underwear that was older than her, at least appearance-wise. But appearances meant shit-all to magic; she knew this. She set down her mostly empty glass and straightened up slightly, a frown forming on her forehead. If the toothpick girl was a student, maybe a teacher would recognise her. “Hey,” she nudged Peach Fuzz beside her lightly, “is it me, or—“ Her mouth shut as she saw the adolescent approach—already, another one—only to fall ajar when the girl began to speak to Mr Lemaire. Then unmistakably flirt with him—it was easier for Chathra to tell when she wasn’t on the receiving end. What the absolute shit was happening? Magic could go fuck itself, because this girl was unambiguously a student and wasn’t even trying to hide it. Who let her in? Why was she here? But there was no time to think on it further—she looked back at Fuzz and could only see a man who was in way more peril than when he was a curl on the ground.
Dammit. How did Tinder date night become baby-sitting? “Listen,” Chathra muttered, ignoring the gap for introduction and instead moving to shove herself into the space between the teach and the teen, first with her arm on the counter, then nudging Peach Fuzz back. She made a point to not touch the tube-topped teen as she did this. “I ain’t gonna ask your name or get the bouncer, but first of all, if you care about your math peach—I mean, teacher—at all, you can’t be talking to him while he’s drinking. It doesn’t matter what you came here for, he will definitely lose his job just because of how it looks.” Chathra gestured vaguely to the renegade teenager, assuming she if she was bright enough to put those clothes on all by herself, she was bright enough to know their subtext. “Besides, you don’t want anyone who has any kind of position of power over you seeing you like this, trust me,” she added, hoping the side comment would talk some damn sense into her. Who the fuck would go to the trouble of sneaking into a bar, only to talk to their teacher? “Second—are you and her here together or is there some kind of make old people feel older thing going down?” She pointed a thumb to the toothpick-looking girl from earlier.
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