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Ari's lips twitched as Tom ranted about drugging drinks and ugly hook ups. It almost served him right, considering his self-admitted habit of chasing beauties, that he'd had his own share of mistakes on that score, too.

The half-smile fell as Tom leapt on facts that weren't adding up. She paused between stuffing fries into her mouth and had the decency to look guilty. After a silent pause where she considered her options, she finally admitted, "Mostly the latter. The friend? She's one of our type," she gestured between the two of them, hoping Tom would catch the unspoken 'senshi', as Ari wasn't about to say the word in such a crowd, even if the chances of anyone hearing were slim. "When I said I was staying at her place, it's really more like a building she owns that we used for training. She has no clue I'm there, and, well, not exactly a well-stocked fridge considering no one lives there."

Ari shrugged. It was the best she'd been able to do on a spur-of-the-moment impulse. She wasn't about to claim she'd thought this through - she was lucky enough there was still power to the place, though she didn't like to turn many lights on in case someone noticed.

"This is my first attempt at running away from home," she tried to joke. "I haven't quite got all the kinks worked out." Though she did have credit cards, which was more than most pre-pubescent kids had when they had their first runaway rebellious act.

Figuring she could use a dash of liquid courage, Ari accepted Tom's offering. Her first swig of the drink had her making a face, though thankfully not coughing it up. The second taste was better, and then she thought she'd better give it back before she finished the drink or changed her mind about talking.

She wasn't sure how well this would go down. In face, she decided to warn Tom, "You, uh, might change your mind about that offer. Sweet as it is of you, I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to deal with... well, my form of crazy, I guess." Big house, big brother and little sister combo - sounded familiar. Ari had had that, at least til Richter moved out. It was tempting. But because it sounded so nice, and because Tom was being so sweet, she wouldn't let him go into this without knowing what he was taking on.

And that possibly sounded worse than things were, so she continued on. "I'm adopted. Only a few years back. So I guess things are extra rocky because of that." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. "The things is, I don't remember anything before that. I woke up in a hospital, no memories apart from my given name - and even that took some time to recall. My doctor eventually became my dad, my first shrink, my mom." She shrugged. A married couple working in the same place wasn't all that unusual. And they'd both had chance to get to know her, to care about what happened to the amnesiac, unidentifiable girl. "I still see a shrink now, to help with the memory issues, adjusting, all that sort of stuff. Not my mom, because that's a 'conflict of interest' or something."

Here she took a sip of her own orange juice. Her voice was slightly hoarse from all the talking, not to mention the worry of how it was being taken. "I'm not crazy," she reassured Tom - if he was inclined to believe her. A crazy person would likely lie about it, after all. "But it's nice to have someone to talk to, who can help make sense of what I'm feeling when half the time I can't work out where it's all coming from. But the thing is, all psychiatrist sessions are confidential. Otherwise, who the hell would tell one anything if they could go tell someone else? But my mom... my mom decided that didn't apply to her, and she's been digging at my shrink's office to try and get something out of him or the staff... She should know better! That's her job, too, she knows it's wrong. Not to mention illegal. And I just-" Well and truly worked up by this point, Ari tried to force the memories away. It was too close, like for a moment she'd been reliving the moments where she'd found that out. "I can't believe she'd do that to me. She knows how much of a problem I have with my memory issues, and how long it took me to trust her, or my current shrink. She knows all that, and yet, when I asked her about it, she acts completely justified, like its her right to know everything that goes on in my head."

She stared up at Tom. "I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure every teen eventually starts hiding things from their parents, right? So if I'm not telling them everything anymore, if I'm at home less than I used to be... God, I have to patrol, right? I have to sneak out of my house, which is bad enough, without having to explain it. I have more important problems than my parents feeling like I'm growing up," she said in disgust. "But when they go and- and- betray my trust like that, it's just. It's just so much more than I can handle. So after the screaming match of the century over all that, I grabbed a bag of stuff and split."

Tale done, Ari rested both her arms on the table and slumped down so her chin rested on them. It was tiring, to speak of all that, to relive all the emotions. "I've got my credit cards, so I'm not hard up for money," she said. Unless her parents cancelled them after realising she wasn't coming straight back, but she didn't want to think about that. "So it's not like you'd be leaving me to sleep on the streets. And I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to deal with all this."

"Yeah," Ari ran her hands through her bangs in frustration. "Yeah, I get that, concerned mom, doing stupid concerned mom stuff. I just... I can't deal with her problems on top of my own. I have to focus on me, right now. You and me and our sort - we've got enough on our plate."

'Roads to hell' was certainly correct, Tom wasn't wrong about that. It certainly seemed like Ari and her mom were in the worst possible place right now.

She shrugged at the comment about her past. "It's not like they could advertise me about, or you'd have had all sorts of weirdos coming out of the woodworks trying to claim an underage kid who can't remember anything. Even Destiny City has had black market organ rings, right?" She shuddered at the idea of ending up somewhere like that. "The police looked around and all, but basically it was a case of waiting for someone to report me missing. Chances are I was already an orphan or a runaway, or my family was passing through and weren't here to check any more, or... I was already with some kind of black market ring and run away? I dunno. Sounds like something out of ******** General Hospital, right?" She had to crack a smile. Her life was definitely soapie material. Right down to the 'bad boy with a heart of gold' sitting across from her.

The smile disappeared as she contemplated the credit cards. Maybe she should get some extra cash out tonight, just in case. She'd been more worried about them being tracked (she'd seen too many spy movies, she was aware), but that risk wasn't going to dimish over time and the chances of cards being cancelled would only rise.

"It's not like I'm planning to never go back," she said, quiet enough to almost be lost in the music. "I just need to get my head around things first. Which means," she looked up at Tom and smiled, "I would love to take you up on your offer."

The food was pretty much gone by now. Ari stood and pushed back from the table. Feeling much better after talking things out a bit with Tom, she shot him a smile that had a definite flirtatious edge. "As to whose bed I end up in... let's see how you dance."

With that, Ari slipped into the sea of bodies on the dancefloor. They swallowed her up, but a bright red braid could be made out here and there among the other dancers.

For someone who'd never been in a club before, Ari took to it like a fish to water. It helped that this was the type of music she liked - all heavy bass and screaming guitars - and this was the kind of dancing she'd always done - which would have caused a scandal at any Crystal social scene. The music wrapped around her, and Ari's hips swung and dipped as though controlled by an unknown force.

By the time Tom caught up to her, Ari had left her home life worries far behind. There was nothing but the song, a vague awareness of other dancers around her, and then Tom's presence making itself known once again. She shot him a knowing smile, then snaked fingers through the beltloops of his jeans to pull him up against her. One red eyebrow raised as she stared up at him. The message was clear: he could touch if he wanted - or dared.

How much was allowed, well... he'd have to find out.

Ari laughed in Tom's ear as she moved easily with him. "I won't get you thrown in jail, if that's what you're worried about."

Birthdays had never meant much to her, though her parents tried to make a big deal over them. It wasn't like she had many close friends to celebrate them with. Though maybe this year would be different. She could do something with the BMC, or Tom, or other senshi she'd met. Certainly they shared closer bonds than Ari did with most of the girls she went to school with.

Deciding she'd teased Tom enough, she eventually added, "Eighteen." Legal for just about everything except clubbing and drinking. And here she was indulging in those things, anyway.

"Should I ask you the same?" she teased, looking up from under thick lashes. She was not nearly as demure as the action made her look - as her dancing proved. Just because her mouth was moving didn't mean her hips, or the rest of her, ever stopped.

Ari had no formal dance training whatsoever, but she followed along well enough with Tom's suprising move. She gave a whoop as laughter as she was dipped. Her eyes sparkled at Tom from her precarious position. She couldn't exactly call it romantic (what with their location and surroundings and all), but it was fun and sent a definite thrill through her. It even eclipsed the knowledge that Tom was younger than she'd thought, which would have been a minor downer if he wasn't proving that he wasn't your typical immature twenty-one year old.

When Tom drew her back up, they danced even closer than before. Speaking of well-formed chests... She laughed at Tom's comment and replied, "I could say that, but that just opens the door to all kinds of 'what a big' comments, doesn't it?"

And considering the top she was wearing tonight was designed to reveal and enhance her (not insubstantial) cleavage, that might just turn things tacky. Not that Tom was ignorant of her bust, considering it was now pressed against his own firm muscles. Ari all but purred at the sensation. It was a nice change to be able to touch a hot, muscular guy. It was kind of hell on a girl - all these hot male senshi, some of them wearing just about as much as she did, and not allowed to touch or flirt...

She snuck one arm around his neck, pressing them closer the full length of their bodies.

Heat flared in Ari at the compliment. This wasn't the usual light blushing of cheeks, though. This was a heat that pooled low in her belly and smouldered behind darkened eyes. Her breathing quickened and she shifted restlessly against Tom.

After being spun out and back in, she let both hands loop around Tom's neck, fingers lightly clasped. Her neck stretched upwards, drawing her face closer to Tom, to those inviting eyes and tempting lips. In a husky voice, she said, "Hey. You know..."

It seemed almost by accident that their lips met when they did, before Ari could finish voicing the thought. Just a soft brush at first, but Ari didn't pull back or move away. The pressure increased, searing heat with just the barest hint of moisture. Ari's lips parted further...

And trailed against Tom's cheek for a moment as she moved. Ducking around his side, she remained pressed up against as she finished her earlier sentence, "I really need another drink."

One hand gave his lip ring a tug - sharp and just-this-side of too hard. "You coming?" she asked over one shoulder, as she slipped off through the crowd again.