[R] RUNAWAY Ch5: Hands All Over [Ari + Tom] FIN

[kalindara]

Ari waited til night had fallen before leaving the safety of her hideout. It had been nearly two days since she'd left home - she had the vague idea that was long enough to report an under-18 as a missing person, and she didn't need any extra attention. Those out this time of night weren't the sort to bother themselves with missing girls, unless they were the kidnapping sort, and in that sort of scenario Ari could take care of herself.

Stomach pangs were the only thing forcing her out. Even with the risk lessened, she wouldn't take it if she wasn't close to starving. Powering up into senshi mode to travel across the galaxies must have taken a lot more energy than she'd thought it would. The rucksack she'd taken with her had a few changes of clothes, but stopping by the kitchen to stock up on rations would have defeated the purpose of slipping out after that giant argument, so she'd had to make do with what few snacks she'd bought on her way home that day. They hadn't lasted long.

She made her way downtown via senshi mode, the quickest and easiest way to get there - not to mention the best way to avoid anyone seeing Ariana Knight leaving the supposedly empty house. Her bag remained in the Blood Moon Court training house, only her wallet in the pocket of the jeans she was wearing as she powered back down. Stepping out onto the streets, she didn't stand out too badly in the clubbing area (where everything was still open, especially food places for those drunk - or stoned - and suffering a case of the munchies). Over dark blue jeans she wore a long-sleeved shirt that would have been appropriate for the weather if it wasn't for the draping cowl-neck that revealed more cleavage than polite society deemed decent. She had thought to grab a jacket from her closet, but it turned out to be a short one, reaching to the middle of her back and not the sort that would close in front. Though compared to what most girls wore out clubbing, she was still showing less skin than most.

Despite her interest in clubs for as long as she could remember, she had no plans to enter them. She walked passed, reminding herself she was only here for food. Or that was the plan, til she heard sounds of a scuffle behind one of the clubs and couldn't help but investigate.  

[endejester]

Three figures, one sort of dancing at the edges of the small skirmish looking either to cheer on the participants or find a way to sink home a punch or kick on whomever was not his companion of the evening were exchanging blows.
If nothing else was recognizable in the shadows, one thing might have been, the odd coat with only half a 'fluff' on its collar. It seemed 'Tom' or 'vulpecuale' was having a small tussle as a civilian.
A fist cuff landed hard on his chin and he turned with it, spat something to the street and laughed sharply before turning back with an upper cut that sank home under the other man's ribs and lifted him, just for a moment off the ground.
His direct opponent let out this wheezing gasp that sounded rather like he just made a new word to express himself, something like 'GARP'...followed by wheezing gasps that turned into a squeal when Thomas rammed a boot into his nether regions and started to dust himself off. The third man took the opportunity to slam joined fists between Thomas's shoulder blades and send him sprawling before grabbing his friend and fumbling him to his feet with a string of swears and stumbling past you into the street still trying to keep his friend, who smelled of far too much cheep booze and something faintly sweet and strange past you into the night with a curt.
"MOVE it c**t!"
Thomas pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and turned to glance after them. After they were gone he laughed again, the edge of pain creeping in as he shoved himself back to his feet and rolled his shoulders as though trying to work out the stiffness after a nights sleep. He ran the back of his hand beside his mouth and glanced at it as though it were stained and then shrugged and moved towards you, pausing a moment as recognition set in.
"Hey spit fire! What brings you out here?" He asked as though nothing at all had passed in the dark of the alley.  

[kalindara]

Ari debated interfering after she recognised one of the fighters as Tom, but held back as he seemed to have things in hand. Tom was hit between the shoulder blades and Ari winced. Mostly in hand, then.

The idiots fled before Tom could recover. She was pushed roughly aside, grazing the alley wall. When they swore at her, Ari narrowed her eyes and glared after them. At any other time, she'd have gone after them and taught them why you didn't swear - especially that foul word - at a kickboxer lady. But right now she had other concerns...

Hands unconsciously rose to her hips as she turned to face Tom, who was back on his feet again. His nickname had her lips quirking, amused and kind of pleased. She didn't have enough friends to really be nicknamed, apart from the shortening of her name which was her own insistance. Her eyes warmed as they flicked over Tom, taking in his roughed up clothes and potential injuries, even though her head was shaking.

"Just in the area," she said, without expanding on the reason why. She wasn't sure how much she could dump on Tom. Being fellow senshi created a strong bond, but they had only met once. That didn't seem to make them close enough for her to burden him with her problems, or such was her fuzzy understanding of social conventions. "Heard a fight, came to see."

She checked him over again, waiting to see if he limped or displayed any other wounds from the brutal, if quick, fight. The laugh he'd made after they left worried her a bit, too. That didn't strike her as a normal reaction to getting beat on two-to-one. She told him, quite frankly, "You look like crap."

As she looked away again, playing with strands of her bangs, there was a hesitance in her expression that might let someone know that 'you look like crap' was tough-girl speak for 'are you okay?'  

[endejester]

He gave her two thumbs up when she told him he looked like crap, and a huge cheezy grin. "Eh... I asked for it!" He said and gave his head a small toss before letting his fingers wander to check his piercings, ears, eyebrow... lip. "Ah good... I hate it when I loose em." He said and wiped a little more blood away from a swelling split lip. "Mmm... not bad though, I shoulda taken it more seriously I guess. What brings you out this late though Spit Fire? It's a bit late for kick boxing, didn't think you were too into clubbing..."
He paused for a second and then struck a pose. "Want an escort?" He said with a small wink. "Or did you...wana do some other late night stuff..." He said waving a casual hand towards the roof tops. "Man I gotta show you some of the s**t you can pull off... I mean, well you probably KNOW already but... hell yes, hell of a rush... " He tipped his head at you blinking deep red eyes almost the same color he'd dyed the tips of his bangs.

"You got a hell of a serious look, talk to me kay?"  

[kalindara]

Her eyebrows rose when Tom said he'd had it coming. Knowing what (little) she knew of him... Her lips quirked. "Hit on someone's girlfriend, did we?"

The idea of not taking a fight seriously was anathema to Ari. Some fights she viewed as more fun than others, and perhaps it seemed like grinning her way through them meant she was viewing it as a joke, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Not taking your opponent seriously just meant one of you would end up injured. She shook her head at Tom. Maybe he'd know better next time. Letting those guys feel like they'd won would just encourage them to try again.

"Well, it's not that I'm not into clubbing," she stalled with a wink, "more a lack of legal permission to do so."

She could see Tom wasn't buying it. With a sigh, she slumped her shoulders. Her smile, when it reappeared, was genuine this time and softer. She scuffed one boot against the ground, gently kicking back and forth. "Just... family issues. Invasion of privacy, breaking of trust, giant screaming arguments..." She tried to laugh it off, but it sounded as bitter as she felt. "Nothing too unusual, right?"

She rubbed at her forehead, trying to keep her composure. "Anyway, I'm staying at a friend's place for a while," 'without her knowledge, and said place is actually an empty house we use for training', "and was just out to get some food."

She paused for a while. Then she shot Tom a rather shy smile. "An escort would be nice. I could use some company."  

[endejester]

"Not...His girlfriend no." He admitted with a roguish grin. He listened intently to her reason for not clubbing and gave a quiet "Oh is -that- all" and chuckled but let her finish. He gave her a look that said he knew most of the tricks in the book to book, actually he gave her a look that said he co-authored the book.
"You know... as the poster boy for 'person your parents warned you about." He said reaching an idle hand to tug at one of his piercings and run a thumb along the edge of a quickly blackening eye. "You should know I don't buy a WORD of at least half of what your saying... just... as a heads up." He grinned. "But that doesn't mean i'm turning you in, just...remember that me saying I told you so is about the worlds worst life lesson alright?" He laughed and draped a friendly arm over her shoulder. C'mon... I can get you in with one of my ID's ok? All I gotta do is show the bouncer who I'm friends with...like, you know... Ben? Everyone knows Ben." He said adding a small swagger to his step.

"We can get you some -nice- greasy club food and something dangerous like... a Shirley Temple. Then you can tell your friend about your scandalous evening carousing with the bad boys about town"
He grinned at her wide and white.  

[kalindara]

Of course Ari's mind immediately jumped from 'not his girlfriend' to 'his boyfriend, then?!' Her eyes kept darting away, then returning to Tom. Was that what he meant? Was he gay? Was that why he was doing the 'big brother' routine? Although he had seemed to be flirting with her an awful lot their last meeting. Bi? Ari rubbed her temples - it seemed she now couldn't make her mind stop running over this probably-innocent phrase and turning it into something more.

Thankfully she was distracted by Tom's declaration that he didn't believe things were as simple as she was trying to make out. She sighed. It was true enough. And a 'normal' argument wouldn't be enough of a reason for someone to clear out of home, would it?

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiled weakly as Tom joked about being able to say 'I told you so'. His plan for fake ID and food won no arguments from her. Though his choice of drink earned him a scowl. "Even I know that that's a pissy non-alcoholic drink."

Of course, Tom had no idea of the significance behind Ari actually knowing a random fact like that (when she was missing so many 'normal' facts that hadn't been drilled into her through school and family). Ari thought it a bit silly that Tom was having moral issues over underage drinking, but no problem about getting her a fake ID or sneaking her into a club. Apparently all was fine until it came to giving her booze. She sulked a little. Surely after the craptastic week she'd been having, she deserved alcohol. ...Which might have been the best reason of all for Tom not to give any to her.

The idea of telling Scylla about all this did earn a laugh. "I really can't imagine her face if I brought any of it up," she admitted. Scylla seemed like a proper rich girl. The kind Ari's parents wanted. At home in her big marble halls and extra, unused houses. She did feel a little bad misleading Tom about the fact that she had a friend supporting her right now. It matched her guilt about not consulting Scylla before crashing at the other senshi's place - even if it had been used for BMC purposes once, that didn't mean it was BMC property.

The arm over her shoulder... was nice. Ari leaned into it for a moment, grateful to have someone there with her. Soon enough she straightened up, though didn't shrug the arm off. She gave Tom a bright smile and said, "Lead on, then. Greasy food, drinks for six year olds, and dancing await."  

[endejester]

"Well if you want we CAN order you something stronger, but I thought on the first Date I'd be nice and say AWAY from "oh golly gee he's trying to leap into my pants by boozing me up.'...." he paused for thought. "Not that I'd object to your pants.... or the contents of them, for they are -both- fabulous, VERY nice work out showing there ... MMMMmmMMMM!" He waggled his eyebrows. "But I don't know that that's QUITE what the doctor ordered right now... This way! Midnight Sun has the bouncer that's the hardest up... he should let us fly...we can grab a booth and -I- will order something nice... just remember, if it tastes non-alchoholic, it's probably going to knock you on your a**, fine a** though it may be hang overs are not your friend! Trust me I am -soooo- well acquainted." He chuckled and gave a companionable squeeze to her shoulders and waved to someone up ahead, you could just make out a burly man with a very VERY tight fiting black shirt reading 'Staff' hovering about a set of downard leading stairs. "HEY!! BUTCH! You out for a smog? need to bum one?" He called down the street and you saw the 'man wall' wave back.
"Butch Pitches for the home team... " He told you conspiratorially. "But... he has an good eye for art, and you, spit fire, qualify as art... so just play cool."  

[kalindara]

All right, at least bi. At the very least, Ari grinned to herself. Not that she had any issues with people who swang that way, but it was nice to know that when a hot guy complimented your a**, he didn't mean it from an entirely aesthetic point of view.

With how easily Tom seemed to read her mood, Ari knew that he was aware it wouldn't have taken much to get into said pants tonight. She hummed to herself, her respect for him rising a notch at him not taking advantage. And still throwing enough compliments to let her know it wasn't that he didn't find her attractive. "You're very good with girls, aren't you?" she teased as they approached the club entrance.

Or good with people in general, as he seemed to know his way around the bouncers, too. Tom seemed to be a guy who knew how to get what he wanted, even if he had some unusual ways of going about it.

Her eyebrows raised at the idea of classifying as 'art', but she just shrugged. "Sure, do your thing." It couldn't hurt that she was sometimes mistaken for being older than her ID said.  

[endejester]

"Who me?" He gave her a very ham handed innocent face that didn't suit him at all, he seemed like the kind of fellow who hadn't been 'innocent' since at best early high school, if even then.

"Hey man!" Tom moved up and gave the man a very friendly pat on the shoulder only to be drawn into a tight hug that suggested Bi was indeed the order of the day.
"Hey you still tight up?" He grinned as the hug loosened and chatted the man up. "Heyyy... so I got this lovely thing here, poor hon had a BIG fight with the family, you know how it goes right?" He said with a conspiratorial air that said all parties here did. "She marched out but left her ID behind... you know how it goes right? I wanted to treat her to some serious dancing time though...think you could hook, her me...and Ben here up?" He offered his own id with what looked like at least one folded up 100 dollar bill just peeking out at the edge.
The man gave him a look that said he was VERY much pushing his luck only to get a wide cheezy grin from Thomas. "Two?" He said waggling his eyebrows and the man sighed with all the theatrics of a drama major in university.
"ALLLLright, but only because you're so damned cute. Hon, watch out for this one he's a -fox-" The man said with a serious look.
"But I am -so- hot and you know it."
Tom swatted the man on his a** and then offered you an arm.  

[kalindara]

Ari stared as Tom alternatively bribed, sweet-talked and played on the sympathies of the bouncer. The slight hint of anger on her face when Tom revealed the fight would have convinced the man that Tom was telling the truth. Well, about that part. It actually made sense to Ari, as they were waved past - the best lies had a hint of truth, they said, and here was Tom manipulating everyone with a dash of truth and a whole lot of 'creative' additions.

"So I see," Ari replied to the bouncer. She'd already known Tom was all kinds of trouble (definitely the kind parents wouldn't approve), but seeing just how much trouble in action was something else.

The part she felt worst about was Tom wasting so much money to get her into the club. Once she was sure they were out of earshot of the bouncer, she said, "I'll pay you back." Being a gentleman was one thing, but blowing so much on a bribe? Ari felt bad.

"So," she gave Tom a teasing smirk, "do you actually swing both ways, or was that just an inventive method of bypassing club rules?"  

[endejester]

His eyebrows arched when she asked which way he swung, like he was expecting her to march right out again just from the way she asked but his smile returned more than fast enough. "Whatever way the wind blows... I like to think of it as equal opportunity hunting for beautiful people"
He grinned at her and gave a slight eyebrow waggle again as though to say 'like you' without being cheesy enough to actually drop the words after admitting he played switch hitter.
"Annnnd no you won't pay me back, I'm not -that- hard up. I do come prepared to these things you know...and the ONLY reason he held out so long was because he sees you as competition." He smirked and gave a small strut. "...Which you could be... at least for dancing." He laughed.
The music was loud, louder as you sank into the depths of the club, there was some smoke from machines, strobing lights that made every movement into a game a freeze tag. Glow sticks and glitter mingled with smoke, sweat and the odor of spilled booze. Conversations could only be held at a dull roar when you made your way down the metal grate work stairs.
"What will you have?" Tom called with exaggerated lip movements to ensure you knew what he was asking as he gestured to the bar. It had a signboard, neon pen on black to list all manner of club food from nachos, hamburgers and hotdogs, two kinds of soda and more drink names than you may have ever heard of on your own.
What the hell was a 'Harvey Wall Banger" after all?  

[kalindara]

She had to laugh at the way Tom answered her question. One hand flew up to cover her nose and mouth as she giggled, though she'd deny it if anyone said she'd made such a girly noise.

Ari did wonder that she was competition, considering the bouncer seemed ready to follow Tom home in a heartbeat, while the Don Juan in question was doing all in his power to keep from 'taking advantage' of her, as he put it. The mention of dancing put a brazen grin back on her face again. "Trust me," she told Tom, eyes sparkling, "I am more than competition for dancing."

And then they were inside the club, the muted thud of bass now booming over them. Like a heartbeat, Ari thought as she took in the atmosphere of the place, as if the club was a living creature and they were deep in its belly. Apart from the noise, the heat struck her instantly. The press of dozens of anonymous bodies and the warmth of the colourful, flashing lights combined to have her peeling out of her jacket and regretting the long sleeves on her top meant for the weather outside. Her nose wrinkled at the combined stale smells, but it soon adjusted.

It was hard to make out Tom's shouting over the thrumming pulse of the music and other yelled conversations around them. She shouted back, "A burger. And any drink that isn't a Shirley Temple." Honestly, she didn't care if all she got was soda, even that was better than the known 'virgin' of drinks. Or had that been Tom's way of hinting he thought she was still...? She chuckled to herself, looking away.  

[endejester]

"Oh REALLY now!" He said with a light sparking in his eyes at the idea of dancing. "I can hardly wait! Here!" He added and found a table and chairs just far enough from the dance floor that neither of you would be hit with any elbows or glow sticks.
He'd started nodding his head very slightly to the Thuding base, even the table made an odd vibrating and low noise with each thrum from the oversized speakers.
The songs changed to something new, electric and fast paced like a surge of tecno-joy as he sidled his way up to the bar and leaned over it like some old western gun slinger to order drinks.
He returned with his hands full of tray, sliding in between people with an odd sort of grace that said he was one of those people who never -really- stopped moving, not even when he was sitting alone. He probably bobbed his foot or tapped his fingers to music no one else ever got to hear.

"HERE we go..." he put a glass in front of you that seemed to be Orange Juice, "If you want that spiked...lemie know." He grinned at her devilishly and held up his own, not quite orange juice but at least orange in color.
There were a few burgers on the plate and a small nacho dish. "I'd have gotten cheese sticks but... they look like someone dumped a stogie in there." He laughed  

[kalindara]

Ari took a seat at the table Tom grabbed for them. Resting her chin on one hand, she alternated between watching Tom slink through the crowd and looking out at the sea of dancers. She was definitely joining them after some food.

Tom making his way back grabbed her attention again. There was a kind of carnal grace to him, a predator on the move even when he hid his fangs behind a smile. He was impossible not to watch, once noticed. Definitely the kind of guy mothers warned their daughters about - or bouncers warned female patrons about, she laughed to herself.

Her stomach growled as food was set down, inaudible above the music, but Ari still flushed lightly. "Thanks," she gave Tom a heartfelt smile. The comment about spiking her drink made her laugh. She had to tease back, "I thought you weren't meant to warn your victim before spiking her drink?"

Banter was then abandoned in favour of eating. Ari did her best to hold back, but there was still something about the way she near attacked her burger that suggested she hadn't eaten this well in a day or two... A bit strange for someone staying with a friend, right?