[R] Slow down [Ever x Ari]

[and be blue]

If he'd been a bit smarter, Ever would have started going out again much earlier. Everything here melded together to his benefit: the dim, pulsing lights obscured the bruising that lingered pale purple and green against his jaw, the faint buzz of alcohol in his system faded the lingering aches and pains from scabbed-over palms, and the mess of people around him drove away worry and made him relax the way very little else did...

He had his drink, but he was taking up room at the bar anyway. With his head swimming as it was, he'd forgotten the simple etiquette of get the hell out of the way so that someone else can squeeze in. People were giving him dirty looks, but his eyes were skimming over the tops of the crowd, elbows settled back onto the countertop, legs stuck out in an awkward fashion.

Ever didn't care. He felt at home. He ignored the jostling, the elbows, the way people almost-tripped over his outstretched feet. He was that guy at the bar, for tonight, and he was perfectly fine with it.  

[kalindara]

Out on the dance floor, Ari's buzz was starting to wear off. Annoying thoughts made themselves known, like the fact that the DJ had just switched to a song she hated. Also, the hand on her a** belonged to a guy who fell easily into the categories of 'creepy' and 'scruffy, and not in a good way'. But mostly, the thoughts that crowded into her mind were of Ares and the Blood Moon Court, Wolframite and Uranophane, and the things that Ari had done as Sailor Birhan. She couldn't even blame all of it on following orders - the session with Wolframite had been all her own ********, she needed more alcohol. Ari pushed Creepy McCreeperson off - harder, when he stupidly assumed she was playing hard to get and tried to grab her again. Luckily for him he moved on to easier prey, after shouting some unintelligible insult at her. Freed, Ari pushed her way out of the dancing throng and made her way for the bar.

A snarl curled at her lips when she saw how crowded it was. Violet eyes narrowed as they took in one guy who seemed to be stretching out, taking up as much space as possible. Ari made her way over and 'accidentally' stomped on one of his outstretched feet in her hooker boots.

"Oops," she said, loudly to be heard over the music (though thankfully that was much quieter here than it was over on the dance floor). She flashed him a smile. "Let a girl in, would ya?"

She wouldn't be the first female to play off her looks at a bar. The difference was that Ari didn't need anyone buying her drinks, she just wanted to be able to get to the bar. And if this didn't work, she wasn't above stomping on his feet some more.  

[and be blue]

The heel digging into his toes -- that got his attention, left Every yelping a little, his attention twitching onto the girl. Down, he was so used to everyone being shorter than him that his eyes met her collarbone first before they twitched onto her face.

She was flirting. He could read that easily enough. It immediately took the sting off of the footstep and the fact that he'd almost spilled vodka down his front. Something about women flirting with him left Ever in a good humor, so long as they kept a good ten inches distance...so he offered her a flash of a grin in return, one eyebrow raised.

He moved out of her way. About three inches. Still taking up too much of the bar, he raised his drink in something like a salute.  

[kalindara]

Ari began to smile as the guy moved. It quickly became a sigh when he stopped after leaving a gap that even a winner of America's Next Top Model would struggle to fit into. Well, she reasoned, that's what elbows are for. Into the breach she went (before someone else tried to take 'her' spot). Elbows dug out on both sides and she finally managed to wedge her way in.

The bartender looked a little irritated himself. No doubt sales were down with less people able to reach the bar. Ari held up three fingers and yelled, "Cowboys!" over the din.

She had enough time to shoot Ever an assessing glance - was the guy an a*****e, or just absolutely clueless? - before three shots were lined up in front of her. Ari downed them in a row, like there was a shot contest going on. She rocked back on her heels as the booze lit a fire down her throat and in her stomach.

"Much better," she all but purred, slapping some bills on the counter. Her buzz had returned, though she now knew just how quickly it would wear off again. It wasn't enough.

She turned to eye Sprawly McDouchebag. Maybe the sprawl was because he was plastered already? Curious, she asked him, "What are you drinking?"  

[and be blue]

She might have hit the nail on the head. He was flushed under the bruising, his eyes were a little too bright, and Ever definitely should have started a little more. Her heels were sharp. His feet were not so strong. He already seemed recovered, but alcohol dulled things...

Her question left him blinking for a moment before he turned a look downward, that faintly-amused smile crawling back across his mouth. He swished the glass, watching the way vodka lapped around the edges.

"...originally..." Oh yes, the nail in the coffin. He sounded fairly sloshed, but in a good-natured, friendly sort of way. "Originally, it was a vodka tonic. Now, I think he's just givin' me watered down vodka."  

[kalindara]

Vodka... she'd heard good things about that. Ari had yet to try it - this was only her second time entering a club or bar with her fake ID. Now was a good time, she thought.

Grabbing she bartender's attention, Ari jerked her tumb at Ever's glass. "One of those," she ordered. Ari scowled and clarified, "The tonic thingy, not the watered down vodka."

Hmm, she was sure she'd heard something about mixing drinks somewhere. She couldn't recall if it had been a 'don't' or 'do' kind of rule, though. Ari shrugged. Whatever stopped her brain for a while.

Another exchange of money and glass, and Ari was holding her own vodka tonic. She held her glass out to the guy like a toast before taking a big gulp. Her face screwed up. Bitter... sweet... what was this thing?

"It's... interesting," she said to Ever. Unsure if she liked it or not, she did the only logical thing - she took another mouthful. "I'm Ari, by the way."

Not because she was flirting, but because it was awkward to keep thinking of the guy as 'that guy'.  

[and be blue]

Hers almost certainly had a generous slice of lemon in it -- something that made Ever grin again, helplessly, his eyes tracking her movements as she sipped at it.

"Ari. I'm Ever. And, um." He shifted, finally, enough that she could settle at the bar, and his smile grew, a laugh bubbling up out of him. It was a struggle to keep it down, clinging to a mock-serious tone, rubbing at his cheek to loosen up some. He leaned in, like he was going to tell her a secret. Or, perhaps, like he was flirting.

"I'm really, really gay." Fair warning. He straightened, shrugging, watching in an overly-intense way to make sure she understood. Ever didn't like to lead people on. He downed a long gulp of his own watered-down drink.  

[kalindara]

Ari was tipsy enough that the revelation only made her snicker. "Okay, totally not introducing you to my boyfriend, then," she drawled. Or whatever classification Tom technically came under, since they were hardly doing the typical boyfriend/girlfriend/dating thing.

She hastened to explain, in case Ever thought she was talking about a homophobe, "He's bi, and the worst kind of flirt there is. Can't risk him cracking onto you."

A quick wink showed she wasn't entirely serious. For all his flirting, Ari wasn't the jealous type. And despite what people may think, Tom seemed to be taking whatever-they-had seriously - his one night stands seemed t be a thing of the past.

"Cause you're cute," Ari added, belatedly. Just in case Ever wasn't aware. If he had been straight, she might have been tempted to flirt a little. Though since he wasn't, at least she could work on getting drunk without worrying about him taking advantage.  

[and be blue]

Ari obviously had a thing for guys with pale hair. Ever quirked an eyebrow at the compliment like he didn't quite believe it, which might have been a joke -- except for the way one hand came up to brush at the bridge of his nose. An obvious tell, self-conscious of the crooked bend...

Right. He tried to focus on Ari through a haze of alcohol, and flashed her another smile, his hand still pressed against his face. Fingertips and palms still scabbed up. He looked very much like he'd been in a fight at some point...but then, most of Destiny City did. All the time.

"I'm not a flirt at all." He didn't even pretend at a straight face, smothered something like a snicker into his glass, eyes flicking upward again around the place. "Why're you here alone, then?"  

[kalindara]

Ari had a thing for fighters, too. The hands and bend to his nose didn't bother her. She had her own collection of scars, and had seen Tom in his share of drunken brawls, too. She preffered to know a guy could take care of himself, rather than being some weakling who was all bravado and then ran scared the moment someone threw a punch.

She snickered when Ever said he wasn't a flirt. "Wouldn't stop him in the slightest," she laughed. She turned back to her drink, gulping down half the glass in one go. Her nose screwed up, Ari unable to tell if she liked the taste of 'tonic' or not. Eventually she shrugged - could have been worse.

"Alone?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow. Oh, he meant without Tom. Huh. Ari frowned. She thought for a moment, wobbling a little on her bar stool. "Huh. Dunno."

She could have called him. He always made things fun. Ari wondered why she hadn't... Oh. She scowled. Right. She'd come here directly from patching herself up after the BMC debacle. "Eh," she said airily to Ever, waving a hand. "I could. But I'm drinking now. I wanna be compleeeetly plastered-ed."

She just wanted to forget. Tom would be full of questions, and the last thing Ari wanted was to rehash any of Operation Rota, let alone try and justify why it had seemed like a good idea in the beginning. Besides... she'd turned into a monster back there. Not a real one, like Tanzanite, but something just as bad, in that small cell with Wolframite. Monsters didn't have boyfriends. Monsters weren't loved.

Ari sculled the rest of her drink and banged the empty glass a little too hard on the bench. "Another!" she called to the bartender.

She shot Ever a tight smile. He looked like he was drinking to get drunk, too. Maybe there was something he wanted to forget as well.  

[and be blue]

The not-exactly-frail feel of Tony in his arms, in uniform, and how easy it would have been to break the poor librarian? Accusations, and the tugging temptation to just dip fingers in a little, to knock him out so that he would shut up, to snap the damned cane in fury? Yes, Ever was drinking to forget too, and as she looked up at him he flashed a smile back. Polished off his own drink and slid it in next to hers.

Expertly, he leaned in over the bar to catch the bartender before he could go anywhere: fingers against his sleeve and then gone before it could be taken the wrong way, before bouncers could be summoned to handle a problem. "Give me hers, and give her something sweet and strong, alright?"

Bartender didn't care, shrugging and setting to it, and Ever dropped back down onto his feet to blink down at her, entirely unapologetic. She didn't have to prove herself to him, and he'd seen her face at that first sip of tonic. He swept hair up off his forehead. "...though, honey, I think you're already there."  

[kalindara]

Ari scowled at Ever as he took her drink. It disappeared the instant he ordered her something else a replacement, though. She beamed at him, resting her chin her hand, elbow propped on the bartop. New drinks? Why yes, Ari was always up for that.

"Naah," Ari drawled, waving her free hand in the air. "Tipsy, maybe." Or maybe quite a way past that. But she could still think straight, could still remember exactly what she'd been doing for the past week or two, and that was exactly what she was trying to fix.

"When I don't have problems anymore, that's when I'm drunk enough!" The grin faded. Ari quickly lowered her wildly gesturing arm before it knocked over her booze or something equally horrendous.

"You tryin' to forget something, too?" she asked, peering sideways at Ever. "I kinda worked out that I'm kinda an evil b***h...or somethin'."  

[and be blue]

"Well. You are female." It was completely deadpan, his eyes on her, expression one of feigned innocence -- except, as always, Ever couldn't hold it. After a moment, his mouth spread into a grin, helpless to stop it, and he raised the glass to hide behind it. Well, to hide behind it and to down a goodly amount of his drink. He'd be ashamed if he couldn't match her.

The question took him longer to work through, resettling back against the bar and kicking his legs out too far again. He couldn't help it; seemed more like indifference than an active attempt to trip people. They were just too damned long.

"...friends were talking s**t about me." That was accurate enough. Well, no, not accurate at all, but it expressed the situation in the way someone not part of the Negaverse would understand. He shrugged, raised an eyebrow. "Without all the information. I don't like that."  

[kalindara]

Ari didn't take offense at the slur on females. Far from it, she laughed uproariously, nearly falling off the tiny barstool. His emerging grin - a sign it was a joke - didn't do much to calm her. Finally she was just giggling insanely. "And here I thought guys like you were all after f** hags," she snickered. "Though I guess there'd have to be some women haters, too."

She didn't like to buy into stereotypes (she was no air-headed bimbo despite attending Crystal, her bi boyfriend was monogamous, thank you very much). Still, it was always nice to see people could laugh at themselves while at the same time proving they weren't that type of person.

"Yeah, well, worse than normal, then?" she suggested.

She gave Ever an honest, brillant smile. Huh. She was actually joking about... well, still she'd rather not think about specifics. But being able to crack a joke about the BMC's actions? Definitely a step up.

Ari frowned sympathetically as Ever spoke about the rumour mill. "Duuuuude, tell me about it," she groaned. "I go to a private girl's school. You'd think people were there to learn how to backstab each other, not get an education."

While not completely plastered, Ari was far enough gone to not realise that 'of age to drink' and 'schoolgirl' were not things that matched up... Oops.  

[and be blue]

The slip of tongue didn't go unnoticed. Ever caught it and halfway snorted over his drink, straightening just a little bit to blink down at her. Schoolgirl drama wasn't exactly the same as the gross propaganda that cast the senshi as heroes, but...no, wait, actually, sure it was. He understood completely, and struggled to change the focus from asking for details.

"...and also teach you to drink like a fish, huh?" He wiped at his mouth, briefly, amused, and gestured with his drink toward hers: a careful, somewhat-exaggerated gesture that ended with a gently clink of glass against glass. It was like a toast. It was probably intentional.

"You don't seem that bad to me." A ringing endorsement coming from someone who'd known her about ten minutes, but -- why not. He took back his drink to gulp from it.

"You just here to drink or wanna dance?" He wouldn't get girl-cooties just from dancing. Hopefully.