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 Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:52 pm
Tinder had not been an app that Kayden had ever considered using. Nor had she ever, ever expected to have not only been matched with a male…but to somehow have ended up accepting the offer of a date with him as well. Thankfully, the date was going to be at her favorite bar, and she idly thought that it would be quite nice to have someone else pick up the tab for a change.
She didn’t expect anything to come from this meeting, and honestly…if she were sober enough to really think about it, she never would have agreed…but then again…if she had been sober enough to really think…she wouldn’t have left her phone on the bar and let that skeezy guy install the app in the first place.
Kayden didn’t quite…dress up but she put on something a little dressier than what she normally wore, and even put on some makeup to hide the puffyness that was a permanent fixture under eye eyes now.
As she looked in the mirror she sighed, shaking her head and idly wondering how she had managed to get here. She had come to this city to get over Farrah…and instead she had turned into a drunken waste of flesh.
Quietly she turned from the mirror and walked to the door before slipping on her shoes and heading towards the bar, her hands stuffed into her coat pocket, eagerly awaiting the moment where she sipped into that stage of being drunk enough not to have to think.
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 5:56 pm
What was left of Jack in Proustite had for years deflected the will of Metallia by acting out in ways that tended to be more annoying than they were outright defiant. He still went to work. Filled his quotas. Filed paperwork when he was supposed to file paperwork. He also pretended to get bad reception whenever he wanted to be left alone and sent lieutenants away on orders to return with his favourite Starbucks latte. But the time that he had spent lost in the Rift cured him of that. Since being out, Starbucks made him violently ill. And so did booze. Jack had agreed to meet Kayden at the bar not because he wanted to drink, but because she’d suggested it. The date, of course, was his idea - she’d selected the location. He had not really touched anything but himself in months and month, and did not know what would happen when he finally did. Would it be like the Starbucks, and the liquor, and make him sick? Staring at his skinny face in the mirror before leaving Harold’s, Jack made the sign of the cross and murmured a prayer to the virgin Mary that he could still with the women (and the men). Proustite prayed to Metallia. At the bar he spotted Kayden as soon as she was close enough to recognize. Nursing a glass of sprite-on-ice, he waved to her, a healthy smile returning to Jack some of the youth that he had lost while he was busy dying in the Rift. “I’m Jack,” he said, when they were close enough to hear each other. “Can I get you a drink?”
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:17 pm
Kayden had still been seriously considering just abandoning this whole idea and going to a different bar to spend her evening, but before she knew it she was inside and her date was smiling…and even though he looked rather unhealthy…though, who was she to talk about looking unhealthy…the smile was a genuine one, and she tried to return it with one of her own, though it was quite short lived.
“Hey. I’m Kayden. I…would like a drink. Thank you.” She glanced at the bartender and gave a small nod, and he brought her a bourbon on the rocks. “I…come here a lot, they know my orders pretty well…”
Her voice trailed off and she looked him over a few times before taking a long sip of the drink, relishing the warmth that flooded through her body.
“So, Jack. What are you hoping to get out of this date? I would like to know up front, if that’s not too strange. I have to admit…” She let her voice lower just a bit. “I never have been very interested in men, so…the fact that…” Kayden shrugged and took another sip. “I was quite drunk when we set this up, but I suppose I’m not above trying something new, if it comes to that.”
It couldn't be called being unfaithful if she didn't really...care, right? She had to be enjoying it for it to count as cheating...even though it couldn't really be called cheating if your partner was no longer living, could it?
Taking another sip of the alcohol, she watched Jack, waiting for his reaction and his answer.
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:01 pm
He was down 40lbs. Had been trying to gain weight and found little success. Too much upset his system, and the things that worked -soup crackers, vanilla yogurt, plain pasta- lacked both the nutrients and the calories to facilitate pound packing. That, combined with the scar on his face, meant dramatic changes in Jack’s appearance. He kind of liked it. Had decided that he was ugly hot like Viggo Mortensen and Mads Mikkelsen and Benedict Cumberbatch. The Rift had beaten his body. His ego was still in tact. It rushed to meet Kayden’s pronouncement with both delight and indignation. His gaze flickered from Kayden to the bartender. Motioned with his hand that he would pick up her tab. Is it the booze that makes her so bold? He wondered and then, a second later, knew that he did not care. “I don’t want to be your boyfriend,” Jack said. “I don’t want to know why you’re a drunk or why you look like you’ve been crying for a year.” He put his Sprite down on the bar and left it there. It was being unkind to him. He mulled over his words, and then looked Kayden in the eye. “I climbed out of hell a couple of months ago and I want to know if my body still works. If it does - I can show you a good time.” A pause. “If I like you, I might want to see you again, but I won’t know that until after.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:31 pm
Harsh.
Kayden watched him for a long moment, then tilted her head back and drained the last of the liquid from her glass. “Fine by me.” She glanced over to the bartender who was already pushing another glass towards her. Draining half of the glass in one mouthful she looked Jack over again, nodding slowly.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing if your body works, I suppose. And I don’t want a boyfriend so, this should be good for the both of us. Now,” She drained the rest of the glass in one quick movement and stood, letting out a deep breath.
She could feel the effects of the bourbon and it was nice. The edge of things was blurred slightly and that was the best feeling. There was a barrier between herself and her thoughts…and while she would have liked another glass to really tip herself over the edge…she did have some wine at home. That would work for tonight.
“I suppose the only question left is shall we do this at your place, or mine?” Holding her hand out to Jack, Kayden attempted a smile, and she thought she nailed it pretty well…her lips moved, at least. And teeth might have been shown.
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:13 pm
She makes this sound like a business transaction. Jack’s gaze flickered from Kayden’s outstretched hand to her face. He stared. Wasn’t hesitant, but thinking. She seemed lonely to him. Depressed, certainly. He didn’t mind. If she wanted a bleeding heart to help her deal with her s**t than she would have gone looking for a bleeding heart to help her deal with her s**t. He took Kayden’s hand after a moment, but didn’t shake it. He held on. “Yours,” he said, lacing their fingers together at his side. With his free hand Jack indicated to the bartender that he would like to pay now, under the impression that they would not be staying much longer. If he had any compunctions over the idea of going home with a woman so determined to destroy herself, he said nothing about them. “I’m remodelling.” No, he wasn’t. The truth was that Jack did not really have a home anymore, and all of the places that he could have taken her were less than ideal. He tilted his head in the direction of the door, cocked an eyebrow at her. “Shall we?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:19 am
Kayden’s eyes moved to their hands, her eyebrows raising slightly as their fingers laced together and he held on. Well. Okay. If that was how he wanted to be, she supposed she could try to be a bit more affectionate. Flashing what she hoped was a better smile than the last, she moved closer to Jack and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
“Follow me then, Jack. I don’t live far.”
She tugged on the hand he was holding and began to make her way out of the bar, towards home. Honestly, she couldn’t tell if she was excited or nervous…or if she just wanted to get this over with.
She supposed that she would find out soon enough.
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