This Is Just Therapy (TAG)

[Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"]

The Drunken Dog Bar. One of Kelly's favorites. Sure, she was still three years away from being legally allowed to enter, and she would be mortified and probably feel like her life was over if her parents or The Phantom knew what she got up to in her free time, but she felt like she deserved it.

Not every nineteen-year-old has had to put a bullet in someone's head.

So she drank to forget. She had sex to forget. And trivia night at the Drunken Dog was a good opportunity for both. She'd picked up a decent looking fake ID from a college friend, and there was one bouncer in particular she kind of fancied. He was a good lay, and in exchange for the occasional hookup made sure that nobody looked at her ID too hard, at least when he was working.

She checked her wings and hair again as she landed, making sure they were clean, neat, and all the feathers were still straight. She straightened the black halter-top sweater, draped her ponytail over her shoulder, and gave Frank, the bouncer, a kiss on the cheek as she slipped in.

It wasn't quite time for trivia, so she went to the bar and ordered something. Anything, really. She asked the bartender to surprise her. Trying new things was fun.

Drink of the night was some fruity thing with a sugar rim and a little umbrella. She took a deep drink and sighed as she felt the alcohol start to hit her system, and surveyed the room, looking for who was going to be a challenge at trivia night, and who was going to be a good candidate for taking her home for some fun.

"Might not be the healthiest therapy," she mused as she took another sip of the fruity concoction, "but it is the most fun."

Kerry Grimaldi

[Kerry Grimaldi]

Once in awhile when Kerry got off shift, she liked to go for a drink.  Everyone knew dive bars had the best alcohol.  They didn't have a great atmosphere so they HAD to have good alcohol.  Either it was fruitier than her, or it burned on its way down.  And that was something that didn't change no matter where she was in the world, as it was pretty much the same in Adaira.  Only difference was that Adairan alcohol was really smooth to boot.  She was sure that Drunken Dog Bar wouldn't have anything Adairan, as importing it was probably pricier than they liked their profit margins.  But she was sure she could still find a damn fine drink.  She flashed her ID at the bouncer and walked in.  She looked around and couldn't see anyone she knew.  She walked up to the bar to order something.  But before she did, she looked at the person with wings.  Large, feathery wings.  Reminded her of her childhood.  Bah.  Now she really did need a drink, but she did have a question.  She knew he came here, as she had been here with him before.  And it wasn't a bad thing for him to be around her but she did need to let loose and one thing she couldn't do with him around was to completely let loose and relax.  She asked it of the winged blonde.

"Hey real quick have you seen a guy?  Blonde, long curly hair, bit shorter than average, looks like a dad but like someone threw in a dose of mischief while making him?"  In the meantime, she got the bartender's attention and ordered a cinnamon whiskey, neat.  If she got to drinking more, it was a good starter in her opinion.

Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"

[Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"]

The first thought Kelly had when the blonde approached her was “She looks like mom.”

Kelly voiced the second thought she had after the woman spoke to her.
“Not tonight, but unless you’re calling dibs, point him my direction when you find him. He sounds hot.”

She took a deep drink of her fruity cocktail, enjoying the sweetness that made it go down quick and forget how much alcohol you actually drank. Her reverie was quickly broken when a sloshed frat boy staggered up to her.
“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Cuz I’m falling for—“

Kelly broke him off. “No, not really. What will hurt is your face if you don’t buzz off.”

She would have been interested, but the night was young, Kelly wanted to drink more, and she just didn’t like being propositioned when she hadn’t even looked at the guy. Plus she just didn’t like his vibe.

His next words further reinforced that. “Now you look here! Show shome reshpect. I’mma gonna take you and teach you shome mannersh, and where a womansh place ish.”

Kelly tensed. She didn’t want this to be a fight, but she was already charting the best course of action in her head. She couldn’t throw her Aegis weight around, that would just get her caught, she was here illegally, etc. etc.

“You too shweetheart! Two for one deal! Threeshome. My lucky da-night.”

Ah shit, now the blonde was dragged into this mess too. Of all the nights to leave her electrified staves at home.

Kerry Grimaldi

[Kerry Grimaldi]

Kerry heard the woman say the guy sounded hot and she pulled a face.  Orion was more like a brother to her.  Family.  Orion's family, that the queen had brought her into was the family she guarded.  But guarding them always had extra stakes in it for her.  She was protecting some of the first people who accepted her as she was.  The only true caring family she had ever had.

"Nope not calling dibs on him he can make his own decisions.  Just making sure he wasn't here."  Then she heard the interaction with the frat boy, the bad pick up lines and his unwillingness to take a hint.  And then he had the nerve to talk about a threesome.  Kerry rolled her eyes. 

"Run along, boy.  Before I make sure you can't have any of your own."  The threat was simple, and said mostly jokingly.  But it had a thread of seriousness throughout it.  Unfortunately for the frat boy, he was too drunk to hear that thread of seriousness.

"Aw come on lighten up!  It's just a little fuuuunnnnn."  He put a hand on her arm, presumably to try to talk her into it somehow.  Kerry sighed, standing up to her full height and adjusting her cropped black leather jacket.  She looked at the frat boy.  She was a bit taller than him.  Fun.  That would hopefully help intimidate him.

"Take a hint, and leave us alone.  We both answered you, and we both don't want you.  Leave while I'm being polite.  This bar doesn't care if I cause a scene.  And even if I did, I'm fairly certain I would be able to get out of it.  I don't want to fuck you, and you don't want to fuck with me."  His hand tightened on her arm.  She grabbed his wrist.  With that grasp, she could turn it behind his back very very quickly.

"Last chance."  Her voice came out sing songy, her Adairan accentt coming out in a lilt that sounded very close to Scottish but with very slight differences.

Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"

[Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"]

Kelly raised an eyebrow and smiled. She liked this woman. The frat boy squealed like the pig he was, and finally managed to squeak out “Fine! FINE! I’m leaving! I’m leaving’! Don’t wanna stick my dick in crazy anyway! Let me go, bitch!”

This had eventually gotten the attention of the bouncer, who took the frat boy outside away from the women.

Kelly went up and moved to put an arm around the woman who helped her, if she didn’t resist. “Hey, thanks. I didn’t want to get too involved in that. I’m Kelly. Nice to meet you.”

Kerry Grimaldi

[Kerry Grimaldi]

The frat boy had left with his tail between his legs fortunately. Kerry saw the other woman move closer and felt the arm around her and Kerry grinned. Didn't want to get too involved?

"It's cool. I'm pretty sure even if he had had the guts, I would probably have been able to have diplomatic immunity to kick his fucking ass. Pleasure to meet you Kelly. I'm Kerry. You been to Drunken Dog before? I don't think I've seen you around but maybe we come at different times." Kerry wasn't going to lead with the questions about the wings. Even though it was really tempting to ask, considering her clan so commonly had wings. She was pretty sure the clan wouldn't have sent someone all the way to the US to bring her back. That seemed like a lot of dedication to bring back a clan member you didn't even want in the first place after all. She was kind of important in the Adairan military now, so bringing her out of that could cause an incident anyways. She was glad it could. She didn't really want to go back to the place where her lack of wings meant she was a failure. It was really hard to escape the feelings she still had, that she was indeed one.

"Besides, people tend to make a hasty exit once I stand up fortunately. Glad I could use the power for good. Especially against someone who decides to use such a shitty pick-up line. Like there's bound to be others to use for a woman with wings, right?" She chuckled and then under her breath, barely audible, she mumbled evvveeer so quietly.

"Wonder what my parents used..." Then she waved down the bartender.

"Could I get a glass of your whiskey neat? Jack Daniels if you have it." The bartender nodded and got the bottle and a glass, filling it right in front of her and sitting it in front of her. Kerry lifted the glass in a cheers and took a sip. It burned going down, but that was exactly what she was looking for right now.

Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"

[Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"]

"Oh it would have been amazing to see, I almost wish he had tried to push it, but I didn't wanna get thrown out on my ass either. I'm sort of a... semi-regular. My folks don't exactly approve of my choice of free-time activities, so I try to make sure they don't know about it."

She took a sip of her drink, making a point to not say explicitly that it was because she was underage and what she was doing was technically a crime. She'd built up too good of a reputation to have it all fall apart because she was careless. That would be the absolute worst thing that could happen. She was sure she'd lose her job at Aegis instantly, face criminal charges, and worst of all, have her mother go "Why can't you be more like your sister? She's working with royalty!"

As if the monarchy of some tiny European country affected her at all. Sure, it's where Mom came from, but they didn't live there anymore. It didn't matter.

"Yeah if mom found out I'd get this whole lecture, I've got this sister that left before I was born and doesn't really talk to the family anymore, but Mom keeps tabs and is just super proud of what she's accomplished, and of course I get "Look at what she's doing, isn't that great?" when I just won a dance competition. It's exhausting, honestly, but the booze helps. That and the trivia. You ever played the Drunken Dog Trivia Duel?"

Kerry Grimaldi

[Kerry Grimaldi]

Kerry heard the other woman talk about how her folks didn't really approve of her choice of free-time activities, and then heard the vent about her sister.  She didn't know why the other woman was venting to a complete stranger, but she did understand sometimes that was easier.  And it didn't really bother her too much to be vented to so she wasn't going to say anything about that.  Kerry took a sip of her whiskey and sighed.

"I get where you're coming from.  But it could be worse you know.  I don't really have any blood family at all.  The family I had drilled into me that I was a failure.  They probably would've looooved you though."  Kerry gave a dry smirk at the other woman.  It was true, the woman had wings so she probably would have fit right in.  They would've accepted her.  Kerry never got acceptance, only hard truth.  She wasn't up to par with her lack of wings.  She had tried to make peace with that, but it still stung a bit.  She didn't let on that it stung to the woman in front of her though. 

"No, I don't think I've played Drunken Dog Trivia Duel before.  When I've come before we had other things to talk about and what not.  I'd be up for trying new things though."

Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"

[Kelly Reynolds - "Seraph"]

Kelly laughed. She was already a little tipsy and on a bit of a sugar high, her drink was super sweet and decently hard.

“Why wouldn’t they? I work really hard to be lovable. Gotta kiss up to look good.”

It was her strategy for life. Kiss up to the authority figures, relax when they’re not looking around. She wasn’t fully cognizant of how much stress it was putting her under, but it was how she’s figured out how to live.

“Okay, You’re on my team and we’re gonna dominate. I think the prize is not only some free drinks but a cash prize so we can split that and it’s totally worth it. I dunno what the topic is though.”

Kerry Grimaldi