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| Watch Out For Those Pigboys | |
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| Participants | Laura, Lucille |
| Synopsis | Lucille enters the bar looking for a job and inadvertently makes an unlikely friend in Laura. |
| Location | Boar's Head Bar & Grill, Manhattan |
| Time | January 2, 2016 |
| Posted By | Laura |
The Boar's Head has a few patrons tonight but not really overrun with customers and people all over the place. There are the regulars, knocking back shots or taking drinks from their beers and then there are the newcomers, people who haven't really ever made their way to this place. The woman who enters the bar just so happens to be of the latter party.
Dressed in a pair of tight dark jeans and a red tank top along with a dark brown leather jacket, her black boots make noise on the floor as she looks around the place and then begins to make her way towards the bar. One red and black fingerless gloved hand holds up a power bar of some kind, which the young woman is idly snacking on as she walks.
Lucille runs a hand through her hair and polishes off the rest of the bar, placing the wrapper in her pocket for later disposal. With a soft grin as she leans against the bar, an eyebrow raises. Gaze landing on the bartender there, "Owner around, yeah?" she speaks with a noticeable accent.
Unaware that anyone's just walked in before her, Laura enters the bar and looks around. She's bundled up for the cold winter weather. Black jeans can be seen sprouting out of a black microfiber winter coat that ends about mid-thigh. There's a black and white striped scarf lazily tossed around her neck and black leather gloves covering her hands. The only slightly impractical item on her body might be the tall combat boots which reach halfway up her calves. They thump on the floor as she closes the door behind her and then heads toward the bar, unzipping her coat as she goes.
Long black locks are tucked back behind her ears as she steps up a short distance from the woman in red and dark hues, apparently asking for the owner. She has no idea if the owner is about, so she doesn't answer. Instead, she waits for the bartender to be done with the other girl so that she can make her order. She waits patiently, though her gloved fingers lightly tap idly on the bartop. With a small glance about, she allows her gaze to flicker to the woman next to her, showing only mild and brief interest in what's going on. Maybe there's a complaint?
"Ah was looking to be hir-." Lucille gets halfway through her sentence before the bartender goes, "They ain't here, sorry." And then moves on to smile at Laura, "What you having tonight?" Though Lucille think the way the bartender was pretty rude, she doesn't seem phased by it, he has customers to attend to after all. At least not yet, "S'ok. I'll try and comeback another time to talk to em."
Hands running through her long wavy hair, she casually glances over towards Laura and gives a nod to the other woman. Sliding into one of the stools on the bar, she waits for Laura to order so that she can next, might as well, right?
It's been an on going struggle trying to find a job as a bartender for some reason. She's hoping that soon she'll catch a break, that or she'll be without a place to live in the city soon.
Laura winces almost visibly as the other girl is cut down so abruptly. But then she's being paid attention to and she perks up slightly. But she doesn't smile. "The usual," is all she says. The bartender nods and reaches under the bar. As she slaps some bills on the counter, he slams a lowball glass on the bartop and opens up a mickey of vodka. Both are shoved in her direction, the cash disappearing quickly. She nods briefly and takes both glass and bottle in hand before turning to look away from the bartender.
As he shuffles off down the length of the bar, she looks over at the one with the red fingerless gloves and offers a brief nod. "Tough room," she says, almost sympathetically. For a moment, it looks like she's about to walk away to a table to be alone with her booze. But there's a small sigh, as though she loses some internal argument. With a hitch of one shoulder, she adds, "Don't let it get you down. They're all grumpy old men here. Have you tried Club Diablo if you're trying to get hired?"
Ordering a beer and sliding the cash over to the man before taking a sip and looking over at Laura. "Ain't tried it yet, but thanks. I'll be sure to do that. What kind of place is it?" In terms of mood and setting, she means. Lucille's eyes are on Laura as she takes another drink of her beer. "Getting pretty shitty, yeah?" Finger pointing towards the liquor next to Laura. The dark haired woman looks down at her hands briefly, "Didn't think it'd be too hard finding a job around here at a bar." She chuckles softly, "Took a few classes, thought I'd be a shoe in." Shaking her head and finishing off her beer.
Shrugging a little, Laura says lowly so only she can hear, "Not saying that I know you or anything, but might be more up your alley? I don't know. This is all bikers and truckers. Criminals. Outcasts. People who don't want to start trouble, but who will probably have no trouble finishing it." So what's a small thing like Laura doing here? "Not saying Diablo's much more upscale, but it's more of a club instead of just a bar. Drinks are decent. Scenery's not bad." Shoulders lift briefly as she offers a lazy shrug. She pours herself a glass, giving the other woman a bit of a funny expression. "What do you mean, 'getting pretty shitty'?" She isn't quite following, apparently. Shaking her head in the next breath, she replies, "Since the city went to the dogs, jobs aren't always easy to get in some areas. In others, because people ran like rats from a sinking ship, other places can't keep people in their positions long." After knocking back the vodka in a single swig, she cracks her neck and then adds, "So in other words, it's hit or miss."
"I'd love to dance a bit." She admits thoughtfully and shrugs as she tucks that information into the back of her head for later. "Meaning.. that's a bit of liquor, planning on getting drunk?" When the mention of the city going to hell is mentioned, Lucille's gaze narrows. "Damn government and that Sentinel program.." She knows a thing or two about them. Not that she just goes around and tells people that information.
"Name's Lucille." She says, though she doesn't offer a hand for Laura to take, she's not sure Laura is the hand shaking type of gal. "I figure you come here often?"
Nodding, Laura replies, "If you like to dance, Diablo's the place for you. Not a rathole like this." She doesn't seem to care if the bartender or any other patrons hear her. No one bothers looking up though. They all know it's a shit-hole and that's how they seem to like it. Looking down at her booze, it's as though she didn't realize that's what was being referred to. "Hm? Oh. Well… just planning on relaxing and avoiding assholes, mostly. Hadn't thought about getting drunk. Mostly… they water their drinks down, so I demand the bottle. But, well, takes a bit to get me there, too." A petite thing like her? Either she's an alcoholic or a liar. Or something else. But she doesn't explain. Instead, she shrugs and carries right along, though she does wince ever so slightly at the mention of Sentinels. "Shh. Don't say that too loudly. Never know who's listening," she says in a lowered tone. Moving right along, though. "Laura. And yeah, guess you can say that. I come here when I don't want to get picked up. Most of 'em in here give me enough space."
"Ah, I see." In the case of the alcohol bit. "Have to say, it takes more than a couple shots to get me really buzzed." Not that she could keep up with Laura.. because well she can't. "Sorry.. it just makes me so mad, that's bullshit." She says and nods at the name. The two L's. Fated friends? We shall see.
"Ah, I hear ya on that. I just.. give em the 'look'." She then emphasizes the look, one raised eyebrow, a slight smirk and a tilt of the head. Yep, the Look. "Works most of the time, when they get grabby," she flexes her gloved hands in front of her. "My little friends come out to play."
If thoughts of friendship are on Laura's mind, she doesn't show it. Instead, she looks moderately disinterested in most things; not that she is bored with Lucille, per se. It's more a case of she came in here looking bored and hasn't really changed her expression much. Her gaze flickers about the bar periodically to make sure no one's intruding upon their conversation or space, but mostly, she is just kicking back. She finally seems to recall that there's a bottle of alcohol in her hand and sees to pouring herself another healthy portion. "Don't apologize to me. They're far from my 'BFFs'." There's an eyeroll at that. "Trust me. Far, far, far from that. But anyway… most guys here leave me alone. It's guys elsewhere that don't get the hint… then when they finally get it, I'm the 'crazy cat lady' in her younger years. Whatever. Fuck 'em." She doesn't seem too apologetic about that, either. This is left to be punctuated by the vodka getting knocked right back with only the slightest of winces. The glass is lowered and she adds, "Maybe I should just sucker punch him and he'd finally get it."
"Ah, yeah we don't get along to well either." She admits about the Sentinels, she hasn't said she's a mutant so in her mind. She's safe. The darker skinned woman orders another beer and then rethinks it and orders a double of some hard liquor. After knocking the drink back and slamming it back onto the bar. Her head is tilted to the side as she orders another and then looks back over to Laura. "Hm, dat dere seem like the best idea. He ain't getting it, don let him keep trying,"
She grips the bar and leans in slightly, "Grab him by the balls, he'll get the idea. Whose the hardhead?" she asks curiously and then takes another shot. She's done for the night now.. at least for now.
And on the other side of the coin, Laura's not mentioned if she's a mutant or not either. And she's not exactly handing out that information any more readily. Instead, she clears her throat to continue onto other topics. One that makes her grumble a little: boys. And she does mean boys, even in her head, but that's another topic. She looks ready to pour herself another shot of vodka but pauses, perhaps thinking she needs to pace herself. Who knows? Maybe she's just allowing herself to get distracted. Sighing, she shakes her head. "Eih… just this guy I know. He's an utter pig," she practically growls, knuckles going white around the bottle and glass for a moment as she holds both of them. Sighing, she adds, "He's so no worth it… really." But it's obvious he's pissed her off.
Oh she knows a thing or two about boys.. especially the loud-mouthed annoying ones. "Ya don wanna go the path of violence.. dye his drawz pink? Humiliation goes a long way with pig boys." Lucille normally just uses her hands and feet to do the talking for boys that don't get the point. But making fun of him seems like a good alternative to beating him to a pulp. "Maybe dere other solutions? Make a boyfriend up? Ignore him, lock him in a closet, skin him? Wait, you don wanna go that route." She's obviously teasing lightly.
There's a derisive snort from Laura as she finally goes ahead and pours herself another shot. Shaking her head, she starts lifting the glass to her lips. Glass paused just level for a drink, she says into it, "'Pig boy'. I like it." With that, she lowers the glass without taking her drink and just about busts a gut over that. It's a full-bodied laugh… one that sounds a little dusty and rusty around the edges, though, like it's using a muscle that's not been used in a long, long time. After a moment, she raises her glass with a faint smile, "Cheers. That was good." The vodka disappears and then she adds, "He wouldn't believe the boyfriend thing. Ignoring him -might- get to him… I think if I dyed his boxers pink, he'd twist it around in some perverted way about me snooping in his unmentionables. Lock him in a closet… tempting. Tempting. But really…" As she hears the last, she grins again. "Shit, girl, you're funny. Good sense of humour. But really… probably giving him a good punch in the face… I swear, if he keeps getting all up in my personal space, he'll get -something- punched, though."
A wicked grin is thrown Laura's way and she's snickering softly as she takes another shot and then places the glass back on the bar. "Thank ya, ah try to lighten the mood when I can." She offers a wink before crossing her legs and nodding, "Ignoring sound least messy but, ah say go head and rip him a new one." Lucille laughs softly as she drums her fingers lightly on the bar surface. "He think twice about messing with you again, or just lead him on and then.. wam!" she throws a hand out to demonstrate. "Right to the face, he stay bout fifty feet from you then."
The young woman looks around the bar and then resettles her gaze onto Laura. "What you do? Work? School?"
Little does Lucille know just how much damage Laura could do if she 'ripped him a new one', but she lets it go with little more than a slanted grin. "Eih, ignoring him would probably drive him nuts, which might not be a bad thing, either," she admits with a bit of a shrug. She pours herself another glass, then finally sets the bottle down on the bar, as though realizing for the first time that no one's going to steal it. So far, three good sized shots and she doesn't seem fazed… then a fourth is down the hatch and she's still standing. Drawing in a deep breath, she considers the options given to her by the other woman and nods briefly. "Well, either way, words aren't doing it. So either I stop talking, or I stop talking with my mouth. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. Thanks, though… it sometimes feels good just to vent, you know?" At the sudden new topic, she blinks, then shrugs. "Working on college classes. You?" she answers briefly.
"One of the things ah learned is that sometimes ya need someone, like an outsider's perspective. Someone you know isn't going to really judge ya, das me." Luci grins and dips her head in Laura's direction, "At ya service. When ah don be yappin all the time, I can be a pretty good listener.. or so I'm told." She shrugs lightly with a light grin. Lucille has had a few shots, so she's feeling the alcohol a bit, while she drinks. She never drinks too much or.. well.. her genetic.. anomalies kind of get out of hand.
"Just trying to find work, have to pay the bills, yeah?" she ruffles her hair a bit and cracks her knuckles. "Been needing to start up my classes again, martial arts. Didn't really do college, up and left N'awlins to learn some real fu in Japan." She nods sagely, which coming from Lucille looks pretty comical.
Chuckling quietly, probably because she realized that her outburst a short time ago received some disgruntled looks from patrons not wanting to be disturbed, Laura replies, "Well, I'd say you've done a good job of listening to a perfect stranger bitch about some asshat, so… I guess they told you right." Despite her apparent love of vodka and being able to knock back four good-sized shots without getting a slurred voice or anything of the sort, Laura doesn't appear to be reaching for the bottle to pour herself another one. If she were alone, maybe she'd suck back the bottle. Maybe not. For now, she's ignoring it. "Martial arts? Well, that's pretty cool. Always nice to find a fellow practitioner." She points at herself and says, "Karate here."
"It helps ah think you cool and all Laura." Lucille says with a light grin and then she's pushing that last shot away, she can't take anymore. Nope. Her eyes widen when Laura admits to being a martial artist as well. "Been training since ah was seven, know a few styles. But ninjutsu, that's my favorite." She admits, though the way she speaks of her experience with martial arts doesn't come off as arrogant or cocky, it's just a simple fact. No bragging from Lucille. "Comes in handy with pig boys like yours." She winks and then follows up with, "How long ya been training for?" she tilts her head, a few strands of hair falling into her eyes, she idly brushes them away before they fall right back into her eyes.
"Well, uh, thanks," Laura says, almost shyly but without it sounding bashful. It's more of an awkward response, like she's not sure how to take a compliment. Not that she doubts the other girl's honesty, but she's not used to hearing things like that said with her name put in conjunction with it. Moving right along. "That's pretty awesome. Both the style and the time put into it all. Nice moves with ninjitsu," Laura admits with a bit of admiration in her tone. Shrugging a little, she adds, "Pig boys… I swear, you're going to make that stick. But anyway… been training a few years. Just recently qualified for my first degree black belt. Not like I'm devout at it like you or anything, but it comes in handy I suppose. Or, well, it could, yeah."
"Way things are now, round here.. ya need something like that too help you. If that's even enough." She says with a soft sigh, times have been hard for everyone in the world. Human and mutant alike, though the mutants.. sure are drawing the short end of the stick right now, in the eyes of Lucille. "I wonder about, where it all went wrong. Why all this," she waves her hand around the bar as a gesture to the world, "Happened and if there was a mutant out there with the ability to time travel, he or she should just change this all." She snorts then unexpectedly and shakes her head. "Wishful thinking.. wishful thinking.." It would seem that Lucille is growing more comfortable around Laura, though they have known each other not even a day yet.
At first, Laura only nods solemnly, averting her gaze to look about the bar. "Why." It's not a question. It's a statement. "That is the million dollar question, isn't it? The why is because deep down, people fear what they don't understand and some people are of the shoot-first, ask questions later mentality. Some are the run away and hide mentality. And still some others are of the opinion that you do first unto others before they do unto you." Her tone is one of bitterness now… one that sounds much older than her short twenty-one years. It's the bitterness of someone who has known great pain and suffering and somehow, against all odds, survived it. But it's short-lived. She turns back to the bartop and pours herself that fifth shot, to hell with whomever might be watching the slight girl not getting drunk off of straight vodka. "Careful what you wish for. The other possibilities could be worse," she mutters into her glass before she knocks it back.
"Oh I know.. believe me." She says and then she's sitting up straight and stretching her legs and arms out. "Can't help but wonder sometimes, what things would be like, if this hadn't happened.. but ya can't live in the past. Nope."
Then with a look of utter seriousness besides her being tipsy she whispers softly, "You don't look too drunk, you sure that isn't just water?" a joke as Lucille is clearly snickering and grinning ear to ear. "Maybe get pigboy so drunk that he can't walk for two days, that'd be fitting punishment. Ah feel like I know him, coming up with ways to torture him." She chuckles and looks at the shot glass she pushed away before shaking her head, "No more for me."
Nodding a little distractedly, Laura idly rubs at the back of her knuckles on one gloved hand. She never did take off her coat and gloves. Ready to take off and leave if she needs to. "Yeah… well… it can always be worse, can't it?" she mutters vaguely. She stares down at her hand for a second, then looks up as though startled as Lucille asks if her bottle isn't just full of water. She blinks at the other girl for a moment, then shakes her head, flashing an awkward smile. "Oh, heh. Nah. Just… strong constitution. From my father, I've been told…" And she leaves it at that. "Anyway… as for 'pigboy'… I'm sure he likely has some redeeming qualities. Like, when I almost fell into a frozen lake, he saved my ass… caught me before I fell. But. Doesn't exactly make up for being an oversexed pervert who looks at me like I'm his next steak." She looks at the shot glass being pushed away. "Yeah. I should probably 'call it' too and head home soon…" she admits.
Yeah, time to leave ah think." She slides money across to the bartender and waits to see if Laura is going to follow as she begins to exit the bar. "Enough money spent on drinking my life away tonight, I should think." Lucille gets a piece of paper and a pen out of her jacket pocket and quickly scribbles her number out on it, just in case she forgets to write it later. "Hey, ya ever wanna hangout or take out this pigboy together, give me a call." She chuckles and zips her jacket up as she prepares to step back outside.
Laura pushes the bottle of vodka and the empty, now turned down glass toward the bartender. She at least has the sense as she starts to move away from the bar to fake a bit of a weave in her step, so that it seems she's not as immune as she seemed — she's not the best actress, but it's passing as a subtle gesture goes. She hesitates as the piece of paper is held out. Then, nodding, she accepts it. "Alright. Well… I can sometimes be found here or Club Diablo in the West Village. Feel free to watch for me." She doesn't have paper nor pen and she's not sure how the Professor would take to her giving out the school number. She's got a cellphone but she doesn't give that number out readily either. "Maybe I'll see you around." She doesn't seem ready to follow the other girl out, but she's certainly prepping to leave.
"Sounds safe." She says and then she looks down at her hand in alarm, that familiar feeling.. shit. "Gotta go! See ya round!" she says in a hurried and worried tone as she looks down at her hand then turns to walk out of the bar very fast, if Laura was really paying attention she'd notice.. was that Lucille's hand dissolving? Uh oh. Lucille is already out of the door racing around the street to slide into a quick alley before she looks down at her hand and then leans against the wall. "Fuck." She says softly and instead of fighting it, she decides to take control of the unwanted use of her power and pictures home as the rest of her body dissolves into nothing, as if she was never there.
