"I've had a little bit too mu-uch," Chloe sang, bumping the door of her car shut with her behind. She was still bobbing her head to the Lady Gaga CD she'd just bought. Her customers and other staffers were going to have to put up with her singing Just Dance for the rest of the night - she had no idea, by the way, how she got stuck working a Saturday shift. Something about Darren being miserable so she had to be, too. She was really happy he and that bitchy girl weren't together anymore, though - it meant that she could play kegger kickball with him again.
She ran her hand through her long blonde hair - like she did every time she went into work - as she walked through the door, taking in the crowd of the room. Every day it was different, and this Saturday night, it was a little more packed than usual. She didn't know if any of them were Supers or not (what she called them - and she guessed, she fit into that group, too, somehow), but Ash wasn't in the room so it meant that there must have been nothing pressing going on.
"Hey," she said, squeezing behind Darren as he did his best to take up the small space between the bar and the back counter. She put her hands on his hips as she moved, trying not to slam directly into him since he was balancing about, oh, seven or eight shots on a wimpy tray. "Put one under the counter for me, please?" she begged, flashing him a bright smile.
And for once, Mitzi was not at work on a Saturday - and she wasn't at Onyx, either, being their official one-off shifter mascot. Well, there was still Mickey, but Mickey didn't count. She drummed her knuckles on the bar and tapped her foot as she waited for the busy bartender to get to her, not impatiently, but to the beat of the music. It was loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that she had to shout to talk, which was fabulous. She was compulsively checking her phone for the fifth time and wondering if Aimee had gone in to work after all of the strings she pulled to get the night off when she saw the brunette's head bobbing through the crowd.
Mitzi held up a hand to wave her over, but she didn't sit down, indicating that the bar was not where she wanted to be. "Hey, I didn't think you were coming. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get out tonight, I would have stabbed you if you had ditched me," she said, rolling her eyes with a smile. Yeah, trying to get out on your own with a man some believe was the second coming of Satan convinced that someone was going to kill you and steal your pretty fur pelt was... difficult. And it was getting more that way as time passed. Mitzi was beginning to have an identity crisis.
"Aimee, please explain to me what that man is wearing at the end of the bar," she said flatly, grabbing her friend's arm and pointing with her head to the far side of the bar. An older man - as in older than the girls - was wearing a - costume? "Is he supposed to be some sort of fantastical royalty?" she asked, confused. She nearly dropped her jaw when a no-less-than-perfect blonde wrapped her arms around him and toasted wineglasses. "I'm a little jealous of Jareth over there," she said openly. "How does that work? Chicks are into costumes? I thought that was just guys."
If she had just asked instead of being her young, nosy self, the couple would have happily explained the celebration of their first show at the theatre the woman owned. Mitzi wasn't into asking, though, and so she finally got her shooters and paid her tab up front. There was no way she was leaving that shit open. She'd spend an easy eighty or ninety bucks before she had a buzz.
If it was a Saturday, Darren was pretty much guaranteed to be working anymore, and he seriously wanted to know what was up with that. He was pretty sure that Ash and Dave were combining their efforts to completely eliminate his social life, just to keep him away from scary vampire chicks. The problem was that it basically kept him away from all chicks, and he was seriously disliking that. He hadn't even seen Paris in awhile, and the guild chicks that seemed to be the only women he was around outside of work anymore just wanted to beat his ass. Or at least, he was pretty sure that Connor had told them that's what they should do, so if any of them thought he was cute, they were ignoring it in favor of listening to their boss. He didn't dig it.
He was actually glad to see Chloe coming behind the bar, and though it wasn't actually intentional on his part that he took up most of the small space available, he made it intentional when he realized she was trying to get through. That was a good move on his part, since it resulted in her putting her hands on his hips to get around him without smacking into him, and he did appreciate the thought behind the gesture as much as the gesture itself. He was balancing shots on a tray, and even incredible feline balance only went so far when liquid and a solid impact were involved.
"Baby, you promise to grab my hips a little harder next time, and I'll put two under the counter for you," he shot over his shoulder at her with a quick, teasing grin before he was off to get the drinks to their new owners. On his way back, he stopped for the pretty brunette, all smiles and interest. As soon as he was close to her, he could catch a whiff of feline, which both caught his attention and pleased him about her, but he couldn't peg it. It had become a habit of his to try to gauge what everyone he waited on was, and how powerful, just for his own safety and safety of other customers, but he didn't know this one. Definitely feline, though. He moved to get her drinks quickly, still too busy to inquire further and hoping he'd get a chance, when he returned to take her money and see the new arrival. Another hot feline, and this one was...a leopard?
"He happens to be the fae king, I hear," he explained over the music, mostly to draw their attention from 'Jareth' and the beautiful Titania, and he made eye contact with Aimee once she looked over. Her eyes were normal, which didn't surprise him, but he was very, very curious about this one. She was fucking hot, too, just like her other feline friend. What was it with the hot chicks showing up when he was too busy for proper flirting? He was managing to pour beers while he focused on the girls, but he was going to end up having to multitask more if he tried to have a conversation.
Mitzi wasn't the only one with a ridiculously protective male watching out for her, and Aimee was pretty sure that it was actually partially her fault that Zaine was so aggressive about her protective. Aimee hadn't exactly had a good time with those vampires, and Marius hadn't helped when he lost his shit with Eden trying to get her back. Eden had pretty much put all of his people on high alert for their own safety since then, and Aimee also had the NYPD boys to deal with. She really hoped they all got at those vampires and messed their days up. She'd like to hear about that.
"I would never intentionally ditch you, and you know it. I've been looking forward to getting out as much as you."
In any case, it was extremely difficult for her to get out on her own as well, and she wouldn't have been surprised if one or all of the SWAT boys showed up at the Hollow at some point in the night. The only thing she had going for her in deciding to go there for her socialization was that Leone was extremely territorial and strict about his 'sanctuary' set-up. She was only safer at All Hallows, so she and Mitzi were going to enjoy the relative safety and fun atmosphere, and they were going to forget that life could really suck outside. She'd decided this for herself, and she absolutely meant to follow through with it, starting with the conversation that the cute, green-eyed bartender had jumped in on.
In all honesty, she'd seen who Mitzi was talking about and thought that he was hot, in a very weird, surreal kind of way, but she hadn't really thought much about it other than, 'wow, crazy costume for walking around town' along with Mitzi until the even hotter woman walked up to him. Actually, watching them interact, 'hot' didn't fit quite right. Beautiful, ethereal, surreal, fantastic, those were all better words, and it was startling in a place like this. Who were they and wha--
Oh, fae king. Of course, why hadn't she thought of it?
"Sorry, fae? As in, fairies? Or are you making a gay joke? I don't think he looks at all gay with a lady like that on his arm," she pointed out, cocking an eyebrow up. She didn't buy it.
"No, no, no, not gay, although he kind of looks that, too. Fae, like old Irish legend. They weren't all supposed to be pixies, and some were supposed to be pretty scary, actually. If you hear them say it, they're the kind and queen. Oberon and Titania, like from Shakespeare," he explained, and yes, he actually had an idea what he was talking about. He wasn't stupid, and never had been.
"You should wander over and chat them up sometime. They're really, really friendly. Oberon's a little strange, but Titania is one of the nicest ladies I've met, short of Elke. You'd both like Elke, too, I guarantee it." He didn't know WHY, because he didn't overthink why he absolutely adored Elke, but he assumed that everyone should like her and was absolutely certain that every cat he met must positively adore her. It was just the way it was.
"Please, if I grab you any harder I'm sure one of your bodyguards will jump me and then we'll really have to party," she countered with a smile. Chloe couldn't get hurt - not in the way that most people came to understand pain - and so she sometimes joked with Darren about it. He was one of the few people who knew, anyways, it made her feel less like a freak.
She swooped down to the end of the bar and was on point with a bottle of wine for the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen in her life - she didn't even think she'd had a chance to respond. The woman spoke softly and with an accent, but Chloe was able to hear her through an act of God, and she just sort of stammered an affirmative response as to the wine of choice and ran out from behind the bar to the wine cellar to find the bottle. She didn't even know what sort of wine the woman had asked for, but when she saw the bottle, she knew that it was the one, and brought it back up dutifully. The blonde didn't even bat an eyelash at the price and purchased the bottle, taking it to a man she'd been sitting with moments before.
Chloe basked in their... whatever it was for a few minutes, generally being useless, until Dave shouted at her from the back to bring him this or that. She began her routine of vanishing into and out of the kitchen repeatedly every five minutes, glasses and plates and silverware coming and going. It wasn't until she stopped by a man at a table on his own nursing a glass of scotch that she had five seconds to herself - not that it hurt any. Chloe was the epitome of bubbly blonde when it came to her looks - all of her - and the flush to her cheeks did not hurt her tips.
"Need a straw?" she asked, tilting her head with a smile. His hair was almost as long as hers was, and it sort of blew her away that men still did it. When he looked up, though, he wasn't amused, and his hard features twisted into a glare that Chloe'd only seen once or twice from anyone, really, ever. Mostly teachers.
"How can they even be real fairies?" she demanded. "That's just bullshit," she said, disagreeing and letting the cat know it. "What are they, vampires with a fantasy... fantasy?" She didn't really know how else to phrase that, and made a face as the words settled on the group. "Whatever, nice or not, I go home smelling like a vampire of any fashion and my beastie will be up my ass for a month," she said with a gruff roll of her shoulders. Basically, if Mitzi wanted to talk to them, her "beastie" - what she called Zaine behind his back, because "bestie" was way, way too faggy - would never let her hear the end of it. Ever. "And I'm betting your long-tailed fellow wouldn't, either," she said, of Josh. Mitzi had names for everyone.
"Speaking of getting out, did you get the third degree? I think if I hear this 'for your own good' shit one more time, I will cut and run," she said, turning to Aimee. She had no idea Darren was in a similar situation, but she didn't go to Crimson, because she really had no business going there. She didn't know him from Adam at the moment, but it's pretty much a guarantee she could put the pieces together if someone gave her an Ad Lib of his situation. Mitzi sounded typical and dense, but she wasn't - at all.
"I got the super-raised eyebrows and a 'Fine' before I left. It's like... it's like he's my mom. Like he takes it personally that I can't just sit in my room by myself like he can. He's a freaking snake, he's supposed to be social. I think he's broken," she said - in reference to a toy being broken, not a will. Zaine's will, broken? Lolno.
He understood how it worked for Chloe and her little ability, which was exactly why he busted out in a full-throated laugh just for her. The thought of her and his 'bodyguards', one of which apparently included Ash, throwing down on his behalf was just ridiculous. It was even more ludicrous if you thought about it being over her grabbing him by the hips. Like, really? He sincerely hoped that keeping him alive never depended on totally cockblocking him, even from the girls who weren't ever going to do more than give him a grab here and there. He and Chloe had been friends forever, so the teasing was just that. Not that he'd have refused her if she ever showed any interest, but he'd never seen that sort of thing happening with her, and he was content just to be her friend. With what he knew of her and how much he knew she was keeping secret, she needed one.
"Hey, if you remember what I said, it was, 'if you ask them'. They're old, and I'm already on lockdown because of vampires, so I'll take their word for it," he explained easily, and he wasn't bothered by it. If Titania and Oberon wanted to be fairies, he was cool with it. Once they hit a certain age and weren't being aggressive, he was okay with just about whatever they wanted to say. He'd been working at the Hollow for too long not to recognize age when he saw it, and he really did like those two. Ash was on good terms with them, as well, so Darren was okay with them. They were actually some of the few vampires that he didn't mind talking to, or leaving Chloe to wait on. There were others that only Ash waited on, and those were the Triste's rules.
He was putting out the effort to listen to the conversation that was going on there, but it was a Saturday night, and it was busy. That meant plenty of room for trouble, which had been made obvious by the fact that Dave had been pulled to the kitchen to help out. Darren and Chloe had the bar, and he knew better than to just focus on his own customers. If he was the only non-human employee at the bar, it was his job to watch out for Chloe. She wasn't vanilla human, but she'd break like one.
It was why, when she ran into Lucas, he cursed under his breath and made it a point to avoid lingering much with any customers. He was still interested in the pretty feline girls, but Chloe was top priority, and Luke was unpredictable. Obviously, he had no idea of the connection between the two, and he'd have been the first one to refuse to even let her wait on him. Darren was one of the few who could wait on that man, Ash included. Lucas didn't want anything to do with Ash, because apparently the Triste's history was so...something that it leaked through anything Lucas used to block it out. Ash kept a respectable distance, and he and Luke maintained a friendly level of politeness. Danielle just didn't bother much with the guy, but Darren was sure that she'd jump his case the instant she felt that he'd be useful to her and whatever she was doing. Dave didn't have the patience for the man, and they all just kept Chloe away. Darren hadn't ever told anyone what Chloe could do, but Ash just knew things. Nobody wanted to see what Chloe and Luke could do to each other if they got into it with each other, and Darren never wanted to be the one to have to try to separate them if their 'things' reacted to each other like someone touching an electric fence. He figured he'd be horribly traumatized if that were the case, and he'd had enough of that.
He was still prepared to do it for her.
He hated Saturday nights, which was why he wasn't usually in the Hollow on them. In fact, he was usually locked away in a quiet place on a Saturday night, because that was the night that everyone seemed to flock out for socialization. He didn't want to be social, and he definitely didn't want to be picking things up from every idiot who bumped past him, but it had been a rough day of 'work', and he needed a drink. Later on, he might go shoot up, but right now? Nothing would numb him as well as a couple of glasses of scotch.
Of course, nothing could ever go down as smoothly as the witch's liquor, and the cat with all the vampire troubles wasn't the only one running around behind the bar and on the floor. The girl who stopped to ask him if he wanted a straw was cute and looked friendly, which might have gotten his attention and caused him to at least try to talk to her if he wasn't in such a foul mood. As it was, she was bubbly and pretty, and he hated everything nice. He also didn't appreciate having it suggested that he needed a straw to finish a simple glass of scotch. He threw back the rest of the drink with his gloved hand, pulled out a handkerchief, and made sure that he offered the glass to her with the cloth presented to her.
"Another, no new glass, and don't fucking touch this one. Cat boy knows what I'm drinking," he snarled over the sounds of the other customers, and he wanted to be gone, but couldn't bring himself to go, yet. He had to have his fix, had to but he was starting to dread it more each time.
Chloe just blinked rapidly at Luke as he jumped down her throat. She thought of about fifty different things to say to him in the span of time it took for her to look down at the glass, but instead she just picked it up with the cloth around it. "Sure, okay."
When she turned, she had the most horrible facial expression fixed, though. Big blue eyes framed by mascara did a practical barrel roll as she walked back to the bar, very careful not to turn back around. "You could warn me dude at table twelve was a dick," she whispered to Darren as she passed. She didn't make it a point to badmouth the customers to where the others could hear, but in a room full of vampires and shifters, it didn't ever do much good. Still, she tried.
She didn't know why he didn't want people to touch the glass, but she held it out to Darren with the cloth on it. "He says you know what he's drinking. I wish tipping was mandatory now, I can tell you that. Dude will probably leave me a penny," she snapped, waiting for him to fill the glass. She wondered what was so bad about it being touched, but she didn't say anything - and when she accidentally hit it with the tip of her thumb to steady it on the tray, she didn't say anything then, either.
Mitzi had a point about Aimee's 'long-tailed fellow', and the leopard chuckled just at the nicknames being thrown around. She liked her 'long-tailed fellow', and that was actually the only reason why she was following 'orders'. Everyone in that group was former military, and Aimee had found that she didn't so much like the 'chain of command' deal that they all seemed to have going. She did what she wanted, but there was also the fact that she wasn't going to be stupid about it. Josh and the others were upset over her run-in, and so was she. That didn't mean she was swearing off of vampires completely, but she wasn't in a hurry to go draw attention to herself. She was trying to avoid hating all vampires just because of a single experience, because she knew that was what happened most of the time, but it was hard. She didn't really blame Bartender Cat for his theory on the vampires and their stories, but his mention of 'lockdown' was interesting. It sounded like she and Mitzi weren't the only ones.
"Of course I got the third degree! You're right, it's like being at home with my parents again. 'Who are you going with, where will you be, when are you coming home?' Oh, and we can't forget the, 'call me every so often so that I know you're still safe and not being tied to a chair and tortured'," she explained, exaggerating the last one. She'd been asked to call, and she absolutely would, but she wasn't happy about anything in this situation for herself. She could kick Nero in the head if he hadn't already gotten worse for putting her in this situation with his 'miracle water'. She was worried about Dez, too, and that wasn't helping. It sounded like he had some hunter friends, though. That would do him good.
The subject of Zaine, though? Aimee would take Josh, Drew, Wes and even Nick LeCroix any day over Zaine. She figured it was just that he was someone that had to grow on you, but he wasn't very friendly. At all. She'd known he was a snake without fail, but he didn't act like any snake she'd ever met. He and Eden were like night and day, and the only other snake she'd seen like that had been Eden's brother, though Zaine was much more reserved than even he was. Eden's brother didn't make it a secret that he was pissed off over having to be at the club, and Zaine could appear to be completely composed at any point in time. It was very, very unusual.
Honestly, Darren was just glad that the Chloe vs. Luke exchange had gone as well as it had, so he wasn't complaining when she came back with a glass wrapped in a handkerchief in her hand. It could have been worse, for sure. Chloe just didn't know it.
"Relax, dude's name is Luke, and he's just a crankpot. He'll tip, so long as you don't touch his glass or him, okay?" he explained, and he kept his tone pleasant and suggesting that it really wasn't a big deal as he filled the glass and smiled for her. "He's not so bad, I promise. Just..."
He glanced away as a regular came in and yelled his name, then offered the guy a shout and a wave before grinning back at her. "Seriously, don't touch the glass, and you're golden." He'd missed her using her thumb to steady it, but he wasn't likely to miss it when Luke noticed. Touching Luke's glass, or Luke himself, prompted the kind of response that kept people from ever doing it again. Fortunately, Darren felt better about the fact that Chloe wasn't a total wreck like that other girl had been. Even if Luke DID get some of hers, it couldn't possibly be that bad.
He hoped.
If Luke had any warning that she'd actually touched her skin to his glass, he'd have refused it. That was how he worked. If he saw it, he wouldn't take it, and that kept him safe most of the time. Meow Mix knew better than to touch it, and that was one of the reason that Luke liked coming here. They weren't unused to weirdness, and he could get things to way he needed them. Until this little brat had to wait on him. He'd have been fine waiting for Feline Frenzy to get over there.
Couldn't work like that, though. Fate had an ironic sense of humor, and wouldn't let Luke's niece unknowingly wait on him without making him aware of it. Great. She handed the glass to him with the handkerchief, just like she'd taken it, and he nodded her a thanks and reached into his pocket for the drink and tip, putting his lips to the glass as he did. A second later, he'd dropped the glass to the tabletop and clutched at his skull as more images that that tiny little press of her thumb to glass should have warranted. He didn't expect this, though.
It was fast, and it was unexpected, but most of the faces weren't unfamiliar like they usually were. He saw his brother and the woman his brother had been dating when he'd last seen them, his parents, even Bartender Cat, all surrounding this little blonde. It was all familiar, right down to the distaste in his parents' faces when this little girl rolled up and asked about her father and family. "Our sons are failures, you don't want to know them." Failures. Big surprise there, but it hurt all the same. It hurt, but there it was, Chloe fixing up Meow Mix after he'd gotten smacked up by someone or something, and that wasn't normal. Chloe wasn't normal.
When it started to abate, he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or lash out, so he managed some mix of the two, pulling away from her and grinning in a way that wasn't at all friendly as he shot off a "How fucking ironic!"
Luckily, the glass that Darren used for Luke was a little more durable than most, so it bounced, sending Scotch all over Chloe's apron (and nothing else, thank fuck). She grabbed a rag and wiped at the floor furiously, looking up between wipes. "What is your problem?" she hissed. "Are you allergic to people or something?" She was more angry that he'd spilled something on the floor than anything - that was a damn lawsuit waiting to happen. She'd had enough waitress jobs to know that.
She looked back at Darren with a very angry expression and pointed to the table. "WHAT THE FUCK" was what she wanted to yell, but she only mouthed it, knowing full well that he could very clearly lip read THAT comment. She looked back at Luke as she stood, pulling herself up by way of the table, and threw her rag down. "What the hell is so ironic?"
Initial ironic amusement aside, Luke was totally not digging the headache that was coming along with this. He needed to leave, and go get high, but he still didn't want to. It was making his headache worse to hold it off, though Chloe was suddenly interesting enough that he was willing to use her as an excuse to hang around awhile longer. He flicked his eyes up towards Meow Mix to see the bartender trying to disentangle himself from the bar area to get over there and rescue his little friend, and he was determined to get his shots in before the feline managed it.
"What's so fucking ironic is that they kept you from me, and I'm the only one that you really have anything in common with," he told her, pulling his right glove off as he caught sight of Battlecat pulling away from the bar finally and headed towards them. Now, or never.
He reached out with a speed that anyone who'd spent any time around him would have never guessed he possessed, snatching up her wrist with his bare hand. It was something that so rarely happened, him deliberately using his ability, but this was a special case. He needed to know things, and all he had to do was make skin contact to make it work. His headache exploded into a migraine that dropped him to his knees with the momentum of his reach, but he focused his attention solely on Chloe, her father and her ability. He wanted to know more, and he was going to have it. He just hoped it didn't break him to get it.
The way he spoke made Chloe scared, because it sounded like he was a crazy stalker or even her biological father (she'd always suspected Philip wasn't her real father, but that wasn't true, alas), and she tried to back away before he reached for her. She had no idea he was going to grab her, he moved so damn fast. She let out a shriek and jumped back, but that was about the time that he fell anyways, so he almost took Chloe down with him.
He had a good lock on her joint, so she couldn't get loose, but instead of kicking him like she'd thought of doing, she was so scared that she just let go of some of the pain she'd been holding. It came out in a wash, like a burning sensation. It would feel similar to the headaches Luke got now - hell, they were the same ones Chloe got - but it was obviously not the same, and his skin tingling would attest to that. Still, she couldn't get him off of her.
"Let me go, before I really hurt you," she whispered, one arm on the table as she steadied her balance.
Lucas was going to get a full preview of Chloe's life, from kindergarten up to a few days ago, with random bits highlighted. Mostly various disappointments from her father, she being left to her own devices in high school despite obviously being pretty, her and Darren hanging out and doing nothing important. Chloe's life was measured in dull, but a few of the random slots he could see that had to do with her power sure were interesting - watching her take the pain of a broken leg off of one person only to retain it dutifully until the time came to give it to someone else in very clear detail would give him a better idea of what she did. Luckily she'd just given him a low dose; who the hell knew what Chloe'd picked up by random people she'd been touching. She had such a high pain tolerance that it was safe to say she probably could seriously hurt someone with things that didn't bother her much anymore.
"No kidding," Mitzi muttered, her phone lighting up as Aimee mentioned them demanding phonecalls. She flipped it open and then rolled her eyes, texting something back with a thumb as she scooted away from the bar. "Let's go sit down somewhere not in the middle of the dram," she said, gesturing to the waitress being manhandled by a drunk customer. "I'm not in the mood," she added under her breath, almost darkly. Really, Mitzi enjoyed a very drama-free life up until recently, and she was very salty to the entire idea that there was no way back out of the rabbit hole someone else had thrust her into. Like if she'd have known all this shit about Midnight she would have moved somewhere else, not that it might have helped - but it could have.
"Anything else new?" she asked brightly, the tone not betraying how angry she really was at her entire situation. Mitzi was expressive to an extent, but lately she'd been holding a lot of shit back because she really just saw there was no point in arguing. She didn't doubt if she told Zaine to drop dead he'd leave her to her own devices, but she didn't want it to get to that point. He was her friend, but he was becoming overbearing to the point where she hated him.
Darren honestly didn't know what was going on there, but he really didn't want to let it go any further once he saw Luke drop the glass. It was like slow motion, the glass slipping from his fingers the instant it touched his lips, his eyes taking on that far-away look that he got whenever he started seeing stuff that nobody else could see, and Darren was on the move with no more than a quick shout towards the kitchen for Dave. The man was a wolf, so he was confident he'd be heard, especially since he'd yelled the guy's name. He hoped so, since he didn't prefer to leave the bar unattended on busy nights, and leaving it was damn important right then.
By the time he could push through the crowd (since he definitely didn't want to do something crazy, like shift or hurt someone), Luke was already grabbing Chloe again, which was downright weird. He'd never seen the guy choose to touch someone or something bare-handed, and from the way the man reacted, he wasn't all that surprised. Luke was apparently ridiculously fast and Darren hadn't known it, but he went down on the hard floor like a ton of bricks once he'd made skin contact. It sucked that, even though he was prepared to jump in if she'd needed him to, it had turned out that she needed it. Jumping in there was the last thing he'd wanted.
Still, she was threatening to really hurt Luke, something that Darren registered as he reached them, and that was another thing he was hoping to avoid. He grabbed her arm to pry Luke's hand off, and in the absolute first second that Darren made contact with the man's fingers, Luke yelled and let go.
It was a good thing Luke let go when he did, because up until that point he'd only been tightening his grip, something that was making Chloe more and more panicked. She'd just been about to hit him with a good jolt when Darren split them up, and she yanked her arm away like she'd just stuck it into a dirty toilet, cradling it.
"What the hell is your problem, you psycho?!" she demanded, though she didn't stick around for an answer. Instead she pushed beyond Darren and grabbed her coat, heading straight for the door. "I'm going on break," she barked to Dave, and then exited through the doors into the city streets beyond. Tears stung her eyes as she tried to put her irrational anxiety back down into manageable proportion. She was pretty freaked out by the entire ordeal, and she began walking down the block towards the corner store to burn off some steam. She was angry at the man for having made her a victim, no matter on how small a scale. She was also pissed off that Darren hadn't gotten there sooner, but that wasn't his fault and she knew it.
Darren couldn't have pegged what exactly Luke's problem was, but he had a damn good idea, and given the way Chloe reacted to the whole ordeal, he was tempted to grab the man's bare hand, just to fuck with him. It would have knocked Luke for a loop, and he'd have deserved it. Darren truly believed that. "Dude, foul. She didn't do a damn thing to you," he snapped, glaring at the man and finishing the clean-up job that Chloe had started before Luke went apeshit on her. Darren wasn't even sure that he wanted an explanation, and he sure as hell wanted to go after Chloe, but it wasn't like he could leave the bar for longer than it took to clean up the mess that had been made. Someone needed to keep an eye on her, but Darren wasn't exactly the best choice, and he hated it, but he knew it. If he went after her, it was just as likely that they'd both get jumped and killed as it was that he'd comfort her and bring her back in. He shot Luke another dark look, just in time to see the man pulling himself back into his chair, and he got an equally pissy response from the man.
"She's my niece. I didn't know until she touched the glass, so stuff it, Meow Mix."
"You can stop fucking calling me that. You're full of shit."
"When the FUCK have I ever been wrong, Furrball?"
Well. Luke had a point, not that Darren wanted to admit it, and other than throwing the rag down on the man's table (in case Luke wanted to spaz out AGAIN that night), he didn't respond. He had a bar that needed to be tended to, and a boss that needed to be informed as to their favorite human's whereabouts. Fortunately, all it took was a short call up to the office, and the pale man was slipping through the crowd like a ghost stepping between raindrops. He didn't know how Ash did it, but he'd have put money on the triste's ability to walk through the room without ever making contact with another person.
He realized when he returned to the taps that the two pretty feline ladies had moved away from the bar, which meant that he'd completely lost his time with all three of the interesting females he'd wanted to talk to that night. Damn it.
Chloe hadn't any idea of Luke's revelation and frankly, she would have told him to eat shit if he'd clued her in. As it was, she was in a mighty hurry for that store, so much so that she slammed right into someone coming around the corner at an equally fast rate of speed. For Chloe, it felt like she'd slammed into a brick wall, and the impact actually sent her sprawling onto her ass with a gasp. The hit stunned her, and it took her a second to realize what had happened. By then, a hand was already being offered to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice betraying little in the way of concern. It seemed more automatic of a response, but for this particular fellow, women weren't on the high end of his totem at the moment.
"Uh, yeah," she said, taking his hand. She pulled herself up with no effort thanks to one firm tug from the man, and she brushed herself off. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she confessed. She wiped at her eyes to make sure she wasn't still all teary, and then forced a smile. "My bad."
He nodded to her. "No problem. Hey, might want to take it easy. You fell kind of hard," he warned. It was as though he was aware of the fact that somehow Chloe had repelled off of him, like he was made of steel or something. He continued on his way, leaving Chloe alone.
She continued into the store, where she bought a soda and stood just inside the door, drinking it furiously to try and ease some of her frustration. She'd busted her ass running into a complete stranger, to top off the low point of her night. Awesome.
"Now that is the face of someone thinking way too hard," a voice behind her said.
Chloe turned to see that the voice belonged to a boy taller than her with hair that could have been the envy of many a high-school girl. He lacked that sad, pathetic "goth" thing that most boys with long hair had going for them though, and if Chloe had to have guessed she'd have guessed he was around her own age.
"Maybe," she said. "How would you know?"
"Because I do it myself. So, tell me, do you always run into people at breakneck speeds, or are you running from something in particular?" he asked, standing next to her in a way that was approaching but not invasive.
She didn't know how to explain herself. "Well, I just took a break from work. A customer pissed me off so I came down here to cool down, and, well, frustration makes me pretty blind, I guess," admitted. She shrugged a little, spinning the cap off of her soda. It was chilly outside, and she needed to be getting back. "Break's almost over, anyways," she added.
"Where do you work?" he asked, his head tilted with interest. He didn't see himself having any plans that evening; his friends were mostly busy, and his dad was at work, which meant he could stay out late and not risk any problems coming home. Hopefully the old man would be asleep when he did get there, and he could avoid the ordeal.
"Hellcat's Hollow," she said reluctantly. "I'm a waitress there."
"Well, Waitress from Hellcat's Hollow, I'll walk you back. I was headed that way myself," he informed her, holding out an arm. In truth, he'd been headed out to do something interesting and had stopped in the store to grab a snack and make a phonecall without having to stand outside in the cold wind - not that the cold bothered him a lot, but still, wind interrupting your call was irritating. The Hollow sounded just as good a place as any, and he was interested to find out what kind of a setup it had, anyways. He was going to whore his band out if he could help it.
"Sure," she said. "I guess." Chloe wagered if he tried anything she could hurt him severely. She knew he wasn't human, but she couldn't tell what. She probably still smelled like the wolf she'd just t-boned, too, but she didn't know that, and the boy might have but didn't say.
Running out just to get out of the house was one thing, but finding this kind of excitement right off the bat was pretty damn awesome. He'd gotten into the city, stopped for a snack because he'd totally skipped dinner, and there was Chloe. She was instantly interesting, between busting her ass into that wolf he'd smelled coming a mile away. Dude wasn't happy, and the scent rolled off of him in waves. It made Tristan wonder if that was what he smelled like 90% of the time.
He was almost surprised, but silently a little pleased, when she actually responded to his comments. A lot of women tended to avoid you in the city, just out of a sense of self-preservation. He couldn't blame them, but it really was a shame sometimes. He didn't exactly look like the most dangerous individual when he wasn't scowling and furious over something (which was often), but there was something very obviously not-right about him. It was like humans could pick up on the fact that he was a predator, and a big one, without him ever giving them a reason to. He'd seen people react to his father the same way if London didn't specifically try to charm them, and he hated that he inherited anything from that man, but he was glad that it was something that could be so useful. Now, he was trying to do exactly what his father did, and keep her from feeling threatened. He could do it, and her reaction suggested it was working. Besides, he could smell the wolf on her, but she was human. She shouldn't be walking around alone, so for a little while, she'd be just a little more bulletproof.
It made him feel better, and then there was that added bonus of getting to check out the Hellcat's Hollow. He wanted to get his band a few more live gigs, and Olivia had suggested the place. Maybe they could even showcase both of their bands in the same show. That wouldn't be so bad, and it'd get them both some attention. Besides, her sheer volume and energy tended to balance his lower growl out pretty well, so when they did encores together, it worked out really well. He was pretty sure he could sell the idea to the manager, if the guy would just give him a chance. Naturally, his first priority was his own band, but if he could get Crimson Permanent Assurance in there, he would.
"So, 'Waitress from Hellcat's Hollow', do you have a name, or should I just make an abbreviation of that title?" he asked after a minute or so, glancing her way. "I'm Tristan."
Chloe shrugged a little, eyes on her soda as she ran her long manicured nail against the cap, making noise as it crossed the ridges. "I'm just Chloe," she said. She seemed to have lost a lot of that steam she'd used to run down there, and most of it had happened when she'd run into the blonde earlier. It was like he'd absorbed her anger like she could absorb people's pain. Turning physical anguish into mental anguish was one thing, but she didn't know if she'd like to suck the anger off of people and keep it for herself. It was an ugly, ugly weapon. At least pain was reasonable, sourceable.
It wasn't even that she was shy, but she wasn't used to people offering to walk her around, either - besides Darren, anyways. Or Dave, if she whined. Her high school had been full of people who ostracized her because she was "weird" or she hung out with "weird people" or whatever new reason of the week they'd found, despite how pretty she was. Now that she looked like a typical club gal, people just spoke to her like she was stupid, which she also couldn't stand. She'd taken to acting like a ditz because it seemed to attract people to her, but they weren't ever people she wanted to talk to; just people who bought her drinks. She was economical, at least.
"Nice to meet you, Tristan. It was kind of busy in there earlier, anyways, so you'll have to forgive me if I lose track of you once we get inside. I wasn't technically supposed to go on break but I guess since I burned it early in the night I'll be made to suffer by constant running here and there for the rest of the evening. I'm like the poster child for Murphy's Law. At least I can get you hooked up with our bartender for a drink or something, for walking me I mean," she said, glancing at him.
"Good to meet you, too, Chloe," he said, going with the typical move and trying her name out now that she'd given it to him. She'd done the same thing, so it wasn't such a stupid, cliched move. It was funny that people always did that, even with common names. It was like they felt obligated once they heard your name to try it out and apply it. He never understood it really, but he was guilty of it all the same. Oh, well.
Mention of her unplanned, early break took his attention, and it made him think back to her mention of a customer pissing her off. He had to wonder what had happened, and really, he wouldn't have minded knowing who the customer was if they were still there. He was always looking for a good disagreement, and this customer sounded disagreeable. Considering what he'd heard of Hellcat's Hollow, he wasn't so sure what he expected the altercation to have been, but he was pretty sure he'd be able to meet the manager if he got involved. Not that he wanted to do so in that manner, but it was always an option if the person was really that irritating. Naturally, he didn't know Luke or what the man could do, or he'd just be sure to touch the man a few times. That's all Luke would need to want to peace out, but Tristan just wasn't privy to that knowledge. Too bad, though it was in Luke's favor.
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't know that your bartender would want to serve me. First, I'm underage, and second, I'm a shifter, so it's not even like it'll do anything for me," he explained, shrugging. He knew enough about the place to know that if she worked there, she knew about the supernatural. His dad had mentioned the place before, bitching about it, usually. "So, this customer. If you don't mind me asking, what happened? I heard that place had a pretty strict policy about behavior," he mentioned, and her answer would also let him know how badly he could push if he felt the need. He really could go for a good chance to stretch his muscles and claws some.
At least he didn't ask her to repeat her name twelve times. Honestly, why did people have such a hard time with Chloe? She glanced sidelong at him when he just announced his shifting capabilities, and cleared her throat a little. "Well, okay then," she said, eyes widening as she spoke in that typical female fashion. She didn't really expect him to just put it all on the table out there.
Ah, he asked about Luke. "Eh, he just got out of hand. He grabbed my arm because he's a germophobe or something and I touched his glass. I don't know what his sitch is," she said, taking a sip of her soda. "I'm really kind of over it; hoping he'll be gone when I get back in there. I'd steer clear if I were you. Total headcase. And he's a regular according to Darren, though I never noticed him. Stupid long-haired freak," she muttered. She glanced at Tristan, hoping he didn't think she have something against his long hair.
"Anyways, I'm sure he'll be gone," she affirmed, reaching the door of the Hollow. She opened it and pushed inside, holding it with one hand for Tristan. When she spotted Luke at the same table, she just scowled. "Or maybe not," she said, tipping her head to the side as an after-effect "it figures" sort of motion. Murphy's. Law.
When he was told that Chloe had left the building, he was NOT a happy camper. If there was one rule Anthony had, it was that he was to be told if there were any altercations involving any of the female employees (but especially Chloe). He didn't care if they were busy, because everyone else could suffer for a few minutes while he handled it. Having Chloe leave after having trouble with a customer was NOT cool. He was going to let her know that later. As it was, he didn't find out about it until he'd gotten the kitchen out of the weeds, his father having gone out to help Darren when the dude yelled. Anthony left the kitchen and found out about Chloe being gone just about two minutes before she walked back in the door.
With a dude.
He didn't know who the dude was, which probably meant that he wasn't a regular friend of hers, and he sincerely hoped that she hadn't just picked the guy up off the street. He also hoped that she wasn't planning on keeping him, especially when he pushed his way from the bar and got a whiff of cat from the guy when the door opening shot a burst of air his way. Another cat. Seriously? He gave her a look like, 'really?' over the new guy, and renewed his hopes that she wasn't planning on letting the new guy hang around. He only dealt with Darren as well as he did because he had to work with the guy and Darren had technically been with Chloe longer. He couldn't exactly oust the guy without a damn good reason, and Darren wasn't likely to give one.
Luke, on the other hand, was cruising. Asshole.
"Find a stray?" he asked, tone conversational. He really didn't have room to be mad, and he knew it, unless he pushed the whole, 'come get me when there's trouble' rule. Since his dad would kill him if anything happened to her and he didn't end up broken in half trying to stop it, he could use that as a good reason.
Tristan wasn't any happier with Anthony walking up than the wolf was that Chloe had left the building and brought a stranger back with her, but he dealt with it well enough, all things considered. He just instantly thought that Anthony was her boyfriend, and thought that it was a shame that she was so into wolves. He didn't see the appeal, honestly. If he wanted a wolf, he'd talk his mother into getting a dog, but that was probably something his father had said years ago that had stuck with him. He didn't remember.
Either way, the guy looked about ready to take a piss on her to mark her as his, which naturally made Tristan step up just a tiny bit closer to her. He didn't make it obvious, not wanting the wolf to totally lose it and have an excuse to, but it was enough. When the wolf countered that with calling him a stray, he didn't feel bad for doing it.
"Stray found her, actually," he returned, voice just a little lower than it had yet been in her presence. He wasn't really expecting a fight, but he was going to win it if there was one. He hadn't yet met a wolf that was bigger than a jaguar.
Chloe didn't really like being put on the spot like that, despite knowing why Anthony was behaving the way he was. It still made her uncomfortable, but it even doubled when Tristan played into the game. She held both of her hands up, eyes narrowing at Anthony - more or less because he'd started it.
"Okay, stop," she said. "Anthony, Tristan. Tristan, Anthony. Anthony, Tristan was nice enough to walk me back here and keep me company after psycho over there exploded on me, no thanks to Darren warning me," she said. She was still mad about that, actually. "Tristan has a band, and he's looking to get a gig here. I told him I could talk to Ash, since I know that Fawn's Ashes is going to attract more of a certain crowd," she said plainly. Fawn's Ashes was a vampire band, and vampires seemed to love them. Chloe did, too, but they played at the Cafe Sangra and Ambrosia - NOT at the Hollow.
"Anthony, tell me why Darren hasn't ever broken that jackass's face before?" she asked, directing the topic to Lucas. She glanced around for Darren. "Where'd he go, anyways? I told Tristan I'd hook him up with something to drink while I try to find Ash," she muttered. She was too short to see over most people, but Darren had been right there a second ago.
He grit his teeth when she told them to stop, then tried to introduce them like having names would make it better. It also didn't make it any better when she pointed out that Darren hadn't done anything to deal with Luke, but frankly, Anthony wasn't surprised. There was a reason Darren usually waited on the guy, and that was because, for whatever reason, the leopard had enough patience to deal with him and his requirements (which Dave and Anthony didn't), and a less painful history than Ash. Anthony didn't understand how he did it, but he knew why.
"Go have a seat, cat-boy, and Darren'll get to you in a second. Tell him I said," he offered, and that was only for Chloe's benefit. He wanted Tristan gone before he tried explaining to her why Luke's face wasn't broken, yet, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Tristan seemed hesitant, but what was he going to do? He wasn't going to get anywhere for his band, or whatever he was in need of, if he argued over something so stupid.
Anthony saw him debate, and gestured to an open stool near the edge of the bar, not too far away. Hopefully, that would assure him that he wouldn't get lost in the shuffle, and from there, Anthony ignored him in favor of Chloe. He liked her much better, anyway, and gestured her into the kitchen. It was quieter in there, surprisingly.
"Darren's running around waiting on the tables that you had before you left," he explained, and not for any reason except because she asked, and it was true. "You okay? Luke's a jackass, but he has some crazy shit going on where he starts having ridiculous visions when he touches things. Honest to God, heard it from Ash, and he can't get within a few feet of the guy without Luke losing it. He's unpleasant, but he really doesn't mean anyone harm. Darren deals with him almost all the time because he's the only one who can remember not to contaminate Luke's stuff."
He was speaking from experience, there. The last time he'd waited on Luke, the man had gone off on him, too, and Dave didn't even try to bother with him unless Darren wasn't there. He'd gotten the short straw once, and as soon as they'd realized he was any good at it, he'd gotten it every time since. Darren did that a lot, actually.
Chloe went with Anthony into the kitchen, already silently moaning as he reminded her that she'd run out of there, leaving Darren to the tables. Nicole, it seemed, didn't come in for another hour, which Chloe only just now realized. She kept her mouth shut until Anthony tried to excuse Luke's behaviour. Then, of course, she got all fired up again.
"No, don't even try to make the guy sound normal," she said, holding her hands up in a time-the-fuck-out fashion, making the little T so hard that she jabbed her palm with her nails. "No fucking way," she hissed. "Dude flips out and throws his drink down, and then whips off his scotch-bright glove and clamps down on my wrist like Steven Seagal. Fuck you that's "not meaning any harm", Anthony. He'd have left a bruise if I hadn't - hadn't had Darren there to pry him off," she concluded.
She'd almost slipped up and told Anthony that she'd been about to splinter his face open with the impact of a medium-speed car, like the pain she'd picked up a few years ago and had been holding on to, but she'd caught herself in time. Instead, she just fumed. "Sorry I ran out, but I was fine after I got out of here," she added. She reached out and put her hand on his arm.
"I'm fine, he just really pissed me off, and I left before I like, did something crazy like you would do," she said with a small smile. "I wanted to pound his face in." If she'd known what Darren had heard, she'd probably have clocked out and gone home. Being related to such a horrible person wasn't very appealing - but then again, she didn't know Luke's story; now he just knew hers.
Darren hadn't yet gotten the chance to tell anyone about Luke's revelation, so Anthony was still in the dark about that one. He understood things from Chloe's end and from Luke's, despite naturally leaning more towards Chloe than the asshole that he didn't like, either. He just had to remember, and his father and Ash had both reminded him many times, that not liking someone didn't make them wrong. It just meant that you didn't like them. Well, Anthony didn't like that guy, but he'd heard enough of what was wrong with him to know that he didn't want to try a day in Luke's shoes.
"Hey, I'm just going by his usual, cupcake," he told her, putting a hand up in a defensive gesture. He'd been calling her that since he saw that obscenely pink cupcake-patterned hoody she liked. "I wasn't there for it, and nobody told me until about 4 minutes ago that it even happened, or that you were gone, or I'd have pounded his face in for you."
He was mad, mostly at everyone else and a little bit at her, but she usually made it hard for him to stay mad. He didn't know what it was, but she had that effect, and part of it might have been the way she touched his arm and smiled at him. Little things. "Next time, run into the kitchen, or behind the bar. It's easier to back you up from there." Really, he meant 'next time, run wherever I am and stay behind me', but wording it like that was just a little too much for him. He couldn't help it.
"Right," she responded dryly. Chloe was always supposed to "run away" whenever something happened. When was she ever going to be allowed to stand up for herself? Well, given the way she'd handled the Luke thing, just taking off sure hadn't been showing people she could deal with things. She mentally chided herself, but she was only sorry because she hadn't hurt him more. Chloe was a freak for pain, but she knew she had to be careful in the Hollow. Ash was a magical Whatzit and he'd know what she was doing the moment she did it.
"Well, I guess I should go back out there," she said. She reached out and punched Anthony lightly in the abdomen, fist hitting rock hard muscle. "Thanks for lookin' out for me. Maybe the next time I'll just let you maul his face off," she said with a sly smile, focusing her bright blue eyes up at him mischievously.
"Oh yeah, we still on for later?" she asked, as though it had just occurred to her. "I know you don't get off later so I was going to hang around. I was going to rent lame movies and make a game out of them with liquor, but I realized you don't get drunk? So I figured I'd wait and we'd hit the Redbox. Unless you have a better idea?"
As far as Anthony was concerned? She was allowed to stand up for herself when she had claws and teeth, which he wasn't letting happen, so that was out. Even if she did, he'd still want to protect her because he didn't think that she should ever have to protect herself. He was old-fashioned like that. He didn't know about her abilities, that she could really hurt someone as well as heal, and even then, he probably would have tried to keep her from having to do anything like that. It was just the way he was, and it wasn't likely to change. He wouldn't have been freaked out or hated her for it, though. She hadn't freaked out finding out he was a wolf, so it would be stupid for him to.
He faked the give when she punched him in the stomach, the blow being light and not at all hurting, but he was a good sport about things like that. "Letting me maul people is always a good plan," he returned with a grin, mostly because they both knew it wasn't. Letting Anthony go buck-wild on someone never turned out well, because he had a hell of a temper when you got him started. It was satisfying, though.
He was actually set to go back to work, planning on yelling at Darren to get back behind the bar once Chloe was back on the floor, when she asked about their plans later. He hadn't even actually made plans, she had, but who was he to argue when a cute blonde forces him into a corner and won't let him pass until he agrees to watch movies with her alone in her apartment? Even knowing that he was going to behave himself, because his Dad and Ash would kill him if he upset her, not to mention his mom, that was a damn tempting offer. "Redbox sounds cool, unless there's something specific you want to see, and then I'm okay with whatever. As long as it's not something chick-flicky," he pointed out, giving her what passed for a fake stern look from him. He didn't really do 'stern'. He did 'pissed'.
"I could probably grab some of whatever that shit from the Mojo Lounge is. That stuff totally annihilates me every time, but I doubt you want that. I can NOT go anywhere once I have some of that. Ask Darren, he and I got destroyed last time and he ended up sleeping under his kitchen table. I can't remember how he got there," he explained, grinning just at the thought. He'd had enough sense to crash on the couch. "Honestly, your call. I'll do whatever."
Being a shifter made it really easy to be one of those people that just didn't care if there was drinking involved. He could chill and make fun of movies sober, if she wanted to drink. Wouldn't bother him.
The amount of trouble Anthony would have been in if Chloe suddenly woke up one day as a tawny and cream coloured Kimball wolf would be... unspeakable. Dave had probably already given him the talk, the "I know you like this girl, son, because you'd have to be gay and blind [you aren't gay, are ya boy?] (No, dad - and the angry noise that would follow) Well I'm just sayin' whatever you two do is fine and dandy but I swear to god, son, if you ever change that girl without a long talk between your mother, myself, the girl (he always called her "the girl") and Ash then I will make you gay (How would you make me gay, dad?) I don't even know because I know I'll never have to worry about it, because I sure didn't raise you to be stupid." Chloe's head would have spun if she'd know that the only time she'd be allowed to defend herself is if she were furry and clawed, though, mostly because while she thought secretly that Anthony's second form was beautiful (she said "cool" because "beautiful" would have sent Dave off on another gay spree) she didn't think she'd much like to have to deal with more on her own plate than was already there.
That and she didn't really relish the idea of the FURSPLOSION, or however it was they changed. She'd never seen it, but she had some strange notions of how it went down, however far-fetched they were.
Chloe smiled a little more as Anthony fake-moved at her light punch. She knew that she could hit that boy with everything she had, physically, and she'd probably just hurt herself. Some part of her, the part that she ignored, had always wanted to just see how much pain he could have taken, especially since he was a shifter, but Chloe felt guilty even thinking about that, and chided herself every time a wandering idea as such with ANY of her friends ever drifted into her conscious agenda of thought. She'd never in a million years let Anthony see what she could do, and though a vast reason was because she was sure he'd find her too freaky for his liking (given some of the girls she'd seen hit on him and have him utterly laugh at) but the other part, a tiny part, was afraid that if he knew that she could freakin' crucio people, she'd lose her "breakable, needs to be protected and snuggled" sort of appeal, and she did not want that at all.
"Well, maybe we'll relax on the drinking, then. Your reminiscence reminds me that while you, my fine furred friend, will not get a hangover, I most certainly will, and I've always been a good girl before but I can't stand to watch someone else get hammered and not try to match them drink for drink. You remember the Halloween party," she added. Did he. It was amazing Chloe survived. The only reason she didn't have alcohol poisoning was because the girl knew to vomit as soon as it started to feel bad, not to try and hold it down like a superstar. She took it like a champ, though, even if she did end up on liquor probation from Ash because he refused to give her some Triste mojo and fix what ailed her to teach her a lesson.
"I don't do chick flicks, Anthony," she said, matching his stern look with one of her own. If Anthony looked funny doing stern, Chloe looked absolutely ridiculous. Like a ferocious kitten - it just didn't work for her. Nose too button, eyes too blue, hair way, way too blonde. "Have you seen the Hangover yet, speaking of drinking? I actually bought it, we could watch that instead. Or I can snag the bootleg of Avatar Darren has in his car before we leave," she offered. Chloe liked fun movies.
She was moving towards the door with her last suggestion, only because it was busy and she needed to get back out there and deal with Lucas, if he wasn't already gone. She didn't know what had happened after she'd left, but she intended to ask Darren while she got drinks and go from there. Chloe needed to know whether or not to pain him in the face, and she'd be more than happy to do it. She was vengeful, and the bastard had already given her a taste before when she gave him the head nuke. Now she had the switch flipped ON.
Unspeakable was a damn good word for the trouble that Anthony would be in if Chloe woke up as a wolf, any kind of wolf, because his father would blame him if she was infected by any wolf out there. It was his job to protect her, and that meant that she remained human. Of course, he'd have never even thought to bring it up to her, because all he got was that she thought him being a wolf was 'cool'. If he'd heard 'beautiful', he'd have probably checked to make sure his dad wasn't listening, but thought differently of her opinion. It wouldn't have meant that it mattered, since Dave and Ash weren't likely to go for it (especially his father; Ash was more thoughtful about things), but Anthony might personally have thought differently. Either way, he didn't know, and she wasn't telling.
He was also pretty damn sure that the FURSPLOSION that she was imagining, and he could totally imagine her imagining something other than what it was, was ridiculous and worried her. She'd never seen him shift, and she'd only actually seen his wolf form once, when he was very literally sniffing around the house for something his mother had misplaced just in time for Chloe to come inside. She'd knocked, but it had been a brisk sort of tap-then-enter gesture instead of a true knock. Besides, it wasn't like he'd been trying to hide it. She'd thrown her hands up and retreated almost like she'd caught him walking around in his underwear, and he really thought she might have dealt with that better. Thus why he didn't think that 'beautiful' would have been part of her description of the situation. Obviously, he'd shifted back and made sure she was alright, but she still didn't seem comfortable with it. Then, there's the fact that ironing knows no bounds.
He turned into a freakin' wolf, and she thought that he'd think that she was too freaky. The girl was crazy, obviously, and not even for thinking about how good his pain threshold was. He might have wondered as well, without ever really wanting to try it, just how much he could have taken. Being a shifter, it would be quite a bit, but finding his limit would involve a breaking point, which wasn't actually a good thing. That was how people ended up messed up for life. He wasn't stupid. It was the kind of thing that he'd have pushed through like a champ for as long as he could because of some feeling that he had to, but he wasn't volunteering.
"I do," he told her of remembering the Halloween party, face growing a little more serious, and eyes widening. Better that she didn't try to match his drinks. He'd worried about her, a LOT, that night. Her only saving grace would be that Mojo Juice was strong, and if he started drinking it, she probably COULD match his drinks and beat the hell out of him with her number. He wasn't telling her that, though, because she might actually put it to use. As fun as getting drunk with her would be, he liked being totally in control of the situation whenever he was around her. If he wasn't, she could get hurt, and it'd be his fault.
Not cool, so onto the next suggestion. "I wanted to see the Hangover, but I missed it while it was in theaters because Dad had me working all the time. Avatar looks great, too. Did you see either of them?" he asked, more than willing to go with whichever one she hadn't seen. He wasn't picky, and though he wasn't telling her, he was more interested in the fact that he was watching it with her. Briefly, he wondered if Darren would be jealous.
"Well, Avatar looks kind of neat. I'm not going to pay twenty bucks to see it, I can tell you that," she said, pushing the door open. Nicole had come in early and Darren was back at the bar where he should have been, which gave Chloe opportunity. She pushed the door open wide enough that Anthony could follow her out if he moved quickly, and she went behind the bar.
"Nothing to do with what I will be talking to you about for the rest of the night - can I get Avatar before you leave?" she asked. She prefaced that shit so that Darren knew he was on her verbal shit list until he told her the deets on what the fuck Luke had said when she'd gone - and why the freak was still there. She noticed that he was just as rude to Nicole, which made her a little smug, but she said nothing about it, just made a kind of "Heh" noise.
She started loading drinks onto a tray as a random server told her which tables needed what as Darren fixed them, and noticed Tristan was sipping on a beer, courtesy of Mittens, and it looked like he'd actually be able to speak to Ash. That was cool, at least - things were starting to even back out for the night.