Cherry Bomb

[Angela Arun]

Angela frowned as Jared and Ape began to consume mass quantities of alcohol. "Ah shit," she said to herself. "I'm going to be holding that kid's hair back later, I know it." She'd seen Tanya try to keep up with her once when they were drinking, and that was, well... All she had to know. Jared was a professional alcoholic, so she didn't so much worry about him.

She sipped on a Smirnoff Arctic Berry and mulled with Hailee for a minute, before standing to go break Ape and Jared up. "Alright you two," she said with a laugh, stumbling to them. "Jared, sweetheart, give him a chance to absorb his alcohol. Want to play pool in the meantime?"

Angela only asked him to play pool when he'd had three times as much to drink as everyone else. He was good; he could beat her completely shitfaced. She liked to have an advantage.

"We can beeee-eeet," she offered. What would she bet, though?

[Samuel Croft]

If Jared kept trying so hard to get April drunk, he would probably get more details about April's sex life than anyone would want to know. Only time and alcohol consumption would tell.

April gave the now familar Drink-of-Tastebud-Death, as he mentally dubbed it, an ominous look that said he knew its tricks, and wouldn't be fooled a second time. So as long as he and the drink were clear on that, he had no qualms consuming it. Even if what followed was another round of yucky faces and frantic swallowing that didn't help. "Water," he asked of the barman, and gulped down what was handed to him. The last of his intelligence was telling him to drink water, something about dehydration being bad. Also to make an attempt to get the taste out of his mouth. It didn't work. Dammit. He got another glass of H2O and worked on it slowly, hoping it would work better than the first.

"So now that I'm..." He shook his head, clearing out some encroaching fuzziness. "Now that I'm fully disgusted, what else is there to do?" He ought to be given a little credit; two Jagerbombs and an Amaretto, and he was still standing. Of course, it'd be a completely different story in an hour. Already the world was getting more entertaining without any sensible reason.

[Eithne O'Shea]

Hailee had grinned at April when he'd mentioned that he was likely the victem, looking him slowly up and down. "Reeeeeally?" she drawled in an interested way when April (as he introduced himself) mentioned that he went to school with Alex.

Well then, this could just get interesting.

It was then that Jared moved in and proceeded to begin practically pouring large amounts of alcohol down April's throat, and so Hailee decided to ignore them for a moment. She squealed good naturedly when Angela pressed the drink to the back of her neck and then flipped her hair at her cousin with a laugh, accepting the drink that she was handed.

"Hmm, I wouldn't bet against you," Hailee murmured back, "though I might just help." Whaaaat? It would be fun! She winked and then laughed.

She watched as Jared and April both had another. "Really, though, they might not need our help."

[Jared Bastian]

The look on his face was nothing short of lecherous as Angela approached them, and he noticed that little stumble of hers.  He didn't know that it was staged just for the benefit of the mortals in the bar, since he was one of them.  He assumed that she was getting drunk as well, and was actually interested in what had her asking for a game of pool.  She was drunk, and she liked to wait until he was having issues concentrating.  He wasn't having that problem yet, right?

Well, if the fact that he'd completely forgotten about his goal to pour alcohol down April's throat didn't make the answer to that question obvious, nothing would.  He was ALL interested in Angela.  "Babe, I'll take that game, but you have to name your wager, first.  Better be something good I'm winning."

Egotistical bastard.

[Samuel Croft]

It was just as well for April that Jared had lost interest in him. Any more alcohol down first-timer April's throat and Angela really might end up explaining alcohol poisoning to an angry Peggy Lancaster. April wasn't going to be telling his mother about this any time soon, nuh-uh. He didn't have a death wish.

Since Jared was thoroughly absorbed in betting against his girlfriend, April found his way back to Hailee, the only other familiar face in the room. Better to be with her than at the bar, where people always seemed to think you were waiting to be picked up. April didn't need to be picked up, thank you very much. He dropped onto a chair and watched Angela lead Jared around. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted," he said, still trying to swallow it out of his mouth. The water hadn't helped much. He kept drinking it anyway.

[Angela Arun]

Angela didn't rightly know what to bet, because Jared was always guttering anything she said, and he always had enough money to foot her shopping when she ran out, not that she asked. She held on to her poolstick thoughtfully.

"I dunno. What do you want?" she asked innocently. She didn't.. really have anything to bet with Jared. There were things she wondered, but nothing that wouldn't end up in a fight, and right now she was having too good a time to worry about that (like how a mechanic made so much money?).

She tried to keep Hailee and April in her line of sight, but finally gave up as everyone began moving around with the usual hubabub of the bar scene. Ape was as good as safe with Hailee, though. She was positive of that.

[Eithne O'Shea]

Apparently they were splitting off into smaller groups, which was fine by her. She was decent at pool, but didn't really want to play right then, so she was more then content to just sit back, relax, and drink like a fish with the knowledge that none of it would really affect her. The contrast she presented to April was... well, amusing.

She laughed a little at his comment. "Really?" She was acting far too interested, but he might be past the point of noticing. "Tell me Ape, you know how my brother's been doing as of late?" Ah, Angela's nickname had caught and stuck. Her cousin was certainly right about something, though. The boy was safe with her. She finally took pity on him as she watched him drink more and more and more water, and offered him a breath mint she had in her purse. "This'll help more, darling."

[Jared Bastian]

The fact that she'd wondered, but hadn't ever figured out, how a mechanic made as much money as he did hadn't really entered his mind since he started drinking, but he'd marveled at the fact that she hadn't yet asked in the past.  He'd taken to assuming she really didn't think she wanted to know, which meant she had an idea, and he hadn't ever bothered to tell her.  He wasn't a fan of offering information if it wasn't 'need-to-know'.  Besides, he didn't plan to steal and dismantle cars for the rest of his life.

The rest of his life didn't matter to him right then, though.  What mattered was the rest of the night, and that included what he'd win if he played her in pool.  He may not have volunteered information, but he liked getting it.  Yes, he was a hypocrite that way, but he hadn't ever denied it, so anyone who said anything could stuff it.  There were things about Angela that he still wanted to know, and he didn't have that 'leave well enough alone' attitude that she did.  

"How 'bout, when I win, I get an honest answer about one of your little secrets," he said with an evil little smirk, wrapping her up in his arms to keep her from escaping.  "An', IF I lose, which I don't, you can ask me something."

He didn't think he'd lose.

[Angela Arun]

"That's fine," Angela said. He was drunk. She would be fine. Still, it seemed like a weird bet to take. She shook it off, and leaned down for her first shot. He was going to make her break, eh? Well, she'd just hit it really hard and pray she cleared enough of her balls in the pockets to try and run the table on him for the rest of the game.

She smiled a little. "Ready?" she asked. One of his friends lifted the rack off of the table and leaned back. When these two played pool, people watched, because they both tended to make trick shots and other various hard-to-accomplish things.

Angela's luck, however, had run out tonight. She sank three of her balls, declaring her as solids. However, the 8 ball slowly.. slowly... rolled its way into the far corner pocket. She followed it down the table, making frantic arm motions to try and get it to stop.

She looked up at Jared. Shake it off, Angie. Shake it off, she told herself. She leaned lazily on her pool stick and smiled. "Guess I hit it harder than I thought," she offered.

What would he possibly want to know? She had told him everything, anyways.

[Jared Bastian]

He may have been drunk, but he assumed she was as well, and he was a damn good pool player.  Unfortunately, this particular game didn't even require any skill on his part.  He watched her shot with a slight smirk, not really expecting what he ended up with, and then broke into an actual laugh as he watched her flail at the 8 ball.

"Great shot, babe.  Couldn't have won it better myself," he told her with that obnoxious grin of his in place.  That was the easiest game he'd ever played.  "Next time, I'll break."

It was somehow fitting that this game was the one he actually asked for something he really wanted as the wager, though he wasn't going to ask her right there in front of everyone.  "I'll ask my question when we don't have such an audience."

[Angela Arun]

Next time. Right. Angela leaned her poolstick against the pool table and straightened out, smiling brightly to him. She felt a pit in her stomach. He obviously was working an angle here. Unless he was going to propose. Her eyes widened, and she reached out for him, giving him a little kiss on the neck. No, he wouldn't propose. That would be way, way too soon. And.. organized.

"Why don't you ask me now?" she asked, using her playful voice. "Or is it dirty?" she hissed, poking him in the side with a giggle. On the inside, she was kind of nervous, but she wouldn't let any of them know it. She had a guilty conscience, she supposed.

[Jared Bastian]

When wasn't Jared working an angle?  And organized?  She'd be amazed at just how organized he could be when it involved something dangerous, such as work.

Or his side job.

He wasn't likely to propose anytime soon, but mostly because he assumed she'd turn him down.  Other than that, it really just...hadn't occurred to him to.  "I don't think you want me to ask now," he told her straight up, shrugging before he grinned.

"How about another game.  Maybe I'll get really lucky and win something else off of you."

[Angela Arun]

The sad part, truly sad on so many levels, was that Angela wouldn't have ever thought of saying no. She loved Jared more than anything, even if he did act like a fuckhead sometimes - like right now. Angela didn't like being strung along, although most of it really was her overreacting because she had the niggling feeling in the back of her head something was going to go horribly wrong.

"No. Ask me now. Or we can go outside?" she offered, jerking a thumb back to the door. She needed to know this one small thing. She hoped it was something stupid, like a silly intimate detail or an embarassing childhood question. She didn't do more than hope - she prayed that it wasn't anything serious. Or anything she couldn't tell.

[Jared Bastian]

She wasn't going to just let this drop, was she?  Apparently not, given how she was insisting that he ask right then, even after he'd said he'd wait until later and offered another game.  Great.  He really needed another drink first, since he was doubting she was going to want to hear this, but he had to know.  That was why he wasn't willing to just be a perv like usual and ask her something VERY personal instead.  He had to know.

"Fine," he agreed, and he turned somewhat unsteadily towards the door.  He'd had too much to drink, but wasn't quite ready to pass out.  

He waited until she was standing with him out in the parking lot, where he could lean against his car instead of pretending he had amazing balance right then, and finally dropped the bomb.  "Where do you go at night?  Those nights you're so secretive about, and you don't bother coming in until morning, what do you do all night?"

[Angela Arun]

She told Hailee and Ape she'd be right back, and followed Jared outside, where she pulled a cigarette out from behind her ear and lit it. She didn't make smoking a habit, but right now she would. When he leaned against his car and started talking, she felt a rush of cold wash over her entire body, and she couldn't help but look away, exhaling sharply as smoke twined through the air.

She blinked a few times, stomach dropped like it was on a rollercoaster and had just gone straight down. When she looked back at him, she tried to smile, but this was all serious. Jared wasn't playing. There was no humour in his eyes; none.

She didn't even know what to say, so she thought of the first thing that came to mind. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

His blank response to her 'joke' wasn't a welcoming one, and she sighed a little.

"It's just crap I have to take care of. Sometimes I stay at my mom's; you know that."

Would he buy it?