loccent | malum au | i'll go fight if you're just as willing

You would think that in her twenty-five years alive, the last nine years of which being a rebellious social butterfly, Mae Crawford would be used to clubs. You would be right.

Back in the early years, when her father still wanted his kids, to hold under his thumb and parade at social functions (Have you met Mavis, my eldest? Reigning chess and debate champion in her school, we all have high hopes for her. Oh, try the caviar. It's sourced from a Deep One's entrails, all the way from Silay!). It was all stiff collar, prim and expensive dresses, and smiles that showed no teeth. They began to be suffocating at fifteen, but it was a year later than she took a leap away from them altogether. (Oh, my youngest, James? He is around here somewhere, you know how his type get at parties...)

With Annabeth (having gone to live with her in young adulthood has not prepared Mae to call her mum), the socialite parties disappeared, what with the woman's dedication to the peacekeepers and her job. But with Annabeth, Mae's dedication to being a perfect daughter disappeared too, so it was booze and rock-n-roll and parties a lot for a few years. Clubs, back then, were tightly packed, bodies writhing together in one cohesive mass, music loud and thrumming in your throat.

This one in downtown Silay reminds her of her early uni days, if she is honest. Maybe it's the people she is here with, her chaperones if you will call them something. Come Monday, they will be colleagues at work, but yesterday they picked her up at the airport and shown her around the city, in all its glorious ways. She has a tiny notebook full of tips and tricks, but that's back in her rental flat here.

What she has in her hand now is a card, which she wants to use to pay for a bottle of water and maybe another cocktail. Her chaperones are still on the middle of the dance floor, and she is squeezed at the bar between a few G.I.-types, trying to desperately catch the attention of the pretty bartender lady.

"Can never account for height. Bollocks."

After seven years (going on eight, now) living in Silay, he still marvels at how quickly the mood and energy can change from one city to the next. He's in Nilar, this week, both for leisure and work, what with the sudden email from his youngest sister landing in his work inbox going is it always this hot in silay? i'm not sure if better or worse than the desert back home in the summer.

He'd known that his mother had retired from the Liberty Armed Forces a while back, but he had been relatively out of the loop on her activities until Wesley Essex had mentioned in passing that the Peacekeepers had signed on their general. From there, it had been a whirlwind of photos from Tea, who had decided that working under the same organization as their mother as an analyst wasworlds better than competing for a cushy internship at any of the corporate giants back home.

She's your sister, not your daughter. Brig had quipped at him then, one big hand clapping him square on the back as Philip murmured a wry: Same banana. Don't get a heart attack, Josh.

So here he is, kicking back with the boys at one of the staple clubs in the heart of the Central Business District, when he catches sight of pink hair and an arm outstretched with a card. He can only assume this is an attempt to catch the bartender's attention.

"Hey, Maggie!" He calls out over the overlapping sounds of conversation and music from the DJ booth, over to where said bartender is idly flirting with a likely regular. When she turns to him, eyebrows raised he tilts his head towards the pink-haired girl. "Your mom know you're flirting on the job? The lady's been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes."

It's an exaggeration and he knows it - Maggie Montelibano knows it too; but they both know it doesn't make him any less right.

The girl that comes over to Mae is dressed in black skinny jeans and a loose gold top that drapes off one shoulder. She's college-aged, by the looks of it, but she moves around the bar as if she was born to work here.

"Sorry. What's your poison?"

It grates on her nerves that the way to get the bartender's attention is to have someone taller and more acclimatised to the club to yell at her in her place. It grates a little bit, in a way she wants to say Thanks, I can take care of myself, sir, okay?

Except she also catches a glimpse of his face, and - oof. Pretty.

What's YOUR poison?

"Thanks, hi," she says, throwing a grin at the bartender to refocus. "Can I have two bottles of water, a bottle of this," here she points to a beer bottle someone is holding, which she knows her chaperone likes, "a gin tonic and whatever he's having." And here, she points towards the guy who rescued.

"One Cerveza Negra, gin tonic and—" Maggie the Bartender is scribbling that down on a teeny pad so she can punch the numbers later. When she follows Mae's gesture though, she turns to Josh with a scrunched up expression before whipping her attention back to the pretty girl with pink hair.

"Trust me. You don't want to have what he's having—" and it's at this point that Josh chuckles and takes a swig of his beer. His staple, simple, beer. Thank you very much.

But Maggie is obviously not done. "It's boring—and correct me if I'm wrong but is that an Albion accent I'm hearing? What's your usual and I'll put something for you, on his tab."

"Hey," Josh nearly chokes on his drink. Behind him, Angel lets out a whoop and a Montelibano saas, right there! to which Phil thankfully smacks him upside on the head.

"Oh no, I meant to buy him another," she answers, smartly, in a little bit of a drawl. See, now she has the bartender's attention, she is very, very smooth. A wink here. "Just one, though, because apparently it's boring."

As for being from Albion or not, well. She does wear it on her sleeve, doesn't she, with that inescapable posh accent and the pixy-like features? (Granted, her teeth are thankfully fine!) So she doesn't bother with that.

"The gin's for me, please, but I'll be glad for the water first." A hand gesture here. "It's very humid in here."

The drinks come in the wake of quick and efficient hands behind the bar: dark stout beer in a sleek bottle, gin and tonic, two bottles of chilled water accompanied by a large wine glass full of the same and topped off with ice and lemon slice sitting right at the edge. "On the house. All of that and whatever glass you have later."

Josh gets another bottle of beer set by his arm. "I'll put it on your tab. You're good for it." And Maggie is gone after that. Off to see to a group that looks dressed to impress and probably younger than they're pretending.

Shaking his head he lifts his half-emptied bottle in the direction of the girl. "I guess, welcome to Silay." It's an easy salute, comfortable as he is to be left behind at the bar while his boys wander off to greet familiar faces or flirt with new ones.

She honestly was not joking around about needing the water, and she downs it very eagerly, then tucks her card away where it is safe - somewhere between her boob and her bra - before taking a sip of the gin tonic.

"Oh, nice." There's something other than lemon in this one, a red fruit maybe. Maybe bartenders really are psychic, because it's what the doctors ordered.

She looks towards the source of the voice - yes, very pretty man indeed - and leans against the bar. Apparently she's hanging around for a chat. The rest of his crew have dashed off to somewhere, maybe fulfilling some code of honour, since she did offer to buy him a drink.

"I wasn't prepared for all of that." What just happened, how did she get all the drinks for free? She shakes her head in disbelief, and reaches over to clink her glass to his bottle. "Thanks."

He leans back, settling his elbows against the edge of the counter.

"Maggie's mom runs the bar. Her brother does the money duties and she spends time upfront because she's got a great eye for regulars and new faces."

He offers her a smile. "It's the usual thing here. They have a budget of x amount of free drinks to give away so that you come back." Chuckling as he does a slow shake of the head. "Works like a charm."

"Josh, by the way."

"It's a good gin tonic, so it might just work," she quips back, then adds, "Mae."

So, he welcomed her to Silay, which means he is a regular. "You live here?"

"Seven years now." There's a hint of pride in his voice that wouldn't have been there years ago. But after Liberty washed their hands of him and said on no uncertain terms that the only thing he'd see if he amanged to fly back stateside was the inside of a jail cell. Funny, that.

Still, he understood protocol. He understood heirarchy - but it didn't mean that it was always fair when all you were trying to do was the right thing.

"But I'm not usually in the city. Nilar," the capital, he means, "it's not exactly my thing."

Give him the coast, the base, and watching over that stretch of ocean to keep people safe. He takes another sip from his drink. "What brings you to this side of the world?"

Edited 2020-10-01 15:54 (UTC)

"Ah, a job, actually. Yeah, I just recently moved here as of... yesterday." She points to the dance floor towards a group of people in their early-twenties, locals, dancing carelessly. "Those are my chaperones." She pulls a face.

"Which I know is short for make sure the Albioninny doesn't get lost."

He laughs. Because that is a mood. Leaning in a bit now to mock whisper conspiratorially:

"Make the most of it. They're really big on hospitality here it can get a bit overwhelming."

Downing what's left of his beer at that and then setting the bottle aside before he picks up the one Maggie set in front of him.

"How are you handling the near-compulsive need to feed you?" Because that is apparently, also a thing.

"Ha!" She leans closer, and this one's not hard to answer. "Honestly, I feel like I have found my people there."

It's visibly clear that Mae is curvy. Not hourglass, perfect model curvy, but soft tummy and gorgeous tits and an ass you could take a bite out of. She likes enjoying food, likes trying out things, and she doubts she'd ever be a thin girl even if she tried to be.

But why try to be? That's just capitalism teaching women they should not take up space.

"How long does it take to go away?"

It's a good question. Philip'a family still continues to do so even if both he and their boy have been living local since Black Sky. And Kaya's parents always bring food for an army when they come to visit their daughter on base.

"Only if you put your foot down about it. Otherwise, they'll sneak ways in - especially if they like you."

People feeding her as a way of communicating affection? Ha, sign her up to that novel feeling. It's usually her feeding her friends treats (mostly candy, because bless her but she can't cook), so she's not sure how the reverse would feel.

"Good tip," she says, tapping her nose. "I'll be sure to keep my foot up for now."

He laughs, enjoying how quick she is on the quips. "Have they taken you around? Beyond to a place like this, at least."

"Oh yeah, this is just another facet of the experience," she answers, making air quotes with her fingers. "I'm trying to not fall in love too quickly, just in case I have to relocate, but it's difficult not to."

"City girl? Or are you also inclined to less urban areas?" He smiles, "Just checking so that I can avoid giving you more reasons to like it here."

"Oh, no, country girl actually. The city life is a relatively new thing." Only a couple of years now, since uni. Such a weird conversation to have. "My dad had a country cottage, real Albion snobbery." Such a weird thing to admit to.

He takes the remark in stride, finding himself curious over why she's in a country so far from home.

"Should I take that as a you prefer the city to the quiet?"

She is here, isn't she? Having a casual conversation in the middle of a packed up club, with music loudly thrumming, with booze flowing through her system, and yet it's like they're catching up over tea.

Night life does not faze her. "I'm greedy, I'll take both depending on the mood." She lets out a low laugh at her own little joke - heh, those bisexuals, can't trust them - then sobers up around Josh, a virtual stranger. "But in all honesty, it is different. I suspect this won't be the only city I see in Silay, or that it'll just be city life. But as a first introduction, it's very much like..."

She snaps her fingers, finding the perfect analogy: "You ever read those books about the girl who competed in deadly games for survival? Because it feels like I'm in the Capital."

He catches the reference (thanks very much, Kaya) and it makes him burst out laughing. Then again, along this particular strip of clubs in the heart of the city, he can see where she's coming from.

"Never read them, but one of the kids where I work talled about them a lot over the last couple of months so yes, I think I know what you mean."

He sights a booth freed up not too far from them and points it out. "Want to continue this conversation while sitting down?" He'll lead the way, easily picking up the water bottles by their necks so she doesn't have to worry about them.

Parting the crowd is easy when you're in a city that considers you taller than average. Mae fits in better, with her height, but that also means that the crush of bodies might pose a problem. He sticks close, shielding her as best as he can.

She only has a moment to think about where her coworkers are, but from what she sees of them on the dancefloor, they are not concerned over Mae having met someone. Wasn't it one of them who joked about finding some guys tonight?

She decides to go with it. You never know, it might be one of those life changing experiences. And also, her heels are starting to kill her, so she nods.

They manage to move through the people, and she takes a seat at the table, sighing with relief to be off her feet.

"Oh no, the jetlag might be finally kicking in..."

"Tired?" He says it with a look of concern that's offset with a smile. "You can chill a bit here, if your welcome committee are still out there."

He sets her water in front of her, and decides that sitting down means they can also order at least something to munch on while they drink and talk.

He nabs one of the small bar chow menus from a table over and slides it gently in front of Mae. "Pick something. My treat. I'll be ordering another beer anyway after this."

"I like them, don't get me wrong," she mutters, looking over the menu. "But it hasn't been ten hours since they picked me up from the airport, and it's bad enough to fly trans-continentally these days without the feeling of doom and fear if a Deep One will happen in the flight path of your plane, nevermind the jetlag..."

She picks a heaping plate with something that promises to be potatoes. What can go wrong there? Nothing, she needs carbs.

"They've shown me around like I'm a tourist here for the weekend and they have to smush all the landmarks into an hour. I think the alcohol was helping ignore how tired I am..." A little laugh. "Sorry, Josh."

"Hey," he peers at her, dipping his head just a bit so that he catches her eye. "Don't worry about it. Tired-induced crankiness is understandable from anyone. I haven't flown across the ocean in years, but I can definitely relate."

Taking a moment at that to call over one of the bouncers. It's clear that the people here are familiar with him, and that Josh knows the language well enough to converse in a mix of his native tongue and what can only be the local language.

"Food should be with us in a bit so you can kick back and relax for a bit." There's a brief glance at her shoes. "I mean, you've been standing in those all day, right?"

Edited 2020-10-15 07:41 (UTC)

"Only the past two hours, I'm not a monster," she jokes, wriggling her toes a little. "Or better said, they aren't. I was allowed to change and get all pretty for going out."

Which she is pretty confident she has maybe managed, to some degree? At least her grin and the way she flicks her hair says so.

He chuckles, reaching for his beer if only to attempt to hide how this entire exchange sends the faintest of thrills down his spine.

( She's got a really pretty smile - and her comebacks get him to laugh. It's been a while since he's felt this kind of chemistry. )

"I say you've accomplished what you set out to do."

The music changes to something upbeat and Josh can't help but wonder if she's the type to dance. Her friends do, after all.

"Thank you." She's definitely good at taking compliments, and the strobe lights disguise the blush that would otherwise betray how much the compliment pleases her.

The change in the music does affect her, though. She knows that they've sat down, and that he seems to have ordered food - which, he's already won a lot of gold stars in her book for that one - for the table. Her feet ache a bit, but then again she also wants to dance. It's a complicated situation, resolved by the obvious solution: dancing in her chair.

Apparently she does dance. And of course now he's hoping that the music keeps being good so that once her feet have rested a bit, he can take her out on the floor.

He says just as much: "Save a dance for me when your feet are feeling a little better?"

They can get some food in them, maybe finish off their drinks for the round and then, who knows?

"Sure thing." She means it, too. It's not some weird, fake response in the hopes that, by the time she's finished her fries she can ghost him. She's not blind, and he's a hundred percent exquisite eye candy. Of course she wants to dance with him.

It's funny, she muses while they spend some time with idle chatting until the food comes. It's funny, because back home she'd gotten herself wound up so tightly around pleasing her dad's expectations of her, and then when he failed both her and Jamie, she put all that focus into a rebellion against her mother. Josh is, at first glance, exactly the kind of guy that would have scandalised both of her parents to know she was with.

But dig a little deeper, talk to him a bit, let him share your fries, and it's slowly becoming clear that he defies those expectations. Call it the three gin and tonics and one glass of wine talking, but he strikes her as the kind of guy who will say 'please' before screwing your brains out.

Not that she's looking for a tryst already. With the booze and the jetlag, that's a bad idea. But she sure wouldn't mind that dance.

So when their empty plates are removed, she sees her shot.

"Let me get these to my new friends now," she says, pointing to the drinks she'd ordered for them. She can see them now across the dancefloor, laughing and having fun, and she can't say she's upset that they've forgotten about her. She's been well entertained.

"Meet me out there?"

"Go," he responds, the smile on his face and the nod he adds for emphasis hopefully making it clear that he'll be with her shortly.

As he watches her go, he's struggling to bite back the goofy grin that's tugging at his mouth; though the sudden descent of his friends helps that along.

He doesn't linger too much, eager to get out from under Angel's scrutiny and teasing even as Phil, Julian and Greg settle back to save the booth for later.

He wades into a spot close enough for Mae to reach, but far enough that he's giving her and her friends room. He's eager to catch her eye, and there'll be an offered hand to guide her safely through the press of bodies filling the dance floor.

He finds her on the dancefloor after all, and she greets him with a wide smile, a wave of simple pleasure coursing through her. If nothing else, she's made a friend. If something else, well... Mae's always loved to have a flirt.

She lets her body do the flirting this time, dancing her way closer to him in a subtle way (her chaperons, co-workers and potential future friends don't really know she's been flirting hardcore with a flyboy), until she's standing in front of him, the bass thrumming in her throat.

malum au | i'll go fight if you're just as willing

Characters

PREMISE

let's begin with the beginning (what a lovely place to begin)

/tosses u one of the convenient NPCs idling around

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plays with copyrighted books for lore

hear me LMAO from across the ocean

an eternity and fixed wifi later!

hii welcome back ❤️❤️❤️

Re: hii welcome back ❤️❤️❤️

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