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

[thelittleone]

Characters

Joshua Lee Brennan
I was called to serve.

Mae Crawford
The real monster is capitalism.

PREMISE

In some other life
We are standing
Side by side and
Laughing that,
In some other life

We are apart.
Josh & Mae meet in the .MALUM-verse. PSL.

THREAD TRACKING

© tessisamess

Comments

[larue]

"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?"

[brobeforehos]

"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.

[larue]

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.

[brobeforehos]

"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.

[larue]

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?

[brobeforehos]

"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?"

[larue]

"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.

[brobeforehos]

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.