After the Game

[Katie]

"Uh." What did she want to drink? Not much was the first answer that sprang to mind, because she knew getting drunk was filed under R for Really Effin' Dumb. But she also knew almost nothing about alcohol because she just wasn't interested in it, and, uh...problem. "I don't really drink much," she said. Then, because she didn't want to seem rude or anything, Atalanta added, "I guess I'll just get whatever you do?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Oh, okay, uh..." Shit, what to get, what to get? Kestrel didn't want to get something she'd hate! And he also didn't want to get something super strong in case that sent the wrong signal, like he was up to something shady.

"Sweet, alright." Striding up to the bar, he ordered them both a toasted marshmallow martini, which the bartender delivered several minutes later. Sweet. Delicious. And not enough alcohol to get drunk on, but just enough to get a pleasant, relaxed buzz. Take the edge off, calm the nerves.

"These're pretty good," he said, holding hers out to her. "Butcha don't gotta drink it if ya don't like it, 'kay?"

[Katie]

"Uh, okay," Atalanta said (why'd she added the um? It was a one-word sentence, for gods' sakes). The drink looked like a dessert in a funny-shaped wine glass. She took a careful sip. Last time she'd had alcohol, it had been champagne, and it had tasted really bitter--

Oh. This was sweet. Well, there were marshmallows in it. Or one marshmallow. Anyway. It was good enough that she took another, bigger sip.

She should say something now. They'd come here just to talk more, and he'd bought her a drink (she really hoped he wouldn't get the wrong idea; even though he seemed like he wouldn't you just never knew). So. Um.

Right. WoW. "So," Atalanta said, keeping her eyes on her drink--that was the good thing about talking to people over food and stuff, it was always easy to know where to look. "You play the new expansion yet?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

She wasn't gagging or spitting it out, so that had to mean she liked it, right? Kestrel took a large sip of his own and had to remind himself to slow down. It tasted like candy, sure, but it was alcoholic.

"Th' one with th' koalas an' shit?" Kestrel said, perking up. "Haha, yeah! Jus' downloaded it th' other day! Got myself a monk type. I dunno, it's funny, there was so much fuckin' drama but I think they're kinda, uh..." He lowered his voice. "Cute." Kestrel cleared his throat, cheeks darkening a little at that confession.

"How 'boutcha?"

He'd scarcely gotten the words out of his mouth when a group of obviously tipsy twenty-somethings staggered over to them, laughing at the joke some older guy had told. On their way toward one of the games near them, one of the guys stopped, laughed, and slung a shoulder around hers; he was tall, but still at least four inches shorter than her.

"Hey, you're cute," he slurred. "Why don'tcha come join us?"

[Katie]

Oh. So she wasn't the only one who thought that. Cool. "They're small and fuzzy and stuff," Atalanta said. "So yeah. Not the one on the promo material, though."

She was about to say that she'd barely made it to the temple in the first zone, and then maybe ask if playing a monk was fun (she liked being the tank and all but sometimes she wanted to do other stuff, too) but then those guys passed by and she shut up. She got a lot of attention from guys, especially drunk ones--it was the boobs--and she didn't want to make it any worse.

Too late. She froze up when the arm fell around her shoulders (how was he even doing that, his head barely reached her chin). "I, uh," she said. Oh shit oh shit, she could feel the blush coming. Why did this have to happen now? Everything had been going just fine. "I'm, um. Here with someone. Already." She pulled back against the bar, trying to shake the guy off.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Like a lamprey, the guy clung to Atalanta as she backed up, though being totally wasted it was more that he stumbled along with her--and into her--and wound up pinning her against the bar. "That's alright, honey. Why don'tcha ditch 'em? We're a lot more fun. Can show you a real good time."

Atalanta wasn't the only one who froze. Kestrel went rigid, eyes going from Atalanta to the new guy and back. Aw, shiiiiit. He'd seen the movies; he knew the drill. Girl gets picked on, the guy comes to the rescue, but shiiiit. He didn't know the first thing about that! He wasn't exactly a buff dude, in fact most  of his parts were very breakable, like the hollow bones of his delicate, feathery wings. Which had only just recovered from being broken by who knows what; memories of that event were a little scattered (though the creepy encounter directly after that with a doctor he was convinced was some sort of serial killer was clear as day) but the point was, someone had owned him and owned him hard and he just wasn't built for that.

Aw maaan...

Still. He'd brought her here and said it was a good place and stuff...

"Uh. Hey. Why don'tcha fuckers back off?" Kestrel said at last, standing from his seat and letting his wings puff up, a vain effort at making himself look bigger than he was. "She said leave 'er alone. Okay? so leave 'er alone."

[Katie]

Oh gods oh gods oh gods. This was the worst it'd ever been--the creeps'd never had a chance to get this, this personal before. There was like no space between them and his hand had just finished 'accidentally' hitting her in the chest. Atalanta squished herself as far back against the bar as she could. It gave her enough space to get an arm up between them.

She should shove him. She was strong enough. She wasn't ripped or anything but she had muscle and he was drunk off his ass. It would be easy, like when someone set a weight machine low and she started before she noticed she had to change the settings.

But if she did, people would stare. It sounded so dumb even inside her head--she knew people staring wasn't worse than having this guy all over her, and it would be the best thing to switch out which one was actually happening, but all she could do was lock up.

"I don't want to see it," she managed to get out. (That had been the stupidest thing to say.) "Just--just get off. Please." That last part sort of got covered up by Kestrel getting up and sort of puffing. It was really nice of him and also really brave. Unfortunately it only did one thing: it made the guy move one arm to shove Kestrel back and say, "Didn't ask you, y'little shit."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Kestrel staggered backwards when he was shoved and caught himself against his chair. He straightened back up and fluffed his wings, still trying in vain to look large and intimidating even while his heart hammered in his chest. They weren't letting up; he had to do something! But there were a number of them, and they were all far bigger than him and while he may have been more willing to get all up in peoples' space before his accident...somethin g about it all had shaken him, made him more cautious, more scared.

"No, but ya asked her and yer not listenin' to what she wants! Let 'er go!" he snapped. Oh man, this was so lame! He was supposed to be able to like step in and do something, come to her rescue, not act like a total helpless dweeb while she was bullied and scared. Not just because it was the macho thing to do, but because it was the right thing, and...wait.

Turning around, he shouted down the bartender, who had been serving people on the other side.

"Can ya call security? Those guy're sexually harassin' her!"

That didn't take long. The bartender pressed a button beneath the counter, and in moments two burly security guards stepped up to the counter and approached the group. One bodily hauled the guy off of Atalanta and the other stepped in to help break up the group.

When they were out of the way, Kestrel slipped in next to Atalanta. "Y'okay?"

[Katie]

"I'm fine," Atalanta said. It was a really, really obvious lie. She was so not fine it was edging into capital-letter territory again. The blush was still there and her hands were shaking a little. Which was stupid, that hadn't even taken five minutes. And it could have taken less if she'd done the smart thing and asked for security herself instead of making Kestrel do it.

She took a drink of her martini, more because she wanted something to do than because she actually wanted to. "I should go home," she said. "My dad'll be expecting me." That wasn't really true. He had the evening shift tonight, as long as she got home before he did he'd have no idea what time she'd gotten in. Really she just wanted to leave because she was freaking out and it was embarassing and she didn't want Kestrel to see.

"But, uh. Thanks. For the drink and stuff--it was nice." Atalanta smiled slightly. Should she ask him if he wanted to play sometime? What if he said no? But she was leaving already and if she didn't ask something like that he might think she didn't like him. And she did. She thought. "Um. If you want, we could play through a dungeon or something. You know, later."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Kestrel winced, feeling on some level like he'd just let her down. She'd been all nervous, and he'd promised that the place was safe and cool. Not that he blamed her wanting to go home after all that; that had to have been scary (hell, it was scary just watching), and he wished he could have been more heroic and like knocked that asshole down or something.

Still, he nodded and put on a smile. "Hey, yeah, I'd love to! Tha' sounds fun. Oh, here..." Reaching for his receipt for the drinks, he flipped it over and asked the bartender for a pen. Then he scribbled his username and server on the back, along with his phone number, just because.

He held it out to her, ruffling his wings to get them to settle more comfortably along his back. "So, uh, yeah! We should do tha' sometime." He paused, and added, "An' hey, why don't I walk ya home at least? I feel real bad 'bout all this...an', well...I can at least make sure ya get home safe?"

[Katie]

Oh thank gods he didn't think it was a dumb idea. That would have really sucked after what'd already happened. Atalanta pocketed the receipt and was heading to the door when he asked.

Well, her dad would say it was a bad idea...but it wasn't like he would know or anything if she didn't tell him, and she didn't want to disappoint Kestrel, not after he'd been so nice to her. Besides, she was going to be freaked out probably until the next morning, and it'd be nice to have somebody else with her.

"Uh, yeah, sure, that sounds fine," Atalanta said. "I mean, you don't have to, but um, thanks. We're a coupla blocks up from here."

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Ain't a problem," Kestrel said, and headed for the door so he could hold it open for her. He smiled in a manner he hoped was reassuring.

"I'll feel better knowin' ya get home alright."

[Katie]

"Thanks," Atalanta said. "It's, uh, this way." It wasn't a really long walk--part of the reason she liked the apartment so much was that she could walk to pretty much everything she needed. (Public transport was awful because of how close she had to sit to people, and she couldn't drive the car casually because it was registered to someone else.)

"This is my building," she said once they got there. "I had fun. Except for that one part, I mean. I guess I'll call you sometime?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Kestrel couldn't help but grimace at the mention of "that one part". Yeah, he still felt somehow responsible, even if it wasn't his fault. Couldn't control what the creepy jerks of the world did, right? But it sure would have been nice if he could have been like...intimidating or something. He'd have to work on that, and maybe choose a way safer venue next time.

If there was a next time. "I'll call you sometime" could easily be code for "never again!"

He replaced the grimace with a smile. "I had fun, too! Uh, also 'cept for tha' one part. But yeah, hey, um, call me if ya wanna hang again sometime! And definitely hit me up on WoW! I'm on it way more than's probably healthy," he said with an awkward laugh.

He shifted from foot to foot and looked up at her. "So, uh, yeah! Have a good rest of the night, Atalanta."