The Ten Ten Room

[Phoenyx]

The Arrow looks disappointedly at her empty glass, then looks to Crystal. "Not really... I think I upset Madison. BUt she says I work too much. I don;t think I work toooo much. There's just no-one else. But, I'm... not good. At talking. But I like fruity drinks and they help. I just have to know when to stop. Which... kinda hard." Theres an entyhusaistic nod agreeing about Aurora's dress. "She's super pretty. But I can't borrow things because she's so tall!" It seemed drinking just took all manner of filter away.

She looks back to Aurora, seeming to relax when she says it wasn't her fault. "That's good. I try to do a good job. 's just hard some times. But it was silly. And you know I wouldn't do that to you. You're my best frend." She shakes her head and gets a little unsteadily off her stool to wander over and give the Thrysus a hug. "Thank you..." She lets go, noticing Crystal and Aurora both looking across the bar at some guy. She looks him up and down. "Who's that?" She asks, "An' why re you looking at him? What's goin' on?" She leans in conspiratorually.

Glancing around, she sees the others enter - the friend of the man her friends are watching, the girl... and a rather handsome muscular guy, causing Pheonyx to smile a little. She has always liked taller guys.

"What's up? Um, nothing...." The Arrow shrugged, smiling. "I was worried I made you mad but now I didn't. And I found a Cryst... A Chris!" Was Crystal a chris? She didn't know, but it covered well.

[Conner Wells]

Conner lingers on his drink for a moment. The gentleman was the first to notice him, but thankfully Conner didn't see anything hostile. Just a guy noticing a guy noticing a girl. It was clear the three of them were close. Names were exchanged; "Alice", and "Madison", and "Chris". They seemed so carefree, so eager to face the world together. How easy it would be to just stand up, walk over, and start a conversation. And "Alice"? Even from this distance Conner could tell she was built like a warrior under the red fabric. A warrior with a squeaky voice.

They all turn to him and Conner can't help but smile as he returns Alice's once-over. To hell with it! You're the only Lancea in this whole damn city! No Inquisition is going to swoop down on you because you want one damn night of human interaction. And then he gets up...and then his keen sense of smell picks up sweat and horses.

Dirt Nap. He puts a face to a name, but he's almost positive it's not the right name for this sort of crowd. Not wanting to let the drunken firebird think he was ignoring her, he offers a wink before turning his attention to the approaching Gangrel. He extends a hand to Dirt Nap as he approaches. "Hello! I've seen you before but I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Conner." Putting Elysium tactics into practice: speak just loud enough so that those listening will hear you. Now the firebird had his name. Whatever else would have to come later.

[Crystal]

Jesus, Phoenyx was really letting her hair down tonight.. hopefully someone elsewould be there to hold it up should she continue on this course. Crystal could only speculate what their disagreement had be about: considering Alice's focus on 'work' it probably was Awakened business. "All right, how about this: you continue to give me training-advice and I'll give you a 101 on 'talking' and pacing your alcohol intake some day. Deal?" He kept his voice humerous enough that Phoenyx had a reasonably easy way out of that offer.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I almost wish there were more special occasions - your style is impeccable. Hell, if I weren't so masc I'd ask to borrow some of them myself." As for the question what was up with him: "Chance encounter, really. I was out carousing and stumbled over our party queen here. Apparently you have a date her? You sure I'm not disturbing anything?" He sipped at his drink and looked back at the stranger. "Also don't freak out, but I think that guy over there is kind of looking to flirt with you." He wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Phoenyx, but he wouldn't pass on the opportunity to see her flirting either.

Then some more noteworthy patrons entered, though for varying reasons: first, a.. cowboy? He seemed to know the guy looking at Alice. Crystal was all for inclusivity, but the outfit painfully stuck out compared to the others present. This difference became even more pronounced when he saw a smoking beauty in red.
Bells went off in Crystal's head. Damn his good memory: even though he tried to supress that night at the Nexus, he some pictures and impressions hadn't left him even months later. Quinn was one of those impressions. She knew Jennifer - another Vampire? Does that mean the guy accompanying her was also undead? He had a certain air of danger about him.. not quite the same as the predatory presence some other guests of the Nexus had.
Fuck, Crystal was staring. He couldn't be blamed, since there were some striking people about but he should probably focus on Aurora and Phoenyx again.

"Hey, here's a little tradition from where I'm from: in San Francisco, whenever friends cleared the air they would share a big glass of water. How does that sound?" Yeah, he was there for pending disaster but as someone more experienced it was his job to look after the newbies. Not waiting for the women's answer he flagged down the barkeeper and ordered three glasses of water. Even if they would shun them at first - sooner or later they'd turn out to be a Godsend.

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap notices Quinn Durant of all people outside, in a red dress in fact, looking like she's waiting for someone before coming in, which is interestin', could be she doesn't appreciate fighting off all the men trying to pick her up if she waits alone at the bar.


Then he sees Conner OBrien show up dressed up in a suit and Quinn Durant welcoming him. Seems like a convention of the Connors tonight.


He notices people noticing him, but that's to be expected. This doesn't seem like the type of place where anyone is likely to try to run him off for not fitting in with the herd.


"Evening, Conner." Dirt Nap says. He glances, meaningfully out the window to where Quinn Durant and Conner are standing. "Looks like might be more than one Conner in here tonight."


Dirt Nap chuckles low and quiet, almost subvocal and probably to low for anyone but another as unnatural as him to hear.


"I haven't been out here before. Not been out much at all, really. Is this place a regular spot for you?" He asks.

"Clayton's the name." Dirt Nap offers. "I answer to 'Clay'."

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn's lips were painted a wine red, deeper than the red of her dress to set them off more. Some winged liquid liner with her standard smoky eye, and the hazel of her eyes looked like amber fire. Those bright eyes meeting the green of his as she watched him approach her. Her lips curled into a smile. "No, not all. I only just arrived," she hesitated a moment before saying his first name "Connor."

His beast and curse washed over her at the same time, the sensory input was enough to make her blushed skin react, making her wish she had brought a shawl to cover up a bit more with. Goosebumps rose over the skin of her arms, though the reaction faded quickly, Quinn felt like she was on a stage in the spotlight for a moment. Her lips parted for just a second as she acclimated. As if to defy this reaction, and to reaffirm that she wanted him here tonight as much as his acceptance of the invitation indicated a similar stake for a social engagement, she lifted her left hand. Her wrist twisting with the movement, her fingers held out in offering. If he chose to take it, she would curl her fingers around his and enter the establishment hand in hand.

When the mystery was solved, and they entered the bar the looks were enough to wonder at a bit. Quinn's gaze went over each patron in turn, some like Clayton, and Conner her gaze filled with acknowledgement , and knowledge of them. She nodded to both of them in turn. The beautiful woman at the bar (Aurora), got a little once over. She liked the classic black of her dress, always good for any occasion and one of her favorite colors. The other Lady with a red dress, (Phoenyx) was lovely as well, and looked a little tipsy. That made the beast take a bit of notice, but she was pretty certain that little lady did not fit her hunting profile. Crystal she recognized. From Nexxus. It was an interesting thing when you realize someone knows you aren't human, and they know you know that they aren't as well. Quinn's polite smile turned slightly predatory for a second, before falling back to more neutral lines. Just a moment to let him know, she knew...he knew, and she dropped it after that.

As it would be unforgivably rude not to at the very least say hello to the Kindred in attendance this evening, even though it was a chance encounter, she moved over to the table with Conner and Clayton. She paused and looked to Connor and introduced him as she was pretty sure he didn't know Dirt Nap as anything other than Dirt Nap. "Connor allow me to introduce you to Clayton, Clayton, Connor." She indicated each with a small polite smile, and then looked up at Connor tilting her face back to regard him a moment, before pointing out that he had already met Mr. Wells. "You have of course met Conner, already." Her lips twitched in amusement. Connor and Conner.

[Connor OBrien]

Connor regarded Quinn in all her glory. He'd thought she was beautiful in court, but tonight she was Venus herself. He had to admit that there was some small shame felt when using first names, as he was sure Quinn knew the implications of first names in Invictus society. Despite that, he still enjoyed hearing his own name in Quinn's voice. "Good, I was hoping I wouldn't mess up first public outing." Then she offered her hand to him, and he hesitantly took it, and allowed his fingers to curl over hers.

Once inside he looked around at the other patrons, as well as the over all decor of the bar itself. The woman in black was pretty, of course, and was accompanied by an aura of confidence to rival, or even out shine his own. The woman in red seemed drunk already, normally a perfect victim for a midnight snack, but there were too many others here for that and he had come with someone else tonight who might not appreciate him flirting with another woman to feed. The final patron he didn't know seemed to be a small focus for his 'date' tonight, there was a look of knowing on Quinn's face, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared.

Then Quinn led him to others that he did know; Dirt Nap and Conner. She introduced Dirt Nap as Clayton, of course a name like Dirt Nap would draw attention in Kine society. He released Quinn's hand for a moment and extended it toward 'Clayton' for a shake, as Kine do. "Nice to meet you Clayton, nice night isn't it?" Whether 'Clayton' returned the shake or not, Connor turned his attention to Conner. "Good to see you again, Conner. Anything new lately?"

After receiving an answer from Conner, the Haunt turned his attention back to his companion. ​"Did you want something to drink, Quinn? I can go get it for you while you catch up with Clayton and Conner."

[Aurora]

A look to Phoenyx, “You know, if you wanted to borrow something, it could like, be hemmed or something to fit you better.” It was a thing. And she wasn’t attached to the clothes she had. “Or, a nice pair of heels.” Those were a thing.

An understand smile, “You do do a good job. Don’t doubt yourself.” The news about her being the Arrows best friend struck her hard. And her heart sank, realizing what she had to tell her, and how it would hurt. She hated when things hurt. It made it complicated. "But the meeting has made me reevaluate things." Now the hug? Totally unexpected, and her body stiffened at first, the blonde not quite sure what to do at first. But she wraps her arms around her, returning the hug. Looking back to the guy, “Oh, he was just checking you out.” She says matter of factly. “So it was my job to take a look at him.” Size him up and all that.

And just when she thought the night was going to take an interesting turn…it doesn’t. Whatever. His loss on Phoenyx.

Chuckling with a shrug, “I’d let you borrow my dress, no problem.” She didn’t care. “Maybe you’d look better in them then I do.” A wink as she took a sip.

Tradition? Or just a way of making sure Phoenyx didn’t get too drunk? Either way, it worked for her. So she raises her glass, “Sounds like a reasonable tradition.” But she was quite content with her drinks. She was going to need them to tell the Arrow her news.

Catching the once over from the enticing woman, she returns it. Looks was something she was used to. But usually got when she was performing. Though it was nice, and she knew the dress fit her perfectly. Leaning forward to Crystal and Phoenyx, “So should we invite Mr Looky and his friends to join us?”

[Phoenyx]

Eyes widen a little in surprise as the man they pointed out winks at her. The Arrow... smiles back. Then he goes off to talk to the dischevelled friend. She turns back to the table, still smiling.

"I can handle it jus' fine," Phoenyx replies, poking Crystal in the chest lightly on the final word. "Just makes talking easier is all. Unless it's work stuff. Or something I know. That's easy. Easier." She looks up at the Mastigos, brow furrowing. "You're pretty too. But I can't flirt. We tried. Some of the others tried to teach me, but they left." She sighs a little.

Yep, zero filter.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-07-19 08:06:58	Phoenyx rolls 2 to Seems sus: Wits + subterfuge -1 (tipsy) (10 Again)	1, 7	failure

"Water? Um, okay?" It seemed a little strange but it didn't matter. she took the water and sipped it.

She steals another glance at the tall guy, catching a little bit of an accent, before looking back, though it looked like he'd come in with a lady hand hand, causing a small sigh. She threw him a small smile anyway. Maybe she was just a friend? Did friends hold hands? They all seemed to be in a group of friends anyway. Him, the one that had been checking her out, his scruffy friend, the attractive woman. Phoenyx found her gaze flicking between her and her date as she looked around, flushing a little, before looking back to her drink and her friends.

She shook her head at Aurora's offer. "Not just height. I'm not sure it would... fit..." the Arrow moves her hands up and down gesturing to her relatively modest curves. She still seems to be smiling, so not phased just... stating something. "I try. people just seem to expect the answers to fall into their face instead of doing something, y'know? I figured you wanted to do some thinking because stepping down. You were. Are." She smiles. "That's your job? Should I be doing that for you? Because, lots of guys check you out." She blushes a little at the Thyrsus' compliment. "I don't think I would. I don't need many dresses." Then she shrugs. "Whatever. But. I am going to get another drink. To go with my water tradition." She nods to Crystal, looking serious, and shifts off the stool, before heading towards the bar.

[Conner Wells]

Conner takes Clay's hand. Either he's got a good sense of humor, poetry, or both. He notes the lack of Bestial presence around the cowboy, a shared power that he'd begun to appreciate more and more with his time here. "Not yet it isn't. It's been a while since I've been in town, so I thought I'd try out some new places."

It looks like what he'd thought would be a quiet night had turned into a mini-conference. Connor and Quinn's presence isn't too off-putting though, even with Connor's Nosferatu Curse making his hairs stand up on end. At least he and Quinn were on good speaking terms now. Though there was a bit of...something that writhed in him internally seeing the two arm in arm. He gives Quinn a friendly nod and a tip of his drink. "Quinn, good to see you!" He certainly appreciated seeing her out and about outside of Kindred society. Even if they feared the sun more than most, Shadows were social creatures by nature. And that's just the way I like it. He offers a similar gesture to Connor, though the smile is perhaps a bit strained. "And hello to you too Connor." He dares a mock-annoyed grin at his Priscus. Yes, yes; we both have the same name. Hardy har har. "I'd actually gotten a chance to meet with Mr Smith. Very enlightening." He knew Connor had also accepted his offer of a meeting at some point; though now was certainly not the time to talk of the Lancea Sanctum.

The human trio were still there and they still hadn't given him any skunk eyes, so at least there was still an option for new conversation. Connor suggests getting a drink for Quinn, and he takes that as his chance. "Speaking of, I think I'll be occupied for just a moment."

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-07-19 22:44:02	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Wink, Wink; Nudge, Nudge (Manip + Subterfugue + Speciality: Misdirection) (10 Again)	2, 9, 9, 2, 3, 10, 9	4 successes

He directs a subtle look to Quinn. She'd know his meaning. "I won't be too long." He gives a brief nod to Connor and Clay and makes his way over to the bar. He makes sure to end up just to the side of Alice, but not between her and Meredith and Chris. Just a bit of predatory tactics; Don't get between the cub and its parents.
He makes sure there's just enough space that she won't feel uncomfortable, but enough that they can talk easily. "Hello, sorry to interrupt. I couldn't help but notice you and your friends having a great time here tonight. I'm Conner." He offers a friendly smile, hoping she isn't too far drunk to blow him off.

[Crystal]

Quinn's predatory smile was not lost on Crystal. Fuck it, neither of them was going to throw down here. He pursed his lips for a second and returned the smile in kind. He then focused on the actual people he was with - even though Aurora and Phoenyx resorted to fishing for compliments and politely dishing those compliments out. Even he got his fair share from the First Talon. "Well thank you. I plan to stick around so if you want a play-by-play I'm your man." Of course he knew only how to get them into bed, but maybe Alice could take it from there.

The Warlock let the girls duke it out when it came to outfit swaps (frankly he wasn't really listening too closely for a while). He sipped his cocktail and looked around the bar to see if he couldn't find an example on which he could teach Phoenyx the high art of flirting, when 'Conner' joined them. Uh oh, that would be what you called a trial by fire.

He waited for Phoenyx to introduce herself before reaching out with his hand.
"Hey Conner, nice to meet you. I'm Chris." Should he have left the two flirts alone? Maybe, but the Obrimos certainly had no problem with voicing her wants so if she wanted him to back off he'd know. For now he would be a safety net of sorts for her.

While enjoying the show, of course.