The Ten Ten Room

[Conner Wells]

Conner chuckled, surprised his reference didn't hit as close as he'd thought. No accounting for preference I guess. Maybe she's more of a romantic comedy fan? "An Amazon who wanders a fantasy world fighting for justice alongside an array of colorful sidekicks. Think Wonder Woman but without most of the superpowers." He gives a brief look to the rest of the group on the 'sidekicks' line. "But maybe superheroes aren't your style? What stories do you enjoy?"

Alice leans in, so close and yet so far. She smirks and Conner's insides are on fire, butterflies he thought he'd never feel again stirring up and clouding his predatory instincts. The first parry of the night, it seems? Good to know she's not too drunk to have her wits. He preferred willing targets anyway. He answers her smirk with his own, purring like a Cheshire panther. "Ah, social, beautiful, AND perceptive; I'll drink to that." He clinks off of Alice's glass and downs some more of his own liquid courage. "But, tell me, what does Alice look for in a potential flirtatious, spur-of-the-moment drinking partner? I'm always looking to learn." He retreats just a bit, but not enough that the firebird is out of reach. God help him, he was stubborn.

The conversation between Chris and Quinn was getting surprisingly heated, which surprised Conner. Chris seemed like a very laid-back sort of guy; but did he really know Quinn from somewhere before?

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-08-02 14:52:10	Conner Wells rolls 4 to Aura Reading: Quinn Retry (Int + Empathy + Auspex + Blood Tie - Composure: Quinn - 3rd Attempt) (10 Again)	6, 9, 4, 9	2 successes

As Alice drifts into the other conversations, Conner turns his focus on Quinn again. And this time, the Shadow Priscus is wreathed in muted colors. Conner's barely suppresses his shock. ​Wait? Is that her Aura? He knew that was a skillset all Mekhet possessed at some point, but why now?

He takes in the hues of Quinn's Aura just in time for Alice to announce she was getting fries. He blinks, and the colors are gone, leaving his Cousin cloaked in mundanity. I'll need to work on this. "Fries? Say no more, fries you shall have." He gets up to order the snacks, holding up a hand if she protests. "Ah, ah! I've chatted you up enough i HAVE to get you something, those are the rules." He considers throwing in a reference to 'clever girls' being rewarded, but he doesn't want to date himself too much since the Xena reference flopped. Maybe keep that one in the back pocket for later.

Conner walks over to the bar with a confident grin on his face. THIS was the social combat he loved: no life-or-death stakes, no terrifying consequences for failure. Just something they could all laugh about when the night was over.

[Crystal]

Note to self: some people just couldn't take a bit of banter. Fuck, Quinn and that Irish dude acted as if he'd just insulted their mothers or something. "Yeah right." Aurora seemed to have the correct impression - this didn't seem like a acquaintance that would be going anywhere fast.
Not only that, but petty shit with strangers like that severely put a damper on his mood. How did the night go from almost getting some fuckboy to come home with him to having to justify himself to some strangers that could have stepped out of a perfume commercial?

He swallowed down the first two snarky answers that came to mind, then he swallowed some of his drink to further calm him down. "Yeah I'm not the only one seeing things that aren't there. But hey, I won't be spoiling your evening for much longer. Have a good one." He gave Connor and Quinn a big smile, got out some money and handed it Aurora. "It's getting a bit crowded here - will you keep an eye out for Alice? That'll cover my drink and then some -treat yourself." With that he got up waved good-bye to the gathered unknown people and interrupted Conner's absurdly hard flirting to give Phoenyx a proper heads-up. "Take care and stay hydrated. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Judging by how hard the guy was reaching he wouldn't have to worry about that. Now to salvage that evening somehow - life was too short to try and please some strangers.

He was almost out the door when a thought struck him: he wasn't looking for new friends and couldn't care less about their opinions, but what about Kaze? What if that little stunt just now was a detriment to his friend's relationship with Jennifer? "Oh, for fuck's sake." Crystal went back to the bar, asked for a napkin and a pen and scribbled down his number. Then he went back to Quinn and put it in front of her. "Maybe you could catch me on a better day." There. The good thing about high self-confidence was that he absolutely didn't care whether that looked weak or like he was admitting being wrong. If that was what it took to reduce the risk of poisoning that particular well then so be it.

Now that that was out of the way, he could finally start to make something of the light buzz and the accumulated hormones.
Crystal went to have fun somewhere else.

Thanks for the scene everybody!

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap observes. The Kindred seem focused on the likely prey, 'cept the Priscus can't seem to resist playing cat n mouse with the pretty boy, who seems like he can handle himself alright, maybe make that cat and cat.

"Makes sense. Steak 'd be too easy anyhow." Dirt Nap comments in response to Madison bein' helpful like. "I think I'll get somethin' real greasy then, to make the whiskey work harder."

He heads over to order something, not too expensive and settles for ordering a big plate of tater fries as the best compromise for getting' his money's worth. These experiments are looking to be more expensive than he figured, and he's got some money goals now too, but time, now he has as much of that as can be, so no need to rush anythin'.

He sees the pretty boy leave as he is coming back, and nods to Madison again. "Thanks for the tip. I'll share my fries with you, if you have a mind to." He offers.

Then the pretty boy comes back and gives his number to Priscus Quinn, but doesn't look happy about it. She does seem to have that effect.

[Quinn Durant]

The friction with Chris was obvious, and confusing for the Mehket. Of course she didn’t know him well enough for him to ‘joke’ in that manner with her if that was the intent. Then again perhaps she had been spending too much time with other Kindred. Kindred society was not layered with entitlement simply for existing the way the Kine society was. No one was gunna eat your face literally for being rude, or plot your complete and utter destruction over a slight. There weren't as many rules. It made it harder to gauge intent, and she had treated him not as Kine, but as another predator because she understood that he was more than just a gas and sip. He wasn’t human either, though Quinn felt he was more human than she was, and certainly afflicted with more of the Kine way of thinking than she would probably ever be. Quinn didn’t say a word to Crystal’s assertion as she really wasn’t sure, and didn’t see it as a productive way to comment further when he was leaving. And then he was back and gave her his number, and what he said then, she understood. It wasn’t an apology but an acknowledgement, and a future of rectification, a way forward. Quinn understood that all too well, and appreciated it for what it was. Mature. “Thank you Chris, I will be in touch with you soon.” She assured him with a little nod of acknowledgement.


Connor’s stunt with the Gaelic had tempered the Shadow’s natural defensiveness over her closest Kin. Quinn couldn’t help that. Conner Wells was much much closer to Quinn than anyone else could guess at. Only a very small sample size of the court knew of their close kinship and blood tie. She was responsible for him as his Priscus, and she hid behind that station often when it came to Conner. Like a buffer. The way Conner looked at her though, caught Quinn’s full attention, like he was seeing something for the first time. Quinn knew that look, but the warmth of Connor’s body against the line of her, and the social atmosphere stole that revelation that she was about to understand. It aroused a desire of selfishness brought about by the never ending hunger that would never be extinguished or satisfied. The goal post just kept moving, and she would chase it.

She looked up at Connor O’Brien and smiled gently, clearly softening to his foreign tongue. “That is beautiful, is that..ummmm oh crap..I know this one.” She paused looking like it was on the tip of her tongue. “Gaelic! Right?” She bit her lip, giving in to his charms some, and made a counter offer. "Perhaps we could grab a bit of craft beer from the establishment and catch a walk in the park nearby before we must say good night?"


And all the while, Conner Wells saw beyond the faηade. He saw through the veil of the mundane to the extraordinary. For a moment that veil peeled back and the hidden became visible. Quinn’s aura shimmered to life, like mists parting to a swift sunrise. The colors were mottled and shifting of purple and deep red, both signifying her dominant emotions, the color muted with proving Quinn’s Kindred condition.

Dirt Nap looked like he was dropping anchor here, and she wished him well in his endeavors. Quinn could guess at what he was working on well enough, and he was welcome to it. He would figure it out, or he wouldn't. If he needed help perhaps he would ask, though she tended to doubt it. At least he couldn't find an excuse to slip away and stalk her. For that she was thankful.

[Connor OBrien]

The haunt raises his glass slightly to Madison. "Fair enough." He says before taking another sip.

Chris's reaction catches him off guard to a degree. He was used to an outburst at the smallest slight in Kindres society, but not from a human. They had the luxury of a full range of emotion to temper their rage. Still, the kine shows a great depth of restraint, and even maturity as he returns to give Quinn his number, it was almost worthy of respect despite the fact that he was human.

Then Quinn asks about the language he spoke. "In English, yes, Irish Gaelic to be precise. The Scots speak their own form of it, so most just call it Irish to avoid confusion." His eyes meat those of the Shadow, and he thinks he might see something in them, but he isn't sure. The bite on the lip, however, was all too easy to read. The haunt downs the rest of his whiskey and makes the accompanying face that kine would after such a stunt. "If you wish, a stσr, a walk in the park seems nice on a night like this."

[Aurora]

A nod to the Arrow, “Yeah, it’s good. I think you’d like Xena.” Maybe not her outfit, but yah.

Hearing her say she knew what he was doing was good. The Arrow wasn’t too drunk yet. Always a good thing. But it did make her feel a bit awkward. Does she let Phoenyx leave with the guy if she wants to? Would it depend on how drunk she was? Should she invite her to the bathroom and remove some of that drunkness?

Laughing, “Then you need to get gravy to go along with them. Trust me on that one.” It was important.

Would that make her a colorful sidekick to Phoenyx? But one who could people into fish. She could be ok with that.

And wow! This guy was laying it on thick! It was hard to not call him on it. But, Phoenyx was a big girl and she trusted that she’d ask for help if she needed it. Though Aurora still planned on keeping an eye on it. If her friend got too drunk, then she’d say something.

She opens her mouth to say something to Crystal, but stops. She didn’t have the full story and shouldn’t nose into it.

And he was leaving, well, that sucks. But as he comes back, she makes a phone with her hand and holds it to her ear. A silent way of telling him to call her.

A solemn nod to the cowboy, “The more grease, the better!” she agrees. It was a staple of drinking.

Was the happy little band of friends leaving? It seemed that way. She holds a hand up and orders another Death in the Afternoon, having finished her first.

But she wasn’t leaving. She had a friend to keep an eye on.

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx shrugs. "I was never much of a movie person. But I love mytholology. Maybe it is older than me. When was it around?" She asks the last to Aurora.

The latest wave of compliments brings a flush of pink to her cheeks, but she sits a little taller. "I can drink with anyone., but if you mean something else then tall and strong." She smiles again. The offer of free fries makes her giggle with a quiet "thank you".

She waves to Crystal on his way out. "I'm fiiiiiine," she beams. "See, Conner is being nice and getting fries! Have a good night!"

A slow glance to the others as they prepare to leave. "Oh. You leaving? Well.... bye! Enjoy your date!"

She looks over to Aurora. "Did I do okay? I think he's funny." she giggles, looking over to Conner at the bar.

[Conner Wells]

Conner walks up to the bar to order those fries, and his smile begins to fade just a bit into concern. The colors swirling around Quinn: the colors of potent, aggressive, desire. But there was confusion there. Was she not comfortable with O'Brien? There was brief, Bestial surge complimented with Human protective instinct. ​I'm going to have to keep an eye on Connor '2.0'. ​But that wasn't the only thing that worried him about what he saw. He wondered if he'd, for the briefest of moments, been looking into a mirror at his own driving forces. The forces that had gotten him into all this trouble.

But that's why you're here, right? To get away from that, if just for a moment?

The bartender hands him his food order, and he turns to find the party dispersing. Chris seems to be leaving on more friendly terms with Quinn. What WAS that about? And Quinn and Connor were talking of departing for the night as well. He walks the fries over to Alice, giving a brief smile. "One sec, Alice. I've got to tell my cousin goodbye." He walks over to Quinn and, hiding in the sheer, Blushed audacity one only can as a Kindred among Men, pulls her into a tight, familial hug. "It was good to see you." He gives her a brief wink for only her eyes, a little unspoken message that he was happy she got to see him like this; away from the constant pressures of Domain business. He gives Connor a handshake. "You guys take care." And a pointed look. Don't hurt my family.

With his Priscus/Cousin properly bid farewell, Conner slips back into his seat next to Alice. He notes 'Clay' taking up his seat by Madison, but doesn't begrudge him. As long as he knew to keep his distance and respect Conner's space. "So, before I forget..."

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-08-04 14:38:38	Conner Wells rolls 4 to Pull a Magic Trick (Dex + Larceny) (10 Again)	8, 6, 8, 5	2 successes

He pulls a notepad and pen out of his shirt pocket with just a bit of flourish, like a stage magician. Scribbling down in the finest penmanship one can have after a few sips of liquor, he hands Alice a piece of paper with a phone number. "I'd love to have some more of these chats sometime. If only to hear some more of that cute laugh." ​He gives her some time to react, to see if she'll take the offer. "But, while we're here. And as long as I'm not taking time away from your friend..." A look to Madison, as if to say I get it, you're the boss "Maybe you'd like to chat some more?"

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap seems to focus on Madison specifically. He nods thoughtfully.

Then he abruptly says, "More gravy then. I'll be back."

He heads off to the bar, or maybe even the kitchen. In any case, he returns with a lot more gravy covering the laden platter of french fries, and a bottle of whiskey.

"Thanks. This'll save me time." Dirt Nap thanks Madison, though he almost seems to be talking as much to himself as he shares the plate and digs in with gusto, eating and then drinking in a fixed cycle pattern.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn nodded in agreement with Connor. "Ahhh....I stand corrected then, but as I am far from Irsh, I think I will stick to referencing the language as Gaelic as I don't have the ancestry to refer to it otherwise." She said with a small teasing smile. Yeah, she enjoyed that little exchange and going back and forth playfully. She made sure he saw it as playful too, with her smile, and that glint of mischievousness in her eyes. "Go grab something to go and we will head to the park for a walk to finish our evening." She said softly.

She had no sooner finished her plans than been approached by Conner, and Quinn smirked slightly at his intentions. Oh yeah. Just two normal humans who hug, huh? Well at least he had his beast masked otherwise that quick pull in would have made her growl at him. He was family yes, but Quinn never forgot what they were. If you didn't respect what you are, you made mistakes. Mistakes that could cost you. Like he had made with Maeve in court. Of course, they weren't in court......so maybe she was the uptight one? Nah. Not uptight, just cautious. "It's good to see you to Conner." She wrapped her arms around his upper body and completed the hug, squeezing ever so gently. "Good night, and I like her." She said softly her gaze moving to Alice pointedly with a big smile. She raised her eyebrows up rapidly a few times at Conner. A not so subtle way of saying 'go after what you want.'

"Good night, Madison. It was cool meeting you, and you too Alice. Enjoy the rest of your night!"
Quinn ignored Dirt Nap. She gave as good as she got on that score. She matched his rudeness.