Girls Night

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe picked up on the weird dynamic between her shot boy and Jerry, and began to construct all the possibilities of what had happened in her mind. It didn't shock her at all that Jerry had managed to put his foot in his mouth about something, and she made a note to ask Quinn about it when they next had a moment alone. She wouldn't embarrass Jerry by asking now, especially with Mal and he in some kind of conflict. She smiled and thanked Quinn for agreeing to grab the whiskey while he was in the storage room and was turning to say something to Jerry when Vivianne sat with them. She met eyes with the watchful Amy and smiled reassuringly. No harm would come to this girl while the Harpy was working.

"Not intruding on me," she replied, wiping down the bar with the same dirty rag. "Want another drink, Sugah?"

Jerry still hadn't finished his, and she smiled at him to let him know she wasn't about to lay into him over the Quinn awkwardness. He had enough people on him today that Lisa-Joe felt she could play a more reassuring Ma.

[The Cedar Witch]

"Oh, okay."  Jerry watched Quinn with a frown as he walked away.  The human was still pissed.  Fine.  He personally didn't see what the fucking problem was.  They weren't fucking married.  He'd come around eventually, Jerry was sure of it.  They always had such a great time together--Quinn wouldn't stay away forever.  He took a long sip from the bloody glass before setting it down a little less than half full.

When the lanky chick joined them, he gave her a quick look and a smile.  No, not his type, really.

"Me neither,"  He answered to the statement about her intruding.  Nothing there to intrude on.  He caught Lisa-Joe's smile and didn't really know what to make of it, so he gave her a little smile back before turning to the human. 

"Like the show so far?"  With a cheeky grin he was back to his not-thoughtful self.

Mal had turned his attention to Jerry when Vivianne joined him, checked his phone briefly and downed the remainder of his drink.  He'd interrupt them and drag Jerry back to the stage soon.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe rolled her eyes at Jerry's smile and went back to her bar duties as Vivainne considered her offer for another drink.

[Harlequin]

“Oh! No thank you, miss—uh, Lisa-Joe. I’m kind of a lightweight.” Her smile was crooked and apologetic.

Her drink was back on the table, completely untouched.

“I do! I liked what you did with “White Wedding.” She didn’t mention how rusty he’d sounded at first, especially compared to his band mates, who were clearly in practice. “I also like your originals. Who’s the writer?”

[The Cedar Witch]

"Thanks!"  Jerry's grin widened.  He did enjoy getting attention and compliments.  The smile flickered a bit when she asked about the writer of the originals.  He might've tried to lie if Mal wasn't around but it there was no chance of getting away with that.

"That'd be Malakai over there,"  he nodded in the older vampire's direction and took another small sip.  "We work on the music together though."  He added as if trying to make himself sound more important.  It was true though.  But Mal was undoubtedly the driving force behind the majority of the songwriting.

"Second half of the set is pretty much all of our own stuff."  That much Mal had told all of them before the break.

[Black Philip]

With the offer of another drink refused, Lisa-Joe gave a quick smile before moving down the bar to tend to other customers. She planned on rejoining Wild Hunt, once To Ashes was back on stage. She needed to iron out the details of this Battle of the Bands, and she could catch Mal after the show to get his input. Perhaps they could even do a series of shows at Venture, The White Rabbit and maybe another venue. Party promoting was something she and Jake knew how to do, and things didn't need to happen in the White Rabbit for them to make money. Her mind was a blaze with ideas as she made two rum and cokes and a glass of O negative. Once her customers were tended to, she looked and saw it was time for To Ashes to continue. She made her way back to Wild Hunt's table and sat next to Amy.

"Did I miss anything," she asked, not expecting to have missed much.

[Saiketsu]

As he weaved between sweating bodies and around groups of close friends, he fidgeted with the storeroom keys, fighting off the well-known progression of his frustration. Self-critique, that old friend, crept in as he chewed his words to Jerry over in a circle. His mood was too quickly turning sour - and sour moods didn't make for good tips. Quinn jammed the keys into the lock and gathered the desired liquor bottles, leaving a note on the clipboard of which bottles he took for what bars. Something painful and angry began to fill his heart with thick fog, stirring an old, dark feeling he'd always be recovering from. It stuck with him as he balanced a bottle of tequila on the crook of his arm and left the storeroom.

He was relieved to see Jerry, Mal, Thor, and Zach (where was Kim?) back on stage tuning their instruments, plugging in amplifiers, adjusting straps. He spun around the bar just as the music was starting up again and his gaze fell on Jerry's back before shifting over to Malakai, who began to sing the opening line of an original song that Quinn particularly enjoyed. Ever since he started sleeping with Jerry, Quinn had been a loyal groupie to the band. Before the falling out with Jerry, he could be found regularly at the shows and after parties, drinking and smoking with the band. Malakai would even throw these parties at every opportunity and Quinn found himself with an invite every single time. He felt like they were almost family now, and the awkward tension between Jerry and himself created a discomfort that Quinn feared would break him up with that family feeling. It was that reason that he wanted to just forget the whole thing, suck up his issues and maintain the status quo.

But then Malakai had found out about Jerry's stupidity (well, as it related to Quinn, anyway), and took the human's side. It surprised him that Mal had made the point to call Jerry out for being an ass - they had all (Quinn included) become accustomed to the douchery that was Jeremiah Peterson. The thought of Mal standing up for him against Jerry made him blush originally - Malakai being the super cool, sexy friend who was the perfect package of unbelievable talent, skill, and humility. Malakai was way outside of everyone's league and Quinn constantly felt that in his presence, despite their friendship. Now he just felt a silent kind of solidarity with the other vampire every time they caught eyes or Jerry opened his mouth.

Quinn put the bottles down on the bar as he watched Mal sing, his eyes closing and a smile spreading across his gorgeous face with the passion of the music. Jerry's guitar hung low and held it out to the crowd as if it were an extension of his dick. Quinn rolled his eyes and tried to force his attention on the other members of the band before landing back on Mal. He replaced LJ's liquor bottles, changed them to clean spouts, and was about to leave when he noticed the stick of a girl at the end of the bar where Jerry had been sitting, drinkless. He recognized her as a person with the group of wild women nearby, but couldn't place why the heck she was so familiar.

"Hey sweetness," Quinn said as he approached, leaning in to be heard a bit. "Who abandoned you here by your lonesome?" He tried his best to sound friendly and he hoped he wasn't coming off as some creep. "Can I get you anything?"

[Harlequin]

And just like that, Vivianne was left alone in a sea of strangers. Panic rose in her chest, familiar and nearly comforting -- but she willed it down, down, down. She caught Ami's eye, and the punk half-rose from her seat, intent on collecting her bandmate.

But then the boy appeared at her elbow. His voice startled her, but his words teased out another crooked smile, still somehow apologetic, "Oh! No one. I mean, Lisa-Joe, and, uh, that Jerry guy. But it's okay. I actually --"

What? Wanted to ask him why he looked so upset earlier? How he did such a good job of hiding it? She ran a hand over the freshly-shorn side of her head. What was it Morgaine had said? Just say what you want to. We're all fucking weirdos on this bitch of an earth.

"It's, uh,  kind of hard being a Human in these places, isn't it?"


"Oh, just planning on how we're gonna CRUSH these jokers." Morgaine grinned at Lisa-Joe as Ami settled back into her chair, satisfied that Vivianne didn't need tending to. The comment earned Morgaine a look from Ami. "No, but really, it's all in good fun. I think it's gonna be a great time."

[Saiketsu]

Quinn blinked, taken aback. In the White Rabbit, the supernatural population wasn't talked about as openly as at The Pompeii. It was that elephant in the room that the staff and supernatural guests knew about that no one acknowledged. So when the blonde girl mentioned being human, he took a minute and code-switched briefly, talking to someone in the know all of a sudden, but unable to talk about it too openly due to work restrictions.

"You kinda get used to it," Quinn shrugged with a worn smile. Yeah, it was hard to live around vampires and immortals like this all the time. He figured she was referring to Jerry and Lisa-Joe, the wild ones who flitted between new things that caught their attention and mostly forgot how to be human. "Is this your first time in the Rabbit?" He fussed with the trimmings of the bar before him, closing ice coolers and quickly wiping the soda lines to keep the build up off. He completely forgot about bringing the other bottle of liquor upstairs to Manuel.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe laughed at Morgaine's proclamation. She'd never tell them so, but one some level she was hoping they would crush To Ashes. She knew how good they could be, and she was hoping this battle of the bands would bring out their absolute best. She leaned in and batted a hand playfully in Morgaine's direction.

"Just leave me something to work with afterwords. They're our house band!"

She was kidding of course, and turned to Amy, examining her with skepticism. "Worried about your friend," she asked, pointing at Viv with her chin. She saw Quinn chatting, and wondered if he'd taken the bottles back up to Manuel. Internally, she grumbled.

[Harlequin]

Sensing from his blink and following question, that she’d spoken out of turn, Vivianne’s eyebrows creased, and she bit her lip, “Yes, it is. I’m sorry, are we not supposed to talk freely here? Are there rules? Anxiously, she remembered the way Ami’s drink had been hidden. Foolish.

“I mean, they are call ‘To Ashes’, maybe it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Moraine couldn’t help but grin at her own cleverness.


Ami rolled her eyes before replying to Lisa-Joe, “Yeah,” she admitted, seeing no harm in it, “She’s easy to worry about.”

[Saiketsu]

Quinn smiled and leaned in to talk loudly so she could hear him over Thor's solo on drums. "There are, technically, but they're a bit on the relaxed side here. There are still humans who visit who aren't in the know so Lisa-Joe keeps up the front of being a human bar."

He filled a glass with ice and poured himself a glass of water from the soda gun. He did his best to not drink while he worked at the Rabbit - his transition from the Pompeii was too new to be doing shit like that, and, quite frankly, Lisa-Joe intimidated the fuck out of him. Still the urge to knock back a shot of tequila was tempting.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed to himself, dropping the rag and darting over to where he had left Manuel's liquors on the back bar. "I'll be right back!" He called out to his new patron with the buzzed head, not sure whether she heard him or not. As fast as the sweaty club would let him, he B-lined it upstairs to the bar.

[The Cedar Witch]

The second half began with more energy, a significant shift now that they'd properly warmed up.  Mal was a tad embarrassed that the patrons of the Rabbit were witness to how rusty they were in the beginning.  But now that they seemed to have properly gotten back on the horse (so to speak) a bit of pride bubbled up.  Jerry seemed to be playing with more purpose at the very least.  If Mal didn't know any better, he would have guessed that the other vampire was trying to put on more of a show for a certain human that had been lurking by the bar.  Mal glanced in Quinn's direction mid-performance, just in time to see him scurry back upstairs.  Maybe after the show, they'd get a chance to chat.  Away from Jerry. 

He hoped the human was doing okay.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe smiled pleasantly at Ami. Her concern for friend was sweet but not needed. Maria had cast all sorts of magic that now made the Rabbit a place without harm. As if seeming to call her bluff, two of the bikers broke out into a fist fight over a game of pool. A large muscular bull with a long black beard smashed his glass on his opponents head, and then they were throwing punches back and forth.

"Excuse me for a moment, would you," Lisa-Joe said to the women. She joined the fight, ducking the few swings directed her ways. The attacker was disabled first, a quick punch to the gut followed by throwing him on the pool table. The second took a bit more work, as he was fast and hell bent on winning the fight. Eventually, Lisa-Joe opted for fear, and so let her supernatural eyes meet his. The mortal stopped dead in his tracks and began apologizing profusely.

"Ya'll play nice or Ma is going to have to make ya'll leave," she warned. She'd enjoyed herself and with a quick spring in her step bounced all the way back over to Wild Hunt. To Ashes sounded much better this set, and she was happy since it was all their original stuff. She made sure to catch both Mal's and Jerry's eyes and gave them both a pleased expression. Thor on drums got a pleased look too, his drum solo sounding especially good tonight. She plopped back down.

"Sorry about that. The men were being children again," she explained, pointing to the pool table. She returned her focus to Ami. "I'd say your friend has nothing to worry about, but clearly..." She looked back to see two very well behaved bikers. "So who started this band," she asked to either of the two women at the table.

[Saiketsu]

"It's about goddamn time!" Manuel exclaimed from one end of the bar, dancing around the other bar tenders to get to Quinn.

"Sorry," Quinn said, not making eye contact with him. "I got caught up. There's a lot of people down there tonight because the band."

"Mhmm," the other said grumpily, taking the bottle from Quinn.

Quinn bit the inside of his lower lip as he leaned one hand on the bar, assessing the traffic in the club. Tommy was on stage, drawing a heart on his pelvic dip with a cherry red lipstick, just above his banana hammock, that taunting smile on his lips. There were plenty of bartenders on tonight and the drinks were slowing down for a moment. Everything was caught up and the dicks were about to come out on stage. Now was probably the best time to step away. Quinn guiltily thought of the girl he left sitting alone at the bar... and a certain lead singer that he loved to look at.

"I was thinking about taking my break now."

Manuel looked around and saw the same thing that Quinn did, but his eyes got stuck on Tommy a bit longer than Quinn's had. He couldn't help but wonder what was going through the bartender's head about his good friend, wondering if he was tempted by the low hanging fruit that was Thomas Farrell. "I mean I think we've got this covered up here," he said distractedly, returning his gaze to a customer's drink. "Go, be with your boyfriend." Meaning Jerry, whom many of the staff were familiar with seeing - and interacting with, unfortunately - Manuel smirked and gave Quinn a friendly, macho smack in the arm.

The human scoffed. "He is not my boyfriend," Quinn clarified, but stepped backwards away from the vampire anyway, feeling a bit hot behind the ears. That point was made abundantly clear to Quinn and he needed no reminder of it.

He found his way back downstairs - after putting on a black tee shirt with the White Rabbit's logo on the breast, not wishing to draw anymore attention to his glittery suspenders - and weaved his way back over to where the woman he was talking to before sat. Only a few minutes had past and he hoped that she would still be willing to strike up that conversation about human stuff. Without meaning to, his eyes flicked back over to the stage and he caught eyes with Jerry as Mal began the next song. Quinn looked away quickly and hoped that he hadn't inadvertently summoned the vampire over at the next break.

"Sorry about that," he said to the girl regarding his disappearing/reappearing act. "The bar upstairs needed booze. I'm Quinn." He extended his hand to the blonde with a smile.