Colin McGregor (macattack) wrote in omega_rpg, @ 2008-08-02 00:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | coby, edie, lilly, mac, quinn |
A night on the town.
Who: Quinn, Edie, Mac, Coby. Open to anyone else who feels like stopping by the bar!
What: Drinking, friending, awkwardly interacting
Where: The bar
When: August 1st
"I want to go out."
The southern blonde was standing in the middle of Quinn's door way with an anxious look in her eyes. She was dressed up, well at least not in the traditional sense. Edie had always liked to go out in Louisville but she was not the type to frequent clubs or other fancy lounges. Give the girl a bar with a jukebox and some friends and she could make it a party.
She still wore cowboy boots but these were of a fancier variety, not as dirty and worn as her usual pair. Her dark dyed jeans were tucked down into the length of the boot. A embellished green spaghetti-strapped tank top completed the outfit, showing off the cleavage that was customarily hidden beneath a t-shirt. Even her blonde hair was curled for the occasion.
Quinn glanced up from the book he'd been engrossed in, eyes widening, and pausing mid-chomp on the pen he'd been chewing on. "Uh..." was the most intelligent response he could get out.
"Uh...?" Edie echoed, delivering a smile to the man. "Come on, now. Get up."
It was an innocent request. Since entering Normalville and watching the world crumble around her, Edie had tried to create a routine to keep her mind off the dull ache in her chest. She was not necessarily living just existing. But after the month and a half of existing in the town - her new home for better or worse - the girl started to crave something more. Maybe it was more like she had become a new person, a different Edie and she had to let go of Kentucky before it consumed her entirely and she could never start a real life in Normalville.
Quinn blinked at her, setting down his pen and book. "I, uh, where do you want to go?"
"Mac's Bar," Edie beamed, traveling further into the room. She looked Quinn over in mock-disapproval. "First, we're going have to change you into something a little more... sexy. It's our big night out on the town," she mused.
Quinn could feel himself starting to get nervous. He glanced down at his his attire - jeans and a plan white t-shirt. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing? Do a lot of people go to this bar?"
"Nah, not at all," Edie admitted about the population of the bar. Mac was probably there. "And nothing's wrong with that you're wearing. Gosh knows I prefer a man in a t-shirt and jeans. Especially if they have a butt like yours." Edie grinned devilishly up at Quinn but quickly cemented two small hands firmly to his upper arms and said, "Don't get all weird on me because I said that, you hear? You should be proud you have brains and a butt. Now," she took her hands off his arms and folded hers across her chest, "I thought we could just get a little dolled up for the fun of it."
Quinn's nerves only increased as she started talking about his butt. "Okay, but I uh, I don't really have much more than this..."
Edie stepped back, examining his attire. "Hmmm," she said, tapping her cheek, "Well keep the jeans on definitely. That would be a waste otherwise. How about a button-down shirt? Do you own something like that? In blue? It'll bring out your eyes."
Quinn took advantage of her distance to go over to his closet and start rifling through it. He finally pulled out a navy blue button down shirt and held it up for her. "Like this?"
"Perfect," Edie agreed. "Okay, get out of that shirt. You have any nice shoes, well anything besides sneakers?"
"Yeah, Mennie found me some. She said I could never be too prepared," Quinn replied, turning his back to her and tugging off his shirt. He was far more self conscious around her than he'd been before. He pulled on the blue shirt and dug around in his closet until he pulled out a nice pair of brown dockers.
Edie caught the unnecessary modesty and wondered about the apparent self-conciousness Quinn always seemed to display while she was around. Of course, Edie, self-conscious herself, immediately came to the conclusion that he didn't like her. At all. And he was simply putting up with her because the town was small and it wasn't like he could ignore her.
She shook the negative thoughts from her mind and smiled, a little sadly, at the newly-clothed Quinn. "It looks great," she complimented and traveled over to stand in front of him. With expert fingers she tugged his collar loose from its ironed creases and smoothing it up along his neck.
It wasn't that he didn't like Edie, he thought she was great. She also made feel him nervous. "Thanks," he said, gazing down at her for a moment. "Uh, I guess we should get going..."
Edie gazed back momentarily wondering how someone's eyes could get that blue. She snapped back to reality, hearing Quinn speak. Her throat was cleared and her eyes diverted. "Oh, yeah, of course." She waited for the man to shuffle into his shoes, then the two of them made their way downstairs through the quiet house and out into the night.
It was nearing dusk, the whole town looking as if it were covered in syrup. It was cool out, one of the first in a range of horribly hot and humid July days. Edie and Quinn took advantage of the nice night and walked casually over to Mac's bar. Within fifteen minutes they neared the doors to the bar.
Mac stood behind the bar, leaning on the counter and reading another book recommended by Simon. It was the most reading he'd done since high school. And he hadn't done all the much, that was for damn sure.
Since declaring themselves friends back in June, Mac and Edie had fallen into a closeness that was something a kin to a brother/sister relationship. Edie just had to give up the hope that she would ever get to sleep with him. Once she did it seemed like they were always destined to become good friends. Funny how things work out.
"Heeeeay!" Edie greeted Mac as her and Quinn entered into the dim but friendly atmosphere of the bar. "I was hoping you'd be here." She pulled Quinn closer to her side as she stopped opposite Mac on the other side of the bartop. "Mac this is my friend Quinn. Quinn this is my friend Mac."
Mac gave a nod in their direction . "Hey." To Quinn he said, "Nice to meet you."
Quinn smiled at the man behind the bar, trying not to look too unnerved by the girl who'd pulled him closer. "Hello."
Mac noticed the slight panic on the kid's face and gave an amused smirk. "What can I get you?"
"Just a beer for me," Edie said, eyeing Mac knowingly. He knew what could happen if she drank too much. "What would you like?" she asked Quinn as she hoisted herself up onto a bar stool. She leaned over to see what Mac was reading.
"A beer's good, thanks," Quinn said, taking the seat next to Edie.
Mac nodded, "Anything in particular?" He set the book down so it's title, 'The Shawshank Redemption' was face up.
"My usual," Edie said, implying Blue Moon. "Is Simon getting you to read that?" she asked with a smile. Edie turned to Quinn, "Have you met Simon? He's the librarian."
Quinn added, "I'll take what she's having."
Mac pulled out two glasses and set about pouring the drinks. "He told me to check it out, yeah. I think he wants to keep me busy so I don't try to up and leave town again." He set their drinks in front of them.
Quinn nodded at Edie's question. "Yes, the library's the first place I… popped into. He's a nice guy. Really helpful."
"That's Simon all right," Mac said.
Edie's eyes turned dark at Mac's mention of leaving town. "You'll leave town over my dead body," she growled. Quinn may have been surprised as he never had seen Edie so vehement.
Mac lifted up his hands. "Jesus. I didn't say I was going anywhere." Yet.
Quinn perked up, both at Edie's surprising tone, and at the simple fact that Mac had been outside the town. "Wait, so you went outside of Normalville? What happened?"
"Yet," Edie echoed his thoughts and eyed Mac unconvinced by his statement. She took a deep drink of the cold beer that was pushed in front of her and said to Quinn, "Don't encourage him. He got radiation poisoning, that's what happened. And the more exposure to it the sicker he'll get and the more likely to develop severe problems." It was said firmly, nurse-like but with concern from a worried friend as its foundation.
"I'm fine," Mac pointed out. "Thanks for the lecture."
Quinn, on the other hand, looked fascinated. "So there is radiation outside of the valley. It's amazing that it hasn't effected the town - it has to be the microclimate."
Edie was about to start lecturing Mac some more, specifically that they would never know if he was fine ever again. It could be years till an effect of the radiation shows itself, most likely in the form of cancer. But Quinn's comment stopped the girl's mouth and she turned to look at him in interest. "What's that?" she asked, quite clearly fascinated. If it was because of the concept itself or because Quinn knew it, they wouldn't be able to tell. Mac might have guessed the latter however.
Mac smirked at the girl's sudden shift in attention.
"Well, a lot of valley's have microclimates," Quinn said, enthusiastically. "Totally different weather than what's happening outside. Based on the valley's slopes and depth it could be a bright fifty degree day in the valley with a blizzard going on outside of it. It's amazing really to think about."
"Yeah," agreed Edie, nodding enthusiastically. "That's pretty cool, isn't it Mac?" She took her eyes off Quinn only briefly to address Mac. "A little thing like a valley, something you would never think about as anything significant or worth much time, saved all our lives."
"Yeah," Mac agreed, though he sounded about as interested as he would have if someone had started going over the scientific properties of tree bark. "Awesome."
Quinn grinned sheepishly, running his hand through his hair.
Edie rolled her eyes at Mac and turned back to Quinn. "I think it's fantastic, really. Even when Mother Nature has been mostly destroyed by bombs, she still finds a way to protect us." She raised her glass of beer. "To Mother Nature."
Mac's lips had quirked at Edie's impromtu speech. "To luck, is more like it."
Quinn just grinned at her and raised his glass to click against hers. It was nice that someone found things like a microclimate as cool and interesting as he did.
The girl took a generous sip and smiled. "Okay, smarty pants," she said to Mac. "How about 'To Friends'?" She turned her eyes to Quinn and then back again to Mac. "Can we all agree on that one?"
Mac poured himself a beer as well. "Sure, sure."
"I like it," Quinn said, all the while getting hit with a sudden wave of sadness. This was the longest he'd been stuck on any world since they'd started sliding, and it was hard, getting closer to people when he knew they'd be leaving as soon as he fixed the timer.
"Good," Edie smiled. She was glad that Mac, however hesitant, decided to pour himself a beer and join them. It almost felt like a normal Saturday night out. "To Friends," she repeated, raising her glass once again.
Quinn once again tapped his glass to hers, and Mac followed suit.
After taking a sip of his beer he said to Edie, "You know I got the jukebox working. Don't need to pay for it now."
The sound that came out of the southern girl was something similar to the squeal a stuck pig would make. Except it was much for gleeful. "Woooo!" she hooted, drumming her hands on the corner of the bar top. "I know what we're doing tonight," she announced and eyed Quinn wickedly.
Quinn looked wary. "What...?"
The blonde finished her beer in three more large gulps. "Silly," she reprimanded, grabbing his upper arm playfully. "We're going to play some music. And then you're going to dance with me. And probably sing too." There was something in Edie's hazel eyes that unmistakably alluded to the importance the night and its activities meant to her. It was almost as if her eyes were gleaming the way a child's would on Christmas Eve.
Mac was glad the girl had moved her attentions onto someone else. There was no way in hell he'd be dancing.
"My dancing is really uh... terrible," Quinn tried to protest. Judging by the look in her eyes though, it was a futile attempt.
In the middle of the soon-to-be-argument, the door to the bar opened unexpectedly.
Coby had been preoccupied that day working on his one-man guerilla project, and after hours of endless concentration thought going to see his favorite bartender was a good way to relax and...blow off some steam. He hadn't counted on the company, though.
It took a few seconds to register the sight in front of him, but with a genuine smile at Edie he said "Hey!" and went over to her, kissing her cheek. "It's my drug dealer."
He looked up at Mac and nodded a hello, then turned his attention back to the blonde. "How have you been?"