psychicsam (psychicsam) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-07-06 00:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | gwen morrison, place: la, ~samuel james |
New Places, Old Faces
Who: Sam and Gwen
Where: Avarice
When: Tuesday, June 22nd
Well. Along with the peace of mind that came with the closure of it all, another good thing that came from Gwen's making amends with Skylar? No longer being barred from Avarice. Hey, she liked coming here, ok? The fact that her new girlfriend was currently living in the huge apartment above the club that used to belong to Ben? Ok, so maybe THAT was the main reason she was here. But still! Shush. Tonight, she wore skintight leather pants, high-heeled black leather boots, and a black corset top that tied up the chest and down the back, with a matching leather choker. Clutching a can of Coke in her hand (damn them for carding her now...), she bobbed up and down a little to the music, occasionally looking upwards to see if Blake was coming down...
Meanwhile, Samuel James had become a veritable fixture around the place over the course of the last several weeks, whether he was seen in the company of his sister, his brother-in-law, girlfriend, or simply brooding alone over a glass of some drink or another. Haylee had been in the studio almost every day since they'd gotten back from
"Holy... SAM?" Gwen squealed as she noticed him walking past. Hey... she'd been banned recently, ok? And she had pretty much... stared at her date all night at the wedding. "What are you doin' here, dude? GIMME A HUG!" Heh. So she'd always adored Skylar's brother, ok? And what with the bad blood between the girls gone? Why not greet the guy?
Jesus. I need to start picking a new place to do my brooding anonymously, he thought, hearing his name. It was amazing how many people one knew that one could run into in a packed goth club halfway across the country from one's usual haunts. He turned in the direction of the voice and took a small step backward as he suddenly found himself in the arms of a petite blonde in a corset. Once the hug ended, Sam took another half step back, placing his hand on the woman's shoulder, looking down at her, surprise written all over his face. "Gwen? Son of a bitch. Fancy running into you here," he replied, a smile slowly stretching the corners of his mouth.
"Yeah... what can I say? I kinda love it here. Plus? My new girl totally lives RIGHT upstairs. So bonus, there." She looked at him, trying not to laugh. Take the high road, Gwen. THE HIGH R...aw, fuck. Nevermind. "So! Bangin' a celeb, huh? How totally trendy!"
"I think I've heard that more in the last few weeks than I've heard her latest single," Sam retorted, that smile turning into a wry grin as he regarded the younger woman. He eyed the soda in her hand, mentally retracting his offer to buy her a drink - good grief, how old was she when she was dating Skylar? - and instead turned and gestured toward the VIP area. "I was just about to go have a smoke. You want to join me? For old time's sake?" he asked.
"Hell yes." Gwen really didn't smoke much... but she DID enjoy a cigar now and then. So, why not? Sam was the ONE person from Gwen's family that she really liked, other than
"Well, come on then," he said, moving his hand to the small of her back, keeping his palm a few inches from the corset, guiding her alongside him toward the VIP area. "If it makes you feel better - not that I give a good goddamn what you think about my personal life - " he said with a wink and a smile, " - I couldn't name more than two of her hits, and I definitely don't know any of the lyrics. Hell, I think half the reason she and I are together is because I don't know anything about her music." That, of course, was not true in the least; that Sam knew nothing of Haylee's catalog was nothing more than a minor footnote as to why they were together, and she'd said as much to him. The woman manning the rope in the front of the lounge smiled at Sam, and he returned the smile as he and Gwen stepped onto the elevated floor. "Well, this is the best I can do since you can't drink," he said, reaching into his coat and drawing out two cigarettes, offering one to her.
"Thanks. I'd normally have the bartender slip me a few drinks, since she's my best friend, but considering me and Skylar JUST buried the hatchet, I don't need to risk getting her hubby in trouble for serving a minor." See? Gwen CARED. Totally.
"Probably a wise idea. I get the feeling I need to start cutting back myself before I start developing a dependency," he replied, glancing at the drink he'd left on the table. Again, the temptation to listen in on Gwen's internal monologue was there, but he wasn't going to start doing that, not when he'd sworn off of it for so long. "So," he said, offering her a light, then lighting his own cig, taking a drag as he sat down at his table. "It looked like you and the newlyweds had a good conversation. How did that go?"
"Good. I think we finally got some closure, Skylar and myself. I *still* say she should vaccinated weekly if she's gonna be bangin' Ben, but that's just me. Guy's gotta have more crabs than
"That's good to hear," he replied, shifting in his chair and taking another drag from the cigarette, tapping it absent-mindedly into an ashtray. Sam couldn't help but smirk at that line about his brother-in-law's horndog ways. "Or a flea collar, at the very least," he replied. Sam idly wondered if Gwen had any idea about Ben's true nature - or Skylar's for that matter. Chances were, she did, as he was always the last to find out about such things, but he didn't want to take a chance. "You looked good at the wedding, Gwen. Sorry I didn't get to meet your new young lady."
"Pssh. I always look good. But thanks. You did too. Wish I could say the same for your date, but... well, I guess if you're going for Space Alien, she looked good." Oh, what a mouthy one, hm? "How's Lyds been? Haven't talked to her, since... well... since me and Skylar broke up."
Modest, as always, he thought, taking a sip from his glass, smirking as he set it down again. "All I know is she said it was designer. That was enough for me. I don't pretend to know a thing about fashion. Skylar... wasn't too pleased about it, though," Sam added with a smile. "
"Good. Little dingbat deserves to be happy too." Gwen said it sweetly though, honestly always having liked
Never mind that Sam had caught himself staring at his kid sister's butt while she was getting her freak on out on the dance floor; his only defense was that he hadn't a clue that it was actually her. That was a detail that Gwen didn't exactly need to know about, so Sam kept it to himself. He smiled at her comment about
"Hey, that's cool. Me? I'm actually moving. Sorta... making a new start for myself. Away from Skylar and... and all of this, really." She gave a goofy little grin, tucking that one thick pink streak of hair behind her right ear.
Sam didn't know all the details, of course, but he knew enough to understand that this was an area he shouldn't pry into too deeply. That Gwen had chosen to make her peace with Skylar - and Ben - in such a public fashion showed that the girl really was ready to move on. "That's too bad. It's nice to run into familiar faces in this place. But I understand," he said, taking a sip from his glass. "So, why so interested in me and Haylee?" Sam asked with a wink and a grin.
"Eh. What can I say? You were always the one other person in Skylar's family besides
Sam had the good grace not to wince at Gwen's comment - this was Gwen, after all, and coarse though it may have been, he was certain she meant the remark as a compliment. "It's been really good. The funny thing is that it all happened completely by accident. No VIP backstage pass after a concert or anything - just happened to run into her here, of all places," he said, eyes shifting to the table where he and Haylee shared that first evening. "So, I couldn't help noticing that you looked like you'd found someone yourself. Tell me about her?" Sam asked, tilting his head to the side, genuinely curious.
"Heh. Funny enough, I was kind of still... drowning myself in cheap sex. Hey, it's how I was dealing with losing your sister, you know?" She admitted, for once feeling a little ridiculous about it now. "And I saw this... beautiful, sexy thing sitting there, and tried hitting on her. Ended up feeling such chemistry that I ditched the sex attempts, and tried to get to know her." Gwen giggled then. Yes. GIGGLED. "Ends up... she's in the same family your sister just married into. How's that for irony?"
"The Bales, eh?" Sam asked rhetorically, lifting a brow in response to Gwen's story. They certainly were a prolific bunch, these Bales. "Either they've a really big family, or it's a really small world," he continued with another smile. She looked genuinely happy. "I hope she's good for you, Gwen. After all that's happened - " Sky was his sister and he would always side with her, but he wasn't there to pass judgment on anyone " - you deserve some happiness."
"I think I found it." Gwen stated simply, looking honestly more happy than she had in a LONG time. "Blake... loves me for who and what I am. She doesn’t want anything from me other than... well... ME."
"Well, if you were old enough, I'd buy you a drink to celebrate, Gwen," Sam replied, smiling broadly at the blonde. "So," he continued, leaning back against his chair, attention fixed firmly on the young woman. "What brought you out to Avarice tonight? Just seeing the sights?"
"Mostly, yeah. Wasting some time till Blake's done with her little bonding thing she's got going on with Neely and Rachelle." Yeah, like she was even gonna TRY explaining THAT. "But hey... glad I came now! Not every day I get to hang with a genuine pop groupie..." She teased.
"Lord, don't start calling me that," Sam said, flinging a hand up in the hair, feigning annoyance. "I must be crazy about her to deal with all this. The first night - the first fucking night - that I'm in town, and I'm on the cover of a magazine the next morning. We went out for ice cream last week, and someone ginned up the idea that I 'made' her get frozen yogurt because I thought she needed to watch her weight." Sam made a show of rolling his eyes at that; Haylee had been the one to show him that particular headline, only to turn around and show off her butt to ask what he really thought.
"Oh man. You guys should start PLANTING ideas with those morons. See how many make the headlines. Like... let slip that she thinks she was placed here by aliens." Gwen snickered, actually kind of loving the idea. "Hell, I'D believe that one. no offense."
"None taken," Sam replied, laughing along with her. "That's actually not a bad idea. I'll bring it up to her. You know what kind of background Sky and I come from, Gwen, but this has been something else entirely. I'm content for Haylee to just handle all of the press stuff and just deal with the teasing I get from my nearest and dearest whenever my mug ends up in print." He sipped from his glass, pondering. "Still... you may be onto something there."
"See? I have my moments of evil genius." Gwen said with a smirk. "Anyway... I'm gonna head upstairs..." she pointed to the door that led to the spacious apartment directly above the club, the one that had once been Ben's home. "And see if my girl's done with 'family time' yet. So I can do impure things to her."
"Oh... right upstairs, huh? Well, that's convenient," Sam replied, glancing in the direction in which Gwen pointed. He shook his head a bit at her mention of doing "impure things" to her girlfriend, just smiling. "Well, I'm going to be here in town for a few more weeks at the very least, so feel free to look me up if you need to kill some time. I know I'm wasting my breath here, but do your best to stay out of trouble, Gwen," Sam said, showing her a lop-sided grin.
"Yeah. You ARE wasting your time." She stated simply, laughing out loud. "See ya, Sammy. See ya in the tabloids." She cackled, walking towards the stairs...