InsaneJournal

This one’s on me.
Who: Lara Croft and Bo Dennis
When: Recently (circa August 24)
Where: Always
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warning: Low
Status: Complete



Lara didn’t usually go to a club. Or dancing. Or really go out when she’d rather be puzzling over something or reading a book. She had distinct and fond memories of Sam plucking a book out of her hands and forcing her out of the flat. The look on the girl’s face when she protested.

Lara felt lonely and it was that memory that propelled her out into unfamiliar territory. She was a Croft. She could hand a throng of people.

Bo was behind the bar. She broke into a smile as the woman came over, then leaned over and raised her voice to be heard above the music and rustle of people nearby. “What can I get for you?”

“Uhm.” Oh, brilliant, Lara. Top of your class and an expert on a dozen languages, most of them dead, and that’s the best you can do? “Yes please? A drink I mean. Something light.”

Bo raised both eyebrows. “Light? Like… wine?” She wasn’t really sure what to do with that. Most people came in and asked for something that would get them hammered. Fast.

Lara shook her head. “Wine doesn’t feel very much like a going out drink. How about a lager? Foreign?” She didn’t really know what kinds of beers they had in America only that they were universally panned in England.

“I’ve got just the thing.” Bo said, the grin spreading across her features. She saved the good stuff for when she had interesting customers. She turned to pour the brew, and brought it back over a couple of moments later.

“Great, thanks!” Lara fished around for some quid, then took the bew and sipped it. She exhaled, and then coughed. It was stronger than she thought it would be. “Oh. Oh that’s good.”

Bo gave a little laugh. “Watch that first step. It’s tricky.” She gave the woman a wink, then her attention was caught by another patron down the bar calling out. She excused herself to go pour him a drink, laugh at some really shitty jokes, bat her eyes and flirt, then come back with a huge tip under her belt.

“Just let me know if you need anything else, okay?” She asked the woman with the lager, giving her a far more genuine smile.

“It’s tricky, but it’s pretty good,” Lara replied. She took another sip and groaned. It was so good. Her eyes followed Bo as she moved. The woman moved with a certain grace that she appreciated on some level.

Bo moved over and leaned against the bar near where Lara was sitting. She had a glass of water behind the bar, and she lifted it to sip from it, waiting to be called again. It wasn’t that crowded, so she was able to take a breather and simply stay aware of the customers.

After a couple of minutes, she checked back in. “How’s it workin’ out for ya?”

“I’m going to need some peanuts,” Lara replied. “If I intend to make it back to my house in one piece. But years of having a party girl for a mate have given me I hope an iron liver. I hope.”

Bo chuckled. “Peanut allergies means we’ve got pretzels instead.” She grabbed a bowl of pretzels from behind the counter and set it onto the bar. “Sorry about that. I hope they’ll help, anyway.”

“Right. That makes sense. Good thing I’m hearty as a horse, right?” The British woman smirked and took a pretzel anyway.

“Good thing.” Bo said, giving her a smile. She moved down the bar to pour another drink for another customer, then closed out someone else’s tab and ran a credit card through the machine. She was back over to her spot near where Lara was sitting in a few moments.

Lara was wondering if she should get going. She had a pleasant buzz, but the bartender was nice. Reminded her of one back home, except with breasts. She thought it was an improvement. She didn’t stop to think why it was an improvement, because she really wasn’t ready to consider that.

“I’m Bo.” Bo said, leaning over a bit to smile at the woman. She didn’t know if the other needed to talk, or was just out by herself because she enjoyed it. But in Bo’s experience, people didn’t come into a bar alone because they liked the lager.

“Lara,” she replied, smiling good naturedly. “A pleasure. You’ve got a nice bar here!” She wasn’t the best at small talk. But get her started on anything old and dusty…

“Why, thank you. It’s not exactly mine, though. I just work here.” She reached forward to shake the other woman’s hand. “You’ve never been in here before, then?”

“Nope, this is my first time,” she replied, without any sense of how that might be construed.

Those six words made the grin on Bo’s face grow so much she looked like the Cheshire Cat. “Oh, is it?” She said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Well, I think you’re going to like it.”

“Will I? That’s a tall order, then.” Lara tapped the side of her glass. “But we’re off to the right sort of start.”

Bo chuckled. “Can I get you another?”

“Mmm…” She licked her lips slowly and looked down at her glass. “You know what. One more!” Like that was a big deal for her. She’d drank harder before, but this was a strange country. She was wary.

Bo grinned. She nodded. “One more.” She repeated, then poured the second ale. She slid it to a stop in front of the other woman, then leaned against the bar nearby. “This one’s on me.”

“Wouldn’t that be messy?” Lara giggled and took a slower sip this time. She twirled the liquid around in the glass.

It took Bo a moment to realize what the woman had said. Then she laughed. “Wow, I didn’t… I really hadn’t expected that out of you,” she said, not unkindly. “Good one.”

“I’m not entirely naive, just inexperienced.” And it would be messy, regardless! Then she realized she was flirting and coughed on her lager.

“Well, you’re doing fine.” Bo said, playfully patronizingly. In a flirtatious way. “I’d say you’re a natural.”

“Shush you.” She felt her cheeks heat up again, and wasn’t sure how to respond. This was entirely out of her normal perview.

Bo was going to say something else, when one of the other bartenders came over to relieve her.

“Go on home.” He said, giving Bo a pat on the shoulder. “Your shift ended ten minutes ago.”

Bo gave a little chuckle. “Must have gotten carried away by my work,” she said, then turned back to Lara. “...I should …” Drop off her apron in the back room.

“Thanks, hon.” Lara knocked back the rest of her drink. “I should probably get back to my flat..my house.. House. Have to remember I have a house.”

Bo nodded. “You safe to drive?” She asked, teasingly, once her apron was stowed behind the bar.

“Uhm..Probably not. I’ll call a cab.” That might be a bit embarrassing, but Lara was the responsible sort. A cab or a ride was better than running someone over! “Thanks for thinking about me...”

Bo frowned just slightly. “I can give you a ride.” She offered, coming around to the patron side of the bar. “Unless you think I’m a creeper,” she added, playfully.

“You’re uh...too cute to be a creeper,” Lara said, using the ‘uh’ to decide that. She finished her lager and got up. She grinned. “Shit… I should have eaten. If Sam could see me now. She’s my best mate. Best mate ever.”

Bo chuckled. “We can grab you a burger or something on the way home.” The McDonalds was open late. Bo sometimes stopped by there for a $1 McChicken sandwich on the way home from work. “It’ll help soak up that beer.”

“That’s great! You’re lovely. Lovely awesome.” She pushed hair out of her face, then fixed her pony tail. She needed to know the name of that lager.

Bo turned to look at her, wondering if she was going to need to carry the poor girl home. Her tolerance for beer must have been higher than Lara’s. “...you still remember your address, right?” She asked, playfully.

"I'm tipsy," she clarified. "And I haven't drank in awhile!"

“Well, enjoy it! I know I would if I was you,” Bo said, giving her new friend a little elbow in her ribs.

Lara snerked. “I don’t usually do this sort of thing. Alone, I mean. I could talk your ear off about the adulthood rituals of a dozen tribes, but…” That wasn’t really new person conversation.

“So, why don’t you?” Bo asked, moving with the woman and pushing open the door to the club. She let Lara out in front of her, then followed close behind. “Talk my ear off, I mean.”

She grinned. “Oh, I don’t know. I doubt you’d be interested in old, dusty things. Even the beautiful ones.”

“I’m interested in every beautiful thing.” Bo flirted.

Lara forgot how to breathe for a moment, looking every which way but down Bo’s shirt. “We I ah… “ Good going, Lara. She tripped over her words and clutched a little at Bo’s arm so she didn’t trip over her own feet. “What kind of beautiful things?”

“Oh, you know. Beautiful flowers. Beautiful sunsets. Beautiful women.”

“I’ve..seen all three? At the same time, even, we were in Greece, my best mate and I, I mean.” Oh Sam where are you when I need you tosnog save me? She swallowed, and blushed. “Present company included. In the latter. Sun has already set. Did you know in Japan that flower arranging is an art? It's been in practice for centuries. It's believed to have come to Japan originally with Buddhism. Six century, I think. I could be mistaken. You don't really see the modern version until the fifteen hundreds."

Lara Croft: Imparter of ancient and obscure knowledge. Babbler when nervous. Deadly combination.

Oh, God, she was absolutely adorable. Absolutely adorable. Bo was grinning at her babbling, and the suggestion that she was one of the beautiful things wasn’t lost on Bo at all. She was grinning and listening to everything Lara said. “Wow. That’s… a lot of information.” But she loved it.

“I..well it seemed relevant. Because you mentioned flowers.” She grinned sheepishly. She could go on and on about the oddest things. “Thank you though. For giving me a ride. I’d probably make more of a fool of myself.”

“I’d rather you made a fool of yourself than wrapped your car around a tree.” Bo said. She pulled open the door to let Lara in, then hopped around to her own side and started her up. “You’re far too pretty to become road pizza.”

She flushed. “Thanks..” Lara got in and leaned her head against the window. She felt warm and fuzzy. “Newport Beach.” She gave the address.

“Newport Beach it is.” Bo said, nodding, then turned onto the highway.