Who: Aurora, Hua Mulan & Killian Jones What: A Would be Princess and Warrior meet a would be Pirate When: Backdated: Thursday, January 16th. Evening Where: Outside a movie theater then a bar Rating: Family Friendly Status: Complete
The movie had just ended and Aurora and Mulan were leaving the theater. Aurora hadn’t been sure, when Mulan had asked if she wanted to go out, if the other woman had wanted this to be a date or not and since neither of them had said anything either way, she had just assumed it was two friends hanging out. They’d gotten something to eat before the movie and caught up a little or as much as they could since they had spoken on the phone a few night’s earlier. Aurora was finding that the more time she spent with Mulan the more she enjoyed the other woman’s company. She still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt beyond that, but she’d be lying if she said that she hadn’t enjoyed the kiss on New Year’s Eve. She was just so confused. She was going to have to talk to Ruby and Stephanie soon.
“So, did you enjoy the movie?” She asked as they stepped out of the building.
Once or twice Mulan had tried to put her arm around Aurora. She hadn't chickened out either time, simply felt awkward and unsure if her advances were warranted. Instead, her hand had sought out Aurora's a few times, only to be stopped by the tub of popcorn.
Ogres were easier to face than this awkwardness.
"Yes, it was really entertaining." She kept her hands in her pockets.
Considering he had plans with Regina for the weekend, Killian was looking ahead and intending to get himself thoroughly wasted tonight. Regina always gave him stern looks when he drank too much--and was even starting to upgrading to commenting about it. It was safe to say sooner or later she was going to ask him to cut back and honestly, he was not up for that conversation.
So, hiding his tendency to imbibe was the only option. He’d get hammered tonight and … well, slog through the weekend.
With that in mind, he was on the way to a bar when he passed a movie theatre. He was a little preoccupied on his phone (because obviously, he could text and walk!) when he ran into someone. A tiny wee redheaded lass. He didn’t even pay mind to the fact she had company. “Sorry, beautiful,” he offered, intending to move on but he had enough good form to wonder, “Didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Aurora had, had her attention on Mulan as the other woman was talking and she hadn’t noticed the man walking in their direction until he bumped into her then started talking to her. “Oh, um...no. I’m okay. Are you alright?” He might have walked into her, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t have gotten hurt somehow and it was in her nature to make sure people were alright.
Straightening her back, Mulan put her hand protectively on Aurora’s back and squinted a little at the man. She tried to make her presence more obvious without actually appearing obvious about it. Aurora was beautiful, true, but she bristled at a handsome man saying it - but she wouldn’t stand in the way if her friend wanted that.
“Quite all right, darling.” He wasn’t quite sure how a tiny slip of a girl would managed to damage him anyway, but it was nice of her to be concerned. Killian stowed the cellular because clearly he was not quite as good at walking and texting as he’d thought--and well, yes, he had a lady in his life but he never hated talking to pretty girls.
Though this one had a shadow. A rather lovely shadow, really, but still. “Didn’t mean to interrupt you ladies. I take it you were at the cinema, then? Anything good?”
Seeing the reason that the man had walked into her, Aurora understood. She'd also cause texting related walking collisions before so she didn't get upset. "Oh, yeah. We just left." She said, glancing at Mulan, only then realizing that the other woman's hand was on her back and it caused a slight shiver to run down her spine before she looked back at the man. "At least you didn't drop your phone during our collision. Those are expensive to replace." Aurora would know; she'd broken the screen on her cell phone about a year ago.
Mulan dropped her hand as soon as Aurora noticed, and stuffed it in her pocket. She shrugged a shoulder, putting some more space between them now that she was sure he wasn’t a threat. “It was okay. A little hard to follow and slow in places, but it was very entertaining.”
Ah yes, they certainly were. “You’d think I’d be more careful, lost the last one over the edge of the boat a few months ago. A right hassle, that.” Even if the water had been shallow enough to find the phone (wasn’t!), it would have been torched by being in the salt water anyway. “Was on the way to the pub and scrounging for attention, didn’t work as well as I’d have liked.” He’d be drinking alone, alas, but he often did. His blue eyes skirted to the features on display, wondering which the two had gone two that would be hard to follow and slow but still entertaining but gave up quickly (when he decided he didn’t care). “Killian Jones, I suppose I should say. If I’m going to bowl straight into you I might as well make introductions.” Manners and everything!
“Aurora. It’s nice to meet you, Killian,” She smiled and extended her hand to him. He didn’t seem like a creep or anything and he had apologized for walking into her, so Aurora didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t introduce herself and be nice to him. There was also something that she couldn’t kind explain. Some other reason why she felt drawn to him. “And this is Mulan.” She said, gesturing towards the woman next to her.
Mulan nodded her head at Aurora and then held out her hand to Killian. "I think I've spoken to you a few times on the net, if you look like the icon that I had to squint at to tell the face on."
He'd been nice, and had some good advice though she hoped it wasn't obvious that Aurora was who she was talking about online.
Aurora had a charming smile, seemed to suit her delicate features. He accepted her handshake, offering her a rugged grin. “Ah, pleasure is mine, darling,” he told her easily. As for Mulan, he took a pace to consider her features when she admitted to remembering him. Now that he thought about it, he had a vague idea of who she was. “Right… football coach, wasn’t it?” Who came to the States to keep an eye on her brother. Mulan was lucky that he didn’t quite recollect giving her any romantic advice. “Pleasure to meet both of you. Suppose I shouldn’t hold up your evening, though. Are you ladies off to dinner?”
He assumed they were on a date, simply from the protective posture from before. Obviously it could have been just two friends going to the movies but he was a decent read of body posture.
“Oh, no, we ate before the movie,” Aurora told him, not realizing that he thought that they were on a date, which they very well could have been for all she knew, but they hadn’t actually discussed that so she wasn’t sure. “Seemed like a better idea than eating after it. I’m not really sure what we’re doing now.”
“Trying to sit still during that movie on an empty stomach didn’t seem like a good idea,” Mulan added. As for after the movie she had some ideas but none of them seemed relevant right now. Mostly walking around and talking and trying to extend the evening as long as she could.
Probably a good call. Jones himself was like a twelve year old boy when he went to the cinema, always getting popcorn and candy and ridiculously sugared drinks. So what, he worked it off! Suffice to say it was the sort of proper thinking he generally avoided. Regina usually ironed that out of him but the moments still remained. “I’m off for a drink, myself. Don’t suppose you ladies would care to join?” Seemed fair to offer, even though he assumed they’d refuse. He wasn’t even sure the redhead was legal in an American pub.
Aurora had been legal for a few years now, but she looked young, which meant that she always got carded no matter where she went, which wasn’t really a big deal. At his offer, she glanced at Mulan, not really sure if the other woman had anything else in mind or if she needed to get home or anything, “What do you think?”
Mulan glanced at Aurora, and nodded her head. It would be rude to turn him down and as long as she was there he wouldn’t try anything anyway. Besides, she kind of liked him. “I wouldn’t mind. I could use a good drink.”
Well, that was not exactly the answer he’d been expecting! He was sort of a devastatingly handsome third wheel at this point, but hey. What man would refuse the company of two lovely ladies? Even if he was taken and they seemed to be out together. “There’s an Irish pub about a block from here, that was where I was headed.” Call him cliche, but he liked his homey pubs. Even if most “Irish” pubs in the states were cruel bastardized versions of the real thing.
Aurora didn’t think that they’d spend too much time out at the bar, but a drink or two sounded like a not so bad idea. “Alright.” She smiled at Killian then glanced back at Mulan for a moment before her attention was back on Killian, “Lead the way then.” After all, he knew where they were going.
It was fine by Mulan. The more time she got to spend with Aurora the better, even if it wasn’t entirely alone. And the more she thought about it the more she decided she needed a drink, anyway. She gestured with her hand. “After you.”
He didn’t mind leading the way, though it felt a little strange to have two pretty shadows. He silently made a pact to leave the ladies on their lonesome after one drink. Pretend he wanted to go flirt up another lady at the bar. The more he was around them, the less he could tell if this was a date or the two couldn’t decide one way or another--and the only way they’d figure it out was if they were left alone. Sans ruggedly handsome Irishman. “Have you two known each other long?”
But we all love ruggedly handsome Irishmen!
“About a month or two,” Aurora said as they started down the street, following Killian to the bar he’d been on his way to. If she knew that he was also on Valarnet and that he had dreams too, she might have told him that they shared the same dreams, but without knowing that he was a dreamer too, she’d just sound like a crazy person.
“Give or take. We met at her friend’s cafe,” Mulan added. It wasn’t the full truth but she didn’t want to discuss it with a stranger. Killian wasn’t exactly what she’d been expecting from her talks with him on the internet, but she didn’t really dislike him.
It was true that plenty of people on Valarnet suffered with the bloody terrible dreams, but it did not seem every resident of California did. Bringing it up randomly to strangers probably wasn’t wise. Mulan was likely right to think he wasn’t what she was expecting. It was safe to say he was more obnoxious with the slight guise of anonymity to save him. He’d hit on her quite soundly, despite the fact she’d told him rather blatantly she was hitting on the other team. “So this is your first date, then?” he wondered innocently, as if it were a perfectly normal question to ask.
Aurora’s cheeks flushed at the question, not really sure how to answer it. They were only out as friends, weren’t they? Besides, they’d gone out a few times before and those hadn’t been date, right? They had kissed on New Year’s Eve, but they hadn’t really talked about that yet. Maybe they needed to talk about that soon. Either way, Aurora shook her head, “Um...no. I mean...we just went to the movies.”
Mulan looked down at the ground, biting her tongue before she could say anything. She hadn’t had the chance to ask Aurora if they wanted to consider this a date and now she thought that she probably couldn’t. She looked up again and rolled her shoulders as she fingered the present in her pockets she’d had made for Aurora that she’d forgotten to give her on New Years. “Just the movies.”
He turned back to glance at them, before giving a wry, “Right.” No, the redhead was just turning the color of her hair, and the football star was looking like a kicked puppy, but this wasn’t a date, no! Clearly they were just friends. He paused to open the door for them, offering a, “My apologies. Suppose you wouldn’t want a random Irish bloke around on a date, anyway.” Third wheel and everything! “Bar or booth? Ladies choice.” The place wasn’t packed, there was options for both.
Aurora glanced over at Mulan as they went inside, trying to catch her eye, an apologetic look on her face. She couldn’t tell if she’d hurt the other woman’s feelings or not, but she could tell by the tone of her voice that, that might not have been the right answer. This was all so confusing for her. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I’d prefer a corner booth,” Mulan said, forcing her tone to lighten. “Nearer the back.” It was easier to keep any eye out for incoming dangers that way and old habits died hard. Not that a suicide bomber or crazed Ogre were going to be problems.
There was one just such booth so he nodded off in that direction. “Anything in particular you ladies would like? I’ll fetch the drinks and meet you there.” He was really working the gentleman angle at the moment, but he didn’t mind. He’d done worse things than ferry drinks for relative strangers.
Aurora thought for a moment before telling Killian what kind of drink she wanted then waited for Mulan to do the same. She knew about the whole, don’t let other people get you drinks rule, but she was pretty sure that Mulan could take Killian if he tried something.
Mulan eyed him for a moment. “Get whatever you want. I’ll have a beer.” She didn’t as a rule drink anything alcoholic, but she had a beer every once in awhile. “I’m not really that picky.”
Simple orders, and not too hard to manage. He nodded off and headed toward the bar to get the drinks. Far more than he'd intended to spend on his first round but he was a gentleman...sometimes. So he would sport the drinks. When he returned he had a Guinness for himself, an American tap for Mulan, and then Aurora's requested drink--which had not been monkeyed with.
“Thank you,” Aurora smiled at Killian as he came back with the drinks and she took a small sip. She knew she could be a lightweight since she didn’t drink often, so she didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of Mulan and Killian, “So, I’m guessing you aren’t from around here.” She appeared to be the only one among the three of them who was actually from America, “What brought you here?”
That was a good question, and Mulan nodded her head, resting her elbows on the table as she picked up her beer. She’d get the next round. It was only fair. “How long are you planning on staying?”
He took the spare spot remaining, leaning back in the booth. He was used to schlumming at the bar, but a booth wasn't bad. Not much more comfortable, but better for a group. "Noticed that, did you? What gave me away?" Besides the way he talked and the accent! "Born and raised in Ireland, though I've not lived there for almost five years now." His reasons were not exactly comfortable conversation, so he offered vaguely, "I wanted to travel. Had a boat, wanted to see the world." How long he would stay in California! though? "Must confess I'm not sure. I've put unexpected roots down here."
“How are you finding California?” If she was honest, Aurora was actually enjoying being the only American in their little trio, because she got to listen to both of their accents, which were pretty nice. Of course she was partial to Mulan’s, but she wasn’t about to say that outloud. She was still confused about her feelings for the other woman after all.
Mulan wasn't sure if Aurora was talking to her, so she glanced at Killian. "Roots? Have you found someone or something that has caught your eye and enticed you to stay?"
"Both, I suppose." The environment intrigued him, the dreams that seemed to be engaging and tortuous in equal measure. And, well, there were people in California worth sticking around for. "Rather cliche, to stick around for a new love. But she's quite worth it." New love was a strong word to use, but it was surprisingly easy to say. Neither of these two girls knew who Regina was, after all.
Speak of the devil... His phone hummed in his pocket, the Imperial March from Star Wars. Regina did not find it funny, but Killian did. "Hate to call this short, ladies, but I'm afraid I won't be good company with a phone in one ear." He collected his drink with his spare hand and told them, "Cheers. Was grand to meet you." Killian had to think they'd be happier without him, anyway.
Aurora smiled as he talked about the reason he had chosen to stay and she couldn’t help but think it sounded like a fairy tale, but she wouldn’t say that outloud. She didn’t want Killian to think she was some silly girl. “That’s really nice.” She took a sip of her drink as his phone rang and she suppressed a giggle at the thought of what his girlfriend, because it was obviously his girlfriend calling, from his comment, thought of the ring tone.
Mulan nodded her head at Killian’s departure, then turned back to Aurora. “He was friendly enough.” She hadn’t minded his presence, if mostly because she wasn’t sure what to do with Aurora alone right now.
Aurora nodded and took a sip of her drink, “He was. And we got free drinks.” She smirked as she indicated the drink in her hand. “So, what do you wanna do now?” The original plan had been just a movie. They hadn’t figured they would bump into an attractive irishman and get drinks, so now they had to decide what to do once their drinks were gone.
She looked at Aurora and opened her mouth. That would be too easy and she had this insane urge to just flirt. She closed her mouth and flushed. Instead, she said. “Would you like to see my place? We can take the puppy out to the park.”
“I’d love to, but I can’t be out too late. I’ve got work at the diner early.” Aurora hated to turn Mulan down, but she also needed to be on her feet for awhile in the morning so she needed to be awake.
Mulan sighed, but nodded her head and tried to hold back her disappointment. “I can’t keep you from your job. Let me take you home then?”
Aurora smiled, glad that Mulan understood then took another sip of her drink, which emptied the glass. “Okay. Next time though, I’m coming to see your puppy.” Maybe next time things wouldn’t be quite so awkward.