Elizabeth doesn't know who she's becoming (manylighthouses) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-18 21:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elizabeth comstock, ganondorf, lina inverse |
More than one date can be arranged,
Who: Elizabeth, Lina, and Ganondorf
What: Clubbing time! Liz bumps into Ganon bum bum BUM
When: Uh... recently. Floating time.
Where: An upscale club.
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for club scene warnings and alcohol, etc.
Status: Complete!
Lina liked it when people owed her favors. It was the only way they’d get into this kind of place - a ritzy club with lines pouring out of the entrance, the kind of an invite only list. One glance at the bouncer at the door, a single exchange of nods, and he pulled the tape up to let the girls in.
It was the kind of place both dark and bright, lit with scintillating colors of blue and purple and pink. Fog machines, strobe lights, the loud thumping of bass and speakers that almost made the ground quake with music. A little loud, surely, but as long as they stuck together, they could hear each other fairly well. Elizabeth had never experienced the clubbing scene and there was always a first for everything - didn’t hurt to loosen up, wind down, and dance. Together or with strangers. And with strangers, well, Lina would have to really watch whoever decided to scoop Elizabeth up. No roofies or ecstasy tablets in their drinks without permission, thank you.
Getting dressed up for it all might have been the most fun part for Lina, anyway. It wasn’t often that she indulged into the whole ‘night out’ thing, and her usual ware was something casual, like comfortable jeggings and shirts. Contrary to what others might believe, she knew a thing or two about dressing up and make up - so tonight she wore a white dress, complimented by a gold belt and gold shoes. Hair was neatly pulled up into ponytail, and whatever make up she wore was light and tasteful. Nothing caked on to make her look like a clown.
Not like she had anyone to impress, and Lina had no intention of taking some random snob home for a quick tumble in the sheets then a kick out the door - but it was just nice to dress up (a chance she didn’t often get). Go out. Have fun. Or she could just stay home and mope about how her ex was a potential monster on the run and she was a total failure.
Yeah. Let’s not do that.
“Just make sure you keep an eye on your drink at all times,” the redhead advised, half-grinning as she pulled Elizabeth in.
It was definitely Elizabeth's first clubbing experience, but she was trying desperately to look like it wasn't. She'd heavily researched the kind of things that people wore to clubs, and ended up going out in a very, very clingy grey dress, with some gold accents. She'd put her hair up and applied enough makeup to make her look like she was actually her age, and chosen some strappy shoes that didn't have a heel too high to dance in.
When she'd taken one last look at herself in the mirror, she'd barely recognized her own face. She looked more like that older 'dame' Elizabeth from rapture, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It made her feel confident, and a little impervious to harm. Maybe she'd actually have fun tonight. Despite all the dangers, which Lina had cautioned her about on the way there. It was good to stay safe, and she nodded her head at Lina as they headed inside.
"Roofies and date rape drugs, right." Elizabeth said, casually. Though it was more like shouting, because she wasn't sure she'd be heard over the music. She looked around the club a bit, taking in the people and the light show, and added, "Drinks first?"
Roofies and date rape - the best things to say out loud. Lina was confident she was the only one who heard; everyone else was caught up in their own little trance of a dance, mingling, adjusting the uncomfortable thongs wedged between their cracks. “Drinks,” Lina confirmed, stifling a giggle and taking her by the arm again - maneuvering through the crowd involved a lot of squeezing, some bumping up against. A little shoving that Lina had no qualms doing, as she was as fierce as she was tiny and she always had the mentality of come at me, bro.
Practically everyone had a drink in their hands. Wine, martinis, something mixed and colorful and fruity. Others had beer. Lina was going straight for the shots. Might as well start the night with a little bang, right? Just not the violent kind of bang.
“Pick your poison!” Lina kept close for the sake of talking and then nudged her gently, surveying the place. “And your eye candy, while we’re at it. You’ve got a type, right?” Tall, short, stubbly, clean shaven, blonde, brunette - women had choices too, damnit.
"Well--" Elizabeth blushed a bit as she looked around the club. She wasn't really sure she had a physical type, though there were people in the club that she felt a little more interested than otherwise. "Aramis was just... it was the way he acted, and the fact that he spoke french, though I suppose it was also... I guess I like them older, and a little stubbly. Maybe with darker hair?"
As for the 'poison', she wasn't sure where to even start. "Something fruity, maybe? Or at least sweet. I'm not sure what the names of everything are, yet. I mainly drink whatever you all have laying around."
Ah, yeah. Aramis. Speaker of the language of love, complete with a smile that could charm your pants off. She hadn’t heard from the guy in a while - he was probably still grumpy of about the feds thing, and she was still grumpy about him cheating on Elizabeth. “Older, stubbly, darker hair - doable, here, I think.” Maybe something would hook and reel for her lil’ sister - who knew! Never hurt to mingle, right?
It was a mindset she was trying to force on herself, too. Lina didn’t like moping. Or pining. Clinging to the hope of someone coming back. She’d done that already - spent two years worth of doing it - just for it to end up crashing and burning. Baby steps, though. Nothing changes overnight, unfortunately.
But if she wanted something sweet... “Sex on the Beach? It’s a martini, pretty popular, aside from your regular cosmos.” Lina would happily pass on the mixed drinks - liquor and sweet things never was a good combo for her. She liked it either straight or just beer. Sometimes a dash of coke, but not often. “I’m just gonna get a shot of Jameson. Irish whiskey, pretty standard, goes down as smooth as a baby’s butt.”
Don’t compare alcohol to a baby’s butt, Lina. Just...don’t. Oh well. She already said it.
"It should be doable, yeah..." Elizabeth trailed off, sounding a bit distracted. She was still looking around the bar, trying to find the very men she'd been describing. There were a few that caught her eye, one of them seemed to have a certain amount of charisma. It was very busy and people were constantly milling around, but every time there was a gap in the crowd, he seemed to reappear. No one at the club bumped him around or crashed into him, they just seemed to part around him.
Then she lost sight of him entirely, and she turned her attention back to Lina, "Well if you're not going to drink something girly and fizzy, neither am I. I'm not sure how I feel about drinking a baby's bottom, but I'll have some Jameson, too."
“Two Jameson shots, coming right up!” Ah, she knew she could count on Elizabeth, then. All beams and sunshine, she passed her a widened grin after handing her card over to open up a tab. It was a little obvious the bartender looked at them questionably and was about to ID them - but the flood of drinking patrons was overwhelming, so he poured their poison in tall shooter glasses and slid them over.
One for her, one for little sis. Lina held hers for a toast. “To, uh…” She scratched her cheek, thoughtfully. “To raising middle fingers to past bullshit and hopefully getting you a little somethin’ somethin’ tonight! Not sex or anything, but, you know. Someone nice. I’ll do a background check and everything before the first date.” A wink. “Cheers?”
Then after this, she seriously had to skidaddle for the lady’s room because goddamn, her bladder was the size of a jellybean.
"Here's to my over protective big sister who'll try to kill anyone who comes onto me, apparently," Elizabeth added, with a bit of a snort and a laugh. She raised her own shot and toasted Lina with it, "Cheers!"
Then she knocked it back. It was amazing and smooth and she decided she was a Jameson convert. Elizabeth tried not to be a heavy drinker, she wasn't sure if alcoholism would become a problem for her like it seemed to be for Booker. But she was certain they were going to be having more shots of that before the night was over.
After their bathroom run (because girls always travel in packs, right?), Elizabeth decided it was time to dance. It had been one of her favorite things in the dream world, one of the best things about it. She dragged Lina out to wherever the most dancing was happening, and tried to mimic the movements of the people around her. "This is fun!"
No sense in arguing that sentiment. Lina was a protective sort, she’d fight tooth and nail to keep those she cared about safe. Home was a dangerous place filled with dangerous people, and she’d keep the family she made for herself safe and sound. It wasn’t something she’d take for granted; a realization made during the several weeks she was gone.
Whiskey down, their glasses emptied, and to the dance floor they went. Air conditioning was in full effect, but the dance floor was hot with all the bodies packed in together. Bumping into people you sure as hell didn’t know was inevitable, but the strangers learned to quickly incorporate themselves into the body movement, squeezing in between the girls - trying to steal them for one another. Lina did her best to keep close, but once some idiot spun her around into the rest of the crowd, making her stumble around and dizzied…
She had realized she had no clue where the fuck Elizabeth was.
Someone else did, though. An older man with a dark complexion, tall with a body built for intimidation was making his way through the crowd without mercy. He was the kind of man that most seemed to have automatically stepped away from, causing a divide in the crowd and allowing him passage. But he still managed to practically ram into someone, smaller and more fragile than he’d expected.
"OOF!" Elizabeth shouted, though it was barely heard above the crowd. She was practically knocked over by the impact, and flailed a bit in the air while she tried to catch her balance. The hand landed on the person behind her, just on instinct. It was hard to be shy in a crowd this packed. Elizabeth tried not to blush profusely as she turned to see who it was had pumped into her.
Her hand was still resting against the man, who was tall and dark and built, and everything she'd described to Lina when she was listing her favorite qualities off. And he was gorgeous. So good looking and with such a presence that whatever she was going to say got caught in her throat. Instead, she mostly just stared up at him, awkwardly.
Ganon supposed he could catch the flailing lady, though the stare didn’t go unnoticed - and he could maybe detect some of the ‘awkward’ that came with it. Didn’t take much for him to realize that he’d stumbled on someone easy on the eyes, and while he had enough of fawning women and obvious advances, he could still appreciate a look or two at someone else that didn’t automatically exude the look of a ‘gold-digging bimbo.’
“Sorry,” was the first thing he said, corner of his lips upturned into a little half-grin. “Didn’t realize how fast I’d been going. You’re alright?”
"Oh I--" Elizabeth finally found her voice, though it was barely heard above the crowd, since it came out in a sort of gasp. It was then that she realised that her hand was still on him, and she jumped a bit as she removed it from his person, "No, I'm sorry, It was my fault! I should have gotten out of your way, I'm not used to people being all around me like this, and I'm still getting my bearings..."
She trailed off and nervously tucked a stray hair back behind her ear, "I'm alright, yes. I hope I didn't step on your foot or anything!"
Something about her was familiar, and it was Ganon now that was possibly the one caught doing the looking. Eyebrow poked up suspiciously, dark eyes narrowed, though nothing eerily suggestive or rude - that partial grin remained, and it looked like he’d been lost in thought before it came to him.
Comstock, Elizabeth. He’d recognized her from the picture - the not-so intimidating one out of all the women attacked that night. No, she wasn’t the one with the inconvenient car issues, and he knew Neena and the little snot redhead.
Ah, yes. It was all coming back to him again. Yet she didn’t know who he was, didn’t recognize him, and maybe that was disguised luck.
“Don’t believe I’d mind it all that much if you stepped on them,” he chuckled. “I hope I didn’t interrupt your fun with your date.” If there even was one - he assumed she was alone, for now. “I’m about to head to the bar and get a refreshment, and if there isn’t anything I had rudely interrupted…” Ganon trailed off, motioning to the row of barstools and lit up backdrop with bottles.
Tonight was about to get quite interesting.
"I don't... have a date, not officially. I mean... this is supposed to be a girl's night? So I guess my friend is my date? But we're not romantically involved at all, she's a bit like my big sister." Elizabeth rambled, nervously. The man made her insides squirm in a way that she hadn't felt since...
Well, since Booker, actually. And that showed some promise. She fidgeted with her hands for a second, glancing around her for Lina. Then she glanced over in the direction of the bar, "I dont know where she went, actually... But you weren't interrupting anything. I'd like that very much. To join you, I mean."
If she was alone, he’d take advantage of it. “Won’t take much of your time,” he said, never fully smiling, but always offering that little tilt of his lips that signified a little interest, a little playfulness. A hand went to press against her back lightly, and he helped maneuver her through the rest of the throng until the bar was reached. “Unless you’d like it too. I’ll admit, I’m not in much company myself.”
Some shithead clients were around, probably doing a line of coke in the VIP section somewhere, rambling about things he couldn’t care about anymore. Ganon’s biggest dilemma lately was the symbol on his hand - gone when he wasn’t using power, but it glowed brightly when he was - and falling to the same fate as his darker counterpart was something that messed with his head a little too much.
Ganon didn’t mind being the bad guy, unless it meant getting sealed into an ethereal realm after losing all sense of self-control.
The hand pressing against her back was welcome. It sent shivers up and down her spine, but it also felt warm. A little safe, actually - Ganon's guidance through the crowd felt not unlike safe passage through a storm. She found herself smiling without even realising it, which had been a rare occurrence lately.
"I don't think Lina would mind if I found someone handsome to sit with, to be honest. And while I enjoy dancing, trying to navigate that floor is obviously out of my league," she admitted, while taking a seat at the bar, "It's safer here. But I can't believe that someone like you came here without a date. You seem like the kind of man who should have women dripping off of his arms."
But of course, it was the tiny woman with a mouth bigger than she was that had accompanied Elizabeth. He refrained from an exaggerated eyeroll that would earn him the title of ‘suspicious’ - it was too much of a crowded area to be slinging magic left and right, and he wouldn’t cause a scene if she didn’t.
Wherever she was obviously wasn’t here, and he’d keep his focus on the lady that handed him quite the compliment. “I don’t consider women attempting to dig their way into my pockets as a date, but I appreciate the flattery.” Ganon had to chuckle a bit, the seemingly full grin a bit charming, as he beckoned the bartender over with a gesture of two fingers. “I’m rather surprised you’re here without a date yourself. Or am I the fortunate first that gets to buy you a drink tonight?”
Elizabeth blushed a bit, "I have to admit that I probably should have known you were someone with money. Just based on how you were dressed. But it wasn't your wallet that I thought they'd be digging for."
It was the other thing. Sex. Elizabeth had no experience beyond some heavy making out, at least in this world, and her cheeks went even more red when she realised that she was thinking about it. And flirting with him.
She shook her head - both to shake the thoughts away and to reinforce the idea that she had no date that evening, "I don't... really date. And I don't get a lot of people buying me drinks, either. But I also don't get out much. ...and I sound kind of pathetic right now, probably."
He wasn’t wrong about the shameless fucking part; it was a hobby he was rather good out, often had women in and out of his bed. Not lately. Not even Isabela, and she’d always been the ‘old faithful.’ One that would never disappoint, one that would never go beyond the barriers of the bedroom.
A snort. “You give me far too much credit. Sometimes men do want something more than just a tumble in the sheets.” Did Ganon? He’d been married twice before; divorced the first, killed the second. Commitment wasn’t in his cards anymore. But he’d play the type. Older man wanting something a little deeper, see if she’d take the bait. Out of curiosity.
“You actually don’t. Sound pathetic, is what I meant.” He placed his drink order - motioning the employee to make sure to take her order, too. “Is it wrong to say it sounds endearing? You’re beautiful, I hope you realize. You don’t seem like the type to use it to its full advantage.”
"No I don't, do I?" Elizabeth asked, her tone a bit dark. She'd been trying to ignore the dreams and have a little fun, but the way she'd used her looks in that other world still haunted her a bit. Not wanting to order something fizzy and girly - perhaps in an effort to show off - Elizabeth decided to order another glass of Jameson. It seemed like the thing hardcore adults drank.
"It feels like we live in the kind of world where I should, but I just don't have it in me. I'd rather people liked me because of what's underneath all that. It's a naive notion, but I can't help it." She clasped her hands in her lap to keep herself from fidgeting, and glanced over at him, "DO you want more than just a tumble in the sheets?"
Straight liquor. Not something he’d assume for the lady, so that was an interesting quirk. Maybe worthy of the word ‘endearing’ again, though perhaps it was just Ganon who had often poor choice in women. Not often did he encounter one with Elizabeth’s temperament or personality. And if he did, he paid little attention. He hadn’t done much research on her - he’d left those under him to put together the dossiers and let him know the details, but he was sure the moment she learned his identity, he’d be met with vehemence.
Wouldn’t blame her. He did order the unfortunate destruction of the inside of her own home.
“What you see as naive, I see as admirable. Most leave it their looks, if they can get away with it - what’s the quote? Beauty is only skin deep?” A shrug of his shoulders, before sipping his drink. Something golden in a rocks glass, room temperature. “And you ask quite the question. Do you ask everyone you meet if they’re just looking for sex?” Ganon smirked, gracing her with an appraising look of his dark eyes. “Because if you want my honesty, I think I’ve had enough of ‘just sex’ to last a lifetime. Not ashamed of it, but sometimes the simplest pleasures can lose their effect.”
He motioned the bartender over again for another round of drinks, even if they hadn’t finished the first one. The employee complied with silence, suspiciously avoiding eye contact with Ganon himself, and walked off quietly. “This specific location of California is...life-changing,” he alluded. “And once you’re here for awhile, everything you used to enjoy and need somehow changes.”
Elizabeth's glass was three-quarters empty by the time Ganon ordered them new ones. She was nervous, a kind of giddy-nervous, and she tended to drink more in cases like those. Her hand began to spin the glass around on the bartop, and she nodded her head, "They do have a way of doing that. They change your motivations, and ambitions. Nothing about the 'real' world is the same anymore, after that. And sometimes it's more dim. But that doesn't mean we can't try and enjoy this world, anyway."
"And... it probably was a bold question," she added, with an apologetic smile, "But I couldn't help it. Only... you're only the second person who's ever really shown me any interest. Or maybe it's just that I'm finally noticing when people do. And the first one liked to say one thing and mean another. If a person just wants sex, I think that's important to know, because it's not what I'm looking for at all."
Words of solid advice, he gave her that. A glance was spared to the back of his hand, the one that the glowing trifecta of triangles would appear when power was used. It was what it represented, after all - power, the Triforice of Power. Only one third of what he wanted, but it was a heavy burden that simmered beneath his skin.
He knew what happened to him there. A war that he began, raged on for seven years with success, and then lost to a boy with a fairy following him around. How delightfully splendid.
Ganon loosened his grip on his glass. Any tighter, and it would have cracked and eventually shattered into dozens of shards. Wouldn’t want to deal with that mess now, would he?
“Well, one glance at you, I wouldn’t mind having sex with you in the least, if we’re going to put all the cards on the table. But does that mean I have plans of ravishing you? No. I don’t. Not on the first date.”
He had to mentally chuckle at what he said. Not on the first date. Whatever game he was playing at, he’d let the words flow out and so far she’d been eating them right up. There was almost a bit of guilt gnawing at him, something misplaced and foreign - it was often difficult to find someone genuine in the crowds he frequented, and this one wasn’t a kind a person he was used to dealing with at all.
"It's probably good that you don't have that in mind for the first date," Elizabeth admitted, with a bit of a smirk. She lifted up the glass she'd been playing with and knocked the rest of the contents back. Elizabeth wasn't necessarily a lightweight - she probably got that from her father - but she was hoping that this second drink of the evening would get her tipsy enough to stop caring.
So far, that seemed to be working, "Because if I'm going to give it to someone, it's definitely going to require more than one."
And there she was, thinking about it. Elizabeth had tried to get intimate with a few men since she'd moved here, to varying degrees of disaster. Aramis had never gone further than kissing, and the one man had been nice and gentle, but she just couldn't handle it. Ganon was the first person she could actually have that she felt like she wanted, and it made her cheeks pink. She could feel herself blushing, and waved her hands on front of her face, "It's so hot in here."
This would have been the opportune scenario to say, Challenge accepted.
Not that he was a cliche fool that was tempted to bed the girl just to see if he could, and then abandon her the next morning. There’s certain kind of women who wanted that, who sometimes deserved that, and others...didn’t. Ganon had a cruel streak, one he didn’t have qualms hiding - he’d let it show like the sun, let heads roll and blood spill. Cruelty to him was a necessity - a way to dominate, strike fear, prove a point, get everything he wanted.
Pointless cruelty wasn’t a game he played. But she was still close to a crowd of people that were of interest, she was still...potentially useful, even. Not that he could ever forget to ladies that barged into his office, or the man that neglected his debt for so long.
“More than one date can be arranged,” he suggested, turning his head to face her. “Though I admit. I haven’t been very honest with you, Elizabeth. And if I’m going to ask you out on a date, I suppose honesty is the right thing to do, to give it a fair shot.”
The fuck was he doing? Reverse psychology? She hadn’t even told him her name, but that was a telltale sign for her, maybe.
The admition made Elizabeth immediately suspicious, though she was curious at the same time. She squinted at him, her hand resting on the second rink the bartender had brought over for them, then tilted her head to the side, "I know I didn't tell you my name, so where do you know it from? And why suddenly admit that you haven't been honest now? What do you stand to gain from that?"
Her trust, maybe? There were dark sides to every person, and Elizabeth had seen the best and worst of most important people in her life. She knew she'd rather know she was drinking with a monster than not. But what game was he playing?
There were sides to every person, facets that were darker than the rest, and he was no stranger to them; he’d never fool himself to think he would ever have a heart of gold. Ganon was responsible for many horrible things here and there, dooming an entire kingdom under his command for a seven year period for the sake of power. That was it. Perhaps he would have been proud of himself if his dreamself had won the final battle, but his fate was one worse than death.
In one gulp, he finished his entire drink and set the glass back down. He was used to the taste, but tonight it seared down his throat more so than usual, melted his insides. “Well, the first thing I’ve admitted is my dishonesty. And I’m afraid I don’t exactly have the time to indulge what I have not been honest about. Not tonight.” Not while he was sure he heard the echoing voice of a certain redhead in the crowd, screaming a name during her search. His fingers reached over to the pocket of his inside jacket to pull out a pen, and he grabbed a napkin to scrawl down a number.
“But if you’re interested what I’ve got to say, you let me know. And we’ll arrange something else, elsewhere.” Ganon paused with a low chuckle. “Public, like dinner. Wouldn’t outright ask you to meet me in private especially when I’ve told you I haven’t been telling you everything.”
Ganon wasn't the only person who could hear Lina's voice breaking through the crowd. Elizabeth glanced in the direction of it, then back towards Ganon. "Somewhere public, like a nice dinner. I might like that. But you're right, you probably don't want to get caught speaking to me in front of Lina. She might raise some kind of fuss that you're not prepared for me to deal with."
She reached her hand out towards the napkin and tucked up into her hand, then grabbed her drink, "I'll be in touch."
Whether or not she’d take the bait, he’d see. Perhaps she was the awfully curious sort and wanted to see exactly what he had meant - and he hadn’t disclosed a name, so hopefully she wouldn’t find the dirt out before he had the chance to tell her himself. First part of playing a game like this is to lay all your cards out on the table except one, and Ganon was going to see how well that worked for him.
He disappeared into the crowd in time, because soon Elizabeth’s original date emerged, glancing around with a wrinkled nose before her eyes set on someone familiar. “Hey! You jerk! You disappeared to get a drink without me?” Lina looked a tad offended as she joined her at the bar, passing her a glare. “What gives? I thought you got abducted, I was ready to start a fight.”
"Hey, I'm not THAT big a jerk!" Of course Elizabeth couldn't tell Lina about the handsome, very smooth man who had made off with her. She wasn't why, but she wasn't ready to reveal the information yet. Maybe because she wanted to know just who or what she was dealing with first, or maybe she just wanted to bask in his attention for a little longer before having to deal with 'big sister's' reaction.
"I lost you in the crowd, this bozo knocked me over, and I thought staying put at the bar would help you find me better!" She knocked back the remnants of the drink and put the glass on the bar, then hooked her arm with Lina's, "Come on, we still need to dance! This time I'm not losing you."
Well, she had to admit, gravitating to the bar was probably the smartest thing to do in a place like this, but yeah, big sister reactions. “Uh-huh, you better not. You left me and some weirdo try to do a really awkward booty-grind on me,” Lina grumbled, disturbed by the memory. But she was fine, no weirdo was around her - and at least she wasn’t roofied?
Brightsides. Lina was good at finding them.