InsaneJournal

Who: Kitiara and Joe
What: Kitiara and Joe meet in a bar both looking for some entertainment
When: Recently
Where: A bar near Kitiara's house
Rating/Warning: Rated teen for innuendo
Status: Complete


Kitiara was bored. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a lot to do - she was looking for a place to set up Blue Dragon Tattoos, the tattoo shop she’d run part time as a front for her full-time, less legal profession, and she still needed to work on recruitment. Two Hands had agreed to do odd jobs for her when she needed the muscle, and she’d talked to Isabela and a couple of girls that her girls back home had mentioned to her, but a couple of girls and a contractor did not an MC make. But none of those were fun. What Kit really needed was a good fight or a good lay.

Either, or both, of those things could be found at the local watering hole, which is where she was now. She was leaning against the bar in the naturally provocative way she stood when she was at ease, black jeans so tight they could have been painted on, and a loose blue top, backless and with a low enough front that it showed where her sternum ended. When the blond man approached the bar, she checked him out slowly, letting her eyes linger as she brought them from head to toe and then back again, and then she shot him a crooked smile.

Now that his first Dream was no longer on repeat like a confused version of Groundhog Day, Joe was starting to get a little used to them. It helped that Iola wasn’t featured in every one. Although he couldn’t deny that he longed to see her, he was also a little relieved when he woke up in the morning not riddled with guilt. Perhaps now he could get back to some kind of healing process.

He was more or less building a life for himself out here in Orange County. He had a good job doing something he enjoyed, despite the fact that his brother seemed hell bent on getting them both into some kind of trouble. Ahh, hell. It was in his blood. He found a story, saw the mystery within and it just beckoned him to get involved. It was almost as if Frank was incapable of helping himself. It didn’t seem to matter how much Joe protested - insisted that he didn’t want to be involved, somehow Frank always managed to find a way to get him involved. And as much as Joe wanted to refute it, it was in his blood too.

Tonight, however, was not a night for answering the unanswerable or delving into one of Orange County’s enigmas. Tonight Joe was going to drink and maybe - hopefully - have a bit of fun for a while. And it seemed as though Fun was looking for him too.

Joe noticed the sultry dark-haired woman at the bar as he approached. He kept his cool as he looked her over. A well-practised and subtle look out of the corner of his eye, taking in the dark silk hair and her come-hither posture. She was sizing him up as well and not being at all discreet about it. This woman was the kind of story Joe didn’t mind getting involved with for an evening. When she smiled at him, he smiled back, lopsided and friendly, fueled by the two beers he’d already had so far. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Kitiara said. She turned so that she was facing him instead of the bar, her every move possessing something of a languid, feline grace. She knocked back the rest of her rum, and then winked at him. “You look like you’d like to buy me a drink.”

Joe raised a brow at the woman. There was certainly nothing subtle about her, was there. Joe grinned and shrugged a little. Alright, he’d bite. Why not? The way this woman moved, it was a little entrancing. If he could get her to hang out for a little bit, it’d be worth the price of a few shots.

“Looks like you can see right through me.” he said. “I would like to buy you a drink. Whatcha been drinking tonight?”

“I’m a very good judge of character,” Kitiara said, a laugh in her voice. “I’ll take a rum and coke.” Often times, Kitiara drank her alcohol straight. Tonight was not one of those nights.

The woman must have been insanely good at reading people in order to judge them after sizing them up. And considering the way she had been looking at him earlier, that probably wasn’t too far from the truth. That, or the woman was just that good at getting people to buy her drinks. “That’s a good skill to have,” Joe said with a chuckle. “You never know who you’ll meet in places like this.” He flagged down the bartender and ordered two rum and cokes. He paid for both and handed his enticing companion hers. “Here’s to good character,” he clinked his glass against hers and took a generous gulp.

It was a good skill to have. It was a skill she had cultivated with her line of work. It was important to be able to judge whether someone was trustworthy or not; to make sure that she didn’t let anything slip to the wrong person who turn her over to the police. Or who were the police.

Of course, this man would hear nothing about any of that. “I’m wouldn’t say ‘good’ comes into it,” Kitiara chuckled, knocking back a quarter of her drink. “So, what brings you here?”

She didn’t have to worry about letting anything sensitive slip around Joe. As he kept having to remind his brother, his days as a private investigator were over. She could have told him she was planning on robbing the bank down the street and it wouldn’t have mattered. Well, ok, it probably still would have mattered. Aside from the occasional jaywalking, Joe was still a law abiding citizen for the most part, but it wasn’t as though he could actually do anything about whatever it was the woman may have been planning.

“Pretty much this,” Joe answered, indicating the drink in his hand. “I’m still kind of new in the area, so, I’m figuring out where the best places are to get a good drink and not have to get out a loan to do it. So far, this place seems like the best.” He raised a brow at her, that friendly smile never leaving his face. “What about you?”

“I’m new to town too, so I’m afraid I won’t be much help in giving you recommendations. I do like this bar just fine though.” She came here enough that the bartender even recognized her these days. “But as for me, I’ve just been bored. I was hoping that I’d find someone to entertain me tonight.”

“Yeah?” Joe raised a brow. “This place is alright. The drinks are cheap and the bartender is friendly enough.” Joe had only been to this particular bar once or twice since he’d moved to town, but the guy had recognized him, even remembered what he had ordered the last time he was in. That was enough to get Joe to want to come back again. Plus, he hadn’t started any fights in this bar, so that was good as well.

He gave the woman next to him a playful smirk. “What kind of entertainment are you looking for?”

Kitiara reached to adjust the collar of Joe’s shirt, though the shirt in question didn’t really require anyone to fix it for them. Still, her fingers lingered there for a moment. “Why don’t you take a guess and I’ll tell you if you’re right.”

Technically Joe’s shirt didn’t have a collar, or at least not one that would have needed fixing, however, the meaning behind the gesture was loud and clear. He glanced at her hand resting near his neck then back up at her, a smirk playing on his lips. May as well jump right in. If his guess was wrong and he got slapped, well, chalk it up to a learning experience. “The kind that requires two people and a sturdy surface.”

“What a coincidence,” Kitiara said, a nearly predatory smile spreading across her face. “I happen to have a number of sturdy places back at my place, if you’d like to check it out. I don’t live too far from here.” Walking distance, really.

That was an extremely intriguing invitation. Having spent a great deal of time in New York - as a detective, no less - Joe was usually weary of accompanying someone he had only just met back to their home. But this was California. Things were different out here. Besides, that look she was giving him, Joe just had to see these sturdy surfaces for himself. Test them out if she was willing, and she certainly seemed to be.

“I would like to check it out,” he said with a nod and a hungry look of his own. “Even test them if you don’t mind.”

“I can’t say I mind at all,” Kitiara said. “Drink up, buttercup. I have more at home. Higher quality, too.”

That sounded like a plan to Joe. Better booze and some recreation time with a very pretty lady was exactly what the doctor ordered. Joe quickly downed the rest of his drink and gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”