Maria DeLuca (ownsavior) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-09-28 16:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, maria deluca, vanessa cleveland |
Who: Maria and Vanessa
What: Vanessa comes in for karaoke
When: August
Where: The Wild Pony
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none
Status: Complete
Vanessa hadn’t planned on coming to the karaoke night on a regular basis when she’d first talked with the owner on the network about it but it was fun. And when she was up there at her turns singing she could see what her dad and his bandmates meant when they said it was a rush performing. She might not have been singing to a sold out arena but it was still a good feeling to have people listening and watching her. Although she had to admit that a part of that tonight probably had to do with the skirt and halter top she’d chosen to wear. They were comfortable and showed off her figure really well. And if one of the guys got a little handsy with her, it kept her able to fend them off without worrying about tearing a seam or flashing anyone. That was the last thing she wanted - a charge for indecent exposure. She was so close to finishing her degree and getting to start working for social services.
***
Maria tried her best to remember her regulars, and Vanessa was quickly becoming one of those. She stood out, partly because of the fact that she was one of the few underage regulars at Maria’s bar.
She rolled her eyes when she saw yet another one of her regulars, Clyde, trying to chat Vanessa up. Clyde was relatively harmless, which was one of the reasons that Maria let him hang around, but he also had a habit of drinking a lot (yet another reason why Maria let him stay) and being a bit of a creep.
“Don’t you have some roadkill somewhere to throw on the barbeque?” Maria asked him, walking up to the table.
“Go fuck yourself, Maria,” Clyde said back, but at least he got the hint and turned to leave Vanessa alone.
“It would be better than fucking you,” Maria said cheerily, which he answered with a one-finger salute as he walked away. Maria watched him for a moment, making sure there’d be no more trouble, before she turned back toward Vanessa, all smiles. “How are you doing tonight? Can I get you anything?”
***
Vanessa was trying to ignore Clyde even as she kept repositioning herself on the stool to try to get some distance between herself and the man. While a part of her mind was cataloging the different ways she could break his hand or some other body part without moving from it if he tried to actually touch her. She still remembered the lessons Nasir had given her in defense and kept up the exercises he’d taught her to stay in shape and was taking a few classes to learn even more self defense techniques. Her powers being passive didn’t mean she herself needed to be did it?
She gave Maria a grateful smile when Clyde backed off at the other woman’s intervention, slithering off to his group of friends at the other end of the bar. “Thanks for that. I’m doing pretty good. Got a new song in mind for when it’s my turn again, one last night to blow off some steam before classes start back up for me.” She said with a shrug. “And not with some guy I met in a bar.” She’d been down that road before with Penny and she wasn’t looking to go back there. It had taken her too long to get back to herself from it. “Can I get a coke? Light on the ice. I’m counting down until I’m 21.”
***
“If you are going to blow off some steam with a guy you met in a bar, you can do better than Clyde anyway,” Maria said with a wink. She had never had any issues with casual sex, but she did like to think that Vanessa had better standards than that.
“How much longer do you have?”
***
“Yeah...I’m not looking for a guy my dad’s age. That’s an entire kink I’m not at all interested in exploring thanks.” Vanessa said, trying not to let herself think too much about what she was interested in. Or maybe more specifically who she thought it might be. She shoved it aside as she gave Maria a bright smile.
“Four months. I could give you the exact number of days if you want.” She joked. It was a little bit under four months actually.
***
Maria laughed. “Obviously someone is excited about it,” she said. She had counted down the days to her 21st birthday too, but she had only started a month in advance. “Tell you what, if you come in here on your birthday, I’ll buy you your first legal drink.”
***
"Yeah well...its the first birthday I've actually looked forward too." Vanessa said with a shrug. 18 had been terrifying for her as she'd come up on it. Even living with her dad hadn't changed that. Hell he could have thrown her out as easily as some foster parents if he'd wanted that day.
"Don't offer if you don't mean it Maria."
***
Maria wondered about that. There had been a lot of birthdays she had been looking forward to growing up, but now probably wasn’t the time to pry into Vanessa’s life. It was a fact that she tucked away to make use of later. “I would never,” she said, grinning. “Scout’s honour, if you come here on your birthday, I’ll definitely buy you a drink.”
***
Vanessa reached out one hand to Maria over the bar. “Shake and it’s a deal. I’ll come here on my 21st before I go anywhere else so you can buy me a drink.” She said with a bright smile, not letting herself get dragged into the memories that her past had come close to the surface. This place was not where she wanted to deal with those.
***