InsaneJournal

Who: Clarke Griffin & Maria DeLuca
When: Backdated: Early August
Where: Fangtasia
What: Hanging out and checking out new places to drink
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete

Ever since Clarke had heard about Fangtasia she had been intrigued by the bar, but had yet to have the chance to check it out so when her and Maria made plans to get drinks she had decided now was as good a time as any to finally visit the bar. From what she’d heard on the Network, it was somewhat vampire themed or had been owned by a vampire or something along those lines and while Clarke still wasn’t sure what she thought about the fact that there were some people on Valar who were apparently supernatural now, the bar still intrigued her.

Clarke had just worked two on and now had two days off, so going out for drinks on a Monday night seemed perfectly normal to her. Besides, after her more recent dreams and the fact that they had made her sick recently, along with the others from her dreams, she really needed another night out. Maria’s birthday had been a good way to unwind after some of her more stressful dreams as well as work, but more drinks wouldn’t hurt in the least.

Reaching Fangtasia, Clarke pulled out her phone and sent Maria a quick text to let her know that she was there and inquiring if the other woman was there yet.

Maria had no idea what Fangtasia was but definitely sounded interesting. Could either be a hilarious drive bar or some kind of crazy goth bar. Maria really didn’t care where drinks took place usually so she wasn’t going to knock it because of the name. She finished working on some stuff at her mother’s shop and got ready to go meet Clarke at the bar.

She had parked and was just walking towards the bar when she got the text from Clarke wondering where she was. She chuckled a little and looked up when she saw Clarke outside the bar. She sent an emoji of eyeballs and shoved the phone in her back pocket before making her way over to her, lifting her hand up in a wave once Clarke noticed her.

Clarke waved back as she saw Maria approaching a moment after seeing the other woman’s emoji response, “Hey. How’s it going?” She asked, smiling as she slid her phone back into her pocket once Maria was close enough, “So, I read about this place on-line then saw someone talking about it on the Net so I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that it is or was owned by a dreamer.” She wondered if the bar being owned by a dreamer had any special meaning.

“Going well, how about you?” And owned by a dreamer? That should be interesting,” Maria commented with an amused look on her face. She had no idea if that would mean anything but she was rather curious to find out, “Well, we might as well go in and see what the heck is going on inside. That name is definitely interesting.” She made her way towards the front door and held it open for Clarke.

“Pretty good,” Clarke said in response as she noted the amused expression on Maria’s face at the details she’s just mentioned about the bar, “Right, it really makes you wonder exactly where the owner came up with it.” Was it simply because it was or had been owned by a vampire or was there another meaning to it? “Thanks.” Clarke smiled as Maria held the door for her and stepped inside, taking in the mostly red and black and silver decor of the interior, “Definitely getting a vampire vibe here.”

“Oof, yeah,” Maria agreed when she stepped inside, closing the door behind her and took around now that she could see things a lot better. It was definitely a dungeon-y looking place and screamed vampires and goth to her with the color scheme, “Well hopefully the drinks are just as themed?” That could save a bar/club if they just totally embrace the theme. It wasn’t a bad looking place by any means, but it was definitely not like Maria’s usual haunts.

“I’d be disappointed if they weren’t,” Clarke smirked as she led the way to the bar, her eyes slowly adjusting to the slightly harsh red neon lighting over it. “So what are you in the mood for tonight?” After her more recent dreams Clarke definitely needed something strong. She scanned the various bottles lined up behind the bar before spotting a menu of themed drinks on the bar. Reaching for it, she moved so that Maria could also see it once it was in her hands.

“Not sure, honestly, although I am a sucker for a well named drink. The punnier the better. Otherwise it all boils down to the spirits in the drink,” Maria wasn’t the type to choke down liquor she didn’t enjoy, so it had to have a good name and good liquor. She moved a little closer to Clarke when she grabbed the menu and took a look at the menu, “Hmm… Vampire’s Kiss isn’t very original for a name but sounds pretty good. Ooo, there’s a Sparklepire drink with edible glitter.”

Clarke laughed upon seeing that Sparklepire, “While I still don’t understand why anyone would decide to make vampires sparkle, it has definitely had some very amusing references over the last couple of years.” Honestly, who thought of vampires and instantly thought of glitter? Well the answer that was obvious, so the question should have been why? Whatever the reason, that wasn’t what Clarke was going to dwell on tonight, “So, two Sparklepires to start?” She asked, brows raising slightly as she watched Maria.

“Yeah, it’s a completely stupid evolutionary trait. Honestly, if it could do something like blind people then it would make sense, but alas,” Maria would never forgive the world for letting that become such a phenomenon and she had many regrets over her enjoyment of it back in the day, “And sure, let’s give it a shot. If anything it’ll be good for instagram.” She chuckled at the idea of it and she would definitely send a photo of it to Alex and Liz to comment about Team Edward vs Jacob.

“See, now that would have been good planning and Twilight was clearly not good planning.” Honestly, there was quite a lot of questionable content in those books and movies that just didn’t make any sense when it came to vampires. Setting down the menu, Clarke glanced towards the bartender and once she’d gotten his attention, she ordered their drinks, “First round is on me.” She said, smiling at Maria as the bartender went to work making their drinks.

“Aw, you’re so nice. So what all have you been up to since my birthday? That was a pretty fun day and I’m glad you were able to come,” it had been nice to relax and then have a bit of fun at a restaurant afterwards for anyone that didn’t come to get a massage. Maria definitely made sure to invite some of her favorite people for that part of it. She was curious if Clarke was still having stressful dreams or not.

When the drinks were placed on the bar, Clarke passed the bartender some cash then took a moment to check out the drink, watching the glitter swirl around in the glass as she listened to Maria, “That was a lot of fun. I really needed that massage.” Of course after all of Clarke’s other recent dreams, she probably needed about a dozen more massages now, “Not much really besides work and the stuff with my dad wanting me to visit.” As she spoke she couldn’t help but take her phone out and take a picture of the drinks to post later on. “How about you?”

“Do you not want your dad to come visit,” Maria inquired as she did the same and pulled out her phone to take photos. At least they were both doing it, so they didn’t have to feel weird about it while spending time together, “And just about the same. Been auditioning for a few musical groups around here while helping my mom out at the store. The dreams are kind of boring, which is fine because I know eventually it will get crazy since that seems to be how everyone’s dreams go.” Maria put her phone away before lifting her glass up towards Clarke for a cheers tap before she took her first sip.

Once she was finished taking pictures, she set her phone down on the bar and finally took a sip of the drink while Maria talked, “It’s not that I don’t want him to come, but my parents are just weird around each other.” She said, putting the glass back down on the bar top as well, “That’s actually good. I might need a second one when this one is finished.” She smirked and listened to the rest of what Maria was saying, catching onto the part about her dreams, “So yours are pretty tame right now?” She asked, brushing some of her blond hair behind her shoulder, “Actually, can I ask you something about your dreams, if you don’t mind?”

“Ahhhh, luckily I don’t have that problem because I have no idea who my dad is,” Maria mused with an amused smile on her lips. She had asked when she was younger and had some vague information about the man that had fathered her, but had no desire to find out anymore or see him because her mother was the best, “And yeah, kinda boring just running the bar and then preparing for this high school reunion that’s going on. And sure, go for it.” There wasn’t much she could answer about her dreams, but she was happy to try.

Clarke nodded as Maria mentioned not knowing who her father was, “Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad and I do miss him, but I just hate being the one in the middle when they get weird,” Clarke liked to remember her parents the way they were when they were married and happy together before things had begun to fall apart. “I wish mine were as boring.” She took another sip of her drink before speaking again, “So, your friends in your dreams, you knew all of them in the real world before you started dreaming, right?” Maria and her friends may not have talked about the dreams during Maria’s birthday party, but Clarke had seen them, talking to each other on the Net before and it was obvious they had known each other for years.

“Yeah, I can totally understand it being weird and uncomfortable. Parents just don’t seem to understand that they shouldn’t do that to their children, sometimes it’s more about bothering each other,” Maria frowned a little as she spoke because that really bothered her when people did that. She was glad that wasn’t something she dealt with, “And yeah, we all went to high school together and apparently are having similar dreams. Do you know about the people who share your dreams?”

Clarke nodded in response to what Maria said about parents; definitely understanding that part all too well, “I know my parents mean well, but they just don’t go about dealing with each other well,” Maybe she just had to figure out a way to talk to them together and be completely honest and transparent with them.

“The people in my dreams, there’s five of them here and they all knew each other well before they started dreaming, but I only met them recently. It doesn’t make any sense why some people know each other before the dreams and some don’t.” She ran a hand through her wavy blond hair, “It’s all so strange.” The only people from her dreams that she knew were her parents, but neither of them were dreamers, which she was grateful for.

“Yeah, it truly doesn’t. Honestly, the whole dreaming thing makes zero sense in general. It’s so strange that we have these stupid dreams in the first place. Sometimes it’s with people you know, or your siblings, or you’re all by yourself in them. At least you’ve gotten to meet some people who have the same dreams as you so you’re not alone in that,” that was one of the few things Maria was thankful about because she didn’t want to be having these weird dreams all by herself. It would probably drive her crazy, “Do you like them?”

“Yeah, I still don’t understand what causes these dreams at all.” Clarke couldn’t imagine how she’d handle her dreams if she was the only one experiencing them. There was so much drama in her dreams that having people to talk to about them who understood was helpful, “The dreams or the people?” Clarke asked, smirking a little before taking a sip of her drink, “I’m kidding. Yeah, I like the people from my dreams. It’s interesting to see how different they are from the dreams, but considering we’re all teenagers in the dreams, it makes sense that they’d be different in real life in their mid twenties.”

The comment from Clarke drew a laugh from Maria because it definitely could be different for both groups. The age difference was something that surprised Maria because it didn’t really seem like there were many people who were the exact age they were in the dreams, “Ahhh, teenager vs twenty-something is definitely a big difference in how people act. I’ve gotten past the high school stuff now, so now I’m getting the fun 28 year old version of myself.” She wasn’t too far off from that age now, so at least it felt more current. She didn’t like thinking about the teenage version of herself, such an awkward time.

“We’re a bunch of mostly eighteen year olds on our own on an Earth that we thought had been inhabitable for decades. So you can imagine what kind of shit we end up encountering.” Clarke honestly had no idea what to expect from her dreams and was surprised each and every time. She only hoped that they didn’t end up losing more of the initial 100 that had been sent to Earth, but she had a bad feeling that things weren’t really going to get much better; especially not with the appearance of the Grounders. “So many bad things have happened in such a short period of time. It’s crazy.”

“That sounds fucking awful,” Maria admitted frankly and then turned to signal at the bartender for another round of drinks. Those dreams were definitely far worse than what Maria was dreaming about at the moment, “I think that definitely means that we need to have more drinks and go dance a little bit. You deserve a break from your dreams for a little.” Once the bartender came over with their next round of drinks she double-fisted them as she gestured with her head for Clarke to follow her out to the dance floor.