A tall ship and a star to steer her by (starwreck) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-03-12 12:34:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, isabela, james kirk, varric tethras |
Ooo, well, I DO love a good adventure, and I somehow think that adventures don't necessarily involve
Who: Kirk, Isabela and Varric
What: Phonecalls, date planning, and then making friends
When: Daytime
Where: Kirk and Isabela's apartments, then isabela visits the Mad Dogs alone.
Rating: PG-13, Language, naughty talk
Status: Complete
Note: edited about several hours after post to include a missing part with bela talking to her 'roommate'
"So where do you want to meet, Isabela?" Kirk was talking into the phone as he lounged on his couch, the tv on mute and a laptop next to him.
"Oh, I don't know... somewhere nice. Where you can see the stars, I imagine." Isabela was being evasive. Mainly because she was shaving her legs in the bathroom of the man she was living with. Who, she was pretty sure, thought he was her boyfriend.
Kirk had no idea about this man, but if he did he suspected he'd get into a fight over it. Which was fine by him, most of the time. But he had no idea, "i have some ideas, then. It really depends on whether you enjoy a table and bed or a picnic blanket."
Isabela washed off her razor and tapped it against the sink. Somehow, by some miracle of flexiblness, she'd managed to keep the phone in her ear the whole time, "Ooo, well, I DO love a good adventure, and I somehow think that adventures don't necessarily involve tables."
Unless sex on the table is involved
She pulled her leg off the sink and twirled in place, "Picnic Blanket sounds fun. Hopefully a really soft one."
Kirk found himself grinning stupidly. Tonight was going to be fun. "Well then. if you want an adventure I'm going to take you on one, babe. Wear something flexible but comfortable."
"I think I can manage that, but you still havn't told me where I should be going. It's not like I'm telepathic, sweet thing."
Comfortable and flexible, Isabela could do that. In light of the adventures about to unfold, she decided to forgo anything fancy and take out the gigantic earrings she was used to wearing.
Kirk grinned, "Its a bit of a drive, but the wine and the view are worth it. I'll leave my serial killer gear at home." He liked to take the ones he really liked there, or the ones that seemed open to bit of adventure. The stars stretched as far as the eye could see, and the ocean was close enough to smell it.
The proximity of the Ocean would drive Isabela absolutely crazy, she loved the smell of it, loved being out on it even more, and star watching while laying on the deck of a boat out to sea would probably be her most favorite thing ever.
"Maybe we aught to go somewhere neutral that I could park my car safely. If you're determined to drive out to the middle of nowhere, I suppose I'll just have to let you drive me, too."
She glanced at the door, scared that there'd be angry banging on it any moment, "I'm not sure where a car is safe in this neighborhood, though."
That was an unintended, but helpful side effect. Kirk rubbed his jaw and gave the matter some thought, "Some brightly lit parking lot at a market seem safe enough?" They could leave it with Varric but the neighborhood wasn't the safest, at least if her car was a nice one.
The car was a an old miata, which might attract someone's attention to strip down for parts, maybe, but otherwise wasn't really that remarkable. It was, however, the singular love of her life. Which was a big thing, for someone like her.
"oh, a market sounds alright. How about that one by that bar with the dogs on it? I think you mentioned you'd been there before."
"Mad Dogs? I've been there, year. Its not the best neighborhood but the lighting at that market is bright enough." He rubbed his jaw, deciding he needed to shave first, "Yeah that's perfect."
God, women with accents like that could read him dry technical manuals. For hours.
"Well you'd better let me get off the phone then, sweetie. I've got a bit of a drive and you don't want me looking a hag. It'll scare away all the little children," Isabela laughed, "See you at eight."
With that, she hung up.
She grinned at the man who was now standing in the bathroom with her, and waved at him before fleeing to the bedroom to get dressed.
Kirk doubted the woman could ever look like a hag.
It was still several hours before this mystical date that Varric had no clue about, and he was minding the bar, while telling a (a)rousing story of daring do.
"Sal found herself surrounded. She had a spanish gunboat on the port side and a portuguese clipper cutting her off to the starboard. Directly ahead lay the bulk of the English Navy, with the French catching up behind her. There was no escape, not with her ship intact."
His audience leaned in with anticipation. Varric continued, "With the falling of night they had a respite. Under a cloudy sky, she slipped her crew away into landing boats. Last of all was sweet Jasmine. Their farewell was more private, and fiery. At last Sal was alone on her ship, and she set it aflame as she sent it speeding towards the English fleet. At the last moment she dove into the water, as the blazing flames swept from ship to helpless ship. She swam away in the chaos."
The man in Isabela's apartment gave her a rather bewildered look as she pulled on an extremely soft and pliable pair of jeans and one of her favorite 'easy access to breasts' shirts.
"Bela... another late night out with the girls? You shouldn't invite them over some time, you never even mention them."
"Well, they're just work friends, sweet thing. No point bringing them home. We're staking out a nice find for the shop."
The man raised an eyebrow at her as if he wasn't really sure if he felt like believing her or not, then finally shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, alright. Just... next time you come home at 4am, can you be less loud?"
Isabela darted her eyes to the side, pulled most of her jewelry off, and threw her hair up in a clip, "Right, of course."
Then she grabbed her keys and fled, early. She desperately needed a drink. Might as well take a look at that bar with the dogs on it.
What happened to Sal after that? Varric didn't tell. Nor did he tell what had happened to Jessica, the previous love interest, or the one after that. And what was Jasmine's fate, the woman who, above all others, had gotten the words 'I love you' out of the emotional-weary captain?
That, my freinds, would have to wait for the book.
"What Captain in her right mind would set her ship on fire like that?" Isabela snorted, "If it was a cloudy night couldn't she have made a diversion with the longboats to turn one of the ships attention off course, then snuck her own ship through without anyone the wiser?"
"Ah, but you see, the story has become stale, and its time for her to claw her way back again. Besides, the enemy formation was tight, and they'd been herded into a straight with only one real exit." Varric smiled at the pretty woman, feeling immediately put at easy by her, "Now that the fleets were distracted, there was that beautiful clipper, just waiting to be taken."
"Oh, well then, that does sound about right. Beautiful Clippers just left standing around like that aught to be snapped up by opportunistic pirate captains."
Isabela smirked and took a seat at the bar, "They tell me this place is best bar. I was hoping you could reinforce that statement."
"Someone knows Jim Kirk. What's your poison." He leaned on the bar, eyeing her appreciatively, "No, wait, I know just the thing."
He reached under the bar and took out an unlabeled bottle, then poured her a glass, before sliding it over to her.
"My poison? Mmm," Isabela pondered that, despite the fact that Varric was pouring her a drink anyway.
"Pushy blondes who drive badly, dark haired people, both sexes, people with beards in general, and men with gorgeous, gorgeous chest hair puffing up proudly out of their shirts. Generally. OOoooh, and snarky fiery redheads, of course."
She picked the drink up and took a sip, then raised her eyebrows at him and saluted him with her glass, "This'll do for now, though."
"Finally! Someone who really appreciates my chest hair." He gave her a grin, watching her drink. He appreciated someone who knew a good drink. That's why Scotty was so much fun to be around. On top of everything else.
"I'm Varric Tethras, welcome to my bar."
Isabela took another long sip at her drink, then twinkled her eyes at Varric, "You poor, poor sweet thing you. No one appreciates your chest hair?! How do you survive without getting the amount of adoration you deserve?"
She stared right at it for a bit, and a few of her fingers twitched, like she was barely able to hold them back from entangling in that gorgeous man pelt right then and there.
"That's a horrible fate."
The man grinned at her. She'd be the perfect protagonist for any number of stories, and was already an inspiration. He casually scratched his chest, "I make do, I make do."
"Do you? What, do you scritch your own fingers through that glorious man pelt of yours? Because that's hardly the same feeling as a woman paying it proper respect and attention."
She knocked back the rest of the drink and slid the glass back to him, "I'm Isabela by the way. Let's have another, shall we?"
"Certainly." He poured her another glass, then poured himself one and raised it in toast, "To manpelts and women paying them proper respect." She was a sly one, he'd have to watch out for her.
"To manpelts and women paying them proper respect, indeed." Isabela winked and clinked his glass before knocking back most of hers, again.
"If I had that manpelt in my bed at night, I'd put my head on it and run my lips all over it and make sweet, sweet love to it with my fingers."
Obviously the woman had no mental edit function.
Varric was glad he was behind a bar. It was an enticing mental picture, one he couldn't help but grin at, "Well then, Sal. Perhaps some time." She reminded him so much of his pirate captain that the name just seemed to fit.
"Sal? I thought I told you my name was Isabela?" She smirked at Varric, "Bartenders aren't supposed to forget their patron's names like that, are they? Maybe you were distracted by my stunning personality."
"Both of them, Sal."
Isabela arched a brow, "Intriguing."
Varric flashed her another of his winning grins, "You have the air of a woman who's seen many, many things and been places I've only written about."
"And still only been to half the places I wanted to go when I was younger."
"What's stopping you?" He leaned forward, elbows on the bar. Barkeep 101 - draw them into talking and just listen.
"Well mostly because I'm having way too much fun here, I suppose." She drained her glass and handed it back to him.
He waved his hands, "Here? In this dump of a town?"
She laughed, "Yes here, in this dump of a town. Have you heard of the Crossbones Pawn shop? It's all kinds of adventures there, you have no idea."
"Crossbones? I've driven past it a few times. Share with me some of these adventures."
"The other night I ended up tracking down a fancy car through the underbelly of Santa Ana, which I kindly then allowed the owner to take back home with him."
Isabela pursed her lips, "Keep pouring, you paragon of manliness, you."
The paragon of manliness poured another glass, "Tracking stolen cars can be dangerous. Guns and everything. Sounds like loads of fun."
He slid the glass over, "Bet you get some interesting items in your shop. Ever come across a pendant? Gold and silver, intertwining trees with three jewels set in the crown." He sounded nonchalant, "Just curious."
"Ooo, it was dangerous! I had my switchblade and my pistol, just in case, but it really went rather smoothly, so I suppose the thing that made it a real adventure was the crazy girl with the switchblade and the cat."
She took the glass and took a sip, trying to pace herself before her date, "She was fun, though. And no, I havn't seen anything like that. We get a lot of odd jewelry through the shop - most of it costume jewelry, but nothing like that."
"Crazy cat lady?" This had Varric's interest piqued, "Why did you have a crazy cat lady?" He nodded his head. He had a peculier interest in that piece, and despite being told to the contrary, believed it to still be intact. But that was another story for another day.
"Something to eat?"
Isabela'd heard of the piece. There were rumours about it in that same Orange County underworld she'd tracked Frodo's Elan through, but no one had seen it. Some people had even claimed the thing had been through her shop. Isaac had kept pretty extensive records on the ins and outs of his business, both the above and below board kinds, but she'd never seen a note about it. If she had a lead it was doubtful she'd share the information, even with the sexy manly bartender.
"I've got a date in a bit, I think he said we were having a picnic. I probably shouldn't spoil my appetite, just in case it turns out that his food is edible," Isabela sipped from her glass, "The crazy cat lady... I think her name was Alice? She seemed, well less crazy so much as just not quite there."
"Send her around if you see her again, I'm sure she has stories to tell, and a writer is always on the look out for inspiration." He smiled at her, "Though you've given me plenty."
And picnic? Code-word for sexy fun times with bugs.
Isabela arched a brow, "Have I? Come on, then, what sort of unbelievable fantasy tales are you going to weave about me, then? I certainly hope they involve lots of sex."
"Captain Sal could use a beautiful rivalry romance," Varric suggested, grinning.
"Just think of the illicit encounters between the famous pirate and the maverick English captain turned privateer trying to catch her."
"I hope Captain Sal knows how to hoist the mainsail."
"With skill and talent.
"Excellent." Isabela saluted him with her glass once more, then checked the time, "I've got to head out, or I'll be late. I'd hate to keep him waiting, he might hook up with someone else."
She knocked back the rest of her glass, slapped a 20 down on the counter, and slid off the barstool.
"Please to meet you, Varric. I'll be around."
"Maybe you should find someone who's patient enough to wait for his hookup," Varric suggested. "And you're welcome any time, Sal."
"Oh now that wouldn't be any fun, no would it?" Isabela winked at Varric, then headed out of the bar and got back into her car. She wasn't really drunk enough to worry about driving it to the parking lot, and if tonight worked out well enough she'd be sober enough by the time she needed to worry about driving it again. She hoped.
She headed to the market in question and parked, then got out and sat on her hood while she waited.