Doing the Bar Thing [Open][Not-Rated]

"Ugh... could this night get any worse.", Ka'lara mumbled beneath her breath while she shot a nasty glare towards the overly drunk trio in the corner booth of the club. Normally she didn't mind working at Zero Sum, and she was a kickass bartender since she had been doing it since the age of sixteen, but she preferred working in the V.I.P section on the upper floor, not down on the bottom floor where everyone and their mother was allowed. The particular drunk trio she had momentarily been glaring at had been hitting on her all night long and it was taking everything in her power not to just wander over, convince them to follow her outside, go all Demon on their asses, and go on about her business like nothing happened.

Tempted for the half Demon, half Angel, very tempting.

Ka'lara couldn't really blame them one hundred percent though if she were honest with herself. She was showing a decent bit of skin; the more skin you showed the bigger the tip you were likely to get. However, there were limits to what Ka'lara was willing to show. This evening she was wearing a black v-neck top that stopped several inches below her breasts and which clung to her thin and athletic pale skinned build; showing her mid-drift off. Over this was a red top with a high color that was up; the top opened in the front and hanging down almost to her waist. Her white coat that only covered down to her breast line was on a chair behind the bar nearby. Black jeans helped to complete her outfit; going down into boots that were black in color and laced up to her knees; the bottoms flat for extra comfort while working: heels were not a bartenders best friend. Ka'lara's long black hair was back in a ponytail with bangs hanging down over her face, sometimes getting in the way of her black-lined eyes that were otherwise a red in color - something the humans though to be because of contacts. She still wore the fingerless red gloves though, even while currently mixing a drink for a nearby customer.

When she passed the customer his drink he handed her a twenty and told her to keep the change: he got a grin in response. With no one wanting drinks for the moment Ka'lara leaned against the back counter of the bar and folded her arms across her chest, just taking in the loud pulsating music around her and keeping an eye on what everyone was doing - Ka'lara's other job most nights was bouncer, and even when she wasn't 'working' that particular job she still liked to keep an eye out for trouble.

It was a fascinating thing, what Alcohol did to the human body. Astalan would never truly understand as he was unaffected by the essential poison that was alcohol but he did often observe just how far it would push the average human. This would be one such night, as he sat in the corner of the bar Zero Sum and watched the masses with golden eyes. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail in the back of his head and at the front and sides it was allowed to flow freely, sitting down around his chin. He wore his half frame glasses, which he would often clean with a green silk that he kept pulling out of his pocket whenever smoke would taint their view. He was dressed in similar attire to that which he always wore; a white dress shirt and a black tie underneath of an olive green vest and slacks and a pair of burgundy loafers and belt to match. He had his trademark pocket watch, which never moved even a millimetre, and his silver wristwatch and rings. It wasn’t a stretch to say he was the best dressed man in the establishment, and as he scanned across the crowds like he once had in the past when his life had fallen into an endless cycle of sexual sin, he couldn’t help but notice the lack of attractive men in general.

There were a few particularly inebriated individuals who had taken to hitting on the bartender, a young looking female who Astalan couldn’t help but get a strange vibe from. She felt like something he hadn’t felt in a long time, and he was drawn to walk towards the bar to go and see what it was that he was feeling. He watched one of the drunkards hand her a twenty dollar bill for his drink and Astalan shook his head, the effects of alcohol once again presenting themselves as something that could turn the strongest of wills weak and the weakest into bumbling idiots. Wisdom flew out the window and he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he approached the bar, smiling at the barkeep and speaking in his low and resonant voice.

“I’ll take a snakebite and a Seven and Seven please,” he met the eyes of the woman who was tending the bar and he couldn’t help but note that she was beautiful, though her pale skin reminded him a lot of a former life that had almost become a distant dream. He smirked slightly as he pulled out his wallet, preparing to pay the woman what she wanted for his drinks…

Ka'lara's form shifted slightly as she caught out of the corner of her eye the man walking up to the bar. She would have looked away or glanced over him until he reached it if it wasn't for the familiar feeling she was getting: the same kind of feeling that she got in the alley way a few nights ago when she had been almost attacked by a delusional Angel named Remiel. She didn't know what exactly this man was, but she doubted he was human. Still, it wasn't her place to judge and that wasn't the kind of person she was anyway, so until he proved to be trouble he would be treated with the same respect she gave to all of her customers.

She kept her red gaze on him as he reached the bar. She nodded her head with a grin when he ordered and got to work preparing it; pulling out two seperate glasses, one larger than the other. The snake bite was prepared first followed quickly by the Seven and Seven. Much to her other customers delights it involved a lot of flashy moves with the bottles that had them cheering and begging for more. She simply grinned at them and shook her head no. "Not till ya'll order again.", she responded to them knowing that the flood of drink orders would come in soon enough especially as several of them picked up their glasses and got to work hurrying on finishing them off.

When the two drinks were completed she turned and handed them over to the man, placing them on the bar in front of him. "That'll be ten bucks, please." She pushed her bangs behind her ears that had fallen loose from her ponytail, revealing ears that were pierced in multiple places; including three hoops at the top of each ear.

Astalan reached into his wallet and pulled out fifteen dollars, handing it to the young lady behind the bar and putting his wallet back into his pocket. He rolled his eyes as the patrons of the bar began getting more rowdy and took the Snakebite shot first, swallowing it down easily before beginning to nurse his seven and seven. He watched the other men around him order drinks so they could watch the bartender make them in her flashy way and Astalan noticed his own eyes being drawn to her as well, but not necessarily for the same reason. She moved with incredible speed and precision, something that Astalan didn’t see too often in humans. He knew that it was possible that she was just exceptionally good at her job, but knowing a thing or two about the other races that walked among them he suspected that she wasn’t simply a human, which would have confirmed why he had his feeling from earlier.

He felt as though the men at the bar seemed harmless enough, and he continued to observe them, watching to make sure they wouldn’t cause any issues. He wasn’t necessarily the type to get involved with a conflict, but he also didn’t like to idly sit by as someone was either ganged up on or assaulted in any way. While he felt as though the bartender could take care of herself he couldn’t help but feel as though some trouble might begin and it would be due to the hubris of humans and their alcoholic ways. He looked towards the bartender once more as she had finished the latest round of drinks and went as close as he could to her, still holding onto his seven and seven and smiling softly.

“Isn’t it amazing what Alcohol can do to the human body? So many negative effects, and yet it can also increase strength and courage..” He chuckled to himself before introducing himself. “Sorry, I felt I should come and say something. My name is Astalan, and I suppose you could say I’m somewhat of a sociologist…” He trailed off and waited to see if she would introduce herself to him, though he wouldn’t have been particularly upset had she decided she had better things to do than talk to the patron who was nursing his drink and therefore not making her any extra money.

Ka'lara grinned as several more customers downed their drinks and asked for more orders; each one of them handing over more than what was needed to pay for them. She wasn't about to turn down the tips of course: if this was how they wanted to blow their hard earned money then who was she to say otherwise? She got to work with her fancy bottle juggling and flashy moves; creating sometimes up to three or four of the order drinks at a time.

Ka'lara passed out the drinks before focusing her attention back on the male as he moved as close as he could get. An eyebrow rose at his words; she didn't miss a beat of what he was saying since it was basically an admittance that he wasn't human. "It is indeed.", she responded to his comment about the effects of alcohol on the humans around. Even now they were getting a bit rowdy and she could see several of the bouncers moving in the direction of the bar: they weren't going to do anything right away, but they were going to keep themselves close by in case something happened.

"I'm Ka'lara... nice to meet you. I was wondering why I was getting a weird vibe from you when I spotted you.", she said softly, keeping her voice only high enough for Astalan to hear. The last thing she wanted was one of the humans over-hearing and starting to ask too many questions. Even now she could see the trio who had been in the corner looking over in their direction and throwing nasty looks towards Astalan: obviously because she had blown them off earlier in the evening and they were still sour about it.

Astalan chuckled once more. At least his hunch was correct, she either knew about the world outside of humans, or was not human herself, but either way he had something that he could talk to a little bit. He smiled once again and looked her up and down before stating; “I felt something different about you as well.. You remind me of home. I am an Angel, or at least I’d like to think I can still call myself that. I have lived on this planet for thousands of years; blending and watching time pass by…It’s become…boring.” He looked once again to the drunken humans who were staring at him now as he had taken the attention of the bartender whom they had been ogling for the past little while. He felt as though this could get rough if he were to hold her time for too much longer but he was just here to enjoy a drink and relax, and didn’t intend on fighting anybody. He was generally peaceful, though due to his advanced physiology he could easily take on a few humans in a fight. He didn’t suspect they would still want to fight him if he was to reveal his true form, however, and he decided if he needed to the best way to deal with them may be to show off his black wings and golden halo…though that would be last resort.

He looked back to Ka’lara and asked her; “How long have you been here?”

One of the patrons had begun to insist on not only buying himself a shot and giving a large tip but also on paying for one for Ka'lara. She grinned and got to work; more flashy maneuvers with the bottles and a few seconds later she was finished. She took the money and popped it into the register before downing her own shot. Once the glass was back on the bar counter she refocused her attention on Astalan. He was an Angel and it didn't surprise her in the slightest.

"A thousand years, eh? That's a long time...", she wasn't that old, not nearly by far. "I'm half and half; though it's a bit more complicated than that." She poured another drink, took the money for it, and passed it over: it was almost like working on auto-pilot: playing bartender didn't require a lot of thought. "Uh, I wasn't born in this world, er, dimension rather. I came from somewhere else entirely; and there I wasn't human. But, I got sucked through this weird black hole and ended up here as what I am.", she explained, hoping it wasn't too confusing: it had taken her a while to wrap her head around it.

She hoped that Astalan wouldn't have an issue with her being part demon; it wasn't like she asked to be after all, or had any choice in the matter. So, she moved on. "I couldn't imagine having to be around all of this for thousands of years.. don't blame you for being bored."

The girl’s backstory was interesting to say the least. Astalan ordered another drink and passed her the money before swishing the glass in his hand and taking a sip. He could feel the whiskey in the drink burn as it made its way down his throat and he imagined that were he able to be effected by the drink’s effects he wouldn’t be doing nearly as well as he was now at speaking or standing on two feet even. He looked back around the bar and then back to the bartender, finishing his drink quickly before placing the glass on the counter once more and speaking up again.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing happening, though I don’t know many angels, and fewer half angels for that matter. Worry not though; I don’t care about your demonic upbringing. I’m not here to fight, simply to observe the world and help out where I can.” He smiled once more before standing from his stool and turning to face the door. “I do apologize for not staying longer, the bar scene unfortunately isn’t much my thing. I need to find my lover’s killer and unfortunately it is unlikely that I should find them in the bottom of a bottle… However I would like to talk to you again sometime. I shall have to come back in here again so we can continue our chat.” With that he waited for her response before walking towards the door and waving, watching one of the drunkards slump into his chair and shaking his head before heading back out into the dark night, cloaking himself before spreading his wings and flying above the city, keeping an eye out for anything that he thought would help him in his search…

[Exit Thread]