[FIN] Three Cheers for Understanding

[BlackFireKitsune]

While at first she had been hesitant to message Kurt too soon after first meeting him, said hesitance melted away in the face of a kinship she hadn't had since the accident, and before she knew it there had been emails of bitter complaints, emails of lamentations about physical limitations, emails about similar experiences, emails about can you believe the nerve of some people, trying to shove their selfless help down your throat, their kind pure offers of help from the bottomless goodness of their heart? Eventually there came an email suggesting they meet up again somewhere - which, naturally, that 'somewhere' was a bar - to complain and gripe and sigh about everything in person.

And to drink too, of course.

Seraphine didn't bother leaving too early, given a) her destination was in Camphoreon and thus not too far from her apartment building and b) it's not like she was trying to impress anyone by showing up early or anything dumb like that. No, the most impressive thing she could even claim was a knowledge of some bars in the city -- not too many, given that clubs had always been more her scene, but she still knew of a few. It was to one of these few that she guided Luna towards that evening, grateful both for the warmth on the otherwise chilly night and that she didn't have to walk herself. Giselle was around there somewhere, she knew, even if she couldn't see her, but regardless she was grateful for the ghost-type's presence.  

[TawnyAngel]

Being understood was important. Complaining bitterly and at length to somebody who understood, and shared their own complaints in turn, was cathartic. His friends meant well - actually meant well, weren't just trying to feel good about themselves by Doing a Good Deed - but they didn't get it, couldn't get it, and he couldn't talk to them about it. Meeting up with Sera for an in person chat, and drink, sounded like exactly what he needed right now.

Aulus had left pretty early because it was a fair distance from the base to Camphoreon even by Pidgeot. It had been an uneventful flight which ended with a neat landing in a small park that was vaguely near to the bar Sera had suggested they go to. He was heading towards said bar on Phaethon now and the Rapidash's hooves were making a satisfyingly rhythmic swift tap-tap-tap-tap on the tarmac as he gaited along, ears pricked forward with interest.

In deference to the cold weather Aulus was wearing a thick woolen coat today, dark grey rather than black for once and with the right sleeve pinned up inside itself so it wouldn't flap around and be a nuisance. As he glided along the street Aulus treated passers by to his patented glower, and there was another frustrating thing because it seemed to be less of a deterrent than it had been before. Arseholes.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Giselle was... not entirely sure how to feel about the intimidating, dangerous-looking human up ahead. Presumably, however, that same human was the one they were meeting, as Sera halted Luna not too terribly far from him. "Hey," she greeted him; she was wearing a coat over a hoodie to protect herself from the cold this evening, though riding a Rapidash helped quite a bit to stave off the chill. Said Rapidash looked to the second Rapidash with interest, offering a polite greeting to him herself.

Practice had made dismounting easy despite only having one hand - having a saddle and stirrups helped too, of course - and Sera swung her leg over and slid off her fire-type with little difficulty. As she walked closer to close up the remaining distance, Luna followed dutifully behind her without encouragement. "So you don't mind my age, huh?" Sera asked a bit vaguely on purpose with some wry amusement in her voice; it was always nice to drink with somebody who didn't care about those pesky 'no underage drinking' laws. Of course, she wasn't about to loudly ask 'so you don't mind buying drinks for me when I'm not of age' right outside the bar, because that was just asking for trouble.  

[TawnyAngel]

Phaethon slowed down to a walk and then a halt, and returned the other Rapidash's greeting with a friendly whicker. She certainly was beautiful, such a lovely coat and such neat conformation!

Aulus didn't have much trouble getting down either; although he was only riding with a saddlepad (to stop himself getting covered in hair) Phaethon was quite a small Rapidash so it was easy enough to just swing his leg over and drop to the ground. Now with both feet on the ground he gave Phaeth a brief scratch behind his left ear, straightened his coat, and turned to face the young woman he'd come here to meet.

Sera's greeting gleaned a raise of his eyebrows, a small noise of amusement and then a shrug. "No." Stepping a bit closer he dropped his voice and added; "You're old enough where I come from. Bloody stupid law anyway." Very few people he'd known growing up had paid much attention to it, he couldn't imagine why anyone would. It would have been different if Sera was sixteen or seventeen but only because he was not also sixteen or seventeen. Teenagers getting pissed in their own company was all part of growing up so far as he saw it.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

the darker Rapidash offered in response, her ears perked forward attentively while she stood tall, He was a little on the small side, wasn't he? Briefly she wondered if he was a knight of some sort.

"Good," Sera said with a single firm nod, quite pleased. "It really is a stupid law, but it's not like it'll matter in a few more months anyway." Then she could drink as much as she wanted and no one could say a damn thing about it anymore. Well, they probably would, but they could just suck it.  

[TawnyAngel]

She had good manners too, though that wasn't really the right word. Gracious? Yes, she seemed gracious. Phaethon was left with the vague impression that he ought to bow. he offered after a moment.

"That'll make life a bit easier," Aulus responded with a snort, giving Phaeth another scratch before gesturing to a nearby bar. "Is that it then?" he was pretty sure that was the name of the place she'd mentioned and it was in the right place so odds were pretty good but he wasn't going to go wandering off just in case he was wrong.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Mention of the evening drew a warmer response from Luna, whose gaze turned up to the darkening sky. It wasn't quite night just yet, but dusk was pleasant too. she agreed wholeheartedly. The chill wasn't too bad, given her typing, and the sky was clear.

"It sure will," the brunette said with feeling; oh yes, it would make things much easier whenever she wanted to go out and drink. Ohhh yessss. She gave Luna a pat on her side before recalling her back into her ball, then nodded to Kurt as she put it away. "Yep, that's it. Not too fancy a place, but it's pretty nice and has decently priced drinks." A pause. "I'll pay for mine, I just can't... pay for them," she pointed out with a rueful expression as she headed towards the door. "It's kind of a hassle, but," she ended with a shrug and a vague hand gesture. Oh well.  

[TawnyAngel]

Phaethon gave Sera a slightly reproachful look.

Aulus raised an eyebrow at his friend and shook his head. "Don't take that tone, you can have your night off another time." The Rapidash snorted at him as expected, he opted to ignore the rude noise and recalled Phaeth to his pokeball.

Sliding the pokeball inside his jacket Aulus gave a brief dry laugh and shook his head. "Life is a hassle," he said to Sera as he headed towards the door alongside her. "Going up to the bar on the other h..." He stopped abruptly mid-sentence, sighed, and then continued to the alternate and swiftly thought up conclusion of; "Going up to the bar meanwhile isn't a problem." Puns! Why did so many turns of phrase he never thought about have to contain what were now unavoidably puns?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera paused by the door, quirking a brow first at the Rapidash, then to its trainer, to whom she gave an amused smirk. "What, he get mad I recalled her?"

Then she got to the door and had more cause for amusement. "It's really hard to avoid, isn't it? All the hand phrases, I mean," she clarified as she pushed open the door and went in, holding it long enough for him to either take it for himself or follow her through. "They're extra funny if you're drunk, though." That had been one of the most entertaining evenings she'd had in a while... "But, yeah, life is such a pain. You know what else is a pain? Hanging coats up," she said as she slipped out of hers, nearly dropped it, recovered, then forsook the more proper-looking open closet in the corner with its hangers and other coats, and opted to deposit hers on a hook instead. Like hell was she about to try and make a fool of herself putting a hanger through it one-handed.

"Alright now," she said as she turned, her hand and her stump on her hips and looking quite uneven while she did so, "where's a good spot to chill?" Normally she didn't like such posture, given it pretty much showed off her missing hand, but usually she was the only one to have a missing limb. Now, though, she was out with a compatriot, someone else with a missing limb, and that gave her somewhat more confidence - maybe comfort was a better word - than she otherwise would have on her own.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yep," Aulus replied with a smirk in return, "he never hesitates to make his feelings known. I'm pretty sure he thought she's cute.

"But yeah, it is. It's also really funny to see people trying to stop themselves mid-sentence, or freezing up if they use one in your presence." As he spoke Aulus unbuttoned his coat, actually pretty easy with this one as the buttons were quite large. Hanging it up however, as Sera said, was a bit more difficult and he opted to join her in just hanging it up on a peg.

"Too right," he agreed as he turned around to look for a place to sit. The preference was for somewhere secluded where people were less likely to gawk, or at least where it would be obvious if they were gawking and could be Dealt with. He was pretty sure that between himself and Sera a tirade of pretty epic proportions could be achieved and, if that didn't work, there were always threats.

"How about over there?" Aulus suggested after a few moments, gesturing to a couple of comfortable seats off in one corner.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I don't blame him; she is quite beautiful," the brunette pointed out matter-of-factly and with a hint of pride in her voice. She knew it very well, especially since that was one reason she wanted to purchase her in the first place. Other factors helped too, of course, like Rosie wanting Luna's sister, among other things, but that was besides the point.

Leaving that line of thought aside for the moment, she gave a breath of a laugh at the thought of other people floundering with hand puns. "Yeah, it's always funny. You can always tell the instant they realize it too, and then try to backpedal to something else or try to pretend they hadn't just said that..." Hum, where to sit... Ah, he'd found a place. She inclined her head a little to try to see the spot better - it was terribly difficult for her to to see too far and there were obstacles in the way, due to her short stature and the fact she didn't wear heels anymore - but from what little she could see it seemed like a good enough spot. In a nice secluded corner, where hopefully no one would bother them. "Looks good to me," she said with a slight shrug and, once assured he was finished hanging his coat and that hers would stay put, she turned and headed towards the indicated corner to sit there before anyone else got any ideas about taking the spot first.  

[TawnyAngel]

Once he had acceptance of the location from his companion Aulus wasted no time in setting off towards it using that prowling gait that was heavy on the shoulder motions, though not to the point of caricature. The fitted t-shirt he wore showed off the power in said shoulders and, though it was lopsided power, he hoped that it still gave off the vibe of 'go ahead, make my day'.

Luckily it was easy enough getting to the seats and he didn't have to menace anyone at all. Rather than sitting down however Aulus just lent his hand on the back of one of the chairs and turned to Sera in order to ask; "What's your poison?" He wasn't sure what he was in the mood for tonight; beer, wine, something stronger? Probably not the latter or at least not yet, they'd come to talk and drink after all not drink and talk. The distinction was small he guessed but it was still there from his point of view, though frankly he was still open to being swayed to potent beverages if that was what Sera was on tonight.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

If he were a couple years younger and looked a bit less like a large predatory pokemon stalking around, there was a distinct possibility Sera would've been quite attracted to him - except he wasn't younger and he did stalk around like a large predatory pokemon, so she wasn't. That, and she was still trying to avoid being attracted to anyone for various reasons. Pushing such thoughts aside, the brunette moved forward and plopped down into a chair, leaned her arm across the back of it, and curled her fingers around the end. "Poison?" She echoed, brows raising a moment before the expression turned into a thoughtful frown. Hmmm, what did she want... Well, she could go for something strong and get drunk but they'd met up to hang out, not to get drunk. With that distinction in mind she simply shrugged, "Surprise me with one of the fruity, girly drinks; I'm not picky, I'll drink pretty much any of them."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Fruity? I think I can cope with that." So saying Aulus turned and made for the bar.

A couple of minutes later he came back with a tray balanced on his hand, which he maneuvered down onto the table with only mild awkwardness. The drink he then passed to Sera was in a tall slim glass; it was made up of six layers, alternating pink and red.

"It's summer fruits, apparently," Aulus said as he picked up his own drink, just a vodka and coke for now.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ooh," she said when he placed the drink down in front of her, eying the alternating colors as she pulled it closer. "Either that or Valentine's Day came early this year. Either way this is definitely girly." Red was probably strawberry, in all likelihood, and pink was... Maybe watermelon? Some other berry maybe? Raspberry, perhaps. Shrugging internally she lifted the slender glass to her lips to take a sip. "Mm, yep, that's fruity. Not that I thought it wasn't, but just in case you weren't sure - the answer is yes, it definitely is," she said a little sarcastically, eyebrows raised a little as if it'd make her look a little more serious. She ran her finger down the glass, raised it to gesture at him as she opened her mouth to speak, thought better of it, and took another sip of the drink instead. Mmmm, alcohol.

"So I take it you just like yours simple?" She asked, using her drink to gesture to his. Seemed like coke and something, from the looks of it. "Oh, and thanks by the way," this said with another gesture of her glass, but more of a 'this is what I'm talking about' way. She made a mental note to pass him some cash in a couple minutes, once she put her drink down.