firewater cannot kill a dragon [open thread]

[Hunter]

Leaving work that weekend, Darrion wasn't ready to make the trek home just yet.  He had tomorrow off, and it'd been a long day, and as distant as he was with others, he didn't like being alone, which is why he stopped by the local grill that evening and sidled up to the bar rather than head on down to the trailer park.

He'd already changed out of his uniform shirt from work and covered up again in his gray hoodie, keeping extra warm against the early-winter cold with a pair of fingerless gloves and a striped knit beanie.  They helped him retain body heat and hid any sign that he was a drake -- except for the fact that most humans wouldn't consider this weather all that cold, in their terms.  Not that it was any reason to give him a second glance, but he was unusually bundled up considering the temperature.

Darrion folded his arms on the bar counter and made a gruff request for a beer, keeping his nose down.  It would probably be several before the night was through.  He wasn't looking to get drunk -- not that alcohol had much effect on him if he'd wanted it to -- but he just needed a reason to postpone going home to his lonely place and having to go to sleep worrying about a vampire break-in.

Even though he wasn't a real friendly or outgoing kind of guy, he liked being in the company of people and light and warmth, all of which made him feel a little safer.  The din of other people's conversations was comforting, in its own way, since he doubted any monsters would attack in the midst of a crowd.  Maybe he'd even work up enough courage to talk to somebody, given enough time.

[Roo]

Papina hated wearing clothes. They were so constrictive. She didn't understand why there was such a stigma around not wearing clothes. But the winter was cold she supposed, so clothes were necessary, even if it were just a sweater. She was wearing pants today, which was more than she would normally wear, or would want to wear for that matter. It was warm enough to go without pants, especially when the only pants that are easy to wear are made out of leather. If she didn't have work today should wouldn't have worn any pants, and probably wouldn't have left the forest, it's much more fun than the town anyway.

But here she was, in town with nothing to do. It'd be a waste to go back to the forest now, or at least with out doing something. Plus she'd just gotten paid, and nothing's quite better than burning a little bit of cash in the pocket. So, she headed out to the town trying to figure out where to go. She could go to a restaurant, which would be nice. But restaurants are so awfully lonely when you're by yourself. Clothes shopping was out of the question, and she didn't enjoy jewelry all that much. So, she went to the bar. Normally she didn't like drinking all that much, but it was fun every now and then.

She walked into the bar, went to the counter, and had no idea what to do. Normally she'd just go buy a bottle of wine and enjoy it privately with friends, but she'd only gone to an actual bar a couple of times. So she froze. Should she order wine? Is it normal to order wine at a bar? Or is wine more for different settings. Maybe a mixed drink, though she couldn't think of any off of the top of her head other than a margarita. Should she ask what drinks they have, or is it assumed that she'd know the drinks? Maybe they'd have something with apple cider. She liked apple cider... But what would they have? With all these thought drifting through her head, the bartender became a bit impatient waiting for her. "I-I'll have a hard cider... you have that right?" She asked managing a weak grin. The bartender sighed and probably rolled his eyes when he went to get her the drink. After receiving the drink, Papina shrunk in her chair from embarrassment. Normally she was much more articulate in public, today just wasn't her day apparently.

[Hunter]

The drake gave her an absent-minded glance as she came in, looked away, then did a double-take with widened eyes, and he looked away again just as quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed. Good god, those hips, in leather pants... Sure, he would have liked a distraction from his thoughts, but he hardly expected a woman like that to come through the door. Not that she'd give him the time of day, but it was worth a shot, right? He just needed someone to talk to, really. Unless she'd come here specifically to be alone, that was hardly objectionable. And it didn't seem like she'd came with anyone, either, or that was the impression he got when he chose to hazard a glance at her again. Another sip from the bottle, and he was decided.

In what was an unusual show of outgoing behavior for him, Darrion told the bartender he'd be paying for that hard cider and moved over to where she was sitting, fingering the beer bottle nervously in his hand. With a short jerk upward of his chin by way of acknowledgement, asked her in his deep, husky voice, as casually as he could manage, "How's your day been?"

[Roo]

Papina jumped when she heard the man's voice. She wasn't expecting to have someone actually talk to her. Maybe should could try to be cool and be all mysterious, barely answering his question. Or she could welcome the conversation. Either option was probably above her level of ability at that point in time. Not only was she embarrassed by her inability to order a drink, now a guy seemed to be hitting on her. There was no way she could have an acceptable response, or at least a socially acceptable one.

So she sat there wide eyed for a bit. Maybe she could just down the cider fast enough so she'd at least be a little tipsy, or at least buzzed. But she doubted that there would be enough alcohol in the drink to actually cause that much of an effect anyway. Papina examined the man asking her a question. He was wearing a beanie indoors, which was rather odd. Probably human... she thought examining the boy, but she wasn't sure. She looked down at her drink, drank a bit, and then decided to answer his question. It was a particularly lackluster question, one that she'd normally just answer with a 'good' or something similar. But that'd be pretty boring, and she didn't really want to be boring now did she. So she'd have to think of something else to say, but what.  There's not much else to day other than good though.

"Pretty average, just work I guess. Not that it's that bad--I mean my job is all right I guess..." She noticed that after the first few words she started speaking fasting and her words kind of turned into an incomprehensible mumble. So she decided to ask him a question back. "How has yours been?"

[Hunter]

For a moment, from the way she stared, he had to wonder if he'd done something wrong, but she managed an answer soon enough, albeit not very audibly, and he had to incline his head toward her to even hear her over the noise of the other people. The question she asked in return, at least, was relatively more clear.

How had his day been? Hour after hour of fluctuating between shrieking kids, impatient customers, and seemingly-endless, mindless tedium -- yeah, pretty average. But he didn't want to start whining about his job first thing, and as drained as he was, he was hardly eager to get to bed.

"Let's just say..." He pried his eyes from her and glanced around the room, as though his thoughts were someplace else. "...I don't want it to end," he finished, with a mirthless half-smile.

Darrion settled in beside her and went on, propping himself up on his elbow. "The bakery was pretty busy today, though, which I coulda done without. You know the one with the sprinkle cupcakes?" he asked, making a drizzle gesture with his fingers. Right, talking about cupcakes right off the bat, real manly, great first impression. "That's where I work," he confessed, almost abashed about it. One of the places he worked -- not that she needed to know that.

He leaned back a bit and looked at her sideways, hesitantly adding, "Um, are you okay? You seem kind of... nervous," -- especially considering the fact that she'd jumped when he first spoke to her.  "And-- well, it's not really any of my business...  I can leave if you want." He threw his thumb over his shoulder and moved back in anticipation of her shooing him off, willing to oblige if she needed space. He was a little concerned for her -- and well aware that it might've been him that was making her nervous -- but he'd sooner respect her wishes than press the matter.

[Roo]

Was that a pick-up line? Papina thought when the man said he didn't want the night to end. She was new on the whole dating thing, if that's what you'd call this. Maybe it was normal? To her, it seemed pretty cheesy though. She had to stop herself from laughing, because that would be rude. His face didn't lead her to believe that it was a pickup line though, so maybe she was just misreading the situation. So she ignored it and went to answer his concerns about whether or not she was nervous.

"Oh no, I'm not nervous it's just..." Papina started. "I'm just a bit flustered I suppose... I don't normally go out to bars." She offered as an excuse. Which was true, this was a completely different social setting than what she was used to. Nor was she really used to social interaction, especially when she wasn't the one initiating the conversation. All in all this was just a very foreign area for her, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it.

"More importantly, it's so cool that you work at a bakery! I love cooking, we just don't have a lot of the proper equipment at home so I'm never quite able to." She stopped herself before she went off on more of a tangent. He mentioned cupcakes, but she wasn't too much of a fan of cakes in general, they were too sweet. "Do you bake bread too, or just pastries?"

"I work at a florist, which is alright I guess..." It was nice to be around flowers and stuff in the winter, when she normally wouldn't be near a plant for a few months other than the few winter crops. Seeing flowers was a welcome sight compared to the dull winter forest. But the flowers were so fake. They were made in a green house, then the flowers were dyed and glitter was added to have them look "nice." It was kind of awful really, but they liked her being there to keep the flowers from wilting.

[Hunter]

Okay, just a bit flustered. He could relate to that. The drake took a drink as he listened to her, trying to get a read on her -- but for one thing, he wasn't all that great at reading people, and for another, she was such a ball of energy, compared to him and his sluggish demeanor, that any thoughts apparent on her face flew by too fast for him to catch.

"Yeah, we've got a few types of bread, though that doesn't sell very well," he answered, scratching at his cheek, "and we also make danishes, and scones, and some pies... And muffins, the blueberry muffins are to die for -- and in the spring I melt the chocolate for dipping strawberries, and..." He cut himself off, feeling like he was rambling on. With a half-hearted laugh, he looked back at her and offered a crooked smile. "You're not really interested in that." He'd heard her say otherwise, loud and clear, but she was just trying to be polite, which was nice of her, to be sure. Regardless, that was his attempt at leaving the subject.

"Sorry, uh, I didn't even introduce myself." He wiped his free hand on his jeans and held it out for her to shake, his palm wrapped in the wool of his gloves, his meaty fingers rough and bearing a slight chill. As if to counteract as much, he smiled warmly, a subdued smile that was more in his eyes than on his mouth.

"I'm Darrion."

[Roo]

(Sorry, quick post, have to leave to visit relatives!)

Darion, what a nice name. It sounds French, not that Papina would know. She didn't really know many different languages. Just English and Muskogee. He held out his hand which a glove on it. Why was he even wearing a glove? Papina wondered what material it was made out of. It could be wool, if it was good enough quality. But it was probably cotton, or even acrylic. She could take the chance and shake his hand, and risk getting a rash on her hand, or just ask him. It'd be a pretty good transition to Oh by the way I'm a nymph! Only in the winter did she have to actually tell people that she was a nymph, normally they could just assume she wasn't based on her hair.

"I'm Papina." She looked towards his hand. "I'm sorry, but what exactly is your glove made out off...

[Hunter]

[ No problem. :3 ]

"Huh?" Darrion glanced down at his hand, as if expecting to see something new there. "...This? It's made of wool." He pulled back his hand and started taking it off, even though she hadn't asked.

"My mother knits. Well, used to knit." It was kind of coarse material, too, not that he minded. It'd have to be a glove made of literal thorns and brambles before a drake would notice.

"You got some sort of allergies?" he asked tentatively, tilting his head as he stuffed the other glove in his pocket. Then he held out his hand, now gloveless, again, expecting his bare skin to be okay with her. It was a little strange, but he didn't make the immediate connection that she was a nymph. Plenty of humans had wool allergies. And didn't nymphs have long, flowing hair and green skin or something?

[Roo]

"Haha yeah kind of." Papina said running her fingers through her hair. He's a bit dense isn't he... she wondered, debating whether or not to actually tell him. She could've gotten by, just saying that different fabrics irritated her skin, but why did she need to lie? So she just came out with the truth, "Actually, I'm a dryad. Wool would've been fine, I was just making sure that they weren't made out of acrylic or anything. It really sucks having rashes on your hands..." She nervously laughed at the statement hoping he'd be alright with it.

She took his hand and shook it. It was oddly coarse and cold. Well that explains why he was wearing gloves. Smiling she looked up at him "It's nice to meet you Damion." 

(Short post again, sorry :C)

[Hunter]

The drake looked surprised; he'd thought dryads lived out in the woods -- which didn't necessarily preclude them from going to bars, but still, it seemed kind of... mundane, for them to be out in the world like anybody else. Her hands were oddly warm, though, and that caught him by surprise too, the way unexpected pleasures always did.

Damion? Well, it was a little loud in here. He shrugged it off.

"You're not human? ...Damn." He snapped his fingers as if disappointed, then laughed a little bit. "I need to make some human friends, if you know what I mean." He gave her a weird look, swinging the neck of his bottle between his fingers, and took another sip.

It was, honestly, disappointing, if only slightly. But she had that cute short hair, which he had to admit to himself was kinda hot. And he liked how warm she was, too, though he couldn't figure out a way to comment on that without sounding creepy. On that subject, it was still kind of cold in here; he pulled out his other glove again and put it back on.

"A wood nymph, though. That's... exotic." Or maybe he just didn't get out much. "You must be pretty sensitive then," he added, and he arched an eyebrow at her. Did she know what he was? Probably, by this point. More importantly, traits like that didn't tend to mix well with drakes, and while he was generally the type to keep his hands to himself most of the time, he'd have to remember to keep that in mind with her.

In drake families, it was a common thing to punch each other in the arm or claw each other as a very casual show of affection, and that sometimes extended to friends and well-liked acquaintances as well. As a kid, it didn't take long for him to learn that people with more tender hides didn't appreciate it so much.

[Roo]

So he's not human either... Papina thought examining Darrion. Well he wasn't a nymph or a human, she knew that much. Unless he was one of those humans that would only befriend other humans, she's met ones like those before. But he wouldn't need a human if that were the case. So the two species left were either fey or drake, and she could tell he wasn't a fairy. He must be a drake. She thought, which would explain why his hand was so rough. But why would he need a human again...

"Oh yeah vampires!" Papina accidentally thought out loud. She felt her face flush at her sudden outburst. "Ah sorry, I was just thinking out loud.." She took a quick gulp of her drink. "We normally don't have that many problems with them, just because we hide fairly easily but, you know..."

She decided this was a good time to change the subject... to where he called her exotic. Maybe she was just getting easily offended, but she wasn't quite sure if exotic was the right term to use. Saying something is exotic leads to believe that they're non native. Nymphs aren't like this, in any sense of the word. Maybe he meant that he didn't see them very often... Papina thought, giving him the benefit of the doubt. That would make sense at least.

"I really wouldn't consider any nymphs exotic... We're kind of hard to find, so maybe that's why you think we're exotic." She tried to sound rather neutral with her response and offered a quick smile at the end of it.

"As far as sensitive, I don't know... physically I guess we're pretty sensitive, especially compared to other species. I know I find bruises on myself all the time, and quite honestly I don't know where they even come from." Papina explained, offering a wide smile towards the near stranger. He seemed nice enough at least, plus she didn't speak to drakes very often.

[Hunter]

Darrion leaned back a bit at her exclamation, confused by her enthusiasm. "Uh... yeah..." They weren't like Betelgeuse; they couldn't be summoned by name, but mentioning the subject directly still made him uneasy. He wished he could just fade into the trees or use whatever magic it was dryads used to hide. As it was, he was stuck with less reliable methods.

After she'd finished speaking, he'd started to say one thing, managing to get out "Yeah, I mean, maybe that's not--" but he cut himself off when he finally realized just what he'd heard. "You get bruises?" he asked, his eyebrows rising as he widened his eyes and leaned in. "I mean, you get them from things other than..." His sentence trailed off and he looked away for a moment. "...other than, you know, serious fights and shit?" He could remember the last time he'd been bruised, truth be told, but he didn't like to.

[Roo]

She saw that he looked uneasy with the mention of vampires. They were kind of scary, she supposed. Her mother had always told her to calmly hide in the trees, where they couldn't find her. Normally she was in the forest, and thus not highly susceptible to attacks. But for a Drake it would be a lot scarier.

And then he was genuinely surprised that she got injured so easily. "Well I guess all species are different. You should of seen me when I was little, I always either had a broken limb or a black eye. My mom always said I was a problematic child. She giggled and leaned back into her chair. "I've gotten into a fight before though, I doubt I'd do very well anyway. I'd probably just come out a blood mess.

[Hunter]

Although she was treating the subject lightly, the drake was transfixed, looking at her with a wide-eyed stare that didn't let up. Finally, after a moment of silence from him, he moved again, adjusting his wrist and shifting his head and his gaze like someone who just now realized he'd been staring, and felt apologetic about it.

"Well, I... hope that never happens, for your sake." But he couldn't resist adding, earnestly, "Bless your heart, you sound as fragile as a bird." Was that offensive to say? He didn't know, but it seemed true, and he couldn't help but be a little concerned for her. How could she not be worried, herself? Going through the world like that. It probably took a special kind of toughness, a mental kind, to navigate life in such a soft skin.

"I didn't hurt you shaking your hand, did I?"

That was a joke. Sort of.