[center][h3][color=6ecff6]Dallas Relo[/color] and [color=ed1c24]Tara Niklos[/color][/h3]
[hider=My Hider]
[img]http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100912225522/masseffect/images/b/bb/Codex_Normandy_SR1_ME2.png[/img]
[/hider]
[b][u]Location:[/u][/b] The Relo-pad
[b][u]Interacting with:[/u][/b] Each other[/center]

A bottle flew across the room, smashing into the wall behind Dallas' head.

[color=ed1c24]"RELO!"[/color] An angry voice followed it. [color=ed1c24]"The next one won't miss. I knew you were weak, but daaaaaang. I thought you were above giving alcohol to twelve year olds."[/color]

[color=6ecff6][i]Notice me, Tara-chan![/i][/color]

...Oh, god damn it, Jonas. Should've never let him plant that foreign Toonami shit in his head in the first place. Now it was spreading. Dallas nimbly brushed broken glass into his sink and cleaned the beer off the side of his hand as thought it were an open cut. The taste was hoppy in his mouth.[color=6ecff6] [i]Dammit, Tara, why'd you have to throw one of the good ones?[/i][/color]

Undeterred, Relo leaned back over the counter and flipped the leather collar of his jacket.

[color=6ecff6]"Is that what this is about?" [/color]Dallas asked, grinning at the sound of the ferocious female voice that had rang out from near his door. [color=6ecff6]"Did you steal my church key, too? You know, Tara, that's a family heirloom. If you want some jewelry, babe, all you gotta do is stop lying about your birthday."[/color]

The next one didn't miss.

Dallas picked up the can - thank Christ it was a can this time - and took a deep breath. [color=6ecff6][i]No doubt that'll be a bruised sternum in the morning,[/i][/color] he thought gingerly, breathing deeply. He wasn't letting himself get pissed off; it would mean another lecture from his sister, a party story for the ages, and - more importantly - it might mean a loss in his column. Lord knew he'd been drinking.

Dallas, however, was still a dirty boxer at heart, and after setting the can on the counter he dug his fingernails into his palms and felt his knuckles crack.

[color=6ecff6]"The kiss of life,"[/color] he deadpanned. [color=6ecff6]"What is it, Tara? Can I take your orders?"[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"Awful hard to do without this."[/color] Tara was twirling the missing church key around her fingers, clockwise, then counterclockwise. [color=ed1c24]"Seriously, Relo. For the gods sake. A twelve year old?"[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Right? I think my bouncer must have been dreaming about me on the job." [/color]Dallas eyed the bottle opener, tracing its rotations with his eyes, and half his mouth quirked upwards in a dry smile.[color=6ecff6] "Can I [i]please[/i] have it back?"[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"...one more line like that out of you and I'm using it to unlock your spine."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Can I have a moment alone with my spine? We had some good times together."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"Your choice, Relo. The spine or the key."[/color]

Tara hopped down off of the counter she'd been sitting on, shaking her head. [color=ed1c24]"I know what I'd pick, but I know you have different... Priorities."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Orrrrr you could just tell me what you took it for, before I stop feeling so smiley," [/color]Dallas finished, looking over his latest patron's head to Tara Niklos. [color=6ecff6]"Jonas'll just steal that back for me eventually, but I'd rather get this sorted out now. All the arguing's really not good for our relationship."[/color]

The smile dropped on his face, and he leaned against the counter - with his back - to look at Tara down the room.

[color=6ecff6]"What do you want, Tara?"[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"Numerous things. One of them being the cessation of any implication that you and I are together."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Jonas says I should just ask you out and be done with it."[/color]

Jonas had said no such thing.

[color=ed1c24]"...Well, I can guarantee your face a date with my fist."[/color]

Her furious brown eyes flickered to Jonas. He'd pay later.

[color=6ecff6]"I'm probably your best option in this apartment, honestly."[/color] Dallas was having so much fun that a punch in the face might have been worth it. It was hard to keep his expression stony and his smile cool. [color=6ecff6]"Handsome, quick-witted, been boxing since I was old enough to make fists. I like Lays, you like Fritos. I smile all the time and you look like someone's hung a shit-scented air freshener from the tip of your nose. We couldn't go wrong."[/color]

[color=6ecff6][i]i'll miss you face[/i][/color]

The date between face and fist went about as well as could be expected. Tara seemed to have pulled her punch-while it hurt like the dickens, she wasn't trying to break his nose or even really bloody it. She just wanted the pain factor.

With the counter behind him, Dallas wasn't in any danger of getting himself blown the fuck out; the blonde demigod took a step back and leaned on his elbows, slouching slightly, against his countertop. With a groan that Dallas, in his own humble opinion, thought disguised a laugh pretty well, he reached up with a thumb and held it to the side of each nostril at a time, testing his sinuses. When he took a breath with the left, a small stream of blood bubbled and trickled down to his upper lip.

[color=6ecff6][color=6ecff6][i]Worth it.[/i][/color][/color]

[color=6ecff6]"Thanks for coming out,"[/color] Relo deadpanned.

Tara's fists fell back to her sides and she let out a long breath, tension fading out of her body. [color=ed1c24]"Don't act like you enjoy me being here, Relo."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"You'd be face down in my sink with blood pouring out of your ear if I didn't enjoy you being here."[/color] Dallas gingerly wiped the blood away with a thumb and wrapped the digit in a napkin. With a twist, he got as much of the blood as he could off the nail and sucked the rest off. [color=6ecff6]"Granted, of all the queens here tonight, I think you get the crown for [i]shittiest bouncer,[/i] but it's not a Dallas Relo party without you to complete the team. I mean, shit, I haven't even needed light fixtures since you got old enough to glower at us."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"It's night, Relo. You can take me in the day, but not now. And since evidently your security staff is crappy... Plus that the team is only me... Means there's really nothing to back up idle threats."[/color]

A slight expression of disdain, then a smirk.[color=ed1c24] "I'll take that as a compliment on my winning smile."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"No, no, I said you had a great glower. Your smile's fucking gruesome."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"...The last time left you with your teeth, Relo. The repeat might change that."[/color]

[color=6ecff6]"[i]Orrrrrrr[/i] it might not. I've taken worse gambles when it comes to you, and sometimes I don't even bruise."[/color] Dallas grinned and, still propped on his elbows, hopped onto the counter. He planted his right foot on the lip of the sink, a few inches to Tara's left, and crossed his left over his ankle.

The heady brew of testosterone at a boil drew Dallas' attention over the counter to Zeke - and then farther, to where Clarissa was making out with some beatnik Dal hadn't caught before.

[color=6ecff6]"Sides. Silver lining."[/color]

He cocked his head at the liplock, and the son of Zeus not far away.

[color=6ecff6]"We're not as gross as [i]that[/i] accident waiting to happen."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"Well, Relo," [/color]Tara said, her eyes narrowing as she followed the cocked head. 

[color=ed1c24]"You're no longer the nexus of hate. Congratu-#######-lations."[/color]

[color=6ecff6][i]...?

...

...![/i]

"Aww. Thanks."[/color]