[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/MJO2qSh.png[/img][/center]

[color=8882be]"Me?"[/color]

Two wide, bright green eyes blinked in confusion. Lauren seemed to shrink up slightly as some of the hot air went out of her momentarily.

[color=8882be]"I haven't been to any bars in Vale since I was fourteen..."[/color]

She swelled to her full glory once again.

[color=8882be]"Ooh, this time I'm gonna be [i]legal![/i]"[/color] she squealed excitedly. [color=8882be]"Used to be I'd have to execute this whole convoluted scheme at the line to get into a club. We would get one older girl inside all normal-like, and then I would stand on another one's shoulders, and since none of us owned a trench coat we would distract the bouncers with how weird it was to see two tweens not even [i]trying[/i] to hide what they were up to. Then, when he was at peak distraction, I would jump [i]over[/i] his shoulders and--"[/color]

The excitable retelling of her gameplan in the days of yore continued all the way through one airship ride and two different taxis, and for someone with no idea of where any of her favored targets were, she certainly seemed able to recall - or embellish - every detail of her schemes in picture perfect detail. Finally, their second taxi let them out on a corner in Uptown Vale. The cabbie hadn't let them off in front of a club, but maybe he didn't know where to find one either.

Or maybe he'd gotten tired of her chattering.

[color=8882be]"--done getting turnt for the night, the older girl would pretend to have caught me and would carry my ass out of the club [i]for[/i] the bouncer! So they would get on VIP lists and we could keep the scam rolling!"[/color] Lauren finished exuberantly, not even sparing a glance at the no-doubt catatonic Ben. Her face fell slightly - though not at any indication that her bestest friend and team leader may [i]not[/i] have been paying utmost attention. 

[color=8882be]"That trick doesn't work anywhere else but Vale..."[/color] she bemoaned, kicking at the sidewalk with one expensive (stolen?) boot. [color=8882be]"In Vacuo or Atlas, they just catch your punk ass in mid-leap and body toss you to the back of the line. So the last time I left Vale, I had to hang up the mantle of Bouncer Bouncer and just be Lauren Negasi again."[/color]

She caught her first breath in twenty-five minutes.

[color=8882be]"So!"[/color] She turned to Ben with a wide, charming grin. [color=8882be]"What about you, Cap? Know any good clubs?"[/color]