[img]https://i.imgur.com/JAFb3tJ.jpeg[/img]
[right][img]https://i.imgur.com/9qIY4OK.jpeg[/img][/right][right][sup][color=#5a3e85][b]#5a3e85[/b][/color][color=2e2c2c]...[/color]|[color=2e2c2c]...[/color][url=https://imgur.com/aGarb8T][color=9b9b9b][b]outfit[/b][/color][/url][/sup][/right]


[indent][indent] [color=#c9bef3]"Huh? Oh,"[/color][color=#ffffff] Blair snorted in response to Anissa’s question, rolling her eyes. [/color][color=#c9bef3]"That was just Sylas’s idea of entertainment. What’s funnier than sending someone to find their sibling in the middle of getting laid?"[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The question was clearly rhetorical, but the other girl’s annoyance and the sarcasm lacing her words were just as palpable as Anissa’s own surprise. This new information didn’t quite fit with the Sylas she had just been speaking to; she hadn’t pegged him as the type for such juvenile pranks. If he wanted a laugh, she would have assumed it would be something more calculated, more intellectual, and undoubtedly at someone else’s expense. A new, more cynical thought emerged: had he sent Heath to Blair on purpose to cause a distraction, perhaps to keep Anissa isolated and more pliable for his questioning about River? The logical part of her brain knew that thought should have left a sour taste in her mouth.  But strangely, it didn’t. Instead, her mind, softened by the first-stage buzz humming under her skin and something else she couldn’t name, readily embraced a simpler explanation: it was done for petty camp drama, a minor payback for some unknown slight, nothing serious or targeted. The tidy, uncomplicated version was far too easy to accept in her current state, Anissa found. [/color]

[color=#c9bef3]“At least he didn’t watch…” [/color][color=#ffffff]Blair added with a grimace.[/color][color=#c9bef3] “That would have been weird.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Anissa winced in sympathy. [/color][color=#5a3e85]“Small mercies,” [/color][color=#ffffff]she agreed. Then, the pieces of the story finally clicked together in her mind.[/color][color=#5a3e85]“Wait, Heath is your [/color][i][color=#5a3e85]brother[/color][/i][color=#5a3e85]?” [/color][color=#ffffff]A wave of secondhand mortification washed over her, and she made a face. [/color][color=#5a3e85]“Gods. I’m… so sorry for your eyeballs. And his.” [/color][color=#ffffff]The situation with Sylas was more than just weird with this new understanding. Then again, what was being incorrect about someone a second time at this point? Anissa could only hope she wasn’t about Blair. Or River. [/color]

[color=#ffffff]The bar was significantly more packed now compared to when she’d first been there, nursing her cranberry juice alone. This time, an actual bartender was holding court behind the counter. While Blair insisted that[/color][color=#c9bef3] “anything can be a shot if you’re brave enough” [/color][color=#ffffff]and began hunting for their poison of choice, Anissa let herself watch him work.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]He moved with the effortless scrupulousness of a stage magician who had traded card tricks for cocktail shakers, driving bottles down from the rail in a smooth, cascading motion that was hypnotic to watch. For the third glass in a row, he executed a slow pour of something golden that caught the lights—a spirit that smelled, if Anissa’s nose was correct, distinctly of honey. He took his time with that final layer, not out of necessity, but because he was deeply engaged in a conversation with a redhead who had his complete attention. All the while, his foot tapped to a beat only he could hear, and his shoulders occasionally shimmied in a tiny, unconscious dance, as if the music was a current running through his very hands.[/color]

[color=#b22222]"So it's two slippery nipples and a modified 747 with that honey mead..." [/color][color=#ffffff]he announced as he palmed the trio toward their owner with a wide, open-handed slide and a tip-jar smile. Then, deadpan: [/color][color=#b22222]"...or a Sit on My Face, Honey depending on where you're from, I guess..."[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The redhead, mid-sip, choked and misted his third shot back out in a spray, a reaction that perfectly mirrored Anissa’s own startled surprise. Those names were… aggressively suggestive. It was abundantly clear the bartender knew exactly what he was doing; this was far from his first rodeo.[/color]

[color=#c9bef3]"Say please,"[/color][color=#ffffff] Blair commented drily at the display, sliding three newly filled shot glasses over to Anissa. Amused, Anissa’s lips quirked into a smile. She picked up one of her glasses and clinked it firmly against Blair’s. [/color]

[color=#c9bef3]“Cheers!” [/color][color=#ffffff]Blair said. [/color]

[color=#5a3e85]“Cheers!”[/color][color=#ffffff] Anissa echoed, knocking the bourbon back in one clean, burning motion. The difference from sipping it slowly with Sylas was immediate and unmistakable. With him, the same whiskey had unfolded its complexities with patience, with its notes of vanilla, a ribbon of smoky oak, and a sort of polite warmth that had crept gradually from her tongue to her chest, matching the pace of their conversation. This was a different beast entirely, however. Now, it hit fast as a line of fire down the back of her throat, a bright, expanding bloom of heat in her chest, followed by a quick, dizzying rush that made the world around her seem half a shade glossier and slightly out of focus. She let out a sharp, controlled breath, her eyes watering just enough to require a blink. Despite the burn, she found herself smiling at Blair.[/color]

[color=#c9bef3]"Sylas really has [/color][i][color=#c9bef3]pretentious[/color][/i][color=#c9bef3] taste in alcohol," [/color][color=#ffffff]Blair laughed softly, already discarding her empty glass and reaching for the next shot, throwing it back right away.[/color]

[color=#5a3e85]“Sounds right,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Anissa said, and, because momentum had her, matched Blair, tipping the second shot. The burn was rounder this time, less surprise and more heat, settling low and steady in her gut.  [/color]

[color=#ffffff]As she took the short time to enjoy this feeling, she caught sight of Elias near the bar’s crowd with another man. He had a bottle in hand and wore an easy grin on his face, and though she couldn’t hear a word over the music, body language did most of the talking for her. His shoulders were looser, head tipped in, a look exchanged that read like [/color][color=#ffffff][i]what a good find [/i][/color][color=#ffffff]rather than [/color][color=#ffffff][i]get me out of here[/i][/color][color=#ffffff].[/color]

[color=#ffffff]A small pinprick of embarrassment surfaced in her chest.[/color]

[right][i]...cold hands 
warm heart….[/i][/right]

[color=#ffffff]But just as quickly, the thought dissolved under the warmth now sliding smoothly through her veins. She pushed the feeling aside. Good. Let him have an easier conversation than the one she’d offered.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Blair looked back at her with a growing, conspiratorial smile. [/color][color=#c9bef3]"Two down, one to go." [/color]

[color=#ffffff]Anissa watched as the other tipped the last glass back and laughed under her breath, the sound warm and a little loose.[/color][color=#5a3e85] “Leading by example. Got it.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]She scooped up her own final shot. The flavour was just as noncomplex as the last time, the sturdy spine of the bourbon hitting her just as fast but not quite as hard. It all sent that same confident heat all the way down her chest, and the world softened another perceptible notch, as if someone had gently turned a dimmer switch on the entire party. Even the low-grade, ever-present hum of her anxieties—her powers, her absent father, the careful lies she told her mother—faded into a quiet hush. It was a silence she tried not to enjoy as much as she undeniably did.[/color]

[color=#5a3e85]“Three down,”[/color][color=#ffffff] she said, setting the glass upside-down with a soft click. [/color][color=#5a3e85]“Party rules honoured.”[/color]

[color=#c9bef3]"So… have you decided what kind of hell we’re getting up to?" [/color][color=#ffffff]Blair asked then. [/color]

[color=#5a3e85]“Ice skating,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Anissa decided, tapping the bartop as though ringing a bell to finalize her vote.[/color][color=#5a3e85] “If I try to dance right now in these boots, I’m going to invent three new ways to sprain an ankle. Skates, I think I can handle.” [/color][color=#ffffff]She’d definitely had more practice on the ice than on any dance floor. That was for certain.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]She angled a wry look at Blair’s stunning, albeit minimal, outfit, then back up to meet her eyes.[/color]

[color=#5a3e85]“Full disclosure: I grew up in Vancouver. My mom made me learn ‘for dates,’” [/color][color=#ffffff]she added, air-quoting with a half-smile. [/color][color=#5a3e85]“I’m not trying to date you…But I [/color][i][color=#5a3e85]am[/color][/i][color=#5a3e85] trying to have fun. And…you look like fun.”[/color][color=#ffffff] The thought surprised her even as she said it. The bourbon had made everything feel warmer, and her lips felt slippery enough to let out words that usually stayed carefully put away. It was the kind of blunt honesty she’d normally swallow and save for a private moment. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, necessarily. Just…incredibly new.[/color]

[color=#5a3e85]“Just…gimme two seconds,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Anissa added, lifting a finger. [/color][color=#5a3e85]“I promised a friend something ridiculous.” [/color][color=#ffffff]She turned and leaned toward the busy bar rail, raising her voice just enough to be heard. [/color][color=#5a3e85]“Hey? About that slippery nipple. Can you make another?” [/color]

[/indent][/indent][hr] 
Location: Bar  
Interactions: Blair ([@Mjolnir]), Bax ([@Hound55])
Mentions: Sylas, Heath, River, Nate, Elias, Forest