A Bar in Baltimore, Saturday Evening

[myownface]

If anybody were to ask Sparkle, he'd happily tell them that the last person he ever figured he'd be going for drinks with was Seivarden. Like. Ever. He'd also admit that he'd put more time than he had ever figured he would into picking a bar they could both probably enjoy, something with live blues music on Saturdays that still didn't get too rowdy. He had no idea what kind of music Seivarden liked if she even did, admittedly. Mostly he just wanted some sort of guaranteed background noise, in case whatever drunken conversation they had turned into something weird.

They lived on Fandom Island. That was always a pretty good possibility.

"Huh," he said as he stepped in and looked around for an empty table. "Cozy."

It was that sort of bar that always kind of felt like it was being lit by the streetlights outside, with the occasional neon sign or dim lamp doing the rest of the work, though the light on the singer at the stage was doing wonders to brighten it up the slightest bit, too.

"What do you think, Seivarden? How's this for tonight's drinking establishment?"

All the other places Sparkle knew were gay bars and dance clubs. So.

[OOC: For one!]

Comments

[1000yearstoolate]

"You take that seriously," Seivarden noted, reaching for the beer. "You haven't been to this particular place before though?"

Best steer the topic away from Sparkle's clothing business.

[myownface]

"Nah," Sparkle replied, shrugging and reaching for his own beer. "It came highly recommended by a few of my classmates. They usually head out here after class on Wednesday nights."

He shrugged.

"Seemed worth giving it a try, anyway."

[1000yearstoolate]

The beer wasn't too bad. Seivarden put the bottle down and began to spin it between her fingers. She cleared her throat, realizing that there was something she hadn't thought about when suggesting this.

She had no idea what to talk about. At least not until Sparkle was drunk enough that she could bring up the subject of drugs without it being too obvious.

She drank from the bottle again.

"So... apart from running the shop, what do you enjoy doing?"

[myownface]

Small talk, huh? Sparkle tilted his head at Seivarden, gauging just how close to the truth he wanted to go.

"Oh, you know, the usual Fandom stuff," he said easily. "What is it this week? Obnoxious festive cheer? A bear handed me a Coke today, that was fun."

[1000yearstoolate]

So, deliberately vague. Seivarden didn't blame Sparkle. "Yes, I've heard there's a holiday coming up," she said. "Annoying."

She paused again.

"So where are you from? Do you plan on staying in Fandom?"

[myownface]

"Canada," Sparkle replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It's the country north of America, the one Fandom is in."

It was also huge, so it wasn't like saying he was from there really gave much away.

"And... hell, I don't know. I go from wanting to stay on the island forever to wanting to leave and never look back at least three times a week. Depends on how the wind is blowing. The island isn't all bad, until it is, and then it's horrible. That's the worst thing about it."

[1000yearstoolate]

And it wasn't like Seivarden was going to look it up on a map anyway.

"I... suppose." She fell silent and drank from her bottle again.

[myownface]

Sparkle sighed and took a drink from his own bottle.

"How about you? Settling in okay?"

[1000yearstoolate]

"Yes," Seivarden said. "I'd still leave if I could, but it's... less..." she tried to find the right word that wasn't going to make this turn worse. "... frustrating. I'm not used to living in any kind of small town on a planet, though. Not since summers when I was a child, at least."

At least that was more than one sentence.

[myownface]

It was! Sparkle was almost proud of your ability to do basic socialization, Seivarden!

Almost!

"There's a lot to adjust to," he replied, nodding. "And a pretty big learning curve, I'm guessing, even beyond the whole 'small town' thing."

[1000yearstoolate]

But you weren't sharing much, Sparkle! That made it harder.

"Oh, I'll manage," she said, drinking from the flask again. "Although I have to say I'm getting a bit fed up with the food. Well, apart from all the other... things. Perhaps I've missed something interesting though. Do you have any favourite places?"

[myownface]

Sparkle was sharing plenty! In that he'd decided to attempt a conversation without lying outright, but there wasn't much he wanted to talk about that Seivarden would find terribly interesting, besides.

"Plenty," he said, pausing for a moment to think. "What sort of food do you like? Spicy? Meaty? You could pretty much just walk around the island and try each restuarant once, just to see what it's about." He paused, and then added, "It's harder to get fed up about the food if you're cooking for yourself, though. Then you can have pretty much anything you like."

He didn't get fed up with the food often, himself.

[1000yearstoolate]

"I... don't cook," Seivarden said, confused rather than insulted at the suggestion. "And people eat a lot with their hands."

"Well, I tried those things where you pour water over dried noodles, but they tasted horrible."

"There is very little nice fish, actually."

Finally a topic that she could say something about.

[myownface]

"Little fish?" Sparkle paused for a moment. "Like, sardines or something?"

He paused for a moment more before adding, "You don't cook? Why is that?"

Now he was curious about her confusion.

[1000yearstoolate]

"Sardines?"

Sparkle's other question was more unexpected though. No one among the Radchaai would ask someone with Seivarden's accent and manner a question like that.

"Because I've never had to." She made a gesture emphasizing how obvious this was.

[myownface]

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Sparkle shook his head a little. "You know, nobody who isn't from where you're from has any way to know that, right? I mean... You can just tell me without gesturing around as if I'm stupid."

[1000yearstoolate]

Here we go again.

"The question surprised me, that's all," Seivarden said, making an effort not to turn this into an argument.

"My family had servants, and I've spent most of my live serving as an officer on a ship. I haven't had much opportunity."

She took another drink from her bottle.

[myownface]

Sparkle just raised an eyebrow, but let it slide.

"Well, it's a good skill to have," he noted. "Especially in a small town like Fandom."

And sort of just in general.

[1000yearstoolate]

"I... see your point."

And she had noticed Hannibal Lecter cooked his own food, which was also delicious. It had surprised her at first that he did, considering that he was obviously wealthy.

"You cook then, I take it?"

[myownface]

"Sure do," Sparkle confirmed, shrugging. "Heck, that was pretty much my rent for the first little while when I moved here."

[1000yearstoolate]

Paying that kind of rent wouldn't work for Seivarden, for more reasons than her cooking skills.

"It's a good thing to know for several reasons, then," she said, amused, then added: "Do you want me to get you another one of those?"

She gestured at the beer. She wasn't going to let Sparkle pay for all the drinks, after all.

[myownface]

"Hey, sure, thanks," Sparkle replied with a little grin. "You have any interest in learning to cook, then?"

Not that he was necessarily volunteering, but it was something to talk about.

[1000yearstoolate]

"I suppose I should," Seivarden said. "Since I'm stuck on the island."

Which wasn't the same as being interested.

She left to get the beers and returned a short while later with two bottles each for them.

"Perhaps I should ask you to teach me," she said lightly as she sat down again, not quite sure if she was being serious.

[myownface]

"I mean, I could," Sparkle noted, blinking at her as she sat. "It isn't like I have so much to do with myself that I can't manage a few cooking lessons, you know?"

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden could hardly turn him down now, and really, she didn't want to. She knew some knowledge of cooking would be necessary eventually, and there were worse things than awkward conversation with Sparkle.

"That is very kind of you," she said. "I have figured out how to boil water but not much else." She added with a laugh: "I'm thinking about finding somewhere else to stay, so maybe I should try to make it pay the rent too."

Seivarden knew that wasn't going to happen.