[AW] Fly High Wine Poisoned Butterfly

He had made it downtown, the dusk of evening settling over the city. Smog and exhaust fumes rose from honking cars. The brisk air of winter stinging at his eyes and letting his breath escape in soft puffs. The noise was irritating. He wanted it to stop, to go back to the way things were. When crickets would be heard this time of night and the stars could be seen for miles around. What was left now? Bustling bodies with hungry stomachs? Brains fed by mindless ambition? They weren't the creations they used to be, they were useless, a husk of what they once were.

He huffed and pulled his hood up further.

This world was filthy and he couldn't help but shudder in disgust at the state it had been reduced to. Polluted water ran in rivers to the drains. Snow turned to brown slush piled up on roads. Garbage seen in every alleyway. How could anyone function in this? Not when, when, why couldn't he remember? He knew this was wrong, but his mind was drawing a blank. This just wasn't right, he needed to get away from here.

He pulled into a doorway, the name of some rundown bar glaring in the neon sign. Erebus held back a grumble before shuffling to the bar, sitting down with a heavy sigh. Smoke danced along the air in thick tendrils, reminding him of a coiling snake. Women and men alike were smoking pipes and cigarettes, the smell making his stomach turn.

How disgusting.

His ears tuned into the worn stereo by the door, a solid melody playing out and filling the room with a pulse. He closed his eyes, finding it to be the most pleasant thing about this place. His body thrummed in time to the beat, his body settling into the thrum of the building. Blending in with the people less than effortlessly, humans all but ignoring him.

"What can I get you dear?"

He glanced up to find the barista eyeing him with a pleased expression. Her copper eyes flickered up and down his face, almost as if deciding how much money she would try to get out of him.

"Water, please." His voice was curt, obviously displeased by the fact that he was being eyed up by a stranger.

"Of course hon', names Jennifer, call for me if you want anything else." She left him with a wink, black hair swaying as she walked off.

Erebus decided to watch her for a moment, noticing how she brushed her hand against any male customer. Her flirtatious glances, the way she pursed her pink lips and batted her eyelashes. This bar was her circus, and the patrons her clowns.

He thought she was disgusting.

The chair groaned when he leaned back, resting his eyes and letting his body settle back into the rhythm of the place. His wings remained hidden, eyes and fangs on display as he replayed her expression in his memory. The hint of fear was there, just behind her kind expression. That inert fear of his kind, the fact that he was indeed not human. A freak. Monstrous, yes, that's what they called him. That was what he was. A spider weaving its web, to rid this world of all those who tainted such precious gifts of life.

Another ‘date night’ right? It wasn’t often she was called out for a night that didn’t involve the promise of sex, but nights like these… These were always welcomed into her schedule. She met her companion at the spot they both know well, their first meeting point, the bowling alley before they headed to their first stop on what was likely to be a good old night of bar hopping, or so she hoped. Rune didn’t get wasted often, but tonight… Her ducks were in a row, her money tucked into her wallet and a can of industrial strength pepper spray in her purse along with a few other necessities that weren’t limited to lube, handcuffs, condoms, a taser, and a small bottle of lighter fluid. There were a few other things that a girl could always use in that oversized handbag, but they weren’t worth mentioning at the moment.

The night was still young on her unusual day off, so many things left to do and she couldn’t wait to howl at the moon. Her thighs were left bare to the chilly night air, hugged only by a pair of jean short shorts with black ruffled lace to meet her skin. The loose white crocheted top held together by a few bows at her ribs didn’t help to repel the cold from her either, but it was fine. What normally bothered everyone as her breath left her lips in a cloud of white didn’t bother her in the least. The heels of her black stiletto heels sang a soft rhythm as she danced along the sidewalk to the song that hadn’t left her head in days.

Her neutrally glossed lips spread into a smile as she came across her companion for the evening standing outside the place she loathed some time ago, but that was just before Halloween, wasn’t it? It had already been a few months since their coincidental meeting, but they had become something like fast friends, or so she liked to think so. After a familiar greeting, though mostly just a hug that led into a light kiss on either cheek before touching noses with Jasmine, Rune smiled happily and pointed to the bar not too far away from where they stood.

Honestly, it looked like a dive. But they were probably the hottest things to enter, so they were bound to get one or two free drinks to start the night off right. ”How did you fare sneaking out of the house tonight?” She asked, her voice a happy and excited purr. ”You took your battery out of your phone right? I did to both of mine.” She didn’t know the intimate details of everything that went on between Jasmine and Siresh yet, but it seemed like something she probably didn’t want to stick her nose too deep into. Didn’t want to get booped on her snoot by a tiger, now did she? Her laughter lifted into the air as she looped her arm with her friend and cozied on up to her.

Upon entering the shady little building, the first thing that hit her was the strong scent of cigarette smoke that hung in the air and made her wrinkle her nose for a few minutes as she adjusted her keen sense of smell to it. She likely wouldn’t be using her sniffer in here to do much more than breath. Her eyes scanned the bar to look for a few empty seats and strangely enough, spotted some at the bar. She rather enjoyed talking to barkeepers and listening to their tales. It also got her free drinks most of the time.

The woman sidled on up to the empty seat, tugging Jasmine with her before she sat next to a man she didn’t know, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for her. Rune was always overly personable and loved to meet new people when and wherever she could, almost recklessly at times. Her gaze flickered from her companion to the male next to her. His coffee-colored hair was a bit tussled, but overall neat and he didn’t look like much of a threat, though he gave off a weird vibe. Not that that really bothered her exactly either… But it was a bit strange how something about this man made her spidey senses tingle… That was her spidey sense, wasn’t it?

Either way, she turned to look back at the woman for the bar came up to take their order. ”I’ll have a jack and coke to start with. And maybe a shot or three of your strongest rum? One for the both of us and one for our soon-to-be-friend here.” She put her hand out and patted the stranger's shoulder as if she’d known him for a week already. But she turned a dazzling smile to him none-the-less before turning her crimson gaze back to Jasmine, leaving her hand to linger on his shoulder.

Rune's shirt and her shorts

Jasmine had stood before the bathroom sink for a good while now as Siresh played his games on the couch. She said she was going out with a friend. He shot her a look of shock. Her? A friend? When did she make friends? It was true. Jasmine didn't make friends. She made targets. People she tended to be nice to were people she planned on robbing, stealing from, or eventually using in some way shape or form. Or, also likely, killing. But Rune? They had a rather...interesting relationship going on. They had met while Rune was on a date. Jasmine had gotten dragged out to her run down apartment she was allowed to use and it was disclosed that 'Daniel', aka Jasmine, was really in fact a girl. It didn't bother Rune. In fact, she still tried to get her into bed if memory recalled. It never made it that far, but the information handed out that night between them had helped one another in the long run.

That was not the reason why Jasmine was standing before the sink, staring at herself in the mirror.

Lately, Jasmine had been going through a phase. Since her meeting with Siresh's family, her drive to be a 'woman' has been slightly higher than it should have been. She was called a lanky guy. She was not lanky. Not at all. But to a guy, she seemed it. She bought a nice little black dressed and shocked everyone. Jasmine was in fact a woman. It had been the first time in a very long time she even wanted to prove that. When interacting with Biran, she also needed to be a girl. She took that role as just that; a role. She played Jasmine Olsen...not Jasmine Ward. She was dooping him to get information on Untamed. Or even gaining a new way to track down Daniel in the city. Regardless, here she was, standing before her reflection, not knowing what to do. Was she going out as a girl or was she going out as a guy?

The blonde gazed into her eyes and studied herself. What was she doing? Going bar hopping. Who was she going out with? Rune. Why was she doing this? For fun and to get away from Siresh. Why was she getting away from Siresh? Because he made her feel like a girl.

Because he made her feel like a girl...

The thought caused her fists to ball up and her eyes to shift away. She hated it. She hated feeling like a girl. He used to not make her feel this way. He used to bother her just to both her. Used to view her as a guy. He knew she had boobs. He knew very well she was a girl. Yet it never registered until that fucking vacation. If she never came out to his family as a girl...if she had them all believe she really was Daniel, then this wouldn't be an issue. Then she wouldn't feel conflicted. Her mind was made up. She was going as Daniel. Fuck Siresh. He didn't control her. She wasn't some girl. She was a guy. She was Daniel. She was Daniel until she found Daniel. That had been her mind set before and it was going to continue that way. Throwing on jeans, a white shirt, and a blazer, the blonde half angel stormed out the bathroom and walked out the door. Telling Siresh to she needed space. Hopefully he would listen.

Meeting up with Rune was the easy part. Her phone battery was not only taken out, but left at home. She didn't even bother taking the phone in case he managed to put a bug in that. He didn't know Rune that well, or even at all, hopefully, so the only way he was finding them is if he hacked into the security system throughout the city and followed her. Jasmine did her best to make it difficult for him to track her, but this was Bronze we were talking about. If he wanted to find them, he'd find them. He was pretty good at that.

For the most part.

The two entered a bar and sat down. Taking off the jacket, Jasmine ran a hand through her hair. Letting out a sigh, she could tell this was going to be one of those nights. Not saying it was bad because Rune was here....just that this bar wasn't giving her the best first impressions. It was likely going to end up as a pregame type bar. Hopefully the drinks were good. The waitress came over and Rune started naming off drinks. Jasmine shook her head and smiled to the...lovely lady. "I'll also have rum and coke."

Jasmine's attention went to the man sitting next to Rune. The half angel had taken the seat to her left, meaning this new guy was on her right. Rune was a very social person. Not that Jasmine had any issues with this. Sometimes it worked well in her favor. But this guy? Well...he didn't seem all that happy. Maybe it was them just sitting next to him. Maybe it was the bar itself. Or maybe it was something completely different. Didn't matter, not her issue. Her issue would be if he wanted to start something with Rune. Not that Rune couldn't take care of herself just that Jasmine wasn't going to let someone just walk all over her. Regardless, she was going to play nice. Reaching past her friend, Jasmine gave the man a charismatic smile and held out her hand. "The name is Daniel," the blonde said in her gender neutral tone. "Sorry if we're bothering you. My friend here likes to make sure everyone has a good time. If you want something, let me know. First round on me."