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It was a little weird, he'd admit, that he went to one particular bar in order to creep and flirt shamelessly with the bartender. He'd known her for a few years, meeting her not long after he joined TFC. It was probably against his better judgment that he flirt with her seeing as her father could make his life a living Hell, but thems the brakes. She was too young then, of course, he wasn't some creep that was into cradle-robbing. But once she hit adulthood, well, it opened up a world of shamelessness on his part.
Damian would say that it was mostly just to get a rise out of her, the red cheeks, a roll of her eyes, he lived for it. Which was why, saddling up to the bar, he made sure to sit right in front of where she stood so that she couldn't immediately escape him. "Excuse me, Miss, but I just noticed you noticing me and I just wanted to give you a notice that I noticed you too," He made it a point to find the worst pickup lines in the history of ever to use on Luxanna. And he had to admit that this particular one had made him snort the moment he read it.
"What's up, Buttercup? Work going well?" He had very little problem with the looks that he was receiving from the rest of the bar crowd, mostly because all he had to do was flash a badge and they wouldn't be looking at him like that any longer.
Had it not been for the bar being in the way, the brunette might have felt the need to throw herself at him. She hadn't seen Damian in a while, but she'd always enjoyed having him around, despite the way he often made her feel like she was fourteen years old again. An amused smile formed on her lips and she leaned forward, her attention completely captured. "Then I want to say thank you for noticing that I was noticing you, and for the notice that you noticed me back." She could already feel her tongue curling at the attempt.
If he was receiving any looks, the brunette didn't notice. A chuckle passed her lips at the nickname she'd spent so much time trying to stop him from using. It was a good thing then, that she was no sore loser, because it'd clearly stuck. "Ah, you know." She shrugged, putting a empty glass in front of him. "I keep getting hit on. With the worst pick up lines I've ever heard."
Of course, she'd come to enjoy them. She wouldn't tell him that to his face. "It's nice to see you, Dany."
The way she leaned forward only fueled the amusement within him. She always humored him. It'd been a minute since he last saw her, constantly wrapped up in his woes, he found it difficult to find the time to see her. But that's what made their reunions all the better. She obviously missed him, she wouldn't have been quite so close if she didn't. He snorted in response and laughed, "That's cute, Luxie. I'm glad you missed me. Although, how could you not because my lines are the best." He shrugged and smirked, "Not everyone can be as good at it as me."
He was promptly ignoring the fact that she'd said worst, and instead focused on the way she smiled at him. It had taken him years to get there, he just remembered the way she used to look at him like he was crazy. Perhaps in his younger days he had been. He could honestly say he'd been a bit more reckless then.
Damian narrowed his eyes at her own nickname for him. Although, he supposed it was fair game, he had plenty of nicknames for her. "It's good to see you, too, Princess. How's life? Boring, I'd imagine, without me. But other than that?" Yes, he was that conceded that he truly believed he brought the life to the party on the regular.
She wanted to stop it, but really, at this point it was inevitable: She rolled her eyes at him. "At least your ego's still standing firm." She drawled. Still, it had always been one of those things that she'd enjoyed the most about him. He had no shame and she envied him for that.
A laugh followed by another roll of her eyes. He was partly right, though; She always did have fun with him around and it never was quite the same when he was gone. "You summed it up pretty nicely, I'd say." She offered him a simply shrug at that, placing both elbows against the bar top and leaned her weight against them. Her expression grew more somber then and she pursed her lips. "Ah, well." What was there to say, really? She'd never had the most exciting life and while the people she knew went off having all these great adventures, she was here. Being a bartender.
"Dad's still working so much he forgets to eat and my brother's growing up right before my eyes." It was always easier to focus on the aspects of her life she, herself, didn't control. "So, yeah, boring." She issued with a laugh.
Damian could only smirk at the way she fluffed him up. Obviously his ego was still as large and in charge as ever. It helped having friends like her who just couldn't help themselves around him. He was easy to love in the shallow sense of the word, he was good for laughs and good to look at, but he didn't dare think past that point.
As the tone of the conversation got a bit more serious, he could feel it pressing down on him. He'd never really liked serious conversation, although he knew it was inevitable. He'd asked the question and the two people mentioned were obviously her main focus. What struck the biggest chord was the way she talked about them. He wondered if the way she talked about Detective Cross was anywhere similar to the way that Jace spoke about him. Odds were that he had a much more colorful way of describing his dear old dad, although none of them were directly his words. His smirk fell and he cleared his throat with a nod, "Yeah, but you know your Dad. He's just trying to make sure this world isn't a shit show for you and Colby." The guy was probably the biggest influence in Damian's life without really knowing it.
"I'd rather you have a boring life like that than a whirlwind of crazy like mine, babe," Damian lifted his eyes up to hers and gave a small smile. It was easy to want better for her, given the fact that she already had a rough situation.
She noticed the change in his demeanor. How could she not? He was always smiling. Always goofing around and now, he didn't. She never liked it when that happened. A part of her desperately wanted him to keep smiling, but even she understood it couldn't always be so. "I know." She replied. "But I also wish he'd take care of himself too." It wasn't too much to ask for, was it?
Again, the brunette found herself laughing. "The grass is always greener on the other side, no?" Still, he had a point. A point she couldn't ignore; He had a dangerous job. As did her dad. They were both courageous and foolish all at once.
"But you're right." She agreed, looking down at her hands. She supposed she couldn't do more than be glad for the hand she'd been dealt and make the most of it. And yet, she couldn't stop wondering if she was making the most of it, or if she was wasting what precious time she had left.
"So." She said, clearing her throat. "What is your vice for the night?"
Easier said than done. Although, that was his own way of looking at it. He had a much harder time taking care of himself when he was left to his own devices. Alcohol became breakfast, lunch and dinner while sleep was nonexistent. The only time he ever cared was when Jace was staying with him.
"The grass is much greener," On his side. Damian would have given anything to swap the way their abilities reacted with their bodies. His was hardly a pain to deal with, while hers was killing her. He'd have given anything to take that on for her. She knew that, he was positive she knew that, although he never said it out loud. It was strictly off limits talk for them because Damian was certain he'd cry.
He reached out and took her hand, giving it a squeeze before replacing his serious topic smile, for his mischievous smirk. "Hmm, pour me something hard, baby," He waggled his eyebrows at her. "But nah, uh, I'll take a shot of your finest tequila, the champagne of liquors, annnnd a beer. Something dark, like my soul. Please and thank you, Buttercup."
Lacing their fingers, the brunette returned the squeeze. There was many things left unsaid by the two, but it was better that way. There was certain things about her life the brunette didn't like talking about. One was her ability, while the other was her mother. Those were the two subjects she shied away from as quickly as she possibly could. The touch alone was as close to the conversation the brunette ever wished to go.
Letting go of his hand so that she could move to the liquor cabinet, the brunette made a face at him. She'd never understand why someone would willingly decide to drink something as terrible as tequila. It wasn't her job to decide, sadly. She could only comply with his wishes. Pouring the tequila and the first dark beer she could find, she slid it across the bar and returned to her position in front of him. "You're welcome, Dany."
He stared at their hands and shoved back all of the hell that came to him just thinking about not being able to do something as simple as hold her hand again. That was one of the problems with staying away from her for long, it always hit him full force when he realized that if he kept doing it, she could be gone before he knew it. And Damian was not about to let that happen.
The moment the shot glass was in front of him, he threw it back. At least getting drunk was a good distraction from the prior conversation. He smiled up at her and shrugged, "It's not like I've got anywhere better to go. Everything I could ever need is right here." He meant her, but he couldn't very well let her know that, "I mean, look at your liquor selection, I'm practically in Heaven." But mainly, he was just happy to sit there and flirt with the prettiest bartender he knew.
"Unless you're cutting me off already, c'mon, Luxie, I'll be good! No dancing on the bar, or maybe just the worm, the worm is hardly dancing." And he was not above doing as much if it got a laugh out of her.
Lux had never been much of a drinker herself. She had nothing against it, of course and would never fault someone for it. She never really enjoyed the buzz and while it usually made her happy, it also made her into someone she didn't quite recognize. Not a bad thing, really, but she was perfectly content being docile. It didn't help much that she normally considered herself to be the kind of person that didn't yearn for human contact, while in a drunk state she was far more physical in nature. "It's very divine." She agreed. "Best selection in all of Oregon." She offered him a wink at that.
"Well." She began, pursing her lips. She gestured towards the bulky bouncer by the door. "If you start misbehaving, that's who'll end up manhandling you, not me." She offered the bouncer a wave followed by a smile. He waved back. She turned her attention back to her dear old friend.
"Besides, it'll be amusing to see how well alcohol fares with your aging body." She leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Is that a gray hair?"
When she motioned towards the door where the bouncer stood, Damian puffed out his chest and gave a dainty wave to the man, too. It was not received as well as hers had been. Ah well, he was scrappy, he could take him. "Dammit, and here I had hoped you'd want to handle me." Although, he knew he wasn't quite that lucky.
She leaned closer and he was tempted to pull her the rest of the way across the bar, just to set her straight of course. He refrained and instead just flicked her in the nose, "You're an asshole. I'm not getting gray. And even if I was, I'd be a helluva silver fox. Tell me I'm wrong. G'head. Try." Damian would never be aging, nope, he was going to remain this hot hunk of man forever and there was nothing she could do about it.
Damian brought the beer up to his lips and rolled his eyes back in his head, moaning slightly, "Best goddamn beer I've tasted all day." It was also his first beer of the day, which said a lot.
His comments would have turned her cheeks flaming red before. Instead, his words were met with an almost defiant smile. "You would have liked that." In no way had the brunette become more experienced over the years, though, she'd come to realize there was no shame to be found in certain things. Or maybe she'd just gotten used to it working as a bartender.
The flick on her nose had her wrinkling it, brows furrowing. "Now, that's a bit harsh, even for you." Her eyes widened and saddened, and her lips pouted. "Someone as mean as you would never remain handsome." She even attempted at her most saddened voice, as if calling her an asshole had brought her to tears. It was all in good fun, of course.
She could play too.
"Really?" She looked at the bottle. "I just took the first one I could find..."
He tried to keep a straight face, he really did, but his lips twitched at the corners in his struggle to maintain it, "I can make sure you like it too, babe." He winked dramatically then and snickered. Damian wasn't the creep that he often made himself out to be, but Lux was also old enough that he didn't quite feel too bad about it anymore. Perhaps when she was eighteen he felt a little weird, but she was of legal drinking age now, she was fully developed.
When she pulled the sad face, his stomach lurched for a moment, but he wasn't dense. She knew she could play him like a fiddle, she'd been able to since the first day he met her. Back before she had boobs and a butt and knew what make up was. Back before he saw her as a woman. And now she had it all, dangling it in front of him like a steak. Damian stared at her with narrowed eyes and frowned, "Don't do that. Frowning will make your face look funny later, why do you think I always smile? Because I'm gonna be hot forever." He was just going to disregard the fact that she didn't even have forever. Not going there.
"It's beer, Lux. Any dark beer is good beer. It's hearty and robust, the way I like my women," He winked at her.
"Mmm, I'm sure." She didn't doubt him for a second. And she would never hold it against him, either. She knew his flirting came from a different place than most would guess. He wasn't the kind of person who took most things in life very seriously. Perhaps that was why she'd always felt so drawn to him. It was easy being around him. It was almost as if the two shared a mutual understanding. No serious talk. Ever.
Pulling back, she smiled. "Aww." She could try faking disappointment to her voice, but she didn't see the point. She could have killed the mood by telling him she didn't really have a 'later', but quickly tossed the notion away. "Sounds like you have it all figured out." She felt tempted to reach her hand out and ruffle his hair. Sadly, he wasn't seventeen anymore. It wouldn't be cute.
"I'll just have to take your word for it." She mused, head shaking. She looked around the bar then. She wondered who'd end up falling victim to his charms next. He seemed content as of right now, but how long could she capture his attention before someone else came along that could offer him more?
It was always good when she gave him what he was looking for. He'd always loved that about her. Even before he flirted with her, he'd joke around and she'd laugh or she'd add a factor into the joke that made it better. All he'd ever wanted to do, from the very moment he met her, was make her laugh for as long as possible. With age came innuendo and he couldn't look back now. Especially seeing as she was a walking fantasy for him.
He grinned at her, as if he was seventeen again. Damian always forgot how long he'd known her. It was sort of terrifying to think that she knew him better than anyone else ever had and likely ever would. "I do have it all figured out, thanks for noticing, Buttercup." He could only hope that his looks lasted forever, there wasn't much else to him that would attract anybody. Unless they liked a smart ass.
When she looked around, he followed her eyes and arched an eyebrow when he looked back at her. Damian snapped his fingers, "I'm over here, pay attention to me." Of course, he was joking and oblivious to the fact that she thought he would go off with someone else. It wasn't a stretch, really, he typically did go off with some stranger from a bar to hook up with. That, or he called the only lady friend he had that was his age that he could sex up without much conversation involved. However, he had no plans to do as such. His focus was still very much on her so when she asked him what he was doing the next day, his face scrunched up.
He took a moment to think, "I have to take Koda for a check up, just to make sure he's still solid. Other than that, nothing. I've got the day off, might workout, might sleep all day. Haven't decided, why?"
