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"It's a shame we don't get paid for it." Then again, that was probably for the best. She wasn't so sure about how good advice most of them were able to get. Most of the people working here seemed to be people like herself, who didn't know what else to do. With a few exceptions, of course.
Tilting her head, Lux smiled. "Thirty's not so bad. You can start complaining when you hit the fifty year old mark and your hip starts acting up." She remembered that happening to her grandparents. They'd always been active people, but as soon as old age came running down their lives, they had to sacrifice a lot of their old hobbies. It was a shame, really, but it couldn't be helped. "Besides, you haven't even lived half your life yet."
Happy to oblige, Lux filled the redhead's glass. "Politics usually gets in the way of everything." She wasn't very active within the various political fields herself, but she'd seen and heard enough to at least have an opinion on certain things. "I also think that politics help us push in a direction. Whether it's the wrong or right direction doesn't really matter, but at least it keeps thing moving, you know?"
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
A inaudible sigh fell from the brunette's lips; She had never been one who responded well to being confronted. She always felt the urge to turn around and run in the other direction. Even now, with the person she was the most comfortable with she had to resist the urge to stand from the chair and simply walk away.
She lifted her gaze, green eyes finding similar green ones. She wanted to point out that nothing had happened. That there was nothing happening, but really, she wasn't sure how to else describe it. She didn't know what words to use. Carter had always been a subject she'd found hard to explain. Even to herself. "Okay," she said instead, looking down at her hands. "But don't make it weird." Because it wasn't weird. It didn't need to be weird.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
In truth, Luxanna would have preferred her father being the first to arrive. There would have been a small comfort to be found in someone else leading the conversation. She could easily do this anywhere else, or so she claimed, but a dinner seemed personal. It didn't feel the same way it did whenever Jack came over. Maybe that was the worst part; She didn't know what it felt like.
The approaching steps had her lifting her gaze immediately, disappointed to see it wasn't her father. She held onto the book tighter, her knuckles growing white from the pressure. "Yeah, was waiting for my dad to come home." She didn't see any point in hiding that fact. She had a sneaking suspicion her dad wouldn't show up for quite a while, if ever.
Putting the book down then, she leaned forward, resting her elbows against her thighs. "Hey."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
Eyes widened at the small piece of information she was offered. She briefly wondered how one could tone down someone's hair color, and why someone would. Still, Luxanna smiled. "Oh, you're not bothering me." She made a gesture towards the other people sitting around the bar. Mostly drunk and mostly male. Try as one might, drunk males generally didn't think much of it - they'd flirt with anything with breasts and feminine traits. She shrugged then. "With the experience I'm offered here, I'll be a full blown psychologist in a year or two." Then again, Lux had never one to mind listening to people talk about their problems.
The brunette tilted her head, lips pursing. "Yeah," she replied. "Bartender by night and waitress by day." Luxanna had yet to actually figure out what she wanted to do, and if there was anything to do, and having part time jobs seemed to fill the void and take some of the stress away from thinking about it.
"You don't look too much older, though," she offered with a gentle smile. She couldn't properly guess the girl's age, but she looked young enough.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
There was one thing for her father to propose a dinner. It was a whole different to be late to the same dinner. It didn't help much that her brother had run off somewhere, refusing to take part in whatever this was supposed to be. And Lux couldn't help but to cringe at the whole thing. It was such a terrible idea. She was almost tempted to call Jack so he could come over to release some of the tension and take the spotlight as his own.
She would have felt a lot more comfortable with that. In fact, she would have felt a lot more comfortable with a lot of things. This, though, this was not on the list of things Luxanna wanted to do. Every fiber in her body screamed, telling her to run. She had tension running through every muscle, and she couldn't quite rid herself of the scowl caressing her usually gentle features.
There was a ball of repressed teenage angst boiling at the pit of her stomach too, but that only made her feel overly dramatic.
She usually didn't mind her father nudging at her. This wasn't nudging, though. This was pushing her off a cliff and leaving her to drown in the water.
Instead of waiting inside, it felt better to sit on the porch underneath a blanket with a book in front of her. She always felt better when she wasn't confined by a tighter space. It made it easier to breathe and there was less of a chance for her power to kick in. That rarely ended well.
The more her father spoke, the deeper the horror on her face settled. She was an adult capable of making her own choices, but it seemed as if her father thought there was more going on than there really was. She'd only brought Carter home because he'd had nowhere else to stay. That was all there was to it. Right? Besides, considering how confused she felt about the topic herself, talking to her dad about it didn't seem like the right choice. Maybe she was putting too little faith in him - as he probably had all the questions, just like she'd always believed as a child - but that didn't change the fact that she didn't know.
"That's not-" She began, but stopped herself. Invite Carter over for dinner? At her home? With her dad? That seemed personal. Like something you only did with close friends. Like Jack. Somehow, though, she could imagine Carter would find the idea amusing.
"Err." Blinking, the brunette shook her head. Slowly. But if she refused, did that make it seem like she did have something to hide? Was that her father's plan all along? Furrowing her brows, all Luxanna could do was stare. "But that's-" She narrowed her eyes at him. "The thing is-" She didn't really have a valid argument for this. "But, I guess-" She sighed. "Ok."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
Luxanna offered a soft smile; There was certain things she'd learned never to ask for unless it was offered. One of those things were names. Besides, she'd also learned there wasn't much need of names in a place like this. 'Hey, you' usually sufficed. "If it makes you feel any better, favorite orders are like a second nature by now." Especially to those who frequently visited the bar. Still, Lux took the hand with a grin. "Hey, Clarke. Nice to officially meet you." She gave the hand a shake. "I'm Lux."
In truth, Lux had found herself enjoying the company of the redhead, Clarke, early on. She wasn't like most people coming her. There was this aura to her, this mystery, that Lux enjoyed. It was comfortable. As if it was actually possible to get through life without having to share every single detail about oneself. It was silly, of course, but she couldn't help it.
"Besides," she added, planting the palms of her hands against the bar top. "You do stand out." She nodded towards the girl's flaming locks.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
"Nothing more than you'd expect," she offered with a simple shrug. A fight, but that usually happened and she was usually well protected standing behind the bar. The bouncers also did a really good job at making sure no harm came to the bartenders. Not that the bartenders were generally the source of the spite drunken people threw around them. She didn't think she'd ever been on the receiving end of something like that.
The color drained from Lux's face and her green eyes immediately searched the room for something else to fasten themselves to. She'd completely forgotten about the cameras her father had installed. It had been the furthest from her mind last night. "Errr," she said, chewing on her bottom lip. It was a shame she was such a bad liar. Otherwise, she might have tried to change the subject. Though, maybe that had more to do with wit.
This was the last thing she wanted to discuss with her father. She didn't even know what to call whatever they were. Friends didn't seem quite fitting. Even if Carter had used it quite a few times during the hours they'd spent together. "He used to attend the school back in Kalispell and needed a place to crash," she said, scratching at the back of her neck. It wasn't a lie.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
A smile formed on the brunette's lips; She'd taken on the responsibility of bringing her father food after her mother and his wife had died. It was a simple gesture, but it was something she enjoyed doing. Besides, someone had to make sure he actually ate something other than just whatever he could find when coming home, late at night. "It's alright," she said, shrugging. She'd grown so used to having the house to herself. Especially with her brother having reached the age where he was out and about. She plumped down into the seat offered and took the moment to look around.
She felt a little bit guilty about sneaking Carter in. Nothing that would make her father worry had happened. The two hadn't even shared a bed, let alone the same room, but still. She'd always been honest about bringing Jack home whenever she'd found him incapable of taking care of himself. Why did Carter feel like something she had to keep a secret?
"I was working 'til late anyways," she offered. Besides, New Year's had never been a priority in terms of celebrations. "The bar was chaotic."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
It was rather ironic that Lux had ended up where she had. She'd been a wallflower that didn't particularly enjoy being around people. They often made her feel uncomfortable. And yet, here she was; A bartender who got paid to talk to drunk people. And drunk people were usually worse than the sober ones.
Still, there was a few people that made her job more enjoyable. Mainly those who didn't hit on her or make a fool out of themselves.
One of those people was a certain redhead Lux had come to enjoy the presence of. The two didn't really get down and person, which, if Lux was going to be perfectly honest, was just how she preferred it. "Here's your order, miss," she said, placing the redhead's favorite drink in front of her.
Lux has always enjoyed visiting her dad at work. She didn't know what it was about her father's workplace, but there was always something going on. So many different people for her to study. And the people was generally nice, too. Walking through the doors, she scanned the large room for her father; She was a little anxious, though, to most that knew her, that wasn't anything new.
It seemed that her father hadn't noticed she'd brought Carter home last night. He would have said something if he had, right? It wasn't as if she'd done something bad. They'd slept in different rooms, but Luxanna wasn't quite ready to discuss that part of her life yet. Not even with her father.
Seeing the man she owed everything to, a smile formed on the brunette's lips and she made her way over. "Hiya," she said, placing the bag containing her father's lunch and a starbucks coffee. "I figured you hadn't brought your own."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
With a small shake to her head, the brunette walked over to where she'd left her bag and picked it up. "Don't throw up in my bed." She'd just have to deal with whatever might come of this, though, she could only hope her father didn't feel the urge to check in on her.
"Night," she offered, refusing to look at the smile on his face. She should have just left before, instead of wasting her time trying to change the mind of someone so set in their ways. And with that, she left the room.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She'd always known him to be arrogant. A prick, sure, but this stubborn? She gave it a moment of thought; Maybe she was the one being stubborn here. Maybe she was making mountains out of molehills. If her father came back this late, he would probably be too tired to make sure she was there. Besides, he knew she'd been working. Maybe he'd just figure she'd be out with Jack or something.
"Fine, whatever," she said in defeat. She even threw her arms up for emphasis. "I give up." She moved over to the edge of the bed. It was getting late and she was growing tired. "Do whatever you want." As she reached the edge of the bed, she stood.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
Her body instinctively tensed at the sudden movement. Following his movements with her eyes, Luxanna let out a sigh. There was no victory to be found in this. Instead, she could almost feel the mock crawling over her skin. "You're an idiot," she said as she sat up, finally able to move her hair completely away from her face.
Now, where was that damn pillow?
It was better to focus on that, rather than the awareness of it all. She'd seen a completely new side to the blonde tonight and it made her confused. Sure, it was easy to blame it on the alcohol, but that didn't change the fact that he seemed different. As if he'd never quite let himself be so relaxed or so vulnerable around her. She didn't want to think about that.
"You're not going to move, are you?"
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
The brunette managed to blow and wriggle some of the hair away from her face, though not nearly enough to make it comfortable. Lux had never seen this kind of playful side of him. Usually, he carried himself with an almost stuck up nature, as if there was always someone there, waiting for him to lose him composure. As if he had to act the part. She couldn't really blame him for it, though. It came with the territory, no?
Whether she wanted to admit to it or not, Carter was stronger than her and she wouldn't be able to just push him off or wiggle free. Of course, that didn't mean she had to give up and stop trying. Placing the palms of her hands against his chest, she tried pushing at him.
It was like trying to move a mountain.
And to think something like this amused him so. "What are you, twelve?" She couldn't quite help the pout either.
