Thread 1: Skylark Casino Celebration

[birthright_npc]

Cards, roulette, slots, live jazz, champagne, and wandering performers!

[Thread open to anyone.]

Comments

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy held her cup full of tokens aloft and meandered through the crowd at the slot machines. “Excuse me… room to breathe would be appreciated,” she said as a man turned sideways and slid in front of her, so close that their chests touched and she felt him exhale on her cheek. “Ugh.” She emerged on the other side. Just when she thought she was home free, a drunk woman burst out laughing and rammed into her.

The cup of tokens flipped and its contents rained down on the carpet.

“Oh, come on!”

She knelt down in her tight dress, squeezing her legs together so the world didn’t see her business, and plucked the coins up between shoes.

[wolfs_daughter]

This was not normally Echo's scene. Crowds made her nervous, even more self-conscious than usual, but she'd been determined to get out of her bolthole and into a larger environment. She'd even bought new clothes, a pair of black chinos and a purple silk shirt. She really hoped she didn't spill anything on herself tonight. Dry cleaning cost a fortune.

'Oh, come on!'

The complaint was loud even over the din of chatter from the tables, and the hybrid watched as another brunette tried to bend down and pick up her poker chips and keep her dress from exposing her to the room at the same time. Echo's callused left hand rubbed over her jawline. Should she be gallant and try to help?

What the hell.

"Make room," she said gruffly, stepping between bodies so she could get close enough to make herself useful. Her second-hand boots stepped on a token, and she moved her feet so she could crouch down and pick it up. She saw the key around the stranger's neck, then looked back down at the carpet so it wouldn't look like she was staring at her boobs.

"It's times like this when I wish I had an invisible wall, y'know?"

[maddy_ricks]

“No kidding,” said Maddy. She picked up the token and plunked it into her cup. “Thanks,” she muttered, some of the aggravation melting out of her voice. It helped having a person stand beside her… less chance of being trampled to death in the mad rush for loose change. She surrendered the last few chips for dead. Reaching for them would result in gnarled finger bones. As she stood up, her fingers yanked her dress hem into place. Dresses were not her cup of tea, but this particular one was a steal at the thrift shop and there was no other place for her to wear it.

“Here,” she said, holding out a few tokens. “For your courage.”

[wolfs_daughter]

"Uh. Heh."

Echo reached out and took the tokens from the other brunette, who was cute bordering on adorable. She put the chips into her shirt pocket, hooked her thumbs through her belt loops. "I wasn't really being brave," she said. "I was mainly trying to keep you from getting stepped on."

The key caught the light, and she had to make herself not fixate on it. Don't be a jerk. "I like your dress," she said inanely. "The salesgirl tried to talk me into buying one too, but I never feel right when I have to get really dressed up."

[maddy_ricks]

“You like?” she asked, preening a bit. “Shall I twirl?” Maddy struck a pose worthy of a 1960s housewife in a catalog. She pivoted to show her dress to its best advantage.

“Ten bucks at a consignment shop,” she said and dropped character. “It came with lace gloves, but I’d just drop an ash on them and light myself on fire. It’s better if I don’t have fancy things.”

Maddy studied the other woman and decided that she might make decent company. No airs. “You gamble?”

[wolfs_daughter]

If Echo had been confident enough to ogle, she would have done it right then. As it was, she just chuckled softly and nodded. "I like to play poker sometimes. Cards are better than the slot machines because you can make your own luck. You have to be really good at being stone-faced, though."

She looked around for a server, didn't immediately spot one. Could she get a Guinness in a place like this? The other woman didn't look old enough to drink, but she was so small that looks could be deceiving.

"I'm Echo." One hand disengaged itself from its belt loop, extended itself. "Can I buy you a drink?"

[maddy_ricks]

“I’m Maddy, and hell yes,” she responded, shaking back with a hand that was slender but squeezed with confidence. “I’ve never turned down a drink in my life.” Bringing the cup of tokens near her face, she dabbed at her eyelashes with her thumb. She wasn’t used to the feeling of mascara on them. It felt burdensome to blink. “That’s a better idea anyway. I was thinking of going up to the roof, but I’d just jump in the pool in my dress and ruin the whole thing.”

She knew Brian was up there. He liked the band. She thought they blew chunks and didn’t mind expressing her contempt loudly. Another reason to stay downstairs.

[wolfs_daughter]

A jacketed server rounded one of the gaming tables, and Echo flagged him down to ask for a Guinness and whatever Maddy wanted. This could be good practice for learning to talk to a girl without spazzing out. If she could speak without stuttering, it would be an improvement.

"Tourist or local?" she asked once the drinks had been ordered. "Not many people who live in this city seem to be from Nevada, but you might be the exception to the rule."

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy ordered a bloody mary because she liked that it came with a celery stalk. “I’m from Tacoma,” she said, “but I’ve been here eight or nine years. Where are you from? Definitely west coast, right?” She had a decent ear for accents and thought that Echo’s sounded distinctly northwestern. She looked around and spotted a pair of neglected bar stools. It beat standing in her shoes, which were killing her, though she was loathe to admit it. She reached out just as a man began to sit on one. “At-dat-dat! Nooooo. Mine.” She slapped his arm. “Get outta here.”

Maddy flopped on the cushion and sighed with relief.

[wolfs_daughter]

Yeah, definitely adorable.

"I came down from Seattle instead of going to college," Echo said, taking up the stool next to Maddy's and hooking the heels of her boots on the bottom rung. "We were practically neighbors."

Don't stare at her legs. Yes, the dress is short, but behave yourself.

"This is going to sound awful, but I was wondering if you were old enough to be in here. I'm sure a hundred other morons have asked you the same question."

[maddy_ricks]

“Uuuuuugh, are you fucking kidding me?” Maddy groaned, letting her head roll backward. She bent down and set the cup of coins between her feet. To cut straight to the chase, she pulled the beaded purse from her shoulder and whipped out her driver’s license, which was stashed alongside a wadd of small bills and a tube of red lipstick.

“I’m twenty-four. See?” She flicked the date on the glossy plastic.

[wolfs_daughter]

Echo blushed, abashed and chastised. "I'm sorry," she said, raising her hands in surrender. "I'm barely old enough to be in here myself, so I shouldn't point fingers."

The server came back with their drinks, and the hybrid gratefully picked up the room-temperature bottle. The first sip reminded her that this was the beer you could eat with a fork, and she held it between her palms while she looked for something less contentious to say.

"I guess you're done with school?" she asked with a hopeful expression. "UNLV sent me a catalog in the mail. They have a fairly decent arts program. I'm weighing my options."

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy snorted. “School. Yeah right.” She stuffed her ID back in the purse. “It’s expensive, it’s boring, and it’s overrated. What’s one thing they can teach you about art that you can’t figure out yourself?” she asked. “They’ll just teach you to copy other people. It’s bullshit.” She ran the zipper and accepted the Bloody Mary with gratitude and a sip. She wiggled her nose and tried not to sneeze, thanks to an overage of pepper.

Okay, maybe, maybe the thought crossed her mind, on a rare occasion, that she wouldn’t be slaving away at three low-paying jobs if she’d gone to college. Pouring coffee paid the rent on her slum, playing bass guitar paid the phone bill, and being a second-rate circus clown on the street paid for…

Well…

Nothing.

It was just funny.

[wolfs_daughter]

"I was thinking about art history," Echo said, and she displayed her palms as if for inspection after a washing. "I already know how to draw and make stuff, but learning about the people who already made it could be interesting."

Her posture loosened up a little as she sat there, and she tried to avoid slouching. "So I guess you live in the city," she said, and it wasn't a question this time. She'd have recognized Maddy, seen her before, Definitely.

"I almost didn't show up tonight," the hybrid admitted, beginning to pick at the label on the bottle. "I'm not naturally social."

[maddy_ricks]

“I’m not naturally hairless, but they make this thing called a razor,” Maddy said. She stirred her drink with the celery stalk. “That’s a weird comparison. What I’m saying is, if you’re not naturally sociable, you either drink until the edges get blurry, or you engineer some place where you feel comfortable with people. Make your own space.” She took a bite of the vegetable. She could call it her health food for the week. Maddy wasn’t sure she believed in ‘not naturally sociable’. Human beings partnered up. They colonized. It was probably for safety and procreation, but there had to be some capacity for socialization in all people, unless they were giant biological failures. But she kept that train of thought to herself.

[wolfs_daughter]

It hadn't been a joke, but Echo sort of snort-laughed in response. Hairless. If Maddy only knew.

"I'm going to rent some work space to make things if my grant interview goes well," she said. The date was looming ever closer. Maybe she should bring a good luck charm. That might be what the key around the other brunette's neck was.

She suddenly looked around, taking note of her surroundings as her head swiveled to the left and then to the right. "I'm not, um, interrupting your night, am I?" She'd only said it because it was a really swanky dress, the kind someone might save for date night. If there was a man hovering somewhere around, he might be getting impatient.

"Not that it isn't nice to have a drink with a pretty girl, but, uh..." Crap. Echo gripped the beer bottle more tightly, made herself say the rest of it. "I wouldn't want you to think I was hitting on you. Not that I wouldn't. Hit on you. If I knew how." Her ears were burning. She took a swig of beer to give herself a reprieve from the eye contact.

"Um. I usually don't say that part out loud."

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy looked up. “Ohhhh, you’re… got it.” She gave a thumbs up. “Me too, occasionally,” she admitted. “The fluid nature of my sex urges became apparent the minute I saw Cherie Currie in her underwear.” She made another attempt at the spicy Bloody Mary, the Worcestershire sauce of which overpowered the miniscule amount of vodka they’d poured in the glass. “I have an equally powerful attraction to Michael J. Fox as a teenage Republican.”

[wolfs_daughter]

When Maddy didn't laugh or act shocked, Echo's shoulders slumped with relief. She didn't know what she'd expected, if she'd expected anything, but nonchalant acceptance hadn't been at the top of the list. The next hit of Guinness went down easier.

"So what do you do if you don't go to school?" she asked in a more casual tone. "I'm not working right now, but jobs are kind of thin on the ground in Searchlight, which is where I'm living right now. What goes on for you during the day?"

[maddy_ricks]

“During the day, I serve coffee and underwhelming slices of pie,” she said. “At night, I play bass in a band, which is not what I’d call lucrative. Once you split the cash and pay for new equipment, there’s not much left. Sometimes we get paid in beer. But,” she shrugged. “I always string it together, somehow. By the way, lest I overstate things, allow me to make it patently clear. I’m no virtuoso on the bass. I asked to play the tambourine and the guys said, what do you think this is, Fleetwood Mac? But they wanted a girl to offset the testosterone.”