Home Away From Home (Open)

Her plans for the night did not include sitting in that stupid fucking dorm room with her rather bitchy roommate, who she had to admit she kinda liked, with a bird telling her how damn important it was not to blow off her classes the next day. So what did she do? She left the school, faded backpack slung on her back, clinking with the half-used cans she was going to need to replace here sooner or later, and climbed up and over the wall, Micha flying the skies above. It was still rather early, the sun had just started its descent and Laurel was intent on getting some quality time with a blank wall and her spray paint. Faded jeans with faint paint stains clung to her legs while boot clung to her feet, a zip up sweater covered the nice shirt underneath so it wouldn't get full of spray paint while she was working, she wanted to go check out that club, Indulgence yet.

She kept up a mental conversation with the falcon that flew in the skies, thanking once more that she had this affinity that allowed her communication to a species no one else could communicate with. Birds were basically her own private party people if she were being honest, and half of the time they were funny as fuck. Micha on the other hand, she was about as bad as her dad, always preaching about staying in school and not doing wrong. So Laurel relieved her boredom by putting artwork on public property? Not like it hurt anyone. She walked down an empty alleyway, having no fear of the dark as she could be scarier than anything the dark could spit out at her. She paused at a blank wall, glancing left and right before looking up, smiling slightly at the bird. "We good up there?" She received an affirmative answer and she scooped up her lightly curled hair to fix it in a loose bun, keeping the strands away from her face.

She dumped the backpack on the ground before pulling out the first can and beginning, concentrating fully on what she was doing while Micha kept a sharp eye for anyone who could interrupt her. This is what she enjoyed doing, she was shit with a pencil and paper, but put a paint can in her hand and she turned into a fucking da vinci copycat. She was at it for at least twenty-minutes when Micha informed her that there were two people approaching and she quickly capped the can, shoved it in the bag, slung the bag over her shoulder and headed out of the alleyway. It wasn't complete, but she'd go back to it later. She had no fear of getting caught really, she just didn't need to explain to daddy why she was out in the city putting graffiti on the wall instead of studying. She headed down the street towards where Indulgence was, Micha coming down from her high flight to land on her shoulder. Once she was within sight of the building she stopped for a moment, shrugging her shoulder to get Micha off, shrugging off the sweater and shoving it into the backpack.

Once that was done she offered a strap to Micha, who hooked one of her clawed feet around the strap and hefted the bag up and away. Laurel never did know where Micha left her shit. "You good with staying out Micha?" With another affirmative answer she shrugged her shoulders, heading to the club that she'd been hearing so much about. She reached up to pull the ponytail from her hair, shaking her head so her curls cascaded down her shoulders. It wasn't hard to get in at all, and once she was in she rose an eyebrow, an interesting place. She made her way to the bar, looking much like a woman going to a club, unless you got a shot at her paint stained jeans. These were her favorite and she definitely felt incredibly comfortable in them. (And she looked damn good too). Once at the bar she ordered a drink, taking a sip from it before letting her eyes scan over the area, wondering if she'd make a friend or two tonight. The thought made her scowl, her dad always told her she had no social skills. Bullshit.

People watching was an unfortunate habit for Laurel, she tended to settle back until she deemed it entertaining enough to join in on something, and while she was leaning back against the bar, slowly draining the drink she happened to have the perfect view of Tripp going after the kid. She rose an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side lightly as the guy got a solid punch to the face. Well, wasn't this interesting? Whatever the reason obviously people didn't care, as no one came to the kid's defense nor did anyone stop the man from doing whatever it was he was doing. Which Laurel didn't blame them, if she wasn't who she was she'd say he was intimidating, but Laurel was hardly intimidated by anyone. Hell, she constantly poked at a sleeping bear in the form of her grand-dad. Seeing as nothing else was going to happen Laurel turned her attention back to the people spread out around her, taking another sip from her drink, violence was nothing new to her, and it appeared to be a common occurrence here if no one did anything about it.

She finished off her drink, finding herself wanting another and so she turned to the bartender, flashing him a smile. Once she had her next drink in hand she turned back to the crowd, only to find a man standing much too close to her, smelling too much like booze, and looking like one of those arrogant frat boys. Immediately she felt her irritation rise as he grinned at her. Well no, it was more of a leer and she suppressed a groan. Another guy who thought he could throw a grin her way and get in her pants just like that. Unfortunately it took a bit more than a pretty face to even get some of Laurel's attention. Hey baby, how 'bout I buy you a drink Her lips twitched into an amused smirk as she lifted the glass in her hand up for him to see. "Way ahead of you big boy, why don't you go play with someone else, I doubt you could handle me" She moved to turn away from him, pausing when she felt his hand on her shoulder. Her half-way amused smirk fell from her face.

She turned back to him, giving him a once over before grabbing his wrist, with a bit more pressure than she really needed too. "Like I said, go find someone you can handle" She released his wrist, turning full away from him and moving down the bar more, relating her irritation to Micha, who merely snorted and told her she should have stayed back in school where she was suppose to be. Regardless she had been bored and she hated being cooped up when she was bored, she got reckless and tended to get bitchier. So to save her roommate the hassle of a major bitchfest she took matters into her own hands and left to find her own amusements. And she had, she still felt the itch to find a spray can, rubbing a hand absently on her jeans, her fingers still lightly stained from the spray paint. She usually did a good job at getting the spray paint off her fingers so there wasn't evidence for her father to accuse her of misbehaving again, but she hadn't had time, and frankly she didn't give a shit.

Laurel found herself down the bar a bit from where she had previously been, actually next to the man who had caused that short little scene a few minutes ago. She gave him an idle look, he was attractive, in that bad boy way, and while Laurel could appreciate the bad boy look, she merely let her gaze flicker onto him before moving on. It wasn't until she spotted an old 'friend' of hers, someone who knew Laurel's last name and who so blatantly wanted to use their 'friendship' as a means to get higher in life. Which pissed Laurel off, so she did the first thing she thought of, she turned to the man, flashing him a smile and turned her back upon the girl who had just spotted her. The bitch better not dare come over here. Laurel wasn't in the mood for her fake blonde bimbo act. "So here's the deal, we're going to pretend to be having the most interesting conversation okay?" She grinned at him, not caring if he wasn't going to cooperate, frankly she wasn't going to give him a choice.

She took a healthy drink from the glass before setting it on the bar, glancing at his beer bottle before flashing him another grin. "I'll buy you a drink if you play along stud" Oh that was rich, Micha was snorting in her head and Laurel's grin only grew wider. Stud? Who in the world even says things like that? Laurel wanted to roll her eyes and laugh, instead she merely continued to look at Tripp, no need to look too crazy right? "The names Laurel by the way, it's really a pleasure" She could hear the little bitch talking, her voice was high pitched and fucking annoying. She was seriously going to hurt someone if she came near her.

Now normally Laurel did have a bit of a problem with smokers. She didn't like the smoke, it didn't settle well with her really and when she could she avoided it, of course there was no avoiding it now, especially since he was serving as her reason not to talk to the extremely irritating blonde bitch coming in hot behind her. So she sucked it up and flashed a smile at the guy, the smile turning into a grin at his sarcastic reply. Despite the sarcasm he didn't seem too put off on the idea and she was ready to retort when the woman's high voice could be heard and the man's attention was diverted to her. Laurel merely grinned at the accusation and shrugged. "What can I say? You're definitely the most attractive shield here." Which was a rather honest statement. She could have gone and found that drunk frat boy, that would have been more hassle for her though. Regardless, he wasn't bad to look at and he seemed entertaining enough in the short span she had come into contact with him.

So when he scooted closer she rose an eyebrow slightly, since he knew the game now she was curious to see what he'd do. Though from the amount of space between the two of them, and the fact that he had just put down his drink, Laurel had a pretty good idea of what he was going to do. So when his hand slipped into her hair, grasping her neck she responded to the kiss, she couldn't help the corner of her lips twisting into a smirk when she heard the girl gasp. Let her go tell all her little bitch friends what she saw Lau doing with some random stranger. It wasn't like this was abnormal for her family, her grand-father was a horndog, her father wasn't much better. Laurel was proof of that. Her amusement at the situation doubled when, instead of backing off after the girl was gone, the man kept his lips on hers, pulling her closer by her waist. Well, wasn't this interesting? Laurel was no idle party to this though, as her own hands reached for him, a hand running over his shirt covered chest, appreciative of the muscles she felt there.

She let this go on, mostly because his lips felt nice against hers, before a very annoyed voice sounded in her head and she mentally rolled her eyes at the bird, breaking the kiss with a grin. He spoke and it brought a laugh to her, this certainly hadn't turned out like she had expected. "That's certainly one way of getting to know someone" She was so very amused about the whole thing, she definitely was thinking that coming to Indulgence had been a very good idea even if the bird that was perched out side snorted her disagreement within Laurel's head. Such a stick in the mud. The reminder of the paint had her glancing at her fingers as she reached for her own glass, she'd need to get that washed off before it stained. Hell, who was she kidding? They'd probably be stained until the paint faded. Laurel raised an eyebrow at his question, not missing the fact that while she had given her name, he had not given his own. Which, frankly, wasn't going to happen, she wasn't going to talk to a nameless face. Especially since she was ignoring the smoke.

So she drained her glass, setting it on the bar and propping a hip against it, tilting her head to the side lightly. "Are you going to tell me your name? Or am I going to be forced to think of all sorts of different nicknames" Her expression became thoughtful, though there was a hint of a grin hidden, showing that she was not in the least thoughtful about this. "I've already used stud, I'd hate to exhaust that one you know." She was more than willing to dub him with different nicknames if he was unwilling to give out a proper name. It wouldn't bother her in the least, though some of the things she usually came up with were...a tad offending to be honest. Her lips twitched up into a smirk. "I don't hang around snobby bitches, it's hard to keep up a decent conversation with one without wanting to rearrange their face." She smiled over at the bartender as he brought her another drink, taking a sip from it before turning her attention back to Tripp.

She kept her irritation tightly controlled as he blew smoke rings her way, keeping her face passive as he did so, only allowing herself to blink, because otherwise she might reach over and take that cigarette from him and snub it out on the bar. And that isn't the way to make friends right? Right. Unfortunately. Her lips quirked up into a smirk as he spoke and she blatantly looked him over. "Yeah? I'm sure there is" She tipped the glass to her lips again as she regarded him, he definitely seemed the bad boy type, the kind that basically screamed fuck you, and 'i make my own rules'. Which was amusing to say the least. At least she wouldn't be bored for the rest of the night. You're father wouldn't approve And this time she couldn't keep the eye roll from happening and to play it off she let her gaze slip into the crowd. Whoops. Not like people didn't think she was crazy already, so she supposed if the man before her thought she was crazy for her random, at least to him, eye rolling then so be it.

His reply to her question brought her eyes back to him and she immediately grinned. Oh, he had basically asked for it, he better remember that. Challenge mother-fucking accepted. "Oooh, mystery man huh?" This really was turning out to be quite the night, now she had an objective to keep her occupied for the rest of this night. "We'll see about that sugar" She let a bit of a southern drawl inflect her voice on the sugar, grinning at him as she did so. For a brief moment she wondered if she was being unfairly cruel to him, she had been the one to bother him, use him as a shield, and now she was poking at him in the form of nicknames. Eh, he looked like he could handle it, and if not she'd just have to find someone else to keep her entertained for the rest of the night. Micha, who was still perched outside, watching the club from above a lamp post, huffed lightly in her head, obviously displeased with the company Laurel decided to keep. It wasn't like the little bird had any say in the matter as it was.

Laurel scoffed lightly, rolling her eyes at Tripp this time around, unlike when she had responded to the bird chatting away in her head. "Knowing someone and associating with them are two different things, hot stuff" Oh she couldn't help the grin on that one. This was really amusing her, plus it was causing Micha to scoff in her mind. "I prefer rubies, and large dogs. Little fuckers are too easy to step on." She took another sip of her drink, blinking lazily at him. Not denying nor affirming the fact that she could indeed be like one of those greedy bitches that romped the upper levels of Indulgence. Laurel had all that she needed, hell she had what she wanted before the war, before her mother died and she moved to live with her father. And then he promptly shipped her off to school. Which was utterly stupid, considering she was completely old enough to decide if she wanted to go to school or not. Then again not many people argued with Angelo Forsyth and won. She was no exception.

She remained where she was, propped up against the bar by the hip, watching him stretch with lazy interest, her amusement still simmering just below the surface, while Micha continued to try to get her out of the place. That was going to get annoying real quick and she mentally told the bird to shut the fuck up before her attention returned to Tripp. She allowed him to brush a few of her curls over her shoulder, letting him tilt her head upwards with his thumb, smirking softly. "I heard this was the place to go to relieve your boredom. So far it's been living up to that statement" Mostly because of the man before her, whose name she didn't know. He obviously was here often, as he spoke of knowing all the regulars, which she most certainly was not. "I haven't quite gotten a chance to explore shit yet, tonight seemed like a good enough night to do so" And it really had, despite the fact she had a test tomorrow she needed to study for, which wasn't happening. Besides, Micha already said she'd help cheat.

His offer of protection made her laugh, oh yes it did. She couldn't help it, it was just like men to think she couldn't handle herself. Like she had just done not a few minutes ago she reached a hand up to grasp his wrist, not nearly as harsh as last time (though if she needed more force she had no issue doing so), before pulling his hand away from her, releasing his wrist and reaching up to pat his cheek. "How sweet. Don't worry, I can handle myself buttercup" Oh, there it was again! She was just so damn funny wasn't she? Cheesy and annoying, that had to get on his nerves a little bit, that she fully realized and while she wasn't doing it to annoy him, just for her own personal amusement, it still made her grin.

He was going to tell her his name. By the end of the night she wouldn't have to think of pet names, because she'd know his actual name. That had been her goal she had set for herself, and Laurel very rarely ever failed in what she set herself out to accomplish. Mostly because she didn't have anything else to do. It could be said that her fear of boredom propelled her accomplishing the goals she set for herself. Besides, this would be an interesting goal to reach. And she was intent on reaching it. She laughed lightly when he snapped at her hand after she patted his cheek, finding herself actually relaxing and enjoying his company, enough that she had tuned out Micha completely from her mind. Instead her attention was fully on the man before her, the mystery man who refused to give her his name, but had so very easily locked lips with her. She wondered briefly what that said about him, before deciding she didn't particularly care. He had helped her get rid of the annoying blonde woman and she had enjoyed it in the process, nothing wrong with that.

She laughed as he listed off the pet names she had already given him, grinning widely at him. "Oh, don't you worry about that, I'd just start to guess your name" That might be more fun than the nicknames, she already had a few names floating around in her head, all of them horridly funny to her. "But we won't have to worry about that for a while, Punkin" She grinned, 'punkin' what an annoying little pet name. And most of the ones she was planning on giving him weren't any better at all. But hey, he was the one who started this little game, and she was going to finish it. Her own eyebrow raised in response to his but before he could say whatever it was he was going to some kid came up and tapped him on the shoulder. Her eyebrow arched just a bit higher as he did whatever he was doing, she didn't really care and she grabbed her glass from the counter, taking a long drink from it while waiting for him to turn back to her.

She tilted her head to the side as he snapped at the kid, obviously not pleased that he had been interrupted. She laughed lightly as he tugged her forward by her jeans, grinning up at him as the distance closed between them, her arm reaching out to set the drink down on the bar's counter, her attention never leaving Tripp's face. "What am I up for?" Oh she could just feel the grin spreading across her face as she inched just a bit closer. "Well, I'd love to tell you, but here's the thing, like that haughty bitch, I don't tend to associate with nameless men" She tilted her head up lightly, so she could watch his reaction better. Truthfully? Laurel wasn't going to just walk away if Tripp didn't give her his name, but she sure as hell wanted to know what it was, and frankly she didn't give any sort of sign that she was lying about leaving if he didn't. Unfair? Oh yes, but Laurel never said she was fair when she was accomplishing her tasks.

She smiled sweetly at him, keeping the distance between them before her hand reached out for her glass again, barely moving back to allow space for the glass, which she tipped back and drained, though she kept a hold of it after the contents were gone. "We could fix that real easy big boy" Another sweet smile as she rose an eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

She had to laugh at his comment about 'big boy'. Oh she had pretty much waltzed her way right into that one. Her head tilted back just a bit more as she laughed, her hand moved to rest on his chest, mostly because she was feeling a bit tipsy at this point (these particular drinks were always the ones to get her nice and drunk real quick) and her half closed eyes gave her a bit of vertigo if she was being honest. She grinned at him as her head tilted back, ever so slightly so she wouldn't loose eye contact with him. "You're telling a woman she's right?" An eyebrow rose as her grin turned into a smug little smirk. "I'm starting to think you're trying to hard to cover up the fact that you just don't quite measure up" The smirk couldn't hold before it became a full grown grin and she broke their eye contact to let her eyes flicker downwards, just to make sure he knew exactly what she was insulting, teasingly of course. She really was being a tease tonight.

She didn't mean to be such a tease, especially since she wasn't going to put out, but it was so easy to do so with this man, this guy who still wouldn't tell her his name. When she noticed the shots there was a definite sparkle in her eyes, she did love to do shots, and normally she got a bit too shit-faced (though she believes she deserves to get shit-faced when she wants). Shots were something she should avoid, especially the tequila shots, which she was most certain that was tequila passing Tripp's lips at the moment. She laughed when he grinned at her with the lime in his mouth, taking delight in such a simple thing for reasons beyond her. "Sure, I'd lo-" She cut off when a rather annoyed, and huffy, voice told her very clearly that she'd end up stumbling out of the club drunk and Micha would have to go get her father to bring her back to school if she took that shot. Her hand, which had extended to the other shot, dropped and she shrugged.

"Actually, you go ahead, I've filled my quota of alcohol for tonight" She flashed him a brilliant smile, mostly so she could hopefully cover up that little hiccup. She paused a moment when he questioned why she had such a need to know his name, though she did snort at his assumption. "I'm sure you'd just love that kitten, but no, that's not the reason" Did she really just call him kitten? She grinned a bit. Oh yes she did. But her mind mingled on the reason why she was so intent on getting his name, at first it was a bit of a game, something to entertain her for the night. But he was so very stubborn about it. Her head tilted to the side and she smiled lightly. "If you're putting up this much of a fight, then knowing your name must be worth it." And she believed that, if she had to fight him this much just to know his name, hell she was only asking for his first name even, then whatever it was was worth knowing. And that was all the reason she needed to continue to fight for his name.

She shrugged at his next question, she'd never really thought about classifying herself before, nor had she ever thought that her actions made her seem like a stereotype. "First off, you kissed me skippy" She reminded him with a raised eyebrow, not that she didn't enjoy the kiss or react to it in a positive manner. But the fact was that he was the one who kissed her. So there. "And no, I'm not rebelling against my family. I like to, well we'll just say paint" She shrugged again, she had no problem with telling others she put the pretty graffiti up on the walls at night all over the city. She was getting to be a bit infamous with that really, since she didn't much care WHERE she put it. Though she'd yet to put any spray paint on the Citadel walls, her grand-daddy would probably strangle her. "I don't like it when people try to use me to get the things they want, hence the avoiding of preppy bitches" She wasn't going to explain why preppy bitches would be using her to get the things they want, and she didn't intend too.

Laurel was a bit iffy about telling others who she was, mostly because there were two distinct reactions. One, they wanted something from her and became her instant best friend. Two, they despised the hell out of her for her last name. So she'd leave her name out of it if she could, at least her last name. "I'm not much for being classified really, though if you REALLY want to do so, I'd peg myself as a bored woman who's trying vainly to find someone who is decently amusing" She grinned at him, setting her glass down on the bar and shaking her head as the bartender offered her another one. She had a penchant of partying hard when the mood suited her, but she was trying to be a good girl in school, so that meant she'd need to get up tomorrow for class.

She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her, her head tilting back again. Abundantly. Oh lord, why was that so funny? Oh, she was tipsy, that's why. But she couldn't help it, that had amused her greatly, even more than her teasing him about it had amused her. "Abundantly huh? I guess I'll just take your word for it then" She grinned at him, watching a bit enviously as he grabbed the other shot. This whole being responsible was a pain in the ass. Laurel might not have been a hard core party girl, but the urge was striking her tonight and it annoyed the hell out of her that she had to resist because she had class in the morning. Class she didn't even want to go to. But her father had told her she had too and no matter how many times she argued he wouldn't relent. So she watched as he downed the shot, resisting the urge to just reach out and snatch it from him.

She watched him closely as he pushed off the bar, moving so close that they were only inches apart, close enough that if she just inched forward just a bit their lips would meet again. But she didn't, instead she rose an eyebrow as he confirmed that it was worth knowing, yet once more he didn't tell her. This was starting to get frustrating, she'd assumed she'd poke at him for a bit and then he'd just give in. She was expecting this to be a quickly won battle, not a fucking crusade. "You know, I'll get that name out of you" She said, her voice low but she was sure that he could hear her, they were still so very close to one another. Her expression had changed from that carefree amusement to something much more serious, determination that gave her a deadly serious look, a serious look that could easily be found on her father's face.

But as he commented about her not minding the kiss a grin broke across her face. "You'd be correct in that assumption Skippy" Laurel had no issues in expressing that she had enjoyed kissing him. Her status as a virgin didn't mean that she hadn't made out with anyone before. Though this was the first time that she'd kissed a guy only a few seconds after meeting them. Her experience extended only as far as kissing really, she'd kept herself to herself for a very long time, and she was planning on keeping it that way. She rose an eyebrow as his eyes drifted down to the exposed skin of her shoulder, she could feel his fingers playing with the edge of her sweater, though it didn't deter her from answering his questions. Her eyebrow rose a bit further as he slipped a finger into a front pocket on her jeans and he tugged her closer.

He pressed her closer to him and she had to work from keeping any sort of flush from coming to her cheeks, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. Instead of thinking about their very close proximity, which hadn't seemed to bother her a few seconds ago but now that she was pressed up against him, well it made her a bit nervous. She wouldn't show that, not if she could help it even if a brief flash of surprise had deterred the amusement. "I think I like that proposal" Her lips twitched as he offered up staying here and getting trashed, or going out for a walk. "I'd love to get trashed, but I have an early morning, a walk might not be bad though" Besides, going outside meant that Micha would be out there, easier not to get shit-faced when the bird was screeching at her along with yelling at her mentally.

She couldn't, however, help the slight stiffening of her spine as he squeezed her waist, though he took a step back and she let out a breath, as lowly as she could with that grin still on her face. He told her he was going to go outside and that she was more than welcome to join him and she nodded her head, letting him take a couple steps back, turn and walk away from her. She debated getting a shot before heading out before shaking her head. She wasn't an alcoholic, she knew she could say no, so she walked away from the bar a few seconds after he did, weaving her way through the club before stepping outside moments after he had. Please tell me that's NOT who you've been talking too The bird's self-righteous voice echoed in her head and Laurel rolled her eyes.

"Get your ass down here, I want my bag" Her gaze had gone from Tripp, looking for where the bird was surely perched on a building, her bag safely tucked on the building's roof. Not until after she had told Micha to come down did her eyes wander over to Tripp, her arms having crossed to ward away the chill. "Smoking's a nasty habit you know" There wasn't any sort of judgement in her voice, merely stating her opinion on smoking, an easy grin coming to her face as she moved closer to him, reaching out to run her fingers over the leather jacket, tugging lightly on it. "Leather jacket, can't say I'm surprised Skippy" Laurel didn't really care how odd or crazy it seemed that she stepped outside and immediately seemed to speak at something that wasn't even there.

Didn't really care that she appeared to snap at nothing. Besides, she'd gotten the 'you're crazy' look so many times she was very used to it. Almost silent Micha took off from her spot from the building, swooping overhead to go get the bag she'd stashed in a safe place and then make her way through the skies to the pair. Once she was almost directly above Laurel she let the bag go, only the sounds of the paint cans shifting giving warning of the bag's decent. Laurel didn't even look up as her hand reached out to snatch the bag by one of it's straps before it hit the ground, her gaze moving from Tripp to the bag. "Thanks Micha" She called lightly as the bird circled once and settled herself on the nearest trash can, glaring at Tripp the only way a bird can.