Happy Hour! (RP for burnandrave and anyone else who wants to join in!)

[laura_muse]

 It was cold. Cold and wet, but it didn't make one bit of difference to Laura as she trudged her way to the first (and thus far only) bar in New Caprica City. Maya had decided to turn in early after spending the better part of a day nursing Isis through a cold. Luckily, Cottle had not had to be called, but Maya had decided to keep a close watch

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[burnandrave]

Kara walked into the bar, ignoring some of the looks she was getting--frak them, did they think she cared about what they thought about her?--and walked over to the where the former President Roslin was seated. Roslin looked tired, but Kara didn't blame her. She too felt on edge, constantly, as if she were waiting for some terrible catastrophe to befall her.

Kara sat next to Roslin at the bar and didn't say anything, simply ordered a drink, slammed it down, and ordered another. Truth was, Kara missed flying, and she was beginning to wonder what she was doing here. Trying to be a housewife?

Right.

"Hey," Kara said to Roslin, and she tried to smile, but she knew it had to look like more of a grimace.

[laura_muse]

Laura had watched Starbuck walk in with interest. True, she had seen a fair amount of her, though she hadn't really sought Kara Thrace out. Bill had extracted a promise, in no uncertain terms, that she would look after Starbuck for him and she was sure that Starbuck had been coerced into a similar promise.

Then again, if I know she's supposed to be watching out for me, she probably knows I'm supposed to be watching out for her.

One mystery solved. But there was another right behind it.

"Rough day?" Laura asked wryly, sipping the water the bartender had brought her. If there was anything she hated more than getting piss-assed drunk, it was ordering a drink only to discover that you just wanted to get the frak out and back home before you were even halfway through the first.

[burnandrave]

Kara shrugged, running a hand through her hair. "Not really. I didn't do much." That was probably the problem. Kara didn't have anything to do.

This was a mistake. I belong up there, fighting Raiders. I don't belong down here.

Kara eyed the former President and said bluntly, "Do you ever miss Galactica?"

[laura_muse]

"For people like you and me, not doing much can be the definition of a rough day," Laura mused thoughtfully, nodding to the bartender when he held up a bottle of what Laura could only assume was from the Chief's part-time distillery.

She sniffed at the drink, mostly to stall while trying to come up with an answer to Kara's question. "Do I miss Galactica..." she took a sip, clearing her throat as the drink burned its way down to her stomach. "Well, I certainly don't miss having every minute of my day structured and organized. Down here, my evenings and nights are pretty much free. And I've been meaning to get back in the classroom for years. I'd forgotten how much I love children."

She knocked back the rest of the drink, spluttering just a bit. Turning to look at Kara, she smiled ruefully. "Yes, I miss it."

[burnandrave]

"Me too," Kara muttered, tossing back her drink. She was on her third, already. It seemed like she drank more here than she did on Galactica, but never got drunk.

You drank after you flew. You don't fly here.

Kara ducked her head, hiding for a moment under her hair. She'd been growing it longer, lately, for no other reason than she could. Sam told her it looked pretty. When he said that, she wanted to hit him. She wanted to hit him a lot, these days.

Sometimes they sparred and he would look at her, almost like he was sad. Kara hated herself in those moments. There was nowhere here she could escape.

"Sometimes I dream about flying. I know it's frakked up. I came down here to be happy, with Sam, and I--" Kara shook her head and smiled grimly. "I'm glad you like teaching. It must be nice to have something to do."

[laura_muse]

"I'm not even sure what I actually do miss about it." Laura had been drinking since before Kara was born and she had learned her lesson about pacing herself the hard way. When another drink was placed in front of her, she sipped it this time. The evening was starting to look up in terms of her chances of getting drunk and actually having a good time doing it, but there was no law that said she had to go from sober to falling on her frakking face in half an hour flat.

"Well, I had to do something down here, since Gaius frakkin' Baltar pretty much ordered me down here." she replied, aware of the petulant tone in her voice. Gods, it felt so good to be petulant when she wanted to. "Probably thought given enough time with the Admiral, I could get him to stage another military coup. Because the last one worked out so well

[burnandrave]

"Ha," Kara said, smiling in actual amusement for the first time in days. "Gaius Frakking Baltar." She shook her head, pushing away the unfortunate reminder that they'd once had sex--she didn't like to think about that. Sam had nearly died laughing when she'd told him, as a matter of fact.

"I don't think I've ever heard you curse before," Kara teased her lightly, though that might not be strictly true. Roslin was as susceptible as the rest of them to being stressed. Still, it was amusing to hear the usually reserved former President swearing like a pilot.

[laura_muse]

"I can't think of a more appropriate nickname for that little weasel." Laura mulled it over as she sipped her drink again. "Not that he's ever in public long enough to overhear it. When's the last time anyone even saw him, anyway? Some of the children's parents are starting to wonder if Zarek killed him and hid the body."

She snorted at the very idea. Not that she condoned murder (not usually, anyway, and even then under very narrow and specific circumstances). "You know Cally told me a few weeks ago that she and one of her crewmates once saw Baltar dragging himself through the entire corridor of Galactica by his own tie? His own tie! Now if that had come out before people actually started voting for him..." Or if Bill hadn't been so damned determined that I wouldn't knock myself off that pedestal he set me on-

"Would you believe I once told Baltar to go frak himself?" she asked, finishing the drink and signalling the bartender.

She stopped suddenly, taking another long sip.

[burnandrave]

"Would you believe I once frakked him?" Kara asked, finishing her own drink and leaning forward. "I know, I know. Believe me. But he wasn't--frak, I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And his own tie?" Kara rolled her eyes, dismissing that with a wave. Baltar had gotten considerably weirder after her one night with him--Kara didn't think had anything to do with her, for once--but she'd pretty much just been relieved it hadn't happened again.

"I haven't seen him, no. I don't really pay much attention to politics." Kara looked down, suddenly moody. "I don't really pay attention to much."

[laura_muse]

"Are you trying to get me sick already, Starbuck?" Laura asked, wincing at the very thought of anyone in bed with that slimeball. He'd had quite the reputation back on Caprica before the attacks. "Maybe that's why he and Adar got along so well," she mused quietly

[burnandrave]

"Hey, look, it was awhile ago, okay?" Kara shrugged, but she smiled sheepishly. "He wasn't so..." Kara waved her hands, unable to think of the right word. "He wasn't so twitchy."

"We would all like you to take back the Presidency, ma'am," Kara said, unthinkingly according the former president her title of respect. It took a lot of Kara to do that to a superior who wasn't her superior anymore, especially a woman. But she liked Roslin, despite their occasional differences.

"You should let him. We all need something to do on this planet." Kara did not often refer to New Caprica as home. She ordered another drink before speaking again.

"Sam's...he's fine. I guess. He might have a cold or something, we're not sure. He's been sleeping a lot." Alone. Part of Kara's restlessness was that Sam wasn't himself, wasn't up for sparring--or anything else physical--and she felt tight and constrained, unhappy. Her smile was no longer genuine. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

[laura_muse]

Laura looked up from the bar counter to study Kara for a moment. The young woman's tone was nonchalant, but there was something in her voice that made Laura's heart swell with sympathy. She coughed and shook her head. "All these people getting sick, I don't know how the caregivers handle it. I did it once, a long time ago, and I haven't been able to bear doing it again since then

[burnandrave]

Kara listened to this with interest, but she didn't really know what to say. She wondered if anyone else knew the depth of the former President's hatred for Gaius Baltar. "Something is going to happen, here," Kara said, looking down at her hands. "I don't think--"

I don't think this place is home was a halting admission, and she wasn't sure she was ready (or drunk enough) to admit it.

"--I don't think anyone likes Baltar," she finished lamely, looking back up at Roslin. "I have no idea how he got elected. I certainly didn't frakking vote for him, and I told Sam if he did, he could move planetside alone."

[laura_muse]

Laura snorted at the idea of the election actually breaking anyone up. Then she wondered what Bill would have done had she not caved into him. She snorted again. Bastard probably thought she made some grand sacrifice to save her soul.

She hadn't wanted another term. She just knew that Gaius Baltar would be an unmitigated disaster and no matter how much she wanted to, she simply couldn't step aside and let him bring humanity to his knees without fighting him every step of the way.

True, she'd lost the fight even after fighting dirty, but she knew she was probably happier right now than Baltar was. But she couldn't help but dread the price humanity might yet pay for her own personal happiness.

"You're right. Something will eventually happen. Could be a few weeks or a few years from now. But I don't believe for one moment that the Cylons are finished with us." she remarked, smiling at the bartender as he poured her another drink. He blushed and moved away quickly. "I told Bill that we had a break. But I truly believe that's all

[burnandrave]

"I believe that, too." Kara finished her drink--she drank like a pilot, she wasn't accustomed to sipping--and thought about what Laura had said. "But now you can do what you really like," she said, looking away. "That must be nice."

Sometimes, Kara dreamed about flying, and when she woke up--sleeping on the ground, in a tent--she felt a disappointment so intense, she could barely breathe.

[laura_muse]

"There is that," Laura agreed, but the words felt hollow to her. "It just feels like something's missing."

She finished her drink and gestured for another one. As the bartender moved out of the way, she caught sight of Tom Zarek at the other end of the bar.

"I mean, this isn't Earth, so that's definitely missing," she attempted to explain her thought process. "Maybe I'm just feeling guilty because I'm down here and there are a bunch of people still stuck up there," she looked up toward the ceiling.

"I am doing something I like to do." Laura agreed with Kara. "But that doesn't really mean much if that's all you have."