RP: Drink to a Stranger, Drink to a Friend

[stephenross]

Date: August 14, 2011
Characters: Stephen Ross, Harley Jordan
Location: La Luna Bar and Grill
Status: Private
Summary: Wandering around lost in his own life, Stephen finds a bar and a new acquaintance.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[harley_jordan]

Sunday wasn't much of a bar day usually, but Harley was in the mood. If she'd had her way she'd have done some drinking last night, but since she'd had to work this morning that would only have made the customers even harder to deal with. She went to her usual bar, not feeling up to bright and family-friendly right now. She'd had a low-level headache for what felt like days and was coming off her fourth ten-hour shift in a row

[harley_jordan]

"Not really," Harley said flatly, and laughed, propping her head on her hand, turning her glass slowly in her free hand. "Everyone uses something they do know to figure out something they don't. Even if it's people, I guess. I mean, I don't understand you." She thought she had at first, but she always tried to sum people up at first glance. It was comforting, helped her feel in control of a situation.

[stephenross]

"Well we just met. I don't understand you either." Something occurred to him and he barked out a laugh. "I don't even know your name. I'm Stephen, for what it's worth. If that helps you get me."

[harley_jordan]

"Helps to try to understand people. Else there's no way to know how to deal with them." She wondered how he did it. She liked to put people into boxes, so they were easier to handle. Maybe she just didn't like being surprised.

"Stephen the college boy," she said, smiling slowly. "Well, I'm Harley. You know, in case you know anyone on TV like that."

[stephenross]

"Nice to meet you, Harley." He stuck out a hand to shake, a quirk to his lips that nearly felt like a smile. "I don't know. I do try, but I'm not cut out for figuring people out. Wish I'd been geeky enough to do better in computer science, might have done better hiding out in a row of servers or something. Instead I'm a wash out liberal arts major with a concentration in football."

[harley_jordan]

She shook his hand and offered a smile. He seemed alright, if a little emo. "I don't even know what liberal arts are," she admitted with a shrug. "Don't know much football either. Bet being a jock made it hard to hide out, though." She only vaguely remembered football players from her brief stint in high school. They were always surrounded with people and seemed to milk it for all it was worth.

[stephenross]

"Oh, I don't know." He finished his drink, faster than he'd planned and ordered another. "Disappearing is actually easier in a crowd. If you're thinking eighties high school movie jocks, remember that there's the wise cracking asshole and then his fleet of clones. Someone needs to play the clones."

[harley_jordan]

"When it comes to stuff like that I don't have much reference other than movies," she said, lips quirking wryly as she looked at him. "So you were a clone, huh? Most people wouldn't be proud of that." She sipped again and added, "'course, I spent most of my time under the bleachers, so. Who'm I to say."

[stephenross]

Definitely a smile, she was funny. He took a sip of his fresh filled glass.

"Honesty, not pride." He pointed out. "I mean, really. Look at me. This is some serious bullshit, isn't it? All-American Boy, bullshit. Anyway, at least you were having fun. Or I hope you were. Being under the bleachers could go either way I guess."

[harley_jordan]

Harley glanced askance at him, lifting a brow. "Bullshit? Maybe, but I know people who'd kill to have your life. Might be happy or it might not, but at least you had a shot at it."

She shrugged. "I wasn't there for long enough to decide." She'd been trying hard not to give a fuck about anything, and mostly succeeding. "There were definitely some fun parts, though. Not sure I was ever meant for a classroom."

[stephenross]

"Mmm. I know. First world problems. No right to complain, right?" He set down the drink, worried he'd polish it off too quickly. "High school is pretty much set up for most people to fail. No one's really cut out to do well in it. College is only a little better. You have to have a good attention span, an interest in something specific or you just spin your wheels for four years."

[harley_jordan]

"Yeah, but without it, you get cut off from a a lot of shit. You know, opportunities." There wasn't much she could do with just her GED; it was lucky she'd found a trade she was good at. "System's kind of screwed up that way. They say you need college to better yourself, but then they make it so hard to reach. Then people look down on you for not having it. One of those vicious cycles." She polished off her drink and looked at him as she signaled for another. He wouldn't know anything about that. "You must've done okay with it, though."

[stephenross]

"Good enough." He agreed because he had. Dependable good Stephen had brought in dependable good grades and now he could bus tables with a B.A. "People are idiots if they look down on you. You're clearly pretty smart. Smarter than me, anyway. I just got lucky and had parents that could pay for it."

[harley_jordan]

"I don't care what anyone thinks," she said with a jerk of her shoulder, having told herself that a long time ago. She did feel weird around regular people sometimes, but that was just because she didn't always have much to talk about with them. It wasn't just her lack of education; it was all the other stuff she'd been into as well. She was usually more worried about that than her GED status. "Did okay without a degree, anyway. So what do you want to do with yours?"

[stephenross]

"I have no idea." He ran a fingertip around the edge of the glass, sucking a drop of alcohol from it afterwards. "I could become a gym teacher, I guess or a physical therapist. I'm still trying to figure it all out. What do you do?"

[harley_jordan]

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but you probably don't want to be teaching anybody," she told him, tucking her tongue in her cheek, "least not till you figure out your shit, or get used to people better. Makes sense though, mixing sports with your, your liberal arts or whatever." She started on her second drink, taking it slower than the first. "I'm a mechanic. Cars are my thing."