001 [warning: sexytimes]

[seeagreatergood]

Happy Hour at Allen's is, as usual, loud with competing voices and scents, all of which are less important to Auggie than Annie and Jai's laughter and the second beer in front of him.

Well. Almost all. Occasionally Auggie cocks his head at the sound of heels or the floral scent of shampoo and listens to Jai and Annie's reactions. Jai has one chuckle for redheads and another for brunettes, while Annie has a groan for blondes that Auggie is told is rather hypocritical of her.

"Did the last three girls all have tequila, or was it just one carrying enough shots for her whole party?" he wonders.

"The last four," Jai corrects, audibly smirking. "Your nose must be getting tired."

"I don't get it. Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow -- you'd think people could hold off on the faux-Mexican debauchery until Saturday."

He hears Annie sit bolt upright.

"Oh crap, it's Friday, I have a thing with my--"

"Sister," Auggie and Jai chorus with her. Auggie grins, in spite of the dirty look he's sure she's giving him, and adds, "Jai, you owe me ten bucks."

Jai sighs and digs in his pockets. "Which ought to just about cover your cab ride." He slaps the money onto the table at Auggie's ten o'clock. "Annie, I'll walk you to your car, I'm headed that way."

"Now there's a Pyrrhic victory," Auggie says, with a sigh of his own. "Annie, did he really give me a ten?"

"Yes!" Annie says, laughing, and squeezes his shoulder as she stands. "You're so paranoid."

"I'm wounded that you don't trust me," Jai agrees, also standing.

"You'll heal, I'm sure. Have a good weekend, you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Same to you, Auggie," Jai says, with an eyeroll crystal-clear in his voice.

"That'll be a boring weekend, then," Auggie calls after Jai's cologne and Annie's heels, then turns back to his beer. Now where is he going to find a ride with all these tequila-soaked early birds?

Comments

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

...She rests her hand lightly in his, careful of the beer bottles.

[seeagreatergood]

Putting on an appropriately sympathetic expression, he pats her hand.

"There, there. We all have hurdles to overcome. Not having read Neal Stephenson affects over seventy-five percent of Americans."

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

Grinning, she squeezes his hand.

"You," she says with deep affection, "are a patronizing snob."

[seeagreatergood]

"But I'm cute."

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"Adorable," she confirms, and leans over the table to kiss his fingers before letting go.

[seeagreatergood]

"See, that's a nice surprise."

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"Good. I was kind of banking on that."

[seeagreatergood]

"How's that tea coming?"

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

She picks it up, drinks, sets it down again. With finality.

"All done."

[seeagreatergood]

He toasts her with the last of his beer and drains the bottle.

"Are we going to go meet your motorcycle now?"

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"That's the plan," she confirms. "Unless you had a better idea."

[seeagreatergood]

"My better ideas are all contingent on meeting your motorcycle and getting a ride." He grabs his cane, but doesn't unfold it yet.

"Do you have an arm free to lead me?"

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"I will in a second."

She tucks her notebook away in her bag, resettles it on her shoulder, and pushes back her chair.

[seeagreatergood]

"No rush," he assures her, standing to collect his own bag and unfold the cane.

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"One and a half free arms," she reports as she gets to her feet. "The remaining half is carrying my bag."

[seeagreatergood]

"I'll take the whole arm, please. Left or right?"

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"Left," she says, coming around the table to stand by his right side.

[seeagreatergood]

He juggles the cane accordingly, puts his hand on her shoulder, and slides it down to grasp her elbow gently. Nice shirt she's wearing -- the raised stripes are an especially good touch.

"Lead the way."

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"Happy to."

She sets off for the door, cheerfully including him in her personal space.

[seeagreatergood]

Grinning, Auggie follows along and lets himself enjoy the tea-and-strawberries scent of her -- not to mention the strength of the arm under his hand and the confident click of her heels.

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

And Elizabeth

(for lack of a better name)

enjoys the warmth of his hand and the sweetness of his smile and the fact that in these shoes she is exactly his height, down to the quarter of an inch. It will make the kissing easier.

[seeagreatergood]

Auggie is pretty sure he hears a couple of the waitresses giggle as he and Elizabeth leave together; he's got a reputation as something of a Lothario among the waitstaff at Allen's, which is clearly not fair because he only goes home with strange women about once a week. But that's their problem.

The night outside is pleasantly cool, and most of the day's humidity has been blown away by the breeze. There's still a fair amount of pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks, but road traffic sounds light -- the bars and restaurants won't be closing for a few more hours.

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

Amused: "How often do you do this, exactly?"

[seeagreatergood]

"Do what?" he asks, innocently.

[prima-sequentem.livejournal.com]

"Go home with strangers you meet in bars."