Night Out | Jade x Jude
ofmonstersandmasquerades:
The club was quieter than it usually was. Probably because it was a weekday, and not everyone could set their own hours the way she could. Poor people with their desks jobs—it must get so boring. She couldn’t fathom it. They didn’t even pay well, and how boring must it be to do that day in and day out. She’d dabbled in those sorts of jobs over the years, but never for more than a month or two when she needed to make a cover more concrete. Which made it more akin to a game, because she’d be immersing herself fully in some new character or another. But having that be life? The thought was horrifying.
Almost as horrifying as the fact that this man at the bar seemed to actually think that his pick up line would give him a chance with her. Which it did, almost, but not nearly in the way he wanted it to. She put on the bright, bubbly grin, acted far drunker than she was, and let him start buying her drinks. She laughed, leaned in closer, let her hand linger on his waist, and felt a flash of triumph as she confirmed exactly where his wallet was.
It only took a little longer to subtly suggest a trip to the dance floor, and then five minutes after that to slip his wallet out of his pocket and into her purse. After a few more minutes, she added his watch for good measure after a particularly painful attempt at a transition to his car—an added tax because really, he was boring her to the point that she had to entertain herself somehow. She steered him towards another group on the dance floor, letting them close in around him, and sauntered right back to the bar, nodding to the bartender for another mai tai. A glance back confirmed that he’d already started whispering in some redhead’s ear, so clearly he wasn’t going to notice any time soon.
Nightclubs weren’t Jude’s usual scene but sometimes there was good reason to endure the bad remixes, worse propositions, and watered down alcohol. Being new to the city, he was eager to make new acquaintances, and places like this attracted a certain kind of person. The typical clientele didn’t appeal to him, but apart from the writhing mass of bodies on the dance floor and the barflies was a third, more interesting party that occasionally surfaced. He couldn’t say for sure who they were or what they would look like - only that they were a bit like himself in the sense that they’d come here for a reason, and that reason wasn’t just to unwind and have a good time.
Unfortunately, he’d only know what he was looking for when he actually saw it. In the meantime he resigned himself to sipping a whiskey with ice though he’d ordered it neat, keeping tabs on a number of situations unfolding around him. In the back booth, where the lighting was too low for human eyes to see, an inebriated couple was exploring just how far denim could be made to stretch. A young woman in a hot pink ‘bridesmaid’ sash that had apparently gotten separated from the rest of the bachelorette party was in tears on the phone near the bathrooms, and just down the counter a man was throwing away money on overpriced drinks, attempting to woo a blonde that was unspeakably out of his league.
Cerebral it was not, but like all other dramas it contained some intangible quality that made it amusing. Temporarily, at least. All told, Jude’s interest was waning. This club was his third stop of the evening, and having still not found what he was searching for, he prepared to call it a night. He asked to close his tab before the ice in his glass could completely melt, and was waiting for the bartender to return with his card when the blonde from before came strutting back to the bar. Jude idly glanced over with the expectation he’d soon look away, yet something about her was different. His eyes narrowed slightly, and ultimately it was too striking a transformation to ignore.
He was positive it was the same girl that had been drunkenly giggling up a storm ten minutes before, but suddenly her expression was sharp and sober. Following her line of sight back to the dance floor, Jude started to put the pieces together. “... finally gave him the slip, huh?” he asked with both a shake of his head and a smile, not reacting when her companion from earlier announced, rather loudly, that his wallet was missing. Jude said no more as the bartender waited for him to sign his bill, scribbling the initials JD on the dashed line above ‘Daniel Devine V’ and dropping the pen into the plastic tray. Nudging it back across the counter, he picked up his nearly empty glass, remarking, “Guess we’re both headed out soon.”
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