Feb 21 03:55:05 108 PA - A Shoulder to Cry On
From Chronicles
Feb 21 03:55:05 108 PA.
MOE'S TAVERN
Erica is sitting in a far back booth in full armor sans helmet. Her weapons are plainly visible as she takes up a booth all by herself. A bottle of brown liquor and a few shot glasses are arrayed around the table. A couple plates from food that she needed to eat are against the far end of the table. Her helmet is in her lap as she stares down any juicer or borg that pauses at her table.
Gabriel certainly isn't a Juicer, or a 'Borg, or any other kind of enhanced creature, and he isn't even wearing armor. Just his standard, "'round town" gear with a very light overcoat. Not even gloves or a cap. But when he enters, he looks extremely comfortable as if it were a beautiful Spring day. But damn, the place is crowded, and it's just another place in a long line of places - from up-scale to downright raunchy - that he's been poking his head in, looking for his friend.
Erica pours herself a shot full of the brown liquor. She picks it up between her armored fingers and downs it quickly. Her other hand is close to her energy pistol as she keeps an eye on the other mercs that populate this bar. The liquor makes her cough slightly as it burns down her throat and she takes a quick sip of a can of diet soda she was hiding
Having spotted his target through a long time of thorough gazing, Gabriel starts to push his way through the throngs of enhanced humanoids. When he nears Erica's table, he'll stop. "Hey, easy, sailor. Head's not going to be happy tomorrow if you keep that up. Mind if I sit down?" He gestures slowly toward the bench opposite his apparently despondent friend.
Erica draws her energy pistol half out of the holster as she sees someone approach her table. She looks up before fully drawing and recognizes Gabriel. Her hand relaxes on her laser pistol but she doesn't move her hand. "Well I guess I'll just have to drink through tomorrow." She says in a half growl as she pours herself a shot one handed and then downs it. She coughs a little before she can down a bit of diet soda. She shrugs her shoulders at the question, but makes no move to stop Gabriel from sitting down.
It's not an invitation, but neither was it a hard 'no,' either, so Gabriel moves into the bench-seat. Slowly. Angry, possibly depressed, and possibly mildly inebriated people with energy weapons need to be treated carefully. "So. Slipped into the armor, huh? For the warmth, or just trying not to get killed by one of these assholes?" With a small smile, her jerks a thumb - slowly - backwards and into the common population at Moe's. "They say that an intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools. No?" The final monosyllable is a soft question.
Erica's lips twist into a little scowl at the question. "Maybe I am more used to being in my armor than not? Ever think of it that way? I have spent most of my life killing. This armor is more dear to me then anything else. It is the stuff that protects me." She says as she grabs the bottle of liquor and pours another shot. "I like getting drunk. Makes me forget what has happened. As for all these assholes, maybe they have the right idea. Maybe I can do more as a borg."
The fellow from a Kentucky long past isn't entirely sure what to make of his friend's remarks. "I can understand the armor. most soldiers get more comfortable in their fatigues than anything they wear when they go on leave." Gabriel leaves it at that for a while, allowing his eyes to simply look around the room for a while. "The killing? It's a man's motives that define him. Not his actions. Doing something doesn't make you that thing." He motions over to an empty shot glass. "Can I get in on one of those?"
Erica pours a glass full of the brown liquor and passes it over to the man sitting across of herself. "Well luckily I guess I am not a man. So that works out for me." She says with a little laugh as she pours herself a shot from the brown bottle.
Erica's new drinking companion gives a short laugh. "The wisdom that I dispense is gender neutral. Just rolls off my tongue more to say 'man' than 'person of any one of the possible genders.'" Gabriel offers a quiet smirk at that, then tosses back his shot, making a face, his eyes widening as he swallows it. Indeed, his voice is a little hoarse as he asks, "Wow. What is this stuff?"
"It is just some whiskey they make around these parts." Erica says as she idly spins an empty shot glass around on the table. "Works for drinking and degreasing engine parts as well." She says with a little laugh before pouring herself a shot of the liquor and downing it quickly." She coughs a little as the liquor burns her throat, but beside watery eyes she seems ok.
Gabriel pushes his own shot glass off toward the wall, leaning forward comfortably so that his forearms rest on the edge of the table. "You know, Erica, I can't change people's hearts. No one can. But perhaps you shouldn't let go of an opportunity so easily. Miss Sage asked me to give you a message: 'Don't forget that we still have the auction meal to do, and see me about potentially winning the spa prize.' Actually, I don't know if that's a precise quote or not... but close enough." He clearly wants to say more, but for now he stops.
Erica shrugs her armored shoulders up and down as she spins the now empty shot glass around an armored finger. "Well I guess I'll see her when I see her. There isn't really a rush on all that. Not that it matters much." She says with a slight frown on her face. "Mostly I just wanted to help out the charity after all."
The older man raises an eyebrow. "Well, I believe that there's more than that, perhaps? Maybe get to know her as a closer friend? She's very nice, she makes a good friend." He knocks his glass over with a flick of his un-armored finger and watches it roll until it hits the wall. "Seriously, then, why did I have to roam around the entire city to find you all dressed up, with nowhere to go, in one of the worst dive bars in Kingsdale, partially inebriated, depressed, and just looking for an excuse to pull an energy weapon on someone?" Gabriel tilts his head to the side, waiting, knowing that's probably an annoying question to ask right now.
Erica nods her head once in agreement. "She is a good friend. That is all she will be I am sure." She says with that same slight frown. "Cause I wanted to come here and get wasted. The armor just makes sure I'll be safe. I came out here cause most people wouldn't come by. I thought I could get some alone time, but I guess you had to satisfy some curiosity or something. I just wasn't having a good time at the Alibi. This seemed to better fit my mood."
"I guess I'm just one of those annoying friends who likes to keep an eye out, then," Gabriel says with a soft smile. He gestures fingers toward himself. "C'mon, let it out. Talk to Gabriel. I'm here to listen and be an emotional punching bag. Lots of experience." He does shrug though, and says, "But you want me to leave you to wallow in cheap whiskey that I wouldn't use to get a convict drunk, just tell me to fuck off, and I'll leave you with these juiced up assholes."
"If I wanted to talk. I would talk, but instead I came out here to be by myself. Well except for the other Mercs." Erica says as she gestures vaguely to the rest of the bar. "I just am a little upset cause I like Sage and she doesn't like me in that way. I'll get over it. Just need a night of drinking and I'll be fine. Got to get rid of my worries, and I'll be fine later."
Gabriel leans back, and very slowly and deliberately begins to gather his things. "Your business," he allows. "But I think you're giving up. A smile and a brush on the back doesn't make a... ah, fuck, what's the word you guys are using? Um... oh, yeah, a brush on the back doesn't make something an 'exclusive' relationship. In my time, there was a lot of dating that went into this kind of thing, and particularly when a death was involved, a time of solace. Don't surrender so easily, fight for what you want. Love is worth fighting for. You don't need me to tell you that." He starts to... slooooowly... slide toward the "out" side of the bench seat.
Erica gnaws on her lower lip for a moment while she thinks before shrugging her shoulders. "Yah I guess that is true, but I don't want to be a pain in the ass for Sage. She can be with whoever she wants and I'll just be her friend. If she wants to be with someone else that is her choice, and I'll support it. I just have to get over myself." She finishes with a bit of a sigh and a shrug of her shoulders.
"Also true, and I'm not suggesting you try to get yourself into a love triangle. But have you ever even just asked her on a date?" Gabriel shrugs his shoulders a tad, his hands out to his sides slightly. "That couldn't hurt, right? Worst that could happen, she says no, and I think that she'd even say it politely. Best that could happen? Who knows. As long as you aren't pushy, it never hurts to ask. That goes for just about everything in life."
"And when would I have asked her out for a date? After Tirzah died? I have been giving her the time she needs to heal. Perhaps I gave her too much time." Erica says with a shake of her head. "Worse that could happen would be that me asking her out would ruin our friendship. Losing that would be a lot worse then her being with someone else."
The older man snaps his fingers. "Ah-hah! Right there. That's what I just said. It's still soon after Miss Tirzah died, which means to me that it's unlikely that she's formed any kind of really strong bond with anyone else yet. But if you were to - for instance - see her at a semi-classy club with a close friend, hanging out kind of close? I think that Miss Sage has passed her period of mourning. This is your opportunity to simply ask." Gabriel places his hands back on the table, folding his fingers. "The only time that I've ever heard of a friendship being destroyed by an invitation for a casual date? When you tried to score with the girl your best friend was already seeing - 'exclusively'" He leans on that last word, as it's generally the one important thing that leads to problems in the dating world. "You don't try to sleep with another man's wife. You don't try to steal his fiancee. But an unattached someone?" Gabriel smiles, lips pursed together. "Fair game, and I've never personally seen it go bad in a manner like you just said."
"Hmmm perhaps. Or perhaps she'll take it the wrong way. I might ask her... if it feels right." Erica shrugs her shoulders quickly and then takes a shotglass and pours herself a shot of whiskey. "It can destroy friendships, if a person always thinks you are being nice just to date them. Instead of being their friend. Oh well it will work out one way or another."
Gabriel nods, and lets it go. The subject has been spoken of enough on his end. Wisdom offered, shoulder offered, now it's up to Erica to call her own life. "Sure will. So, Erica. You wanna find something to do? Hit the firing range? Put some dog shit in a paper bag, set it on fire, and leave it on someone's door? Something else? Or would you rather I just slip out now and leave you alone to the anonymity that you were obviously looking for in the first place, before I came and ruined it for you?"
"I think I'll just stick around here for a bit. These people aren't bad people for the most part. Worked with a few of them from time to time." Erica says with another shrug of her shoulders. "I guess I do appreciate you looking to see if I was alright. I'll see you around Gabriel."
The older man finally slips out of the table and nods to his friend. "Okay Erica, stay relaxed, don't get wasted. Need something? I have this communicator thing -" he pokes the pocket communicator on his belt "- I can be here in a few minutes. Otherwise, I guess I'll see you around." Gabriel will then head off through the rowdy bar and toward the door.
