Old Habits (Open)

[SongofWindchimes]

Amelia

Amy had promised herself once that she wouldn't let herself fall as far as she had after her father died. So much for that; the fact that she'd been drinking her way through life since the bombs fell didn't even really penetrate the haze produced by doing just that. She'd gotten kicked out of a place or two for fighting immediately after, but she thought she was back under control after seeing her mother at Christmas. The truth was that she went right back to drinking herself senseless with no end in sight.

Sadly, old habits were hard to break, and oh-so-easy to return to.

The bartender had yet to cut her off tonight, which was probably a mistake on their part. Amy certainly wasn't going to argue, however, as she took another swallow of beer. She wasn't drunk drunk, anyway. Probably. Maybe. Her leather jacket was in an heap under her bar stool, leaving her in her tiny red tank top and, black jeans, and black boots made to stomp on things.

Golden eyes scanned the place idly, and a wolfish grin crossed Amy's face briefly when she caught sight of a black miniskirt. The grin faded when she saw that the woman wearing said skirt was talking to a man. She snorted and drained the rest of her beer in one ungraceful gulp, thumping the empty glass against the counter.

"Allemcngotaell..." she growled, glaring at nothing and not even noticing that she'd spoken the slurred-together words aloud. "Allguyscnjusfuccoff..."

[Jay]

"Lookie 'ere ya good fur nuthin' 'tender. I-ah said I wanted a bottle, none of dem sissy glasses, a voice voice said from further down the bar. If Amy happened to look, she would see a dark skinned but teal haired woman standing up and crossing her arm as she directed a leer at the bartender who was frowning at her and trying to figure out a way to reconcile without giving into the demands just placed.

Gwendoline Raymont rarely went far enough South to hit the capital, yet there she was. If one asked why she was down there, she would probably have ordered the question to be dropped or flat out spat in the person's face depending on that particular person. Thus, it was best not to ask. However, upon coming all the way down there, Gwen had found most of the bars to her dislike. They didn't supply it like they did up North and certainly charged more for smaller portions which made no sense what so ever. Who cared if it was the capital?

"Well lookie 'ere ya 'tender. I'mma 'bout to walk straight out 'nless you give me a bottle," Gwen snapped causing the bartender to sigh a little, his efforts clearly in vain. After a moment more, Gwen simply 'hmph'ed and made to walk out of the bar. Crimanilly! As if the day wasn't already bad enough. What? No of course she isn't going to explain to the likes of you gods reading the page, pft.

[SongofWindchimes]

Amy perked up at the woman's voice, turning her head to watch the little glaring contest going on. Well, more just watching the teal-haired woman than the actual confrontation. Not really her type--she was taller than Amy, for one, which always raised her hackles to a small degree for whatever reason--but the beer-goggles were working their magic and she found herself very obviously ogling the entire time.

Only when the stranger started leaving did Amy tear her eyes away, mostly to snort a laugh and look at the bartender. "Damn, how'd you say no to that?" she said, managing not to sound as slurred as before as she gestured at the woman's retreating form; to Amelia's intoxicated mind, the guy had to either not like women or simply have nothing below the waist. "An' she's right, 'yknow. These glasses are sissy," she added with another laugh.

The bartender...was less than amused. And Amy's mirth faded pretty quickly when her next refill turned out to be water. Especially since she didn't notice until she took a huge swallow of it.

"WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I'M CUT OFF?" People down the street would be lucky not to hear that bellow, and Amy was suddenly leaning over the bar with her bright yellow eyes focused right on the bartender, showing her teeth like a wild animal. "You think anyone could get drunk on this watered-down sissy beer?"

Luckily for said bartender, Amy decided at that moment to take the lead of the woman earlier rather than ending up on another bar's banned list. She unceremoniously got off the bar stool, grabbed her jacket, threw it around her shoulders, and stormed out. "Son of a bitch doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about..." she growled to herself.

[Jay]

The shout from the bar behind her was just enough to make Gwen jump, and for a few seconds, she stopped walking. A head turned, and Gwen raised an eyebrow before scoffing. Stupid bartender didn't know how to treat people, it seemed to Gwen, anyways. Shaking her head, she turned and started to walk down the street only to stop upon seeing Amy exit.Her arms crossed in front of her habitually, and her head turned making a directional motion at the bar. "Ain't 'e a fool?" she asked meaning the bartender in question. "Shouldah just shut de hell up and given up the bottle," she continued on not really caring that she was talking to someone she didn't really know. She had heard enough from the bar to figure that Amy was just about in her mindset on the bartender, anyways. "Makes me wanna pawnch 'im and just find a'other bar ya know?" she asked as her accent of sorts bleed more and more into her speech. It wasn't alcohol's doing just yet but habit from being away from Tray's manor. At least there she tried to speak a bit more clearly...the word here being 'try'.

[SongofWindchimes]

Amy's growling quieted when she caught sight of the other woman, and she was stopped as she spoken to, doing her best to hide the slight wobble as she did. She was not drunk. The bartender was an idiot. She was just fine. The fact that this woman was clearly of the same mind cooled the redhead's volatile temper, and something of a lopsided smile crossed Amy's face--which tugged at the scar tissue on her lip, but she was long used to that--as she went on.

"He's a dick," she agreed, letting out something of a bitter bark of a laugh as she added, "And I know. Trus' me. Still got half a mind to go back an' deck 'im." She really did, too, since the reason he hadn't seemed all that afraid of her was probably because he'd thought she wouldn't go through with clobbering him. Or because she was a woman.

Amy ran a hand through her hair idly, not giving a care in the slightest that her prominent X-shaped arm scars were still on display, since her jacket was only around her shoulders and her arms weren't in the sleeves. The world saw them on a regular basis, and why bother hiding them when she couldn't do a thing about the smaller ones on her face, anyway? Besides, they added to her rugged charm.

Speaking of charm...Yeah, sure, she was still taller than Amy, and that did bother her some and made her subconsciously stand up just a little bit straighter, but this stranger was certainly nice to look at. Flashing a smile that showed one of her eye-teeth slightly, she glanced in the direction it seemed the other woman was headed in and commented, "We're sure as hell not lackin' in alternatives, though. Gotta be one bartender with a few braincells, right?"

[Jay]

Gwen half smirked at the agreement. "I'd ah help ya," she replied looking back for a moment at the bar as though to emphasize her agreement on the matter. She really would have too. Tray wasn't around, and she doubted she would be hurt by just rolling some heads so.......why not?

The second comment caused Gwen to look forwards again before looking sideways at Amy. It was only in the colored neon lights of party central that she saw Amy's figure and physique. The scars didn't miss her perception, but at the moment, Gwen overlooked them. Looking forwards again, the teal haired woman offered a smirk. "Hey how 'bout we go bar hoppin' den?" she grinned a little elbowing Amy a little in a casual way. True she'd just met her, but hey they agreed on at least one thing which was good enough for Gwen.

After a moment, yellow eyes caught sight of another bar and Gwen raised a hand before making a directional point. "Maybe in dhere's somethin' bettah..." she laughed a little before speeding up a bit and leading the way. The blast of heat that she received upon entering caused Gwen to cringe a little, and after a moment, she found herself reaching for the zipper of her white and pink fur jacket. Damn the south so hot... Unzippering but not sliding the jacket, Gwen revealed a sole black bra and rather short shorts. "I sumtimes 'ate bein' so south..." she chuckled before looking sideways at Amy and starting further inwards.

[SongofWindchimes]

Amy glanced back to the bar at the exact same time the other woman did, deciding that officially really liked this chick. The casual elbowing was more tolerated than enjoyed--though her good mood and favourable feelings toward the source meant that she read it as the friendly action it was intended to be--but she was still giving that toothy grin. "Sounds good t' me." She couldn't remember the last time she'd gone bar hopping with a buddy.

Her eyes followed the pointing motion, and she chuckled a little, heading toward the suggested bar with her new friend, though the same instincts that fueled her attempts to stand taller also made her hurry to pace a little so she was walking beside the other woman instead of behind her. She found the warmth from the building fairly inviting, herself, though maybe they had the heat turned up a little too--That was a bra.

Amy's eyes lingered on the newly-exposed skin, but her expression was more surprised than anything, since she had not seen that coming, and she snapped out of it quickly, gaze returning to eye level and chuckling at the comment. "You really don't wanna be here in July, then." If that was how she reacted to this temperature, she'd probably outright strip naked in the summer heat...Wait, why was that a bad thing? In fact, Amy thought, maybe she should get to know more Northern girls...

As they further headed in, the redhead caught sight of some men looking their way, and she turned her head to look at them with a narrow-eyed glare that said, in no uncertain terms, 'no way in hell,' subconsciously stepping a little closer to...Huh. "Never did tell me yer name," Amy pointed out, glancing back at the other woman.

[Jay]

Oi July. Gwen could only imagine and honestly didn't want to linger on the thought of such. As they walked to the bar, Gwen caught the question and smirked. "Ah yeah, name's Gwen, should'duh said that earlier, hu? Hah," the teal haired woman grinned before finally sitting her self down on a bar stool. The pale bartender half smiled before outright grinning. "Can I help ya, girls?" he asked.

Gwen's head turned, and almost instantly she stared at the bartender giving him a rather sharp look. "A bottle of something sweet," she stated flatly causing the bartender to blink hesitating for a few seconds before nodding his head. Alright, he could work that. "Anything you want?" he asked looking at Amy. Gwen was more than excited at the prospects of actually getting her drink, and thus, she was grinning rather easily at the bartender.

[SongofWindchimes]

The redhead gave a chuckle at the introduction. "I'm Amy." She sat down on the bar stool next to Gwen, leaning forward and laying one arm over the other on the counter, intentionally leaving her scarred one on top and visible. Once Gwen was done ordering--so this guy did have half a brain, that was good--and he addressed her, she looked over and briefly considered. The idea to just order some beer and be done with it was pretty tempting, but...

"You know how to mix an Umbreon Moonlight?" she asked bluntly. It was supposedly a pretty much Capital-only drink, but Amy hadn't left the city enough to really confirm its rarity. Of course, in her mind, only a few people could do it right, thus the question. It really had more flavor than strength, but it wasn't presented like a 'girly' drink, which was the only reason she'd even considered ordering it in front of someone. Softening the possibly slightly insulting question, she gave a toothy grin and added, "Y'd make my night."

That settled, she pushed herself back into an upright sitting position and let her eyes scan their general surroundings. A slightly deadpan expression came across her face as she did a mental count of the gender ratio. Which was the two of them and a bunch of men. Well, as long as they didn't cause any trouble, she really didn't care.

[Jay]

The bartender seemed to smirk confidently at Amy when she asked for the drink. Of course he could make it! He was the best in town, or so that particular bartender thought. He might have been a bit too young to really be sure about this, but confidence was a virtue to him. "Yep," he replied before heading off a ways to fix up the drinks that were asked for. Hmmm that one had said a sweet bottle so maybe a lemon-lime mix... yeah that would be good.

"So what'cha do for a livin'?" Gwen asked casually making up some sort of conversation with Amy again. The woman didn't look like the average work-in-the-office-type, especially with those scars, and a part of her wondered which side of the law -hah as if it really existed anymore- Amy was on. "I do some chef work up north," she chuckled not leading into her main certification as protector of the manion but stating the day to day work.

[SongofWindchimes]

Well, he was confident, at least, and he hadn't gotten defensive. A good sign so far. The question made Amy look over at Gwen and flash one of her tooth-baring smiles. A chef, huh? She certainly wouldn't have guessed that, though she wasn't sure what she would have guessed, really. "Me? Heh..." She ran her hand through her hair, chuckling to herself. "Can't say I have a 'day job,' but I'm working on that." Sort of. Steady, legal work was hard to find these days, after all.

Amy leaned just a little bit closer to Gwen, her yellow eyes practically gleaming with pride. "T' be dead honest with you, I'm a bounty hunter," she said, grinning. Whether people were impressed or brushed her off with the assumption she was lying varied, but Amy was always straightforward about it. And, generally, if the person she was talking to was on the wrong side of the law, they could talk to her fists. Or her gun. Or her Charizard. She barked another of her somewhat harsh laughs and added, "One thing this city's got is thugs to thrash."

[Jay]

As Amy explained that she didn't have a day job per say and proceeded to explain what she really was, Gwen's eyes widened, and a smirk came to her lips. Oh was that what she was? Heh. It technically wasn't a bad job, and it certainly paid well for the average mercenary. Considering how many thugs and whatnot were around in the more populated cities, Gwen could understand a bit. But damn, was that why she was as scratched up as she was? That wasn't too good when it came down to it, but meh, Gwen wasn't gonna tell anyone how to live their lives. That was their job.

As the bartender came back and set down a bottle and a glass for Gwen, the woman ignored the actual glass and quite literally took the neck of the bottle and gulped it, much to the surprise of the bartender who flinched a little before setting Amy's drink down and then walking off as though he suddenly had to attend to someone further down the bar. "Ah yeah, damn that's the stuff," Gwen grinned easily setting the bottle down after her swig was done. "Well damn if it pays well, I'd say keep goin' with et," she said looking at Amy with a cheesy expression.

[SongofWindchimes]

Amy's grin widened at Gwen's change of expression, and her mood just became all the better when their drinks showed up. Gwen gulping it straight from the bottle earned a snort of laughter. God, she really did need to take a trip up north sometime.

Amy picked up her drink and took a swallow. Not bad. Not the best in the city, but not bad. Good enough not to try to shove it down her throat in a few swallows. Gwen's comment earned a small laugh. "Yeah, it's pretty good..." She got that same grin back on her face as she added, "And I like knowing that me feeding a bastard his own teeth is makin' the streets safer." She was serious, too. She had some very good reasons for liking what she did, a few of which were visible on her skin and the rest...which weren't.

But she wasn't going to dwell on that. She drank specifically to not think about that kind of thing. Amy took another swallow of her Umbreon Moonlight and looked at Gwen for a moment. "So you got a restaurant or something?" she asked, steering the conversation back to the other woman for now. That's what Amy assumed 'chef work' meant, at any rate.

[Jay]

Gwen chuckled a little and nodded her head a bit at Amy's reply. However, as a question was asked, Gwen waited another moment and took another solid swig of her drink. Her alcohol tolerance was managing to keep her conscious and oddly focused for now, at the very least, but who knew when what was going to happen. "Nah, 'm a private chef... just gotta cook for 'ah few people but mostly dah mastah," she hummed, her dark skin turning a little red in a blush. Ah yeah, Tray was probably back home doing something or other. She really should have been getting back, but at the moment, the drink was tasting better than the prospects of walking all the way up home again, even if Tray's mansion wasn't that far north.

"Mastah Tray owns a bigass place up north," she grinned with a cheesy expression before winking for who knows what reason. "And 'e gives really great payout for mah cookin'...." Along with her body guard work, of course.

[SongofWindchimes]

And Amy's mood dipped a bit at this. On one hand, being the private chef of a rich guy was some day job, but on the other...Bleh. Something about Gwen calling him 'master' like that put a bad taste in Amy's mouth. She took another gulp of her drink in an attempt to banish the feeling and squeezed her eyes shut briefly, not due to any quality of the drink itself but because she'd swallowed a little too much at once, though not enough to outright choke on it.

Once the discomfort in her throat passed, she put the glass down and looked at Gwen again, summoning a slightly less toothy smile and a chuckle. "Damn. Beats my crap apartment." Well, okay, it wasn't that bad--she mostly just hated her neighbours--and she could afford a better one if she did get sick of it, but the words 'bigass place' had not been lost on her.

Of course, Amy couldn't keep her hand off her drink for long, and she soon grabbed and drained what was left in her glass. Her eyes lingered on Gwen's bottle for a brief second but...nah. She wasn't really one for sweet drinks and the guy could mix this stuff well enough. Instead, she barked over her shoulder in the general direction of where she thought the bartender was, "Need a refill!"

Then she turned her attention back to Gwen and gave her a proper grin. "So it's just 'im an' some family or somethin'?" she asked, referring to those 'few people' she cooked for. A slight glitter entering her eyes, she added, "Pretty damn lucky guy." Really lucky...Maybe flirting would be hopeless on Amy's part, but, hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

[Jay]

The call for a refill quickly brought the bartender back over, and the man nodded his head promptly and took the glass before starting over to prepare some more. Gwen laughed a little and shook her head a bit at Amy not for anything she said so much that she was having a little too much fun with her drink. Taking another sip, she set the bottle down and nodded her head. "Yeah, his family's 'round, 'specially his cousins in the past. They live down south 'n the Eastern Woods somewhar," she explained nodding her head a bit. Though she had said this, there was really only one person that Gwen truly served in her mind, at least, and that would always be Tray. " An' I take care of some of t'e other servants, makin' sure they get breakfast and lunch and din' as long as they're 'round," she smiled a little. " 'N my little Nails helps me so much~" she chuckled thinking of Rushnails's own cooking skills.

[SongofWindchimes]

Hint completely ignored. Maybe she was being too subtle. Amy couldn't help a small chuckle at that thought; how many times in her life had that ever been true? The mention of other servants immediately conjured an image of a bunch of women in maid uniforms and she found herself tapping her fingernails on the counter as she attempted not to laugh, grinning. I am just plain awful. Even if that assumption was true, she doubted her mental image was overly...accurate as to said uniforms.

It was the last part of that that piqued Amy's curiosity. 'Nails' didn't sound like a human name. "Pokemon 'o' yours?" she asked, before glancing over her shoulder briefly to see if the bartender was coming back. She really should slow down. You know, after this glass. Or two more.

As if sensing the current conversation topic, Amy visibly started a little and looked at her belt to see one of her pokeballs shaking. She let out a small growl in her throat. "Fuck no. Y'stay in there, ya asshole," she snapped at the little sphere, which miraculously stilled. Thank God. She really didn't want to deal with Hades tonight.

[Jay]

Gwen was indeed rather oblivious to Amy's disdain for the situation, yet she picked up the next subject with an easy grin. Taking a rather large swig of her drink, she set it down and nodded her head growing a somewhat silly visage as she did so. "Hell ya... 'is full name is Rushnails, but 'es mah baby so I call 'im Nails and Nailzykins..." she chuckled. Yellow eyes caught Amy's motions, and a confused look came to her face wondering who she was talking to. Ah well, it wasn't Gwen's place to worry or care.

The bartender came back in another moment setting Amy's refreshed drink down again before asking if everything was alright. Gwen said something about being half empty -meaning her drink of course- to which the bartender said he'd get her more when she was done rather than 'almost done'. After that, Gwen looked back and fished out a pokeball. "Ya wana see mah babe?" she asked not waiting for Amy before releasing the Weavile who blinked upon being released and looked around. A suspicious look crossed his face as he found that this was certainly not home, yet after a moment, he realized he was being stared at and looked sideways at Gwen before quickly walking over and clinging to her leg, careful to not claw at her with his ridiculous nails.

[SongofWindchimes]

Amy's eyes moved from her belt in time to catch sight of that confused expression, but the bartender was there before she could open her mouth to explain. She picked up the glass and was just taking a sip, rather than a gulp, when Gwen let out of her 'Nailzykins.'

A Weavile. For a second, the redheaded bounty hunter simply stared over the top of her glass, until the weasel pokemon latched onto his trainer and she realized what she was doing. Setting down her drink, she flashed a smile and let out a little, impressed whistle. "Well, aren't you a 'andsome fella?" She didn't have a grudge against the whole species, after all, and the jet black specimen really was pretty cool.

In fact, even though she didn't want her resident shoulder devil causing trouble, she quickly thought of a different member of her crew. "Kinda reminds me of my Alla. Hang on." She groped a bit clumsily at her own pokeballs, until one of them activated and a Zangoose formed in a flash of light.

Allakota glanced around slightly, not distressed in the slightest by the odd surroundings, then looked from Amy to the strange woman and Weavile. His trainer being in a bar with a woman certainly wasn't a unique situation, though she didn't tend to let him out in these places...Was she showing him off? Heh. Well, why wouldn't she? Flashing a grin much like one of Amy's own shows of teeth, the mongoose pokemon stood up on his hind legs and started to flex.

Amy let out a loud, ungraceful snort of laughter. "That's m' boy." Despite the amusement, there was a note of affection in her voice. She really did love the big ball of fur and claws.

[Jay]

Nails felt the eyes on him and stared at Amy with a somewhat wary expression up until she said something and he found himself smiling. Oh he saw~ She was looking him over. That was what that stare had been for, heh, of course. Rubbing the back of his head, he grinned his toothy-sort of smile and replied with a 'weave' before crossing one arm in front of himself and making an easy sort of bow.

Gwen, meanwhile, had managed to single-handedly finish off her bottle without much of a second thought on the matter. Setting it down, she grinned ear to ear and then let out a laugh of sorts before her eyes slowly flickered over towards Amy as she release--- OH SHIT LOOK AT THOSE NAILS. As if Nails didn't have nails, but daymn those were some nice ones, heh. "Heh, hot damn ya got some nails too~" she grinned easily.

A flicker of unease followed by a bit of jealousy played out on Nails's face as he heard not only Gwen's comment but also saw the pokemon's actions of showing off. After a moment, he smirked confidently before releasing Gwen's leg and starting to flex his own muscles. <Not bad, but I'm better~> he teased. Gwen, meanwhile, watched both before chuckling. "Dem boyz," she chuckled.