[D] Entering the Lion's Den;; {Isolde}

[Asher Harris]

"I think I know I mean a 'Yes' but it's all wrong
That is I think I disagree"

Asher bit lightly into his lower lip as he stood waiting nervously at the side of the large bar. His brown eyes peeked through the eye holes of the heavy mask that was worn over his face as he searched the crowd of people before him. Almost as if the mask he wore had transformed him into a real lion, he was on the prowl. Unlike a real lion though, he was not calmly watching his prey. He was instead almost desperately searching the numerous masked faces before him trying to spot his friend Isolde.

Normally, he wouldn't be so worried about something like this. He would just assume that Isolde had been held up and was running a little late. The dilemma tonight, was that he had arrived a little late himself. Now he was stuck here wondering whether his friend had already come to the bar and moved on to look for him elsewhere or whether she had just not come yet.

Here a problem had arisen. If he left to go search the group of people before him, then he might miss her if she was actually just running even later then he was. But on the other hand, if he just stayed here, who was to say that he wouldn't end up spending the whole night waiting by himself? No matter how he looked at things, he couldn't help but think that he was screwed. Whatever he did, it was bound to be the wrong decision.

Taking a deep breath, Asher closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He didn't fully achieve this, but he did manage it enough to keep him from having a heart attack -- drama queen! -- for at least five minutes more.

Lucky for him, five minutes was not all that this brief pause gave Asher. It also allowed him to shed some perspective on the situation. He had come out here tonight to have some fun. Sure he had been expecting to have fun with Isolde, but it wasn't as if he was selfish enough to think that she was planning on spending the whole night exclusively with him (or was he?).

Furthermore, it was kind of outrageous that he was here looking great -- in his opinion at least -- and he was just standing here fretting. He had spent forever dressing and making himself look pretty, so he should be enjoying that! He should be walking around, strutting his shit like a proud peacock, but instead he huddled in a corner. What was wrong with him?!

Feeling slightly ashamed of himself, Asher turned towards the bar and after a moment of though stepped up to it and signalled the bartender. He would get himself something to drink, and then if Isolde hadn't turned up still, he would do a sweep of the floor to see if he could see her anywhere there.


[[OOC - OMFG! I'm sorry. That was shit!]]

[Isolde Farraday]

Isolde felt quite spiffy tonight.

She was pretty sure that she would be the only girl in the whole joint wearing a suit. If she weren’t, she’d probably have to kick some ass. Well, either that, or make out with said girl. Any girl who proudly walked into a masquerade with a suit on was pretty hot. And plus, Asher was totally into boys, whether he liked it or not- so perhaps he’d feel a little more comfortable as her date. Not that it was a romantic date, anyway. Asher was her friend; he’d been for a while now. And, like she said before, he was totally into boys.

She knew that she was late and Asher the Drama Queen was probably having a heart attack, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to have another smoke for a while once she got inside, so she took care to have two; one just before she left, and one just as she arrived. Maybe this wasn’t really going to hold her over like she thought it would, but whatever. Perhaps the apparent ‘private rooms’ or whatever would allow smoking; she didn’t know.

Not that she fully intended on going in one, but whatever.

The cigarette was down to the point where it burned her fingers. She took one last long, slow drag before she dropped the butt to the ground and stamped it out. She pulled open the doors a little too fast and the movement caused her short hair to ruffle in the wind. She didn’t mind. She hated her hair. She’d shave it off if she had the guts.

Then everyone would really think she was a boy. She suppressed a snicker at the thought.

Now, where was Asher? She pushed through the crowd, wondering if anyone noticed her- and what they were thinking. Boy, girl?

If she knew Asher at all, which she did, he’d be looking for her at the bar. Because he knew her. So she decided to head to it. She could use a drink, anyway.

And there he was. Leaning up against the bar, getting something to drink. Even though he was totally gay, she still thought he was quite attractive. She resisted the urge to walk up and smack his ass. Jokingly, of course. She had clean intentions. That would be rather inappropriate, though, and it would startle Asher. She didn’t want to startle him. Instead, she sauntered over to the bar and leaned up against it. He still hadn’t noticed her.

“Sorry I’m so late,” she said. “You know me. I had to have at least three packs of cigarettes before I entered the door.” This was exaggerating by a long shot, but she knew Asher knew this. He wasn’t stupid.

She wondered what the hell they were supposed to do. Stand there, get a drink, or dance? Did Asher want to dance? Isolde had never had a date before, at least to a dance, and she wondered if she was a good dancer. She was sure that she was- and besides, all the people on the dance floor kind of looked like they were just jumping around. She wondered if they were as drunk as she intended to be.

Speaking of that… she needed to get to business. The bartender was nearby, so when he turned to her, she shouted, “I’ll have a- do you have any Guinness?” Straight, to the point, a good way to start out the night- familiarity. He grabbed one from some magical place and opened it with ease, sliding it towards her. What the hell? It was incredibly foamy. She drank it anyway.

“So what does one do at… these things?” she asked Asher, taking a sip- well, more of a gulp, really.



((don't worry, it's lovely, luv. :]))

[Asher Harris]

The bartender was only just handing Asher his drink -- a cosmopolitan, thank-you-very-much -- when someone unexpectedly spoke beside him. Anyone nearby who was watching probably would have thought that he had already had waaay too much to drink, as the surprise vocal attack caused him to jump a little and spill a small amount of the tangerine coloured liquid over the side of the glass.

With a slightly awkward laugh, Asher took a big step backwards to avoid the overspill. Once he was certain that he had avoided getting any of the liquor on his clothes, he turned to face his friend. He shot her a smile while wondering where it was that she had come from. It wouldn't have surprised him if it was revealed that she had been watching him this whole time and just waiting till he wasn’t watching so that she could startle him.

He waved his hand in a dismissive manner as she spoke, almost as if he were swatting away her words. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't stressing or anything, I knew you would come." Lies! All of it. But she didn't need to know that. She would most likely just make fun of him for being such a girl over the matter. Then again, she probably already thought that about him.

As Isolde ordered her own drink, Asher looked her up and down. She definitely looked good. She was probably giving him a little competition (or a lot) when it came to manliness, but that didn’t put him off any. Actually, that was probably why he thought she looked so good. Boys were so much prettier then girls, and right now she could really pass as a boy.

Pulling his eyes away from her, he raised his drink to his face, only to remember at the last minute that he was wearing his mask so he had to be careful. He paused for a moment before carefully moving the tip of the martini glass through the gap in the mask where his mouth was, and tilting it a little so that a small amount poured out onto his tongue.

His eyebrows rose a little as the sweet liquor met his tongue. This tasted a tad bit stronger then he remembered them tasting. Or maybe he was just imagining that. It had been quite a long time since he had actually done any drinking after all.

It was at this point that Isolde asked what Asher imagined would be one of the most important questions of the night: What the hell were they supposed to be doing at this bloody thing?! Of course, she didn't phrase it quite so eloquently, but whatever.

"Um... Well... I don't really know..." Asher looked around himself, his eyes shifting from the dance floor, to the upper level, then back to Isolde. "Dancing? Talking? Drinking 'til drunk? Making fun of other people?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Those seem to be the most likely options."

He took another sip of his drink, and waited for her to either pick one of these options, or maybe suggest something herself if she didn't like the sound of any of them.

[Isolde Farraday]

She held back a snicker as she saw Asher jump when she startled him. She had tried to avoid it, but she supposed that it was inevitable. That was just who Asher was: a jumpy, nervous, drama-loving wreck. But this is why she loved him, of course. “Sorry about that,” she said, smiling apologetically. “You need to loosen up, Ash. I was purposely avoiding startling you.”

She watched him fret over his suit. No wonder, she would fret too. Asher looked really good. “Did you get any on your clothes? I really am sorry, and you know I’m being honest, because I don’t say that often.” She flashed him a grin and reached for some napkins. She struggled with the napkin dispenser for just a moment. It gave her, oh, twenty more napkins than she really needed, but she figured they might come in handy.

“Of course you were stressing, Ash. I know you better than that.” She winked at him as she mopped up the mess, plopping each soggy napkin on the table. The bartender could take care of that. He did have a job, and that was tending the bar. Tend= take care of.

She watched the last of the tangerine-orange booze stain the white cells of the napkin. A cosmopolitan.

So girly.

“So, what did you do while you were waiting for me? Chat up any hotties?” she said, turning to him and giving him a full grin, wolf smile. “You stud, you.” She laughed and gently punched him on the shoulder. She took a big swig of her drink. One, maybe two more of these, and then it was time to move on to the real serious stuff.

“Perhaps you should have bought a mask that was easier to get trashed in,” she commented, laughing slightly. She took another big gulp of her drink. It was halfway gone now.

“We can do all of those things,” she said. “Except the dancing might not be the best idea. I may have two left feet; I’m not sure. I’ve never really… danced like…” she jerked her head towards the floor. “That, before. Jumping around like an idiot, sure. But it looks like someone might spontaneously ejaculate and get someone pregnant… The drunk thing, though, I can do. Talking might become difficult after a few, but we’ll certainly give it a try. And making fun of other people… Asher, my dear, you do know me too well.”

She looked around to find a victim, and spotted one. “Point in example… that girl over there, is definitely going to be pregnant by the end of this year.”




((suckage! ugho!))

[Asher Harris]

"Prostitution is revolution."

[ Warning: In this post Asher is more how I've sculpted him to be in the cbox, and not so much how he has been in my previous posts. ]

The tiniest of frowns marred Asher's features (not that Izzy could know this while he had his mask covering her face) as Izzy began cleaning up his mess. He wasn't going to lie to himself, it bothered him slightly that she could read him so easily. He wanted to be all dark and mysterious. Not some open book that anyone could pick up and interpret. That wasn't very interesting.

Then again, maybe it wasn't a case of him being easy to read. Perhaps she just knew him really well. She was his best friend after all, so she should know him better then most people. So maybe he should just be flattered by her immediate knowledge of his true feelings. That would definitely be the glass-half-full way to look at this. Was he really a glass-half-full kind of guy though? Not really.

Attempting a smile (again she wouldn't be able to see it past the mask, so why did he bother?), he turned his attention to the question she had asked before she had begun housekeeping. "Nah. I think the clothes are fine. You'd know if they weren't by the red handprint that would be on the side of your face if they were wet."

A smirk accompanied the light laugh that came out of his mouth. He knew that Izzy would know that he was only joking. Furthermore, he knew that Izzy would know that if she wasn't his bestest friend, the words would not have been intended as a jest. He was maybe just a little overly defensive and quick to over react at times.

As he took another sip of his drink, Asher's nose crinkled up in a show of minor disgust. The disgust possibly being caused by the strong tasting alcohol, or possibly caused by Izzy's next question (which seemed rather absurd to his ears). Most likely the look was caused by a mixture of the two.

"I'm no whore. I don't just go around humping every guy I see," Asher muttered in a begrudging tone. It was true that he didn't get as much action as he knew some of the other guys in his grade got (or at least they claimed they got), but there were times when he wished that he could just approach some random guy (or girl if he was drunk enough) and have his way with him (or her).

Life would be so easy if people didn't have feelings to consider. He would especially love to be able to disregard his own feelings. But alas, they always seemed to be there to pester him.

When Izzy made a comment about his mask that he had already begun to realise himself without her help, Asher kept a blank expression on his face, pretending he hadn't heard her. It was easier for him to fake deafness then to admit that his decision to go with appearance rather then practicality when picking out his mask was a mistake.

Instead, he just waited for her to continue speaking, and laughed when she did comment on the way the people on the dance floor were dancing. "What, you don't want to have sex with me out on the dance floor? That hurts a little." He went to wipe a fake tear away from his face for effect, only to have his attempts destroyed by the mask which was proving to be increasingly more difficult to work with by the second.

At her next comment about some random girl he didn't recognise [ although in my head I'm imagining it to be Xio, teehee. <3 ], Asher slapped Izzy's hand lightly, laughing as he spoke. "You're so mean. Just because she is quite clearly a ho, doesn't mean that she doesn't know how to use protection." He cast another glance towards the girl they were talking about. "In fact, I would think that all the hookers like her would be likely to use contraceptives."

He smirked again slightly as he idly took another sip of his drink.