bakerstreet | Where everyone knows your name.

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Where everyone knows your name.

the pickup bar

You're at a bar. They're at a bar. Nope, this isn't a set-up for a convoluted joke. No punchline to be had. Quite the opposite, actually: you've got your best line in store. Whether you want to drink with this other person and party all night, take them home tonight, or just have another warm body on the stool beside you that will vaguely tolerate your presence, you're going to hit on your target with all you've got.

Hope you saved that absolute jewel of a hook for the right moment! Surely all you silver tongues out there have a million of them, though.

Don't you?

How to Play

➳ I don't have to tell you how to format your subjects. Y'know how.
➳ NO BLANK TOP LEVELS. Again, this one's in media res and your character has slung out the greatest pickup line in the history of scoring. Or, they've attempted to.
➳ The person who replies to you is the one getting picked up. Or, once more, an attempt has been made.
➳ Reminder that you can, as it turns out, hit on the bartender. To mixed results.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mind if I smoke?

[He's already got a stogie held between his lips while he's patting his breastpocket in search of a lighter.]

Sorry -- it's a fixation. I really like putting things in my mouth, as you'll soon see.

[ That earns him a laugh, Elio turning his head slightly towards him, his fingers still folded around his tumbler of whisky. ]

All I'm seeing right now is a great chance to bum a smoke.

[ But it doesn't sound like a complete rejection, especially not with the way he frees his hands from his glass, leans sideways and produces a lighter from his own back pocket, holding it out for the other man. ]

Ah, you're a lifesaver.

[Grateful and without pause, Worick leans in close to take the offered lighter. In one smooth movement, he flicks it to life and lights up his cigarette, then blows the smoke away from Elio.

Grinning, he hands him back the lighter.]

Down to my last, sorry to say. But we can share this one if you're feelin' adventurous?

[ He notices the gratefulness, the way the other man weighs his words and, more obviously, the way he doesn't get a face-full of smoke on Worick's first exhale. He purses his lips, claiming the lighter once more, and looks him up and down once, then nods. He hasn't actually shared a cigarette with anyone since he was in his mid-twenties and still ventured through Rome at night, but this is as good a chance as any to feel young and courageous again, isn't it? ]

Sure. We're pretty much sharing a breath already, right?

Pretty much, yeah.

[Worick is more than happy to share, and doesn't hesitate with holding out the cigarette for Eliot to take.

After he gets a nice long drag out of it first, of course.

He shifts in his seat, slouching a bit, and gestures around them.]

So. Why're you here? Is it for the usual reasons people come to places like this or there something else?

[ Picking the cigarette out from between the other man's fingers carefully, Elio raises it to his lips and takes a long drag, really fills his lungs. Oh, nicotine is welcome tonight.

He follows Worick's gesture as it indicates the whole bar. What's your story, he is really asking. ]

I'm here to be with people. And I'm here not to be with people, does that make sense to you?

[ Exhaling, slowly, the smoke ring uneven and off to the side, Elio thinks about seeking the company of strangers to forget the faces of people he knows too well. ]

Mm.

[Licking his lower lip, more thoughtful than anything, he can still taste the menthol of the cigarette, so he's not craving another puff -- it gives him a clear mind to consider Elio's words.]

It does, yeah. Getting into something new, to get away from something familiar. And just being around people, while not wanting to be around them. I get it.

[Smiling slightly, he gestures to take the cigarette back.]

I must be lucky, then.

[ As the other man gestures for the cigarette, Elio holds it out, making sure to pass it along with a lingering slip of fingertips against Worick's skin. He's never been a good flirter, but a very natural one which naturally includes a certain degree of awkwardness and weighing your own intentions against someone else's. This, touching fleetingly, is as good as he gets. ]

Because you're my distraction for the night? [ A headshake. Elio doesn't take compliments well, even implicit ones. ] Honestly, I think I'm the lucky one.

[Their fingers brush against once another when Worick reaches out for the cigarette and the significance of it doesn't escape his notice. Usually the touching occurs much later during these types of meet-ups -- not that he particularly minds it coming early. He's just a little...impressed at how easy and early it came, that's all.

He meets Elio's gaze and offers him a knowing grin and lift of his eyebrows before putting his lips around the cigarette. A wink later, and he takes his long-awaited drag.]

Yeah?

[A pause, as the smoke comes out his nostrils, easy and slow.]

How come?

Because I'm always on the look-out for connection, but I very rarely find it. [ Elio watches the way the cigarette gets caught between the other man's lips, cocking his head a little to the side, as if studying an interesting masterpiece in a museum. It's not in any way a lewd look, even as he acknowledges Worick's wink with a small smile of his own. It's just genuinely interested. ] So when I do, I don't let go of it until it's completely over.

[ Then, he leans to the side a little, just placing himself comfortably within Worick's personal sphere and puts an unassuming hand on his shoulder, Worick could easily shrug him off, if he wanted to, before breathing in the smoke he's just exhaled.

There's intimacy to it and maybe also a fair amount of hunger. After a moment, he lets his hand fall again and returns to sit more fully on his bar stool. ]

Let me know if I'm misinterpreting our conversation. It might not feel the same to you.

[Worick doesn't shrug Elio off, more curious than anything to settle down and see where this newfound closeness brings them. It's warm and quiet, the closeness between them as Elio shotguns the smoke, and it's unfortunately all too brief.

Worick's far from being disappointed, though. He's grinning when he settles back into his seat for another drag of his cigarette.]

Mm, you've a point there.

[He taps the ash off his cigarette into the ashtray on the counter between them then wordlessly offers it up to Elio again.]

Anyone that finds what he wants is a lucky man. A very lucky man. Oh, and don't worry...

[Another small wink.]

I'm really liking where this is all going. Please, continue.

[A thoughtful hum escapes Shitan as he regards the patron sitting beside him. He studies them discreetly for a moment before smiling as sweetly as he can.]

A penny for your thoughts? You seem rather pensive.

[ Seth wanders in, bulging backpack and dirty shoes proving a drifting lifestyle. He orders a water, and while waiting for it raps a tune with his hands on the bar for a few seconds.

He turns his head to spot the person beside him and as casually as breathing- ]

Wow, you’re pretty.

[ And that’s that, just an observation with bright, twinkling eyes enjoying the view. ]

Women:
He's flush with coin, victorious at a few hands of Gwent and pleasantly buzzed or he probably wouldn't have said anything. But--

"Well I'll be damned. You must be the prettiest thing for miles around."

Men:
Rare is the night Eskel desires male company outside the cold and crumbling walls of Kaer Morhen but tonight he's missing some nameless, intangible thing he knows a woman cannot provide.

He's not covert about it, exactly. He isn't ashamed of this occasional longing-- what would anyone expect, from a caste which comes of age with only members of one's own sex for intimate company-- but he does his best to be tactful.

"You look lonely. Can I buy you a drink?"

Maybe too subtle.

"Is it more or less disappointing if I say I'm from nowhere near here, in that case?" She quips back with a smirk. It's true that her ego is a million times more inflated than it was years ago, but she wants to see how Buzzed Stranger plays this one out. Who knows.

He blinks his bright eyes at her quizzically.

"So? I didn't say you were the prettiest thing born in this backwater." He laughs. "Alright then...the prettiest thing to wander through here, I guess." He rests an elbow on the bar. "In any case, can a fellow traveler buy you a drink?"

Wade slid up to someone at the bar. Man, woman, or pig-faced demon, didn't really matter to him. He was into nearly everyone. The problem was... not very many people were that into him. That never seemed to stop him trying!

"Hel-lo, gorgeous. My love for you is like my cancer. It keeps growing and I can't seem to control it."

The creases of his cheeks and lips clear when he smiled through his red and black mask as he leaned against the bar, slipping a bit when his elbow found some spilled beer. Real smooth. How could anyone resist?!

Mobius calmly took a sip of beer, and only when he was done savoring this sip did he turn toward Deadpool, cocking an eyebrow.

"Hi, Wade." On the list of people who are likely frequent fliers to the TVA, one Wade Wilson was one such name. "That was the best one, huh? That was your shot to shoot? Was that your attempt to get me," here come the airquotes, "into your 'next movie'?"

"I was aiming for at least a one-shot. See how the night goes before aiming higher." Wade waggles his brows as he settles into the chair beside him at the bar, lifting up the bottom half of his mask to take a long sip of the beer the bartender sent his way. "So, whadda ya think?"

"Of the line? It sucks, but out of you, it's sadly one of your better ones. Also, no." No what? Just no. No everything. Whatever it is, no. "You'll have to try harder. Just a smidge harder. A little more effort. And maybe less slipping."

"I could do a musical number? I'll have you know I've got a great voice! You should check out my Tik Toks. I'm verified!" He offered, leaning closer and looking hopeful. How he was able to be so expressive with a mask on is something of a mystery. Maybe it was an obscure mutant power. Certainly a better one than being 'lucky'. They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel with that one.

"Okay, I'm not exactly gonna say no to a little razzmatazz, but that would swing the other way. Too much effort. Unless it's karaoke. Serenade by karaoke is a fine tradition."

The idea at least got a laugh out of him, so, not a total loss. "You think I don't have enough on my plate wrangling a demigod by the collar, I want to add you on too?"

"Please. Like you don't enjoy every second of that, chasing after that cute butt."

He's not sulking. You are! His butt is cute too, dammit!

"You think Ben Stiller's busy?"

"It's not chasing if it's already mine." He's not preening, but if he is, he definitely picked that up from Loki. "I don't need a harem of broken weirdos to play therapist at to make their lives better. Yours is such a trash fire I'm not sure any of my words of wisdom would even help. Maybe you should try some lines on that time traveling boyfriend of yours."

"I could... but I'm not sure where he's at. And he doesn't really do 'words of wisdom'. Unless grunts and curses are wise. And stabbing me in the dick." He says the last bit like a swooning teenager. "He really knows how to push my buttons!"

"That's the worst pickup line I've ever heard."

Despite that, her hand still shoots out to grab his elbow and stop him from falling too far in the beer. So there's that.

"Maybe, but don't I get some sympathy points since the cancer part is true?" He pouts his best pitiful look and leans closer toward her, using the grip she had on his elbow as an invitation to do so. He's so in!

"You seem pretty at peace with it."

Okay, no. She's not heartless, but she's not dumb, either. She's not 100% certain he knows who he's talking to, but she does. "What are you doing?"

He knows, but male or female Parker, it didn't really matter. He'd probably be doing this either way to be honest. "What?" He looks around as though clueless to what she was asking, "I'm just standing here."

And... he inches closer, "Can I buy you a drink?" He patted his pockets a moment then paused, "Or, um, can you buy you a drink and I can owe you for it later?"

Cough. "And a drink for me too?" The smoothest of smooth.

[ Uuuuhmmm.... ]

So. Come here often?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Where everyone knows your name.

Worick Arcangelo | GANGSTA. | ota

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Shitan | Fena: Pirate Princess

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Eskel || The Witcher (any) || OTA

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Deadpool | XMCU | ota

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Nyx Ulric | Final Fantasy XV