Five Seconds to Midnight (M)

[Molly Kingsley]

Why yes, it was New Year's Eve.

And yes, it was nearly midnight.

And, now that you mention it, yes Molly was wasted.

Three hours earlier, if asked, she would've been obviously doubtful of her ability to start a year off without regrets stemming from a public New Years party. But at the moment she was feeling awesome.

She was wearing the same exact thing she'd worn for the holiday party the week before: something that would never be considered dressy even by the lowest standards. But it was clean. Or it was so far, the night was still kinda youngish. Not quite mid-

"Five.... Four..."

Molly hurriedly swallowed her mouthful of beer and joined in with the crowd. "Three! Two! One!"

And, in her mind, her following actions were completely logical.

And those actions consisted of:
1. Placing her beer bottle on the bar in front of her,
2. Turning around,
3. Grabbing the person behind her, and
4. Kissing their face off.

Okay, maybe not quite so violent, but definitely a little more passionate than was appropriate considering she had no idea who it was she'd grabbed.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani needed to drink, plans had been made and then they had fallen through so Lani unwilling to spend New Year’s Eve alone so he intended to get drunk and spend it with fifty of his favorite strangers. It had been a very eventful, very strange year and Lani was not at all loath to see it go. He was all about new beginnings this year. New people, new experiences, he was working on becoming a better person but there were some felonies he was not ready to let go yet. Stealing was still a vice and well, underage drinking was something Lani didn’t see as a problem, after all only two years from legal wasn’t too long. Besides he still had about ten fake IDs to choose from, best not let them go to waste. Lani had resolutions. Freedom was first, second was to do better in school. His last semester hadn’t been great considering it had been hard to motivate himself when he knew Odion was supposed to be with him in a few.

Another resolution. Forget about Odion. Move on. He needed to learn more about himself. Another resolution for the beginning of the year, complete control. He needed to work hard at that, he was on his own now. No one at Hammel would take him and he had just enough control to be safe but he wanted more. He wanted to be able to do it all with complete control not substitute control for not using his power. Thos resolution circled his brain as one beer turned into two and then three then an unknown number and he was very pleasantly gone. He found himself laughing with people he just met, joking about the world and resolutions. And suddenly fifty of his favorite strangers became fifty of his favorite friends. It was nice to get drunk and not be able to fall into a depression, that was the result of all of the positive energy floating around the bar.

Lani joined the crowd in the countdown watching the clock drop down second by second hailing in the new year with gusto. He cheered, “Happy New Year!” Toasting his half finished somethingth beer with the man standing next to him. He went to take a drink and suddenly was pulled from the lip of his glass and someone was kissing him. Stunned and drunk Lani snapped back in shock and blinked at the woman. Flustered, Lani’s face turned a brilliant crimson. “Hello,” Lani said, “Uh… Happy New Year!” Alcohol made him bold and he was otherwise unsure of how to react.

[Molly Kingsley]

If Molly had been sober, she may have had the presence of mind to recognize that this guy was probably too young for her. Or to recognize that the most appropriate thing to do would be to just wish him a happy new year and end it at that.

But she was far from sober. In fact, as stated before, she was wasted. She'd just had enough experience being wasted that she could act not-wasted enough to not get cut off.

As soon as her lips left his, Molly let out a woot with the crowd, shoving one fist triumphantly in the air as the other grabbed her beer up again and pounded it down. Yeah. Totally making good decisions.

"Happy new year!" She agreed with a grin. "Happy-" she put a hand over her mouth to cover a hiccup, "Happy new year." Her hands had wandered back to his face, but she wasn't entirely sure what they were doing. She ended up putting one on his shoulder while the other patted his head awkwardly. If she'd been sober, that move would've been mortifying, but instead she just giggled.

"I'm- my name is Molly, by the way." It took her a second to realize she was still patting him, and she finally stopped, laughing again. "Sorry for- I hope I don't mess up your hair or anythhhing." Eh, first main slurring of the night, that wasn't too shabby. She'd lasted pretty long! That probably deserved a drink.

Ooh, he had one! She pursed her lips, looking at it as she decided whether she'd be able to sneak a sip without him noticing.

[Lani Hunter]

It was a good thing Lani was also not sober because that at the very least that he could not got into his own head and make himself over think the action beyond something that was very benign. And now Lani found the situation very hilarious, if still a little flustering. He was not one who was used to going around and kissing people or getting kissed by people it was a strangely exciting occurrence and the woman was very pretty. Needless to say Lani was not in the least disappointed by the ambush of a kiss. Lani was still stunned when she cheered and had a very delayed reaction that involved shaking his head and laughing with the exuberance of the surrounding crowd.

Taking another sip of his beer and running a hand through his hair he tried to regain his composure. The beer was not helping, Lani was starting to get to the point where he realized he might not remember what happened. He was a little wobbly and was having a hard time focusing on one thing at a time, which may have all been for the best because it meant his eyes didn’t linger anywhere or his mind on anything. All he knew at the moment was that he had just been kissed by a pretty girl and he was giddy about it. Lani laughed at her hiccups and only ended up laughing harder. He struggled to not spill his drink as she patted his head. He wrapped his free hand around her to help himself stay upright. She was just as drunk as he was. Lani tilted his head giving her a peculiar look as she continued to pat his head. Well, this was going on his list of most strange things. It appeared that the kiss had broken the personal space barrier and now he was hugging a stranger.

“It’s nice to meet you Molly,” Lani replied brightly starting to enjoy the feeling of being patted. “Lah-haha,” Lani laughed and moved on in the conversation as if his goof was just singing along to the music. Oh shit, not real name! We’re drunk yo. What’s the name on the ID? Name? Name? Ah-ha! Hunter! He knew he’d made it an easy one to remember. Occasionally he did benefit from having a first name for a last name. Wasn’t that something he’d been hounding Adrianna about? Always remember the name on the card. That was important! Oh he was very drunk. The idea made Lani giggle and grin like a fiend for a moment. “No worries, eh, see fixed it.” He ruffled his hair and nodded decisively, perks of having short hair, fixed with minimal effort. “My friends call me Hunter.” He lied, using a trick of using a last name as a first name he’d learned from a certain redhead he was not going to think about.

It suddenly dawned on Lani that Molly had chugged her drink in one swoop and was now alcohol-less. The tragedy! “Well, Molly, can I buy you a drink?” Lani asked, “Or is kissing strangers a sign to stop?” He teased with a laugh. Lani took another swing of his drink and was unaware of pretty much any inhibition or limit. This was the farthest he had ever gone and he was quite loving the strange out of body sensation. Nothing could possibly go wrong in Lani’s mind. He wasn’t completely sure he would remember everything from tonight but, hell, he would remember that kiss!

[Molly Kingsley]

Molly was vaguely aware that the handsome stranger she'd just kiss-attacked had his arm around her. Oh, okay. She was cool with this. Drunk Molly was totally chill with random physical contact. Woohoo physical contact. Hugs. Hehehe...

Besides, she'd be lying if she said his arm wasn't helping keep her balanced as well. She tried not to move around too much when drunk, since the greater the distance, the more obvious the intoxication. Another reason why she usually hung by a bar: it made for a solid propping up place thing.

“Lah-haha-"

Molly giggled as he sang (tunelessly and awkwardly and just about as well as she could) to music that she wasn't entirely sure was playing, but could believe that he was hearing. Meh, who could really hear anything over the crowds broadcast on TV anyway? She was willing to believe there was music that he was singing along to - but she still found the short outburst incredibly funny.

“No worries, eh, see fixed it.”

The sort of mischievous flirtatious smile crept onto Molly's lips - the smile that only appeared after at least four drinks - and she semi-purposefully patted his head again. "You're good at- you look good when you do that." She had no idea why she was saying what she was saying, or if it really made sense, she was just following the instinct that said cute guy + alcohol = paaarty tiiiiime.

“My friends call me Hunter.”

She nodded several more times than was entirely necessary, eyes a little glassy as she smiled, voice jokingly smug."My friends call me manhunter-" she lied, raising her hands in an uncoordinated mockery of claws, "Rawrrr..." She giggled again, and added, already laughing at her own joke, "It's cause I'm a boss at hide and seek." The thought occurring to her, she acted upon it in an instant, and leaned into him, tilting her head toward his ear with a mischievous smile, her tone completely playful, even if her words were more suggestive; "If ya know what I mean..."

“Well, Molly, can I buy you a drink? Or is kissing strangers a sign to stop?”

"Why yes, Hunter, you most certainly can!" She replied, a little of her usual drunken goofiness slipping in even when she tried (well, "tried") to be seductive. "I mean, if kissers randing- if kissing random strangers gets -- I should do this more often!" ...She almost managed a cohesive sentence there, but she was basically sure she got her point across, and nodded as though assuring herself of that fact.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani smiled preening as she laughed. It was a terrible cycle, Lani did something that made someone laugh and that only egged him on because it made him think that he was terribly clever and hilarious. Unfortunately for Lani he’d never quite learned the stop moving when intoxicated rule, he was very much an active drunk, which was probably not the best thing in most situations. So Lani grinned like a loon and shrugged his shoulders glad to be able to make her laugh. Yes, this was a good idea, spending a holiday with fifty of his favorite new intoxicated friends. He’d already forgotten the goof that had resulted in her laughter and ended up just grinning and blinking hard to try to keep Molly in focus. It was quite a challenge that was beginning to evade him. Well, no use stopping at this point.

A brow rose at her expression and Lani matched it with his own impish smile, which grew more playful as she fumbled over something of a compliment. Lani gave her a lopsided smile and he commenced laughter again when she patted his head. It was growing on him. He’d always liked it when people touched his head, it was a strange thing that he’d never recognized until he’d met Adrianna. Lani momentarily wondered what his best friend was up to, he hoped she was having as much fun as he was. That mischievous smile was a good look for Molly as well and the thought of doing things just a little criminal lit up Lani’s eyes a little. Lani smiled innocently, “Are you sure? I think you should fix it.” As he flirted the innocence in his smile quickly went missing.

Lani tried to hold in his laugh for as long as he could and lost very quickly. Laughing harder than he had in a long time he found himself losing the ability to breathe. “I bet,” he finally was able to agree, he opened his mouth to add onto that when she drew very close and whispered in his ear. Lani’s face flamed and he fumbled over his words. “Hide and seek? Should… do…” Lani stopped himself from speaking by finishing off his beer, taking the time to down the drink to gather a reasonable reply. “Pretty Lady Manhunter,” he narrowed his eyes his mind circling down the drain from something clever, “I can’t… psh nooope, can’t argue with that. I’m caaaught.” He gave her an equally suggestive wink, drawling out his syllables a little more. Oh he was so clever, half of his mind was alerting him to something but he paid it no mind. This hot girl just turned around and kissed him out of nowhere, this was a good night.

Lani moved toward the bar next to her. His arm around her brought her closer as he squeezed into the narrow space beside her. He hailed the bartender and called for two beers. Turning back to he realized how close that action had made them and he looked down at her and he felt hot fire race over his body. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or their close proximity but Lani very much wanted to kiss her again. And there was no regret, nothing to hold him back from doing so. He was single and he was finally happy with that fact. Something cold touched his arm, startling him a bit, and he realized the beers were on the bar. “For you, Molly,” he said handing over one of them. He took a sip and felt the rush as (the probably bad) decision to drink more hit well with Lani. “We should have New Years more often.” Lani added absolutely sure that was a logical conclusion.

[Molly Kingsley]

Hunter's flirting made Molly glow, delighted at the reciprocation. Not that she hadn't expected it. Then again, when she was drunk she always assumed people were flirting back, even when they weren't. ....In any case, she snickered a bit as she attempted to imitate his action from before, happy to play along with his request. "Hmmmm... I dunno, you might need to show me how to do it right ways." Unfortunately, language suffered under the influence of alcohol, but at least she kind of made sense. Also, she found this little hairstyling flirtation a complete delight.

His laughter and joking returns had her grinning. "Pretty Lady Manhunter..." She repeated, eyes narrowed as though in thought, before she nodded, determinedly. "...I like it. That will definitely be my next custom subclass. For sure." Was her geekiness slipping into her flirtation? Yes, yes it seemed it was. Did she care? She wasn't even aware that that could possibly go over anyone's head, so no.

“I can’t… psh nooope, can’t argue with that. I’m caaaught.”

Molly had a rather cocky smile on at that admission, and she quite enjoyed having him squeeze in next to her as well. Also, free drinks were awesome.

She was very suddenly aware just how much alcohol made her warm. "I swear, this isn't a c'mon but- it's hot in here, right?" She pulled off one layer, sort of pushing it at Hunter to hold for her, briefly getting tangled in the strap of her messenger bag... and then unzipped another, removing that and giving it to her companion as well, leaving her in a white ribbed tank that somehow managed to make her look less freakishly pale (perhaps it was how much she bleached her whites). It took her a second to realize she now had to keep track of those articles of clothing, and when she did her lips pursed off to the side in a childish manner as she attempted a solution. Her face lit up as she realized: right, there was a bag for a reason, and she fumbled at the buckles and zip before grabbing at her things and stuffing them haphazardly into the bag, her fingers briefly catching his shirt as well as she groped at her belongings.

She was looking quite self-satisfied when she finally got the bag to close again. Also, quite flushed. She just smiled at him for a moment, head too clouded with booze to realize what he was probably thinking about, and then he was offering her her drink.

“For you, Molly...”

Face bright, she clinked her glass against his, the crowd pushing her a bit towards him (not that she minded). "Don't mind if I d.." She was already drinking happily before she'd finished her statement, adjusting in the push of the crowd so one of her legs was wedged between him and the bar, awkward but not uncomfortable. Sort of like Molly.

“We should have New Years more often.”

As much as Molly loved flirting (when she was drunk or in cosplay, at least), she still suffered from a minor issue. As a pub trivia champion, her head was frequently swimming with completely useless information. And when drunk, nearly any time seemed like a great time to share that information. Which is why, instead of saying anything remotely related to Hunter's last comment, she just said, sounding for all the world as though she were adding something useful to a conversation, "Did you know that sailors on submarines used to make a drink out of pineapple juice and the 180-proof grain alcohol that fueled the torpedoes, called Torpedo Juice?"

There was a second when she just blinked, then attempted to remember what he'd just said, and couldn't, except that it involved New Year's Eve. "We should have New Years more often."

Yeah, she really didn't get that she'd just repeated his exact words. But she was damn proud of herself for that thought.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani grinned drunkenly and laughed unsure of what they were really talking about anymore. “What? Nah, you don’t need any help, you’re pretty.” If Lani weren’t so intoxicated he would have probably pounded his palm into his head in embarrassment. He was so eloquent and he didn’t understand what was going on anymore and he was really just going with the flow. It was a good thing that his hair was short and he could just ruffle his head and go on with his day. He didn’t know how women did it with their long hair. And all of them were so good at making their hair look absolutely wonderful. Even Odion could do longer hair, Lani had never had hair that went past his ears.

“What’sa subchass?” Lani slurred, confused. Lani laughed at himself figuring it probably was something that he should know. He was not a gamer nor did he spend a great deal of time on the internet at least when he was on the internet he was educating himself on the things that would be important on a heist. Either way the term subclass meant very little to Lani but he was glad she liked the name. The irony of the situation was not lost on Lani either. The Hunter meeting the Manhunter. And the way she was smiling pulled out more smiles from Lani and he was suddenly very aware of her closeness. “I’m glad I came out tonight,” Lani commented randomly, alcohol broke down the barrier between his brain and his mouth and he just started saying what he was thinking.

A sly grin crossed Lani’s face and he nodded in agreement and quicker than Lani’s slow mind could keep up with he had morphed into coat and bag hanger. Lani’s eyes dropped and he couldn’t help from noticing how much the tank top didn’t cover. He found himself heating again. Watching Molly, Lani was fascinated it was almost like watching someone go through one solution to another and never quite stop at one. He wondered if he had any habits when he got lost in thought. Lani hummed when he was thinking, but it was such an unconscious action he didn’t even realize he was doing it, therefore it didn’t count. He let her grab her things and fumbled trying to help her keep her bag open. It ended up not helping at all but instead seemed to prove more of a challenge than was probably warranted by the two drunk strangers. “Don’t stuff me in there!” he yelped jokingly as she grabbed him in her rush to stuff everything into her bag.

Questions about Lani’s sexuality had circled in Lani’s head a myriad of times over the past few years. He had been very attracted to Odion but he couldn’t rule out Molly as he was finding himself getting very warm around her and she was giving him a view that made him feel just a little bit perverted for enjoying. But at that point Lani was stuck he didn’t have much experience in this whole game. He’d only been in two relationships and one with each gender. Maybe he should just give up on labels and go with the flow. The drinks were helping with that and Lani found himself wobbly and excited by this encounter. The more she pressed against him the more his heart raced and he could smell her perfume and it was tossing him around in his own mind like a rag doll in the jaws of a clever feline. Or in this case a manhunter. He drank more, because that was always the solution when one didn’t know what to do.

“Really?” Lani asked fascinated, brushing off the change in topic by perhaps him just not recalling what was said. “How did they not die?” Lani questioned, “Like that sounds amazing actually.” He narrowed his eyes as he tried to imagine it. All his mind could come up with was that they put pineapples on torpedoes and drank out of them. The image made him snicker a little because it was just too comical to believe. “You’re pulling my leg,” he accused shifting so he was settled comfortably next to her. The action however made him tip a little bit and he would normally have grabbed the bar to keep his balance but that hand had a beer in it and so his other hand grabbed Molly’s hip and inadvertently pulled her closer. Now thanks to beer and heat and closeness Lani was starting to feel that heat concentrate in a much lower area and Lani started reacting in a way he really couldn’t control. He could only hope she didn’t notice.

Lani drank more beer hoping to distract himself but at the moment the more he was drinking the less in control he was getting. “Right!” Lani agreed oblivious to his words returning to him. “Then we could just throw ‘way the bad stuffs and live!” He raised his drink and looked at it only a quarter full now. How had that happened? He shrugged it off and finished it off. “If we had New Years more often we could totally just,” Lani made a sound and brushed his arm across the bar as if something was flying away, “Chill. Like torpedoes, and we could just blow up last year.” Why was he thinking about torpedoes all the sudden? He would indeed love to take the last year and pile it and shoot some Torpedo Juice at it.

[Molly Kingsley]

Molly had never been called a manhunter in her life. If she'd been sober, she'd be dubious of the term 'manhunter' considering the correct term was actually 'maneater,' but her drunk self was starting to like the term. And her drunk self also didn't scoff when he didn't know what a subclass was, not just because his lack of knowledge of RPGs was inconsequential, but because she hadn't even heard his comment, busy as she was being delighted about free drinks. 

“I’m glad I came out tonight.”

She just grinned. "I'm glad yyei came out tonight, too." She'd started to say you, then switched to I, but she wasn't really aware of the error, too focused on the derpy happiness behind the words. She really was quite glad. Or, at least, drunk Molly was quite glad. Tomorrow it may be a different story, but she was a happy drunk.

Giggling at his comment, she patted the over-stuffed messenger bag a couple of times (in a similar manner to how she'd been patting his head before, with a sort of childish self-satisfaction). "You have not been stuffed- you would-n't even fit." Alcohol and words, once again trying to mess with each other. "You're a-" she snorted as the words popped into her head and out of her mouth, "-you're a big boy," she laughed again.

Molly - foreveralone as she was - was not a flirt in everyday life. Nor did she intend for her words to have the vaguely inappropriate sexual connotations that they kinda did. Her mildly sarcastic delivery helped take the edge off, enough that she herself really didn't notice it, but it didn't change the fact that alcohol reduced her to the needs and amusements of a 16 year old boy. With perhaps a touch of eight year old childish giggling as well. Just about every comment was funny, and just about every touch was flirting. She really loved being drunk. Her sober mind seemed to get in the way a lot.

“You’re pulling my leg.” 

His snickers had elicited a similar response from her (that neverending cycle of humorous validation), but the sudden small tug at her hips made her stumble for a second, "No, you're pulling m-" her drink sloshing over the edge and narrowly missing her chin - instead a good gulp going to waste as it soaked a patch of her shirt. "Aww, man..." Her face fell in a rather 'aw, shucks' expression. Ignoring his discussion of out with the old and in with the new, she looked for napkins. In the absence of napkins, she grabbed the sleeve of Hunter's shirt (conveniently forgetting that there was an arm in it), pulling it around to her front as she attempted to dry off the growing spot, giving a silly little shimmy of discomfort as it dripped into her bra. 

...Somehow, her body managed to get things done that Molly's sober mind could never manage. Mainly, putting her into situations where she could actually seem purposefully sexual. And yet, part of her mind definitely recognized that biology was at work, in terms of those usual functions of the autonomic nervous system that said 'yup, sexy sex times, good stuff.' And she wasn't about to say her body was wrong, since it seemed to be doing well so far. So she was game - if kind of clueless about Hunter's situation on that front.

Clueless in general, really, as she finally realized what she was doing and paused. "Oh. Sorrrry 'bout your shirt." She released him, but seemed to have absolutely no shame in how she'd quite literally twisted his arm to get it all up in her business. She just gave it another one of those awkward pats. "I might be able to fit it in my bag," she offered, honestly thinking that it was a useful suggestion. And also so very wrong about the capacity of her poor messenger bag.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani laughed at the strange words she was throwing out now. She was slurring and confusing words, perhaps she was a little bit more drunk than Lani was. Lani was at least still speaking English, or at least Lani’s version of English. His Boston accent started to slip out a little stronger as he started to slur. His ‘r’s were slowly turning to ‘ah’s and he wasn’t even realizing the change. Lani’s accent was usually very light and almost unnoticeable as a Boston accent on a normal basis. “It’s a good day-night?-for drunk.” Lani stated, “I wish it could be wahmah, maybe I’ll move to Australia.” He considered for a moment, he was so sick of snow and ice. If he moved to the Southern Hemisphere then it could be warm on New Years.

The more she moved the more distracted Lani got and the more bags there appeared to be. If Lani were a little more sober he’d probably be getting himself into a little more trouble than he should seeking out funds to steal or things to take for himself. At least when he was drunk he was still good enough to be sure not to get himself into that kind of trouble. He might not be good at making many other decisions but when he was having trouble correctly identifying exactly where what he wanted lied he tended not to take it. If anything he was more cautious than he normally was. Lani grinned and shrugged, he was taller than average and he was proud of the fact that he was now taller than his dad.

Molly was adorable with all of her geekiness and the drunken slurring, in fact she was hilarious and Lani’s sides were starting to get sore of laughter and he didn’t even mind it. The closer he was to her the more alluring her perfume and the harder it was to think straight. Unlike Molly, Lani had a tendency to flirt a lot, only not realize that that was what he was doing. The telekinetic was highly clueless and usually if someone didn’t do something like, say, abruptly grabbing him and kissing him he was not likely to think that someone was interested. The fact that Molly had grabbed him had Lani smiling and giddy. Being single was fun, he didn’t have to worry about anyone else or worry about getting hurt, he could just do crazy things like this. He found himself starting to snuggle with her and the more he drank the more Lani wanted to be close to someone. “You’re not gonna get cold?” He asked suddenly realizing that it was winter and she was in a tank top.

Lani was so close to her he could feel the vibration in her ribs as she laughed and the sensation made him smile and giggle a little to himself. He was too happy and silly to realize that they did both had drinks and that balancing the liquid would be a real challenge since Lani was pretty much hanging onto her. “Oh no!” Lani cried realizing what he’d done and suddenly feeling terrible about spilling her drink. “I’m sorry, I’m so clumsy.” His eyes went to the spot and inadvertently trailed over her chest. He blinked hard and shook his head, he was not in the habit of leering and yet the sensation in his blood was not fading. “So sorry, I ruined it…” Lani said forlornly, emotions flowing in and out of the telekinetic faster than he knew how to deal with them. Lani wasn’t one to deal with emotion at all and well, another thing drinking did. He let her use his arm which brought his hand closer to her and his fingertips ended up brushing her skin.

Her movements were not helping and Lani found himself blinking hard the whole situation going through him like waves. Lani’s brain was no longer thinking logically due to the alcohol and his body was reacting to hers. In many senses of the word she had struck him speechless and he ended up just letting her use him as a towel and staring at her beautiful hair and the quirky way she reacted to things. His hand was very close to her and despite his best efforts she was determined to use him as a towel and he, short of breaking his hand, couldn’t keep his hand from brushing against her shoulder and chest. He knew quite a few people who would have been furious and up in arms about beer spilling on them. It was funny how she seemed more disappointed that she lost liquid than that she was wet. He smiled charmingly, “Don’ worry ‘bout it, its least I can do.” He lifted his arm to survey the damage, it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t wash out in the laundry.

It was a little cold but probably not as miserable as her shirt. Lani looked at her stuffed back and tilted his head down to get a closer look and tipped forward a little bit. “I don’t know if it’ll fit?” He replied and straightened. He had a shirt under his button up. “Here, it’s not too bad, if you’re cold you can wear it.” He said already fumbling with the buttons on the shirt. This was altogether too complicated. Why would someone put buttons on a shirt that was just way too many moving parts.

[Molly Kingsley]

“You’re not gonna get cold?”

Hunter's words had elicited an exaggerated scoff from the redhead, "I have-erm - whatsitcalled... a beer blanket." Was that a thing? It certainly seemed like it, warm as she was. Also all the people helped. "And youuu-" her grin held a touch of playfulness to it as she nuzzled into him a bit. People made good blankets, too. Well - wait, no not blankets, the other things... Like radiating heat. That was it - space heaters.

Once the drink had spilled, and Molly was using his arm to wipe up as he apologized, she merely shrugged, "'sallright. These shirts are like t' dollar." And by that she meant 'like two for a dollar'. Besides, while it was probably bad for the fabric, when something was all white she would totally bleach it to keep it clean. No hue to lose, just a nice crisp finish to maintain. The only things she really tried to take care of were her really nice clothes and her cosplay stuff. And with those things she could get a tad obsessive. She probably would've been a bit less dismissive if she were sober, since she would've noticed just how see-through the tank had become at that spot - enough that the color and cut of her bra was pretty obvious (a pink balconette, as was obvious to at least four people in her immediate vicinity) - and would've most definitely wanted to cover up right away. But she was drunk. She didn't even realize that that sort of thing might be showing.

His little touches against her skin weren't entirely noticeable to Molly's surface mind at first, but that autonomic nervous system was having a ball. She may not have been cold (well, except where the drink had spilled), but there were definitely goosebumps on her skin, even if she wasn't fully aware of them (or the rest of her body, really) right that second. 

She became a lot more aware once he started unbuttoning his shirt. Because drunk Molly recognized that taking off a guy's shirt was something you should always help with, because it lead to good things. Drunk Molly knew far more of this sort of thing than sober Molly. Which is why she was quite deft at men's buttons. And why she gently slapped Hunter's hands out of the way to finish the job in record time, though she didn't make an action to actually remove the shirt, just unbutton.

It took her another second to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, from the touches to the shirt to the kiss earlier... Somewhere in her head, the unbuttoning program was continuing to it's next command, which didn't compute with the 'bar:bar' location variable, which should usually terminate the unbuttoning program until in a proper location. Luckily for her, her brain kept a list of alternative location variables to run the program, and 'bar:restroom,' 'bar:corner,' and 'bar:closet' were apparently all on it. 

Finally comprehending what he'd offered a moment ago, Molly shook her head, her arm looping up behind his neck to pull him down a bit. "Do yoummmph-" She apparently had two things happening at once in her head, because she was already kissing him again before she finished asking the question. Which was intended to be something like 'do you want to go to that restroom/corner/closet' or somewhere that her unbuttoning program might continue to run. ....Yeah, Molly was a bit promiscuous when drinking. It was habit. Most of her sex life took place at conventions where she was heavily under the influence. 

[Lani Hunter]

Lani wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her close, “I can be a beer blanket too,” Lani said happily agreeing. He was full of beer and probably needed a blanket. He imagined snuggling in blankets warmed and cuddly with perhaps Molly snuggling along with him. The drunken mind was a strange strange place. Everything was light hearted and funny, on the flip side Lani’d experienced it when everything was dark and dangerous. Drinking when he was happy was so much more fun. Lani’s brain was bouncing from one thing to another like a ping pong ball hitting topics that Molly mused about and taking them to his own world.

Lani would not be consoled by her dismissal. He pouted at her and found himself watching her as she moved and observing the colors hidden under the shirt. “I’ll still be more careful, will it wash out?” He mused and as he observed the stain he observed the details of Molly. The temptation was high and Lani’s brain was completely on a different page than his mind. The biology was creating a real problem for him at the moment and every touch, every close breath brought Lani’s blood rushing through his veins. He’d felt his way several times before, but never while drunk. Usually he was very sober and had enough sense to back off and give himself a ‘cold shower’. When he was drunk it was a sensation he was finding very hard to ignore and that only caused more heat to be produced. Molly didn’t seem to care and what was better she seemed as happy as Lani was. Lani’d never gotten this drunk and he had a feeling that this was a good night but he’d only remember bits and pieces.

Midway through struggling with his buttons Lani noticed her goosebumps and decided she must be cold then without much more thought process Lani’s hands had nowhere else to go but around her waist as she worked expertly at his buttons. Lani watched her hands and unconsciously pulled her closer probably making it all the harder for her to work on the buttons. Lani breathed a giggle now and again as Molly’s fumbling fingers struck Lani where he was ticklish. At this point Lani’s mind had thrown up its hands and walked away from the controls. There was no need for coherent thoughts anymore. The drink in his hand had found its way to the bar and had somehow emptied itself, Lani assumed into him but he couldn’t be altogether sure it didn’t just fall out the bottom. It gave him more hands to be able to hold onto Molly. He was going to bring the two of them down if he wasn’t careful. His legs tangled with hers and he shifted so that she had the bar to her back. Lani’s eyes couldn’t see the movement of her hands and it was getting hard to watch.

She broke the plane again and Lani pulled her closer, diving into the kiss without inhibitions. She tasted of beer and it was wonderful. He didn’t even comprehend that words had been spoken before she kissed him. Lani had never done anything like this. He had never made out with random strangers at the bar. Well he was not about to stop and tell her that. He was so caught up that he didn’t realize that this was probably way too much public attention and he broke the kiss when someone flicked his ear. He was startled and feral and his head swiveled to observe the attacker and defend Molly should he need to. He was disarmed by the laughter in the man’s voice. “Dude, get a room!” the man called over the loud commotion and Lani flushed crimson.

Lani nodded to the man and grinned sheepishly. “C’mon,” he said tugging Molly along by the hand. Lani’s smiling eyes were on Molly as he led her through the crowd. His heart was racing and it was all he could do to not split into pieces from the way his nerves were vibrating and sending energy to certain places. Lani’s outreaching hand tapped shoulder and gently shoved partiers into making a small tunnel for him and Molly. Occasionally someone he tapped turned with an exuberant ‘Happy New Years!’ which Lani replied with just as much gusto. When Lani’s hand found the back wall he turned and pulled Molly closer to him and he bent and kissed her. Nothing in Lani’s mind was holding him back for once and it was a strangely freeing feeling. His back by chance ran up against a door handle and he looked at it quite offended by its distraction. The man has said to get a room…

Lani raised his eyebrows at Molly and he made what he thought was a subtle look at the door, while in reality the action was more of an exaggerated bob of his head. Lani didn’t care if it was locked or not. Locked doors had never kept him out before and he had just a few secret tricks up his sleeves.

[Molly Kingsley]

The image of Hunter as a beer blanket was, at first, highly entertaining (ohheylook his head on a kids blankie), and then - heh, that was... Molly was already flushed from the drinking, so her minor blush at the image of a true-to-life human blanket (for some reason her mind was way ahead of her at guessing what lay beneath his exterior layers) went basically unnoticed except in the sort of giddy giggle that bubbled out of her. She nodded, "Nude be a good blanket." ...She wasn't aware of the slip of the tongue, to be honest, and her words were muddied in the surrounding clamor enough that he might've missed it, too. Or not. Who could say, really? 'Nude' and 'you'd' sounded basically the same when slurred.

She waved him off when he asked about her shirt, misjudging the distance a bit and sort of lightly swatting him in the chest. "It's cool, I can bleachit - sorry, I didn't mean to-" Molly's go to move - the awkward pat - was back, and she sort of just patted his chest where she'd hit him, and rubbed it like you'd rub a dog's belly. Oh drunkeness. Making men into dogs. There was probably some double entendre to that train of thought, but she was too drunk to comprehend it.

Molly was not the most observant of people when it came to... well, people. She totally missed Hunter's hands holding onto her waist - focused as she was on buttons (she had mad unbuttoning skills, but they really needed her full attention) - until after she had completed that task. And by then they were kissing again, anyway.

Moly quite liked kissing. It was like hugging... with lips. And sometimes tonguesish. Or teethishness. Or...

She hummed happily into his lips until he pulled away, and she just blinked dumbly at the stranger. For someone who couldn't stand attention when sober, Molls was blissfully unaware at this point in the night (morning, really, since midnight had passed). This was not the first time she'd made out in a bar, truth be told, but it was definitely the first time that it wasn't a bar in a venue rented out for a convention. And during a convention, there were surprisingly a lot of drunken makeouts around this time of the night.

"Hap-py new year!" She greeted the stranger who'd interrupted them with a grin as Hunter pulled her away, delightedly stumbling through the crowd.

She was even more delighted when he seemed to have stopped - or so she judged, given that she'd just run right into his chest. She was almost amazed that they'd managed to actually find each others lips on the first try. And she was squirming slightly in glee as he pulled away, glancing at something behind him. It just made her giggle some more. "You'rre pink!" She exclaimed with a grin, aiming to point a finger at his cheek and instead sort of sliding down one side of his lips. That drink was finally all the way into her bloodstream and she was feeling the full force of her night's drinks - with their powers combined, she was severely intoxicated.

And her internal programming was also restarting the program, now that she'd found the equivalent of 'bar:corner.' She was far more aware of the skin-to-skin contact that was taking place, and it sent a zing of energy through her, encouraging her to sally forth into new lands of Hunter-dom. But he was distracted by the door.

Before he could make an attempt on it, she'd grabbed his forearm, remembering the moment not even a week before when she hadn't trusted signage. "Caref'l there might be 'n alarm," she warned. "From experience I can say; if it says alarm..." She paused just slightly longer than was entirely necessary. "...it's prob'ly alarmed." Her tone was serious, but her wide eyes and solemn nodding seemed more silly than anything else. She hadn't even glanced at the door to see if it said alarmed, anyway.

In her head, however, the two of them were breaking into an alarmed lair, suddenly the sneakiest sneaks around - like James Bond and that one who was associated with James Bond. Or James Bondina. (Yes, she probably should've changed the first name, but she certainly didn't know that in the moment.) They were badass spies who were probably gonna bang to a badass soundtrack full of upright bass and an entire section of horns. Not just one or two. An entire section. Because badass spies did that.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t realize the word was a slip of the tongue and Lani gave a sly smirk and cocked is head at her. “You think so?” He asked teasingly. He was feeling very powerful at the moment, very ignorant that the one in control was actually alcohol and they were both slaves to its blunders and missteps. It was pulling their strings and it was pulling them close together. Were Lani sober he would probably have given Molly a fair amount of distance, especially considering the trial his heart had undertaken not too long ago, however drunken Lani was recognizing the fact that this wasn’t a matter of the heart, rather it was a matter of the blood and groin. “We should test that theory,” he said. Yes, because nude would be a good blanket, the more direct body contact the more direct the heat transfer. Because science was what it was all about, of course.

Her swat didn’t hurt, in fact it barely registered on Lani’s ‘danger’ radar, in fact it had quite the opposite effect especially when she started rubbing it. His skin was too hot under his clothes and he was strangely alright with being rubbed like a puppy. Lani was sensitive, whether that was part of his power or a side effect of thieving Lani didn’t care to think about but the right touch was just enough to get Lani to be very compliant. Somehow Adrianna had learned the trick way back when they were dating and when they happened to get close now and again she did it again. Like the several weeks after Odion had left he didn’t know what he’d do without her. He recalled Adrianna with a drunken smile and then it was gone as per the unfocused drunk mind. “Dun worry ‘bout it.” He nodded his head making no move to stop her action.

The strangely intimate progression of this encounter were missed on Lani who was in no mood to get sober and stop. He was starting to suffer quite a bit from desire and the kiss poisoned his mind in the most sweet of ways. It intoxicated him further than the forgotten alcohol. He was very upset that it was broken off but it also made the desire stronger and it make Lani more intent on finding a place with relative privacy. Lani was no stranger to bars but he was a stranger to making out with strangers. A sober Lani was very skittish and very clueless. He might as well have a sign over his head. But drunk Lani on the other hand, drunk Lani was confident and drunk Lani was pretty sure that a kiss was a sign of a mutual attraction. And therefore drunk Lani was infinitely more wise than sober Lani.

Laughing at Molly’s antics he was more than willing to get back into lip to lip action. It was very rude of the doorknob to interrupt them like that. “You’rre pink!” “Huh?” Lani’s head whipped back around. Lani’s heart skipped a beat and his mind supplied rather cruelly with a memory of a lower voice declaring that he was blushing. No this was no happening. Odion was not going to ruin this for him. He’d already ruined his life and his heart, he was not going to ruin drinking. And by pure will the memory vanished and memory of the memory recall with it. Lani smiled and stuck his tongue out at her in the oh-so-mature way he’d learned from Adrianna.

Lani examined the door, it was an easy door, not meant to keep the most sinister of criminals out. In fact it was a good door for the situation for it was meant to keep drunk people out. Sadly Lani was no ordinary drunk person and doors were no chance against the telekinetic. Strange things happened to his power when he drank, at least this time he couldn’t accidentally lift a car. Molly’s hand on his arm called his short attention back and he remembered why he was here with a vengeance. He took her advice with an equally solemn nod, though he didn’t hold it in as well as she did and an impish smile crossed his face and his eyes shimmered with something that could only be ‘trouble’. He looked back at the door. “It doesn’t say it’s ‘larmed,” he said then something dawned on him. “Experience? Molly yah ge’ better by the second!” He gave her a bear hug and kissed her cheek once before kissing her lips again. That distracted Lani a good bit before he remembered again why they were here. He drew away, “Should we try it?” Lani asked with a giggle.

He loved breaking the law. Not that this would probably be considered extremely law breaking, but it was still entering some place they probably shouldn’t be. Without waiting for her answer he tried the door. Locked. His power drunkenly fumbled the handle and finally it turned in his hands. It gave way and he gave a conspiratorial look to Molly as if it had been open the whole time.

[Molly Kingsley]

Molly was clueless to her own misspeaking, so she just rolled her eyes with a good natured smile. "Duhhh," she teased, "You're like... comfy and stuff." At his suggestion that they test the theory, Molly couldn't help but let slip, "I dunno what the control for that test would be." She was a bit of a dork. But her point was true - she couldn't decide if it would be comparing to other people, or just alcohol, or a regular blanket, or no blanket. ...Wait, what was the independent variable in this-? Woah woah woah. Less science. More flirting.

In a way, it was a blessing that Molly was blissfully free of any previous relationship hang ups. In fact, she was free of any real previous relationships. And free of several details about previous non-relationships. Her main hang ups were with her family expecting her to settle down. Maybe she was subconsciously telling herself not to fall in love with anyone just to spite them. She much preferred drunken hookups with people she probably wouldn't ever have to see again.

“Huh?”

He didn't seem to have heard her, so she dragged out her word, her finger waving around in the air a bit as she pointed at him. "Piiiiiink." When he stuck out his tongue she giggled. It may have been childish, but it was fun.

She shook herself as he turned to the door, and she tried to put on a serious expression, about as intent as someone who was completely plastered could be. His sudden hug and kisses had her blinking in confusion (though happy confusion) and it took her another second to come back to the present. She didn't really get what he meant. She'd failed to sneak out of a bar. Not much experience in that.

“Should we try it?”

Molly's eyes were a little wider than usual, even though there was an excited smile on her lips. She was not usually a rule breaker, but Hunter was all sexy dangerous kinda. Her face fell when he jiggled it once and it didn't open. Damn. So much for-

But then it did open! Had he tricked her? Nooo, he was just being a super sneaky spy. She let out a little squeal of delight, raising her arms in triumph, and then hushed herself. Right. Super sneaky spies did not announce their triumphs. They were sneaky about it.

...She could probably do a victory dance once they got inside.