Kids These Days(Percie)

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The bar that Derek had chosen to meet his hired PI at was one that wasn't too far from his place of residence. Just a five minute car drive, then again, everywhere in Pilot Ridge was only a five minute car drive on an average day. It was three minutes on a day without traffic and good luck with the streetlights and a maximum of ten minutes on a bad traffic day with a flurry of nothing but red-lights. In the middle of the night like they were, despite it being barely 10pm, it was possible to even predict a road clear enough to get away with driving intoxicated. Not that he would do that...at least not with too much in his system. After all, he had to get there somehow. And fortunately, over the years, Derek could boast of gaining a kind of tolerance towards the substance.

He knew who he was looking for, so he didn't bother giving her any sort of indication of how to find him one she arrived. Similarly, Percie knew very well what Derek looked like so he didn't expect that she should have any trouble finding him upon her arrival. Derek first approached the bar, ordering a shot of whiskey followed by something light he could sip on while he waited for the irritating woman to arrive, taking both to a small table in the center of the establishment, a position far more comfortable for him than either the bar or a booth.

Derek threw back his head, taking in his shot then setting it to the side. He readjusted his shades then continued to wait.

[Percie Hobbes]

Percie made it to the bar in about ten minutes at a quick walk. After she had flung the condoms at the two boys on her couch she had exited as quickly as possible. She didn't want to think about what was happening on her couch and raised her phone to her mouth to speak clearly to her automated pain in the ass. "Set reminder to buy new couch tomorrow," she ordered crisply, Siri's voice echoing her request and allowing her to confirm her plans. That done her phone was held in her hand againt her chest as she entered the bar and easily spot her grumpy client.

"Whiskey neat, and a shot of whiskey," she ordered as she slid into the chair opposite of Derek, her inked shoulders hunched inwardly for a moment before she set her phone on the table and sat back. "Hey there," she greeted as the waiter brought her order and retreated tactfully. The first thing she did was toss back the shot before taking up her glass and sipping the chilled whiskey. "Your son's boyfriend is a pain in the ass...actually he kind of reminds me of you. Not sure how you should feel about that."

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On the bright side, at least Derek had someone to share his drunken evening with. But he wasn’t sure how much that bright side illuminated the dark side that was persistently trying to ruin his evening. Derek raised a brow as the woman rushed in and immediately ordered…almost the exact same thing Derek had. That brought a small twitch upward on the corner of his mouth. “How many of those have you had already?” he asked, subtly pointing to the drinks as they arrived.

He scowled, however, at the comment Miss Hobbes made about his son’s……partner. Derek stared at her and as the waiter passed by, he rose his hand and put up two fingers to indicate another two helpings of his alcohol of choice. He swirled the golden liquid and ice in his glass before taking in the rest of it all at once and setting it aside. “I didn’t need to hear that,” he said, taking off his shades and rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Derek rose his head and looked to the ceiling. “Something tells me that my boy is….the picture of perfection. Enough to make any parent proud." His tongue was, of course, dripping with sarcasm.

[Percie Hobbes]

Percie gave him a side long glance and used his ordering to order more whiskey for herself. "I "pre-gamed" it if you will back at the apartment when I met your son's charming boyfriend. By charming I mean asshole of course," she repeated because she was starting to feel a little floaty and she wanted to make sure that Derek was aware of the situation. "And of course you did. Don't you remember? You wanted to know eeeeveeerything. Technically I'm doing my job," she pointed out reasonably as she continued to drink, desperately trying to wash the images of Oriel and Phen kissing from her brain.

SHE wanted to kiss someone, she deserved it didn't she? Putting up with all this nonsense...fighting a drug dealer, being called a pedophile, enduring uncalled for hostility. Her train of thought derailed with Derek's sarcastic comment. "Oh well, you know you could probably blame that on his upbringing, his dad probably didn't....OH WAIT RIGHT, you weren't there. Come on Derek they've done studies up the WAZOO about this sorta thing!" she exclaimed almost helplessly. "But anyway let’s not talk about that kid OR his boyfriend because frankly I'm probably going to have to buy a new couch tomorrow and I'd REALLY like to not remember why," she added as she finished her first glass, reached for her second shot, downed it and then reached for her other glass.

The room wasn't quite spinning yet but she felt good, good enough to sway to the music over the speakers. "What music do you like?" she asked Derek suddenly.

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“Then it seems like we have something in common,” he said, ignoring completely Percie’s continued commentary on his son’s “charming boyfriend”. He didn’t need to hear about that. Derek was already regretting having made this hire as it seemed there was nothing more to his son than his deviant homosexuality. “I did say that, but I’m starting to question your ability to “detect” if all you’re able to provide me is the repetition of the exact, same, sickening details.” Because there had to be more to his son than the fact that he was gay. If there wasn’t, then this was just a waste of his time and money.

Derek’s eyes narrowed as the drunken woman hollered at him over his absence from his son’s life. He didn’t deny it, and he wouldn’t. Instead, he agreed with her. “You are correct, had I been a presence in his life, that child would not have turned out to be any of the disappointments I’ve hears thus far of him.” Derek brought his drink to his lips. “It was his mother’s influence, no doubt.” She was a hussy, a loose woman, to have spread her legs so easily without the proper protection of being on birth control. Derek had done his part, even drunk, and yet she failed to do hers. She couldn’t even muster up the responsibility to have an abortion. And yet she blamed Derek for not being around and forced him into child support when he could have used the money to fund his own practice and please the woman he was to marry. Derek downed his other shot, then returned to sipping at his other glass.

He wasn’t expecting the conversation to steer to something more genial, though Derek could understand the woman’s need to focus on something more than what was likely going on back at her residence. Derek didn’t wish to think about that either. “I grew up listening to Dolly Parton, Karen Carpenter, Bob Dylan and Neil young, to name a few. Trust me, my taste in music is anything but interesting to someone your age.”

[Percie Hobbes]

Due to her current level of inebriation Percie didn't listen to (or rather, care to listen to) Derek's comments. Instead she focused more on the answer to her question and scoffed a little. "Age has nothing to do with music, there are twenty-year-olds that idolize Frank Sinatra and Chuck Berry," she pointed out. "Also Elvis and Micheal Jackson share space on my ipod," she felt the need to point out. "So you like old country singers, that's actually a little surprising. I would have pegged you as a classical music or jazz aficionado. Unless you are, then by all means feel free to...school me," The way she finished her sentence was certainly a flirtatious challenge and her eyes flicking over the top half of his body was an obvious hint.

She sipped at her whiskey and hummed to the bars of music that flitted across the bar. "Any hobbies?" she wondered out loud. "I knot…knit drink coasters. I'll give you some next time I see you, I have lots. Never can have too many drink coasters." she explained matter-of-factly as the alcohol finally started taking hold. She thought her tolerance was admirable considering she'd practically been straight chugging whiskey for nearly an hour at this point. Which was probably why Derek didn't look so grumpy...just mysterious and totally not irritated, maybe sullen. As if the world had taken something from him and he couldn't get it back because he was in time out. Yes...Derek was like a five-year-old in time out. The image had Percie laughing so hard to herself she nearly knocked her drink over trying to set it down as she convulsed with laughter.

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“Are you sure? Paul McCartney was at the Grammy’s a year or so ago and the only thing I kept hearing from young people was, ‘who’s that?’” Derek shook his head. “Kids these days rave about these “new” songs coming out, thinking they’re original and the best thing to happen since Smooth Criminal, yet they’d never heard of The Beatles…Turtles…The Temptations, they don’t know about great songwriters like Diane Warren and Billy Joel.” He managed to crack a well-meant smile at her assumptions and Derek only had to shake his head again in disagreement. “No…I do enjoy the classics as well, but I am afraid I am an old fuddy, very much stuck in the oldies, though….I must admit that I had my own era of rebellion as a teen.” He enjoyed the bars then as much as he did now, though back then he enjoyed the company of his peers far more than he did today, often inviting a girl or two out for a dance.

Derek was more than feeling the alcohol by this point, which was good because with the topic at hand he was now able to more or less forget about the previous topic of his son and whatever he was currently doing on Percie’s couch. “I swim, I hike….I read, and…” Derek held up his glass, taking in another sip of whiskey. “I drink. So clearly I could use some of those drink coasters.” Derek’s head was fuzzy enough that he easily misinterpreted the woman’s amusement as an overreaction to their shared joke about drink coasters. Though it was true, Derek was indeed a disgruntled, sullen person who viewed the world as something that had done him a wrong. “Compose yourself, woman,” he said lightly. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”

[Percie Hobbes]

Percie stopped with a stuttering giggle and set her drink down. "Sorry, my imagination ran away with me," she explained as she leaned closer to tell Derek that she thought his hobbies were very manly. "You're hobbies are very manly," she teased as she picked up her drink once more to sip. "And you may have all the coasters you wish," she continued graciously. She checked the clock on her phone and frowned, how long was a long enough wait? She wanted to go home and go to bed....alone....meh.

I don't really think you're a fuddy-duddy," she announced suddenly, bringing that topic round again. "It's good to have rules and expectations for yourself and others because it gives you something to grind against. You might be a bit rigid though, you could use some relaxing," she grinned. "I know this massage parlor you could go to! I always feel so great once they've finished!" She grinned as a well-manicured hand ran through her hair. She usually treated herself to a massage once a month to help alleviate some of the stress in her life.

"I kinda wish we could dance," she sighed as she put her chin in her palm and looked up at Derek's solid, tempting, very dangerous territory, body with a slight shudder of appreciation. Yup, she could definitely spend a few drinken moments in a room filled with a pounding bass and tons of people as they moved against each other. She grinned somewhat idiotically at the image in her head.

[Deleted]

Derek blinked through his quickly blurring eyes. The alcohol was doing nothing for his already compromised eyesight. “What else did you expect them to be? I am a man.” How else was he to explain it? He was a man therefore he had manly hobbies. That was…like saying an apple tasted like an apple. Derek noticed when Percie checked her phone and wondered himself how long she was going to have him out here.

Derek sighed, shaking his head in disapproval.

“I do relax,” he insisted with a narrowing of his eyes. He relaxed quite a bit when he needed to. However, the massage did sound nice. “I don’t know if I’d be able to afford such luxury,” he said to her, half joking. He donned a half smile as he drank back more of his whiskey. The ice clinked back into the empty glass as he set it back on the table. “This place doesn’t have a dancing area but…I do know of some other locations that do offer it.” Just a few, though. He liked to dance sometimes, but his tired, middle-aged body didn’t often let him.

They continued to converse for a while longer. Mostly about nonsensical stuff - their favorite dances, more on music, a small, healthy debate on the problems with today’s youth - and before he knew it, they were stumbling back towards her residence, using each other to hold themselves up. Derek was in no shape to drive, obviously, and Percie’s place was, according to her, only a short walk away. “Wha…which one is it?” he slurred, blinking through his ever worsening eyesight. He may as well have been blind at this point, between the strain from his power and the copious amounts of liquor he’d consumed. He passed his eyes from one detail-less blob to the next, holding onto Percie at the waist with her inside hand grasping tight to his own.

[Percie Hobbes]

This thread is continued HERE