007 no ice (open)

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Friday night was always busy at the studio. It was salsa night and all the usual suspects were there as well as a bunch of new faces that Em had never seen before. There were people dancing and having fun, drinks being surved, laughter and good times all around. Perhaps it was the mix of salsa and the holiday season that was bringing the light out in everyone eyes and the romance in their hearts because she swore she saw far more couples there today then she had since she'd started there. It was exciting though, new love, young love, love. She sighed to herself as she surved a Jack and coke to a scruffy looking older man before going on to start the next order.

She had turned out to be quite the little bar tender. She was too young to drink herself, but her knowledge was far beyond her years. She had started drinking behind her parents back at a young age anyway and her sisters had shared all their knowledge with her as well which helped. Her powers also lent a lot to her skill. She had never tried to control liquids other than water before but she found that the ones that had enough mixed in she could control even the slightest bit. Enough to make her look like she had some fun bar tending tricks up her sleeves that weren't too flashy at least.

Em smiled to herself thinking of her skills and skillfully poured a drink from high up, allowing her abilities to guide the liquid into the cup without spilling. She slid the glass to the customer and collected tips.

The music picked up pace a bit and Em smiled. They were coming to one of her favorite songs and she looked up hoping that no one had a dance partner and that maybe Reece would have her dance with someone. That was the other part of the job, making sure no one was left standing alone. It was fun... usually... it was awful when she was forced to dance with some old fat man who smelt bad or couldn't dance to save their lives. That was always just frustrating. But she always got good tips.

Em sighed not seeing anyone free and went back to serving drinks. At least she looked cute tonight. The black eye she'd gotten a week ago was finally all but gone and her blonde hair was cooperating, falling in loose blonde curls down her back.

"I'll have a 007 no ice." She heard a customer say behind her and she smiled. "Coming right up."

[Raphael Jenkins]

Friday night meant no more studying until Monday, and wasn't he glad of that? He wasn't the best student, but not the worst, and weekends were made for more than having one's nose buried in a book. He'd been making himself pretty scarce in Pilot Ridge anyway, and it was close to end of semester, so it was about time to explore. Really, any excuse to get out of looking at books and tests would have worked. Plus he'd heard of this new club that featured salsa dancing. Maybe there'd be some some guys there that would be interested in him. It was worth a shot.

The bleached blond boy made his way into town and then found the salsa bar/club place. It almost looked like someone wasn't able to decide if they wanted a bar or a dance studio, and had simply mashed them together and hoped it worked. Which, for now, it was. The place was pretty packed. He watched the dancers for a while, then made his way to the bar where a young girl worked. Surely she wasn't old enough to be serving alcohol. Back home, maybe, but here in the US they had much stricter laws. Aw well, not his problem.

He watched her work for a bit, noting that she was cheating with pouring drinks. Anyone trained at Hammel would be able to spot the signs of another trained there and a reluctant grin pulled up the corners of his lips. This might prove to be interesting. When she turned to face him after he placed his order, he noted that she wasn't a natural blond. Well, neither was he, so that worked out rather well, now didn't it?

"Go heavy on the vodka, sweetheart." Raphael used endearments with everyone. If he hadn't had the thick English accent, one might have thought he'd grown up in the southern US, where such things were commonplace. But no, it was something he did without thinking, rather like breathing. There was a saying among his classmates: Raphael would flirt with a brick post. And partially it was true. Flirting was something that came easy to him, and he rarely thought about what he was doing until he'd done it. It was part of the reason for the fights he'd gotten in when he was younger. He hadn't meant to flirt, but the other boys didn't see it that way.

When his drink came, he took a sip, then smiled at the girl, leaning across the bar to rub the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "Thanks, gorgeous. What's your name?"

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em looked up at the boy who'd ordered taking him in. He looked her age, maybe a little older. Hmm. "ID please." She said with a smile though started to make the drink anyway the way he ordered it. IDing was just part of the job and she couldn't deny that she quite enjoyed it. Not that she was old enough to drink herself but it made her feel like she had power and like she had control and she never stopped loving the conversations it lead to afterwards. Normally if it was someone who minded they'd start talking about how she didn't look old enough to drink and sometimes it lead to a hissy fit which she quite enjoyed as well. But she hoped no drama would come out of it today. She didn't want to turn this attractive male away but she still had to cover her ass.

"Sorry it's policy." She said. "Anyone who looks under 30." She shrugged sliding the drink over as he showed her is ID proving he was covered. She smiled happy that was easy.

"Emmanuelle." She chuckled to mask the awkwardness she was feeling from his hands on her face, her name was on her name tag. Em didn't do well with germs and despite letting strangers dance with her she didn't typically like their grimy hands on her face. She didn't know where they'd been and she'd read studies about how most people actually didn't wash their hands after using the bathroom... gross. "And yours?" She didn't recognize him. "Is this your first time here?" SHe asked grabbing a rag to clean up a spill someone had left when they were pulled to the dance floor.

[Raphael Jenkins]

The ID was slid across the counter without complaint or question. He generally got carded and would have it ready whenever ordering a drink. A slight smile lifted his lips even further as she presented the drink to him. Her rag work looked like she was uncomfortable with something, but he was in a mood tonight, and he wasn't going to let her get off that easy. Normally, he wouldn't have pushed, she was a girl, but he just felt like being strange tonight. A sip of his drink made him nod slightly in appreciation and then he spoke again.

"So, that's a really long name, Emmanuelle. Can I call you...." Raphael pretended to consider what name to call the blond. "Emmy, or Em, or Elle....which do you prefer?" Not that it necessarily mattered, he was really notorious for shorting names into what he wanted to call someone. He'd already decided what he was going to name her, but he'd let her pretend to have a choice for the moment.

"It is my first time, good call. What's the chance of getting you to dance, beautiful?" Raphael didn't care really, it was just a good way to avoid giving her his name yet, and keeping her attention. He hadn't realized how hungry he was for attention until he'd gotten to the bar and started talking to this girl. Of course, he could go find some guy to flirt with, but for some reason, flirting with women was just more entertaining when he wasn't looking for a hookup.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em chuckled when she said she had a long name. Indeed she did and she had more nicknames than anyone else she knew. Em, Emma, Elle, Ellie, Manny, Emmy, and the list went on from there. She really had learned to answer to pretty much any name that seemed to be directed towards her. Not that she minded though, with every different nick name she felt it gave her the chance to also act slightly different. She did believe that someones name did tell an awful lot about them and nicknames were no acception. So of course an Emma and a Manny would be two different girls... right?

"Most people call me Emmy." She told him tossing the dirty towel into the bin. That name was the one she had identified with most since coming to Hammel when she was younger anyway and the one she'd used during work.

A smile stretched across her face when he asked if he'd get to dance. Ok, so the face touching was a bit creepy but she could get over that if he wanted to dance. "If you want to dance I'd be delighted to be your dance partner for the next few songs." She told him happily. She wondered if he had any experience despite it only being his first time here and even if he didn't she didn't mind. She wasn't as good of a teacher as some of the others who worked here but she was learning thanks to Reece and was quite confident that they'd have a good time.

Em undid her apron and hung it on the hook before coming around the bar. "Do you know how to Salsa?" She asked starting to lead the way away from the bar and to the dance floor. She glanced at him over her shoulder. "You never did tell me your name."

"

[Raphael Jenkins]

"You're absolutely correct, Elle, I haven't." He smirked at her back as he ignored the rest of what she'd said to him, including her nickname. He didn't want to call her what everyone else called her, that would be boring. Besides, he wanted to stand out in her mind, and not in a creepy way. He simply wanted to ensure good service for himself, and to do that, he needed to be on her good side. So, he would butter her up some. Besides, she looked like she could use a good buttering up. Poor thing looked like she'd never been laid.

They walked to the floor and joined the couples dancing there. Raphael had some experience, but was rusty, although he did manage to not look like a total fool, and bonus points, didn't step on her feet. He engaged her in light conversation, nothing personal, just about her experience dancing and tending bar, light, casual topics that would make him sound interested, when he really wasn't. They danced through two songs, and he led her back to the bar, lightly kissing the back of her fingers before releasing her hand.

"I'm Raphael, like the angel." He winked at her, then turned away from the bar to study the dance floor, swallowing down a low groan at the sight of a couple of the men out there. They were nice to watch, and he had to make sure that his gaze didn't linger to long and get him into any potential trouble. After getting his visual rocks off, he turned back to the bar with a dazzling smile for the blonde.

"Can I get another one of those? You mix drinks well, how did you happen to come by that talent?"

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Elle. That was his choice. Interesting. She didn't mind at all though she didn't really care what people called her so long as it wasn't distasteful. She raised a brow when he noted that he hadn't then continued not to tell her his name. No that wasn't sketchy as all. Normal people always held off on giving their name out but whatever she'd play his game for his amusement for the sake of a good tip at the end of the night. She'd been out of work for a few days the past week and needed to make up the cash and couldn't afford to to be judgmental of customers.

Em entertained him on the dance floor keeping things casual. She didn't think that he could handle anything too in depth and wasn't about to take him in fully when he was already acting so sketchy and with holding information which was her job. Her ribs still hurt like a bitch too which didn't help.

She told him bare minimals when he asked during their conversation. She wasn't someone who liked to talk about herself or her past or really most things about her. If anything in a friendship she mostly liked to talk about the other person. If they were broken then good that was even better. She loved the thrill of fixing someone and getting to know them on a deeper level but if they ever tried the saem with her well.. that was usually the end of it. It was the main reason for her serial dating though it seemed that now that was starting to slow down as well. It'd been a while since she had a boy toy but she wasn't entirely sure she was looking anymore. She had an idea of who she'd like but knew that her chances were slim to none for the first time in her life.... She did have Romeo though... but that was more of a wham bam thank you ma'am kind of job if anything.

When he led her back to the bar she didn't much notice that he kissed the back of her hand. It was weird but not entirely uncommon here. "Raphael." She laughed. "I must have done something right if you decided I was worthy enough to let your name grace my ears." She said and nodded mixing him a second drink.

"All my sisters bartend so i helped three of them study for a bar tending test before it was my turn." She told him. "Other then that it's practice and good taste." She slid his drink to him. "And i have good taste."

[Raphael Jenkins]

Elle hadn't done anything to be worthy of knowing his name, he just decided to finally tell her. Of course, it never hurt to keep them guessing. An air of mystery could be exciting. He didn't really have any other reason to be here tonight, so he might as well make a game out of it. As for her 'taste', well, he would comment on it, but a gay man's perspective wasn't always the most favored. He let the comment slide and took the drink as it was handed over and tossed it back. He laid a fifty on the bar and tapped the wood for another. It would be his last, but he might as well get it down quick. Once she found out he was gay, who knew what would happen.

"Thank you for the dance and the drinks, dear Elle. I'm off to find some nice man to take me home and do dirty things to me." He winked at her as he took the final drink, slowly sipping at it and letting his gaze drift once more over the patrons of the bar, trying to find his target for the night. He was revved up and ready to go now, and wondered who he might find.

OOC: Sorry its short, he's....yeah, i had to edit him heavily.