CH 15: Static

Oblivious to the plan unfolding without her consent, Esme descends the staircase with Charlie, heading straight to Angel, who is talking to Husk. He had his back turned to her, yapping away in nonsensical conversation with the bartender. His attention is shifted as he hears her heels approaching.

"Hey Es, what are you gonna drink t-" He turns to her, eyes widening when he sees her outfit, "HELLOHOHO" He leans against the counter, "C'mon, give me a spin let me see~" He twirls his finger in the air.

Esme giggles and drops Charlie's hand, doing a little spin. "Only the best for tonight~" her voice echoes with a playful melody. 

Angel chuckles, "That's right, baby, we're getting ya back out there!~" He takes a tequila bottle and reaches for a small glass, preparing her a her a shot, "I told you that outfit was the best choice for today. Let's get this show on the road." Reaching over the counter, he takes a sliced lime, "Go on, time is a wastin'." Esme raises an eyebrow, having never done a tequila shot before. He laughs and lines her arm with salt, "Lick it first..." 

She doesn't hesitate and runs her tongue along her forearm, causing Alastor to look away. Angel hands her the shot, "Quickly." He instructs. She shuts her eyes and leans her head back, jumping at the burn and swallowing harshly. She drops the glass and waves her mouth with her hand, dropping her tongue in a pant.

Angel laughs, pushing a lime in her mouth. Esme sinks her fangs into it and sucks the juice out, immediately relaxing. "It's a pregame, toots, let's go~" He begins to walk to the door, Esme shaking her head still warm from the shot. 

"Actually..." She sips the remaining juice from the lime in her mouth, "Charlie wanted the rest of the group to come with." 

"What?" Vaggie asks from the couch, quickly being pulled towards the door by Charlie, and the group follows the two out. 

The group doesn't say much on the way to the club. After all, it's not like most of them could pull out anyhow. Alastor was in charge of what the bartender and the hotel's maid were to do, so they couldn't say boo. Much to Husk's disgust, if Alastor said 'jump' he had to respond with 'how high.' Although, he did wonder why his boss wanted to join the pair to the club. That wasn't The Radio Demon's speed, usually he wouldn't care about the whereabouts of those irrelevant to him, but tonight he seemed too enthusiastic. He didn't say much as he walked, keeping his hands neatly folded behind his back as he kept his eyes straight ahead with an uninterested gaze. 

The first club was loud, several flashing neon lights, and sinners dancing everywhere. Angel drags Esme to the bar where he picks her up and props her on the stool, leaning next to her. He leans to the men behind him and starts to flirt senselessly with them. Esme laughs and shakes her head, turning to the rest of the group. She notices that Alastor is staying in the back of the room, leaning against the wall with his legs crossed and appearing on edge, no demon daring to approach him. In fact, that back of the room seems deader than...well them. 

The music was obnoxious, lacking class or taste. The outfits that these wrecked people chose were tacky and horrendous. He was starting to get a migraine from all of this, but he was there for one purpose. As she watches him, Esme's eyes softened. He was obviously uncomfortable and could use a familiar friend. She turns to the bartender, "Can I have a whiskey sour," She asks, putting some bills on the table, "...and a vodka cranberry, please?" She smiles and takes the drinks, walking towards him. 

As soon as she approaches him, his eyes dilate at the sight of her. 

"Aww, c'mon grandpa, lighten up." She smiles, passing him the whiskey. The same order he would get when the two of them would frequent the speakeasy together. It was funny how she immediately knew what he needed, although she was still unaware of his identity. 

"How did you kn-" 

"Do you think I don't remember your usual? Oh, you wound me, Alastor." She smiles, moving his arm to bring the drink closer to his mouth, "now down it goes~" 

Alastor keeps his eyes focused on hers, burning into her gaze, as he quickly downs the drink. The energy between both of their gazes is intense, unwavering. There's no need for words between the two of them, the eye contact does enough talking. The Siren can feel her heart rate increasing ever so slightly in her chest as Alastor leans over to the side table with the shot glass, turning it upside down on the table next to him in annoyance. 

Esme's eyes wander to the upside down glass, taking a moment to observe it. "Funny....I do the same thing." She says softly. He doesn't respond, just smirks watching her. "Well~" She begins to drink from her glass, "Here's to a night of fun, which I'll certainly be in a few hours." She chuckles. This doesn't go over well with him, as he speaks with a low tone, 

"Yes, well, I'm sure you're a hoot after a couple of those..." He pauses, his smile stretching intimidatingly as he speaks to her with a crude tone, "...with many men for you to play with after all..." 

There's a silence between the two as Esme's eyes narrow at him, her fangs peaking through slightly. She doesn't say anything, just pivots and walks away, flipping him a very special finger.

She didn't know what had crawled up his ass, but to be frank she couldn't give a shit. Usually, Alastor was very polite and gentlemanly to her. Tonight, he was being nothing short than a pompous, arrogant, prick. He could stay there in his dingy little corner while she rejoined the others.  

The rest of the group seemed to be enjoying their time together. Charlie and Vaggie are dancing with one another. Nifty is running between people's legs, bouncing from one spot to the next. Husk, Angel, Esme, and Sir Pentious sit at the bar. Esme has already finished her second drink and is trying to remember how to do tequila shots with the others. 

"Alright, alright, so it's salt...then lime...and then shot." She licks the salt off the back of her hand, quickly sucking the lime  

Husk sighs, "No, it's salt..then s-" She doesn't listen to him and downs the liquor. 

"You're doing it wrong!" Angel shouts over the music.

"Really?" She looks up with her eyes glazed over, rocking on her chair, "Cuz I feel great~" 

She jumps off the stool and begins to dance amongst the crowd, spinning in circles. She was calling a lot of attention to herself, such a powerful overlord in such a state of mind. Angel quickly approaches her, rolling his eyes, "Oh for the love o- you need to control yaself, babe, you're drunk as hell and makin' a fool of yourself." 

Esme giggles and leans into him, "Aw, come onnnn~" She whines, "This was a night to make me forget a move on, was it not???" Angel pauses, feeling conflicted. Of course he wanted his girl to let down her hair and lighten up, but he didn't necessarily want her to accidentally put herself in danger.  "Let me have some fun~" She flips her hair back over her shoulder and walks over to a table of men playing cards. She leans over it,

"Hello, boys~" She says seductively, "Care to deal me in?" She asks, reaching for a hand.

One of them looks up at her, immediately recognizing her and smirking at her state. It wasn't too often that you saw an overlord in such a state, nonetheless one as exquisite as herself, "Well, well, if it isn't The Siren herself..." he begins with a playful tone to his voice, "We're playing poker, doll, think you can keep up? Are you sure you're not going to get distracted by all the pretty cards?" What did this little woman have to offer for a man's game?

Esme giggles and leans closer to him, the scent of vodka and tequila lingering on her breath, "Positive...." She growls in a timbre that would have most backing away. 

As Esme sits down next to him, the fox turns to her with a waggish smirk, "Alright, so if you wanna play with the big boys, then you gotta pay up first. How about we make a little wager? If we win, I get to dance with ya, and if you win, we'll fancy 20 dollars.." 

"A dance with me is worth much more than one measy bill.." Esme says nonchalantly, picking up a cigarette from the table and lighting it with a green flame. If they wanted her so badly, they surely would follow her bait. As much as men hated to admit, they do often fall prey to a woman would confidence. It's much more fun with your target has a bite, right?

He chuckles, "Alright then, 50 dollars.." 

Esme rolls her eyes, "Oh, you're asking me to lower my standards, but I'll allow it." She smirks, reviewing her cards. 

If she were to close her eyes and take some deep breaths of the smoke dancing through the air, she would imagine herself sitting at her father's bar late in the evening. When most young women were returning homes to their mothers and a nice warm bed, she was with the patriarch of her family alongside his men. Their cigs would hang out of their mouths lazily, threatening to fall and catch on the papers, but no one cared. 

She learned how to carefully study her opponent's face, noting how their eyebrows would scrunch when skimming over certain cards. She would see how they would straighten up in different moments, giving away their plan.

As the night progresses, Esme surprisingly holds her own very well despite still being very much drunk. She has upped the stakes several times, with now a wager of 150 dollars on the line or a night with her alone. She seems to have a natural talent for the game, and the men are growing suspicious.  

"Now hold on a minute, how is it you're so good at this?" The tod questions, "You don't seem like the type to know your way around a poker table..." 

Deciding to pay no attention to his misogynistic words and remain blissful within her drunkenness, Esme simply giggles in response, "I'm more than just easy on the eyes~" She stands up, takes her money and begins to turn, "Now, I must be on my way~" She blows the smoke in his direction and winks. 

He reaches for her side and swipes at her dress, reeling her back towards him, "Oh, come on doll, don't be like that. We were just getting started." Esme winces and feels a sharp pain across her flank. She looks down and notices he has made a small rip in her dress, causing her to bleed. She growls and her eyes shine brightly, her hair beginning to levitate around her. 

How dare he lay a hand on her? How dare he assume that she would throw herself at such a swine as him? This pathetic, wanna-be sinner couldn't hold a candle to her power. If he knew what was good for him, he would get down on all fours and grovel before her, begging for her forgiveness. 

Before she has a chance to speak up, the music is cut off by an overwhelming static frequency. The waves were disorienting to say the least, causing many of the dancers to freeze and stumble over. Their heads rang with a distressing frequency, blurring their senses and leaving them as perfect game. 

It would leave many impaired, all but one who seemed not to be phased by the power. 

Esme's eyebrows raise at the noise. For a second, she's confused, but then it clicks, and she smiles down at them maliciously. The way this was playing out, she wouldn't have to even lift a finger. 

"You fucked up." She whispers in a soft hiss. 

The man looks up to suddenly see a tall figure standing behind her, accompanied by an eerie static and a dark aura with several strange symbols encompassing the two. 

"R̵̡̗̩̜̗͖̝̿ȩ̶̗̹̲̼̖͂͛̀͑̎̕m̸̛̘̣̫̰͇̆͗̓̐o̶̢̬̖͉͒̈̄̾v̶̗͚̯́̈́ͅè̶͎̉̔̓́͡͝ y̵̺̅̕o̸͍͉͋̃͋͝͠u̸̟̜͉̞͎̼͐r̵̡̙̺̱͈͎̱̍͑̓̈́ ḫ̷̩̥̅͜a̸̱̦̣͔̜͕̟̽̄̏͊̕n̵̡͊̓̇̕ḋ̴̤̰̻̫͙͇͗ͅ a̶̳̼͕̩͎͈͐͛t̸̼̀ ȍ̶̢̠̜̮̞̖̓͘n̶͉͈͋̂͟c̸͙̈̓e̶̡̩̳̊̇.̴̢͈̫̜̦̖̂̅" 

🖤Words: 2085🖤

~ Artemis 🦌💗