not_every_mage | The Blue Squid, Baltimore, Thursday Night

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The Blue Squid, Baltimore, Thursday Night

Anders had chosen this bar carefully. He wanted one where there would be a minimal chance Kathy would feel compelled to break up a fight, which left Pogue Mahone and anything in its neighborhood off the table. (Anders was a bit sad he couldn't introduce her to the wonders of potato nachos.) The place he brought her to instead was larger and bright inside, with countless TVs showing the playoffs for something or other. But it was clean, and the waiters seemed inclined to leave them alone, and that was enough.

"So," he asked Kathy, once they'd claimed their booth, "how do you want to start this? Beer's traditional, but we could get something stronger if you just want to get drunk fast."

[OOC: For one. NFB due to distance.]

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"That's what this is all about," Kathy said, looking decidedly impish. "You're curious about how good Dante really is--and you want someone to keep him occupied somewhere else." She pointed at him. "I'm onto you, Anders, and your devious plots."

"Exactly," Anders agreed, with a broad grin of his own. "You get laid, he gets laid, I get to use my room. And then I get to hear filthy details afterwards. Everyone wins."

"If you think I'm going to spill the details of an intimate encounter just on your say-so, you have another thing coming," Kathy said, with a haughty sniff.

Beat.

"...I'm going to require a suitable amount of ice cream while I dish. Obviously."

"Obviously," Anders agreed. "Probably you're going to insist on it being chocolate, too."

Which reminded him of something; he reached for the drinks menu again.

"I mean, if we're going to be a cliche, we should hit every beat we can," Kathy pointed out. "You know, you never showed this much interest in what I get up to with Ezra. What makes Dante different? Just because he's your roommate, or...?"

"I don't really know Ezra," Anders shrugged. "And things with Nathan were newer then, so other people's love lives were less interesting. And I never fed you mojitos before I asked."

He frowned, looking up from the menu he'd been searching for chocolate-flavored cocktails. "Why, am I being creepy?"

"Not at all," Kathy promised, reaching across the table to take his hand. "I was just teasing you. You're one of my very best friends, you can ask me anything. Especially after plying me with mojitos and the promise of ice cream."

Her dimples flashed at him. "If I can talk to Raven about some of my kinks, I can talk to you about a boy I haven't even kissed yet."

"... you have kinks?"

Sorry, Kathy, Anders was distracted from that very sweet hand-holding by that bit of knowledge.

This time Kathy did choke on her drink, thanks Anders. Hopefully that meant she could blame her flushed cheeks on the coughing spate and not, you know, the question.

"You don't have to sound so surprised!" she hissed, like anyone in the bar cared about what they were talking about.

"You startled me!" Anders protested, in an equally low tone. He too was going pink. "I'm not even sure I have kinks, and I was supposed to be the expert here."

"You--you probably do!" Kathy said, covering her face. "Oh my god, am I weird? Anders, now you've got me thinking I'm weird. I need more alcohol for this!"

She flagged down their waiter, then gulped down the remains of her mojito and held her glass out. "I need more," she mumbled. "Or...something else. What are we having next?"

"Help me decide," Anders asked, pushing the menu toward her. "Do chocolate cocktails sound tasty or just disgusting?"

He sighed, and gave her a more considered look. "I don't think you're weird. It's just not something I've ever talked about."

"They sound delicious and shame on you for doubting," Kathy said, attempting to find a bit of equanimity. "Two boozy chocolate milkshakes, please?"

Yeah, she was ordering for you, Anders. Mostly so the waiter would shoo and they could go back to talking.

"Well, in fairness," she said, once the waiter had gone, "I spent most of the conversation blushing and not making eye contact. And I only talked about one of them, so it wasn't like we got completely in-depth or whatever."

"We're going to have to roll away from the table," Anders said, not sounding in the least perturbed by the prospect.

Then, once the waiter was gone: "I would have blushed like mad too. I can joke about sex stuff, you know, but actually having a conversation -- it's hard. Difficult."

"Speak for yourself," Kathy told him. "This will be just enough to keep me going. I fully intend to have to stagger away instead."

Because why go out on the town for drinks with a bestie if you weren't going to give it your all!

"Yeah," she admitted. "I have trouble enough with saying--things--during. Like, unless I'm so into it that I'm not even thinking about being self-conscious. So trying to have a talk with all my clothes on without blushing myself into a faint is hard. But I feel like I should be able to, you know? Sex is--" She stopped, looked around, and lowered her voice. "Sex is just sex, you know? Or should be."

"And here I thought 'it's just sex' was my line," Anders joked. "No, honestly, I -- I don't know. I'm used to having to be quick and quiet so nobody got caught. Wasn't much time in there to find out you like feathers and whipped cream. I've never talked about it not during except, y'know, 'do you fancy me' or 'where can we do it.'"

"Well, yeah, back in the Circle, maybe," Kathy said. "But--what about you and Nathan? I mean, obviously, you don't have to share details if you're not comfortable--I respect your and Nathan's privacy--I just meant..." She was going to finish that off with a hand gesture, which would likely explain everything, right?

"It's fine," Anders said, smiling briefly to show he wasn't offended. "Nathan had a hard time growing up. He's still learning to trust anyone. We do things, I'm happy, but it's at his pace -- I've learned not to push him."

He shrugged.

"Kind of a boring answer, isn't it? No wonder I'm quizzing you about your scandalous life."

"I'm scandalizing for two now, huh?" Kathy teased, before becoming serious again. "Though--I just wanna tell you how great a boyfriend I think you're being. As someone else who needs time to work up to things, I respect anyone who doesn't push me. Even if you had to learn it, the important thing is that you did."

She fell silent as the waiter delivered their shakes, and took up again once he was gone. "That's one of the reasons I do like Dante. And Ezra. They both were very clear that they wanted me, but neither of them have tried to pressure me into doing anything more than what I felt comfortable with. And they didn't treat me differently after I said no. I--I like saying no at first, I think. Because you find out a lot more about a person by how they handle your no than from how they handle a yes."

Anders took a long slurp of the milkshake. It was almost too sweet, but he still wanted more.

He suspected that was the point.

"If you like someone enough, learning not to push is the least you can do," he shrugged. "Besides, I think you're right. You probably do more talking when you aren't falling into bed right away."

"I dunno," Kathy said, giving Anders a sly grin. "I've found I do more talking in bed. Or, at least doing bedroom activities. At least, if we're talking about the kind of talking that's included in my list of kinks."

Oooh, hey! The alcohol was definitely hitting her now!

Anders' eyes went wide at that disclosure for a moment, but he kept it under control. The alcohol was helping him along, too.

"Dirty talk?" he asked, lowering his voice. "That's ... not bad, actually. Even if I'd rather our mouths were busy."

"Umm..." She was bright red at the disclosure. "Sometimes mine is, but his isn't," she said with a delicate cough. "And sometimes you can't be doing things--like because you're not in the same place, or you are but you're in public--and that's a fun way to get, err, started. Before you can get started."

"... Ooh," Anders said appreciatively. "I hadn't thought about it that way. You may have given me a new kink, Kathy."

"That's what friends do," Kathy declared. "Friends don't let friends live kinkless."

Or...something like that.

"But...yeah. I like words. A lot. When someone tells me that they want me...tells me exactly what they want to do to me? How is that not hot? And getting all keyed up when you can't actually do anything? Or taking risks to do something even though you shouldn't? That starts the blood pumping and the heart racing already."

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