13206/Late Night 'Zza

Late Night 'Zza
Date of Scene:	28 October 2022
Location:	Chez Villa - New Troy
Synopsis:	Nia and Veronique meet over margaritas, and a surprising friendship (Or more!) is ignited.
Cast of Characters:	Veronique Lalonde, Nia Nal

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Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    It's approaching what folks would consider the dinner hour. A time when I place like this would be really counting on bringing in the dollar bills. Couples and groups are arriving, with a few early enjoyers of the Chez Villa already seeking to pull on coats or covertly re-thread some loosened belts. Tables are being turned over, and those already seated are engaging in pleasant conversations and sampling a bit of wine. A large family is braying and joking loudly with each other, and enjoying smoking indoors of all things. They're not bothered by the wait staff.

    A young red-head leans alone near the bar, with a heel that is constantly bouncing and an elbow that's keen to keep polishing the wooden counter. The Wait staff are giving her the eye, because she's not exactly dressed for dinner, and isn't grooving well with the atmosphere. Her hunched shoulders and half-worn hoodie aren't exactly kosher, nor is her attention on the large table of happy folks having a good time.

Nia Nal has posed:
    "I like your hoody," comes the relaxed, friendly voice of Nia as she slides onto a stool beside the woman at the counter. "Hope you don't mind. They said it was a forty five minute wait for a table, or I could sit at the bar now." She flashes a grin. Her accent is Californian, or at least somewhere from the opposite coast. Certainly not local Delaware.

    Black slacks and a pale blink blousetop, with some simple jewelery make up her clothing. It's business clothing. A pair of trans flag earrings are the only thing that really stand out in her otherwise 'professional' look. She takes the menu when the bartender offers it, and she thanks him softly before she begins turning the pages. "I don't know about -you-, but today is screaming margaritas to me," she says warmly to the total stranger sitting beside her.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique flinches like she'd stepped on a piece of lego. Wide expressive eyes turn to regard Nia, the red-head's expression is like her hand was caught in the cookie jar. It actually plays annoyingly with an old plastic lighter, thumbing the flint so that it makes a little train-track indent in the flesh of her finger. She ceases her fidgeting for a moment and the tattoo she's tapping with her heel switches to a different tune. A brief chew of her bottom lip, catch and release, and she takes in Nia's features and much more sensible dress sense.

    "What?" The comments is thrown out there as a means to marshal her thoughts into more coherence. "Um..." Closer, closer. "You do?" Her hand comes up to rake at the hoodie and her hair some and a weak smile is offered while she shifts against the bar. "Bien sur..." her accent mashes up a bit of NYC and Montreal into an uneasy marriage. "They said it's fricken fourty-fricken-five minutes now?!"

Nia Nal has posed:
    She grins softly. "Time is the price we pay for wanting a table at rush. Well, that and...you know. Actual money." She winks and brushes her fingers back through her hair before she glances at the bartender. "Hey! Can I get a plate of those nacho fries? Aaaaand...a...no, two margaritas? Thanks." She hands the menu back over and grins softly at Veronique. "You're looking like you could use a drink. If you don't want it, don't worry. I'm taking the subway home, anyways, so I can work through two if I reaaaaallky ned to."

    Her attitude is so opposite the other woman's, really. She's calm and so warm and friendly.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    The loud largely populated table, two actually pushed together, make enough noise to distract Veronique and draw her attention once more. The punchline of some joke has landed and the cronies are adding their voices to the collective howl of approval. They seem pretty well off, flush and perhaps connected. The red-head starts playing with the lighter again and she rolls one shoulder, and then the next. The lighter does a little blur of motion within her fingers. A bit too fast for most so that it almost disappears apart from the faint pink-purple speed blur of the motion. "Hwah hwah..." Veronique mumbles under her breath.

    She's nodding along with what the attractive girl next to her, grunting in affirmatives, but she stops and catches her breath. There's an audible gulp and she shifts her torso to better face her bar bud. "Money. Yeah, money." she nods empatically. She reaches forward to nab the menu, and twits it to provid ineffectual cover for her and Nia as she leans in close, whispering, "I would kill for a margarita. And..." She tilts her head to the side, another of her bottom lip bites to prelude more words out of her mouth, "...Well, maybe not kill, maybe just set some creeps on fire. Heh. Hey, could we share those fries? Swear, I'd pay you back."

Nia Nal has posed:
    The loud group is barely registered by the brunette. She leans in and furrows her brow when the other young woman holds the menu up like that, and she grins softly. "Don't worry, we'll split them. I figured, which is why I ordered it. The plates here are -huge-. Or maybe I just eat like a bird." Nia laughs softly and shrugs a shoulder. "Anywho, I'm Nia. Are you okay?" The question is asked softly and without a hint of judgement in her tone. "You seem like you're having a rough go of things. You don't have to tell me, of course. We just met. I...get it, though. Things can be hard."

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique is just one big ball of agitation, though having someone to talk to is having a dampening effect on her limbs, making them direct all that extra energy into her mouth. She blinks at the question, and pulls back a little. "Things can be..." she agrees with a slow appraising look of Nia. Some manner of consideration is reached, and she becomes chummy again. "Oh, just Roni...or..." she shrugs her shoulders trying to make it look nonchalant. "Veronique. I don't mind telling, I got nothing to hide. I mean, I can tell you all sorts of things, not like..." she dramatically tilts her head three times towards the table of possibly innocent restaurant patrons. "Money bags over there. You think they'd even miss it if someone lifted a wallet or three? I be they wouldn't." She wrinkles her nose and takes a breath before trying to let it out slowly. "What would really be the crime if a bunch of moneybags didn't go home with so many? Especially if they were too slow to even miss them gone, eh? You work, right? Work for a living. Probably more honest than others I bet. You're really nice, dress well, don't look hand to mouth?"

Nia Nal has posed:
The brunette arches an eyebrow as she listens to Veronique, and she glances over her shoulder at the group of men. She eyes them a moment before looking back to her. The margaritas are set dfown, one in front of each. She picks her own up and holds it out for a toast. "Well, here's to not needing to rob folks to have a good night. I've got you this evening, don't worry. Besides, that looks like Joey Luchesse. We did a story on him last month. It wouldn't...well, let's say it'f make your night a lot rougher if you tried something. So, let's just enjoy eachothers company, hmm?"

If the toast is returned she brings the drink to her lips and catches some salt with her tongue and sips.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique takes up her drink, casting one more glance at the loud table, her jaw hinging so it looks like she wants to mill something into a powder between her teeth. There's an urge to do stuff that's telegraphed in her mannerisms for sure. The red-head raises her glass and clinks it as gently as she can with Nia's. The tension around her eyes had become that much more intense when it's confirmed that that's totally probably Luchesse over there. Moneybags indeed, and a whole lot more most likely that's definitely not for a calm evening. Veronique's sneaker squeals a little from the pressure she pivots onto it, but she's kept against the bar by Nia's presence and company. She sips, getting some on her upper lip as she consumes rather than fully enjoys. Her eyes are intense as they bore into her companion. A big series of swallows and she says, "I'm not worried. Not scared either, hardly anything does ever." she lies. There's still that urge to put inaction into action, but the longer she's around someone sensible, the harder it feels to indulge. "You're much better company than I deserve. Thanks Nia."

Nia Nal has posed:
    The woman grins softly and shakes her head. "Noooo. Everyone deserves a friend. Well, if you're in the market for one, anyways." She takes another long sip of the margarita before she glances up as the big, steaming plate of nacho fries shows up with two forks. A big pile of fries, with melted cheese, meat, jalapenos, sour cream, salsa...evberything that goes on nachos. The sound of Nia's tummy audibly growling can be heard as she seizes one of the forks.

    "Mn. Wasn't able to take my lunch today at work. had to write through it. Damn, this looks good..." She trails off and spears some before stuffing it into her mouth. Luchesse and his family are ignored by the brunette, as if only Veronique is worthy of her attention at the moment.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique licks her upper lip clean and her eyes bulge when the piled-high plate is set down. "Tabarnac!" she hisses under her breath and with moist lips. The vulgar word is used with approval however, the foods on display like mana from heaven. Roni snatches at her fork, with the restraint of champions, having to wait for Nia to take her own first. Her heel is tapping again. Veronique angles the stem of the fork in her fingers as she tilts her head down at the meal. Like a praying mantis about to start picking it apart. With a kind of masochistic anticipation, she waits for her companion to sample it first. Veronique clacks her teeth together into a hungry grill and smiles.

    "Absolutely." she declares, on both the idea of finding a friend and how good things are looking. She joins in on sampling some of the delicious carbs and cronch, seasonsings and sauce. "Ffffffff-" Her eyes nearly roll back as she has to slow down to taste. The hints of flavour blow up to big billboard advertisements in her mouth and she nearly sobs at the pleasure of it. "Mmmmf!" Luchesse might as well be a crumb on the floor while she makes a yum-pact with Nia.

Nia Nal has posed:
    Nia can't help but grin a bit as she watches Veronique enjoy the food. "I'm from California, and this is honestly the closest thing I can get to decent Mexican food in Delaware. I'm here far too often for my waistlines care." She spears more food, making sure the plate is between the two of them. "Dig in. Really. As much as you want." She washes down the food with sips of her margarita.

    "So, where are you from?," she asks, now that she's said where she is from.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique takes this offer at face value, and stuffs hers. Fingers are applies to the corners of her mouth when she's too quick on the scooping and doesn't apply an equal amount of finesse to being a flawless eater. Between bites, she tries to take covert glances towards that waistline, using sips of her glass as inexpert cover. She swirls the dregs of her margarita as she swallows, her eyes tearing up a little when concentrating between breathing, and the passage of food down her slim throat. "I wish I'd been born in california." She sniffs and nods, agreeing with her statement before continuing. "New York, by way of La Belle Provence..." Swallow. "Montreal. Cold ass place more than half the year, no lie. Ought to be a law where population migrates if it gets too cold, just for human decency, right?" Veronique's hands go into her pockets and withdraw to retrieve some very crumpled dollar bills. Her fingers start to try and smooth them out like she needs to feed them into one of those annoying vending machines. "Is it fun though?" A quick addition. "I mean, you're here. What you do, is it worth it? Compared to all those beaches out west? The sun...gawd, the sun and the ocean..."

Nia Nal has posed:
    "I only saw the beaches sometimes," she admits as she eats slower and sips her drink. "I grew up in a small town in the redwoods. Northern California," she explains. The glance at her slender waistline makes her blush a bit. "Ooooh, French Canada. Very cool." She works at the food a bit, her intial appetite sated a bit, at least, and mostly interested in the other woman, and her drink.

    "I'm a reporter at the Daily Planet," Nia explains. "I really like it. It can be a hard job sometimes. You get to see...some rough things. But, I like it."

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique seems to have trouble slowing down, getting that protein in her tummy like some old timey locomotive needing coal shoveled in. She licks at her fingertips with her free hand, pulling off the echoes of the food that make her cheeks pull inwards. These tips get dabbed to the plate to scrounge up crumbs from her side of the plate. She offers an apologetic smile as she does so. "Some of it was, but before you knew it, there was that big clusterfrig near the end of '10, and we pulled up stakes and headed to the big apple to try and take a bite." She drains her drink and pushes the wrinkled bills along the table, albeit reluctantly, towards Nia.

    Her eyebrows raise and Veronique exclaims, "Oh jeez! That's a job alright! Never met someone famous and smart like that before!" she laughs and bounces her other heel. "Oh my gawd, sure you must have seen weird and wild stuff. No wonder you're so in shape. Chasing after all the scoops, yeah?" Roni rakes at her hair with a free hand. "I might have tried to hold down a job with one of your competitors, y'know, delivery, but it wasn't really my thing." She scrunches her nose.

Nia Nal has posed:
    The woman reaches down to gently push the wrinkled bills back, not mentioning them. She laughs and blushes a bit. "Uh, I wouldn't call myself famous. Smart, maybe, but...juuuust enough to get by." Nia winks at her. The compliment to her shape makes her bvlush some more, and she seems to consider something as she takes a long sip from her margarita.

    "So, just so I don't make things weird, how comfy would you be with me hitting on you?," she asks. "I like to have all my cards on the table, so to speak."

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique is taken aback when the cash is very politely, and deftly, refused. At first, she starts to stammer and frown. Rapid blinking as she pulls the bills back and lifts her fingers from them. Her knee-jerk reaction is one of shame, because the money isn't that clean. It looks pretty rumpled and roughly handled. Perhaps even snatched rather quickly from a previous owner or even, a tip left for some hard working waitress earlier. A weird guilty ember of something is blown on, where it squats within her belly like a toad. And then she starts to frown because she doesn't feel like she deserves to feel bad. Her hackles raise and she stuffs it back into her hoodie.

    When Nia starts to speak again, Veronique's flushed face raises to regard the reporter, and what she hears sort of turns things on their head. "What?" Her mouth opens and there's comprehension that blooms. "Oh my gawd I'm stupid..." she mumbles. "No...wait. I have to..." She blinks and offers that apologetic smile again. "If it's weird...it's a good weird?" she runs her tongue over her teeth before offering you a grin. "I wouldn't say it would be comfy, but it's be grand."

Nia Nal has posed:
    The girl smiles warmly and nods to that. "Well, good weird is better then bad weird, I guess." Nia laughs softly and shrugs a shoulder. She then taps one of her earrings, which sports the trans flag. "...And this doesn't bother you?,": she asks, more then a little serlf-concious,. She picks up her margarita and drains it.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique scooches a bit closer along the bar to get a better look. "S'il vous plait? May I?" Bad at personal space, the red-head tilts her head to admire the earrings, and her hand raises to reach out with her fingers to touch or stroke the little decorative flags. Her touch to the adornments may brush against hair or skin as she seeks to keep the objects still while she admires them. It's also perhaps an opportunity to admire her new friend. "Apologies...I didn't mean weird really. Promise I'm fully fluent in like, talking and stuff. I was just...I was thinking sometimes totally wrong before, about maybe you thought I was...like charity or worse, like poor or grungy...I jump to conclusions and I gotta watch where I'm going, right? You're so attractive, and smart and stuff. And...calm."

    "Non, that does not bother me. Nothing about you does." Veronique realizes her hand and fingers are still out there being rude, and she pulls them back to herself. She goes to drain her own drink, and when she up-ends the glass, it's already empty. She stares, embarassed and tries to pretend that didn't just happen.

Nia Nal has posed:
    The woman turns her head so the earrings can be examined. She blushes a hint as Veronique leans in to examine them, but she remains still. "You're fine, don't worry. I didn't think you were desperate or anything like that. Honestly, I wanted to come over and hit on you, and then noticed everything else, so figured sharing food and drinks was the cool thing to do."

    Nia relaxes a bit when she's told it doesn't bother her. "Well, you're gorgeous, too. And interesting."

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique drops her gaze, and places her glass down to the table, rotating it a few times before she's quite okay with relinquishing her grasp on it. She uses that hand to fuss with her own hair, and her fingers feather past ears that don't have earrings, though there are evidence of piercings having been there. "It was, it is a cool thing to do. More welcome than what's been offered before."

    Veronique shifts closer, whatever reason she'd had for coming before, it's on the tip of her tongue, but it doesn't matter anymore. She reaches forward to rest her hand upon one of Nia's. "Yeah?"

Nia Nal has posed:
    She swallows when that hand is set on her own. Her heart thunders in her chest. She glances aside at her now empty margarita. "So, are you just passing through town, or living here now?," she asks. She's probing for some kind of information. She turns her hand onto its back to lightly tangle hers fingers with Veron iques. Her blush has fadfed a little bit, but her shyness iss till quite evident now that her flirting is actually being accepted.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique fixes her gaze upon Nia with more intensity, a side-long look turning into something much more direct. "Passing. Very, very quickly." she murmers in a lower voice, just for Nia. Her tummy full, her fidgeting diminishes as she directs all her attention on the young reporter. Her body is just swimming with calories and her attention drawn now to something very, very interesting. Her fingers interlace with Nia's and she grins impishly. Titilated at sharing a connection with someone so pleasant. "I do it a lot, taking something from A to B and back again, y'know?" She squeezes Nia's hand. "A quick fuel up before tearing out of here with more cash than I started with. There's seldom reason to slow down and take in the sights, till..." Veronique bites her bottom lip and leans over, inhaling. Weird girl.

Nia Nal has posed:
    She chews her lip a bit as she listens, and she nods. "Ah, a courier?" She leaves it at that, not wanting to pry into personal business. "So, staying in a motel, then? Well, I have some room at my place if you want a comfier place to chill while you're passing through..." She trails off and clears her throat.

    For one thing, she'd love to bring her back home. For another thing, she's a chance to get her away from Luchesse and lower the risk of something bad happening."