16737/After Bar Recovery

After Bar Recovery
Date of Scene:	01 January 2024
Location:	Grant's Gym - Amusement Mile
Synopsis:	After an unexpected outing at a honky tonk bar, Ted takes a tipsy Clara to his gym for some coffee and advice. After teaching her how to lindy, she is allowed to crash in a spare room. She also gets an autograph for her governess. And is kind of adopted! She always wanted a dad.
Cast of Characters:	Clara Jennings, Ted Grant

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Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara has had drinks before. She is from London, and wine and beer were not unheard of. But when someone keeps adding to your coke, the sweetness masks it. Until suddenly you find that it has snuck up on you. Despite this, Clara is Clara. She is more terrified by the more sexualized aspects of the bar. Body shots proved a bridge too far, and she chickened out. Inez is probably disappointed, but likely forgot it a minute or two later anyway.

    What Clara did though, was get comfortable enough to try some dancing. Even drunk-or maybe especially drunk-the girl can move. That prim and proper instruction from her governess bakes neatly into more playful things.

    Before she can get into trouble, though, someone always seems to rescue her, until it is, finally, time to get out of there. And she is just in no condition to get home on her own.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant is such a rescuer. After several lovely dances and a couple of guys deep diving into their beer goggles. He read them the writing on the wall. Then he caught the fist thrown at him, and the second. then he let the bouncer take over. Deciding discretion was better to Clara, the young woman found herself riding his shoulder out and then riding his motorcycle (he had an extra helmet).

Sometime after that, he has led her into the gym and tries to get her seated while he fires up the Nespresso.

Some ways off to the side, a number of lifesize posters of the greats hang: Tyson, Leonard, Graciano, Ali, Ted himself.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "Whee!"

    It is the best she can come up with when it comes to riding a motorcycle. It was her first time! It was amazing! She was terrified, too! Thank goodness Ted took it easy on her.

    She may not remember the bar clearly after she sobers up, but she proved to be rather fun once she got relaxed adequately by Inez's medical offerings. But she is also the worst in some ways. Too much accidental flirting. Her naive nature got her in so much trouble. She is a handful.

    In the gym, she sits down. For a moment. Then gets back up. She just starts dancing in place and humming music softly. She has an odd ability to drunk-balance, too. The girl is good on her feet.

    Her dance takes her over to the posters and she gets, well, perhaps a bit more into it than she should. She comes across more like a girl playing at flirtatious body movements than a woman, though. The kind of thing a grown man shakes his head at.

    What is that tune, though? Oh god. Someone got her to see Dirty Dancing!

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant notes the girl dancing and sets up the coffee. He comes around the counter. Fifties dancing? He hit his stride in the fifties. He falls into step with Clara. He is quite aware dancing does not need music. If he can catch her hand he will spin her into him and then out. Hah. Loverboy.

She certainly fits the Baby role.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara is automatic in that moment. She takes his hand and glides right into the dance. Beyond that obvious drunken glaze in those youthful eyes is pure joy. That fuzzy head of hers does nothing to her steps. Her spin is tight, quick, and neat, then she pops right back into the dance.

    She keeps humming the song, punctuated by the occasional joyful laugh.

    "You are good," she notices with a bit of a slur. Oh yeah, she is still impacted. But her feet are not.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant says, "You are very good. And fortunately only buzzed from the neck up. I want to talk to ya for a minute and then... I want to teach you the Lindy, with music." He puts hos arms around to make her hold still.

"You're a very pretty girl. You gotta be careful of your libations in bars. Inez or Ted might not be there time. Some people, men and women are creeps. You gotta know when to take a breather and get a soda or a coffee 'cause sweetie anyone'd be lucky to go home with you, but it might not be lucky for you."

"An' I want to give ya my number. Anyone gives you grief. I'll come running to make them ever regret drawing breath." The hold turns into a hug that almost submerges Clara.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara does listen. She is trying very, very hard to be serious. It is just that her head is being all weird. Still, Ted is obviously really being kind. He saved her at least three times in the bar (that she knew of) and at least as many times that she did not notice.

    "You are right. I just did not realize there was alcohol in it." At first, certainly. Inez was sneaky. After that, though, she could not notice much. People kept encouraging her to drink, too. She is not used to that, and well, it was her first time at a bar like that.

    She feels her mind wanting to drift back to the offer of learning a new dance, but Ted is serious. She will get there. "Thank you. I will be a lot more careful. I promise." While she says that looking as she does, there is a weight to it. It means something for her.

    "You mentioned a dance? I read about that, I think. I do enjoy new dances." She is struggling to get things straight in her head. After this she will be needing that coffee.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant says, "Coffee first. You better be all together for a Lindy... I never get a woman wants to dance." He eyes her clothes and decides they are about right for a Lindy. Wait... He runs to a store room and returns with merch -gym shorts.

"You might want to wear shorts for this." He sets up a coffee and points to a changing area. Then he fiddles with the computer controlling the monitor over the bar. This might take a minute.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara nods. This sounds like sage advice from a man who knows what he is up to! She will go get herself dressed. He will occasionally hear more humming, an abrupt gush of giggling, and then she is out.

    Her dress is gone, shorts are on, and up top she's wearing a modest slip. It makes her look even more like a girl, somehow. They could easily be confused for a father and daughter at this point. She definitely does not have any of Inez's curves and never will. She is fit, though. Slender, trim, whatever you want to call it.

    She will see how Ted is doing with the computer. "Need a hand?" Giggle. "I am really good with computers." More giggling. She does not know what is funny.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant frowns and says, "I almost got it. Sit down and drink that coffee, little girl." He somehow makes 'little girl' sound like a badge of honor. He gets the computer to play a video of an extremely energetic Lindy and, you needed great confidence in the male dancer for some of the moves indeed.

"Listen, if you don't feel up to it or want an easy beginner version, that's cool. I'm thrilled to find even a possible partner... and I musta seen Dirty Dancing a bunch of times. That and..." he looks around to make sure they're alone, "Breakfast at Tiffany's. That's between you and me, slugger."

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara does as she is told and drinks the coffee. It will get to clearing her head soon enough. She does not mind at all that she is the 'little girl'! It is true, and she rather likes being as she is. She just wants to, well, be a little bit better version of that is all.

    With some caffeine no firing up the synapses upstairs, she is growing just a little less bleary. It gets her brain functioning enough to make a deep study of each move. Oddly, she does not request to see the video more than once. But she does need the time to 'replay it in her head'. She rises to make a go at some of the steps right off the bat.

    "I have never done a lift yet," she confesses. With a much more clear laugh, she notes, "I am pretty sure you could lift me with your pinky."

    She needs music, though. Something to align to. And to feel ready to do a lift. It is not a matter of his strength. She's a feather to him. But if she fails bad enough, he might get hurt trying to save her from a fall. All the super heroics aside, there is part of her that will always be afraid.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant can sense she has fear on some level. He squeezes her shoulder. "Time for immersion therapy. Clara is lifted off the ground onto the right shoulder, pulled, to the left shoulder behind Ted's neck, down head first. She's caught and lands on the floor gently, then Ted throws his leg over her and stops to assess her condition. The shorts were a good idea. "Having fun yet?"

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara makes a little surprised yip. But she moves her body along. She memorized the move, but the muscles need to know how that is done, too. So it starts rather more clumsy and swiftly becomes fluid.

    When she is back on her feet, she is laughing and clapping her hands together. "That was great! Can we go again?"

    So yes, the girl is sold on that part. The coffee is doing what it is supposed to, and her mind is not precisely clear, but it is returning to something like normal. Thankfully she was pulled away before she got too much in her. She would be humiliated to be sick from it.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant holds his arms out for a hug. "Ya wanna see how high I can toss you? We'd do that on the mats over there. Uh, you want something to eat? Some more coffee?" He'd not even breathing hard. His face is not handsome but his grin is pretty surprising to behold. The lines in his face indicate a more serious base expression.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara shakes her head, "No, I am good." The girl just cannot seem to bring it down. She has to be taught how to use contractions at some point. "Ohh, but I mean about the food. The tossing, that sounds fun!" So she is still a bit backwards. She is getting clearer, though, and the slurring is improving.

    Her smile is friendly and she has clearly relaxed. Ted is good people in her book, and it is obvious that if anyone is going to hurt her, they will have to get through him first.

    "After that I wanna do the whole dance. Do you know anything Latin, Mr. Grant?"

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant sees Clara is too excited to stand a plain hug. He goes the mat, squats and makes a stirrup with his hands. "I know a little tango. Are you up for a backflip Ms. Jennings?" She seems pretty athletics. Especially for a librarian. He waits for the reaction. This a little harder, except he has caught numerous people over the years.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    "I will give that a try!" says Clara, smiling warmly. One thing that is obvious is that she is just in the mood to dance. No part of her wants to keep still. The only time she does not move is when he prevents it! This is a young woman who is in a space of complete trust and security.

    "Tango is fun. Before Inez kidnapped me I was just getting out of mambo lessons." The feeling of security goes to what she is talking about, too, it seems. "I am tired of getting ignored at parties. Even the nice guys think I am just too.. you know.. me. So um, catch me."

    And then she is flying. Clara has seen this before. In a movie, maybe. Her body is controlled through the flip. It is not to fast, not to slow. Then Ted has her again and she descends gently to the floor. Or at least far more gently than she would.

    "Wow! That.. that was fun!" There is just a moment of dizziness, but it passes swiftly. "You must dance all the time!"

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant catches Clara's hand and starts laughing. He did have a number of white Russians. Maybe, they made him a little silly. He goes over to the poster and shows her Wildcat. He assumes the same pose, same expression, ready for a fight. "Wildcat prowls the concrete jungle. Rahr." Clara is a sharp cookie. Maybe that is all he needs to do. After all there aren't many pugilists from the forties two meters tall.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara laughs and soon is putting that together. She even raises her right hand like a claw and rars back, adding a silly hiss.

    She will keep moving to a dance in her head, though. "So Mr. Wildcat! Are you ready to... tango with me?" She raises her hands, striking an imperious but silly pose. She smiles, showing more silliness. "Cause after all, it takes two... to tango."

    She holds a serious expression for all of two seconds, and then she's breaking out in a fit of giggles.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant walks over to take the lead in in the dance, starts chuckling, then laughing. he strokes Clara's cheek. "How is it, you make me feel like your dad and then make me feel twenty again? You have some magic to you. //There must have been some magic// in those little short they found// 'cos when Clara put them on her butt// she danced and spun around.//" He stops butchering Frosty and says, "Hey, it's like 3, you got a curfew or something? Should I get you home or something? I have a guest room."

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Ted's song has her breaking out in ripples of laughter. But she is still dancing. "Some kind of magic, I suppose! And if you want to be my dad I could probably use one. My governess would definitely approve if it is you." She says it so lightly. There is no pain there. That all happened before she could even roll over in her crib.

    She looks into his eyes and shakes her head, just to get her hair back where she wants it. "Oh wow, it is 3? I am so doomed. I was supposed to get home by midnight. I was already in trouble for the whole Gotham debacle on New Years. Up late for nothing!" She sighs softly. Not a single offer to dance at a New Years party is rough on a girl, but if she does on thing, it is bounce back.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant shrugs. "Well kinda dangerous to drive at this point. Stay and I'll run you home tomorrow."

"Debacle? What you got stood up? You were a wallflower?" He turns to a slow dance, holding Clara against his chest.

"Honey, guys are assholes. You'll find the right guy, or girl. Yer getting out of your comfort zones and trying new stuff. That is what it takes. It just can take a while."

"If it matters, ya made me very happy tonight. I'll be a little sad when I lose my dance partner. You don't even yell at me fer calling you 'little girl'. I'd be honored to be yer dad... only legally yer an adult. Maybe life coach or mentor?" He sneaks in a dip and holds it.

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara nods to him. "That sounds good. I can just go back in the morning." If there is anything in Gotham tonight, the Bats will have to handle it on their own. Which is fine by them anyway.

    "I was hoping for a dance with someone, but went home a bit early. I had something that pulled me away urgently, and by the time I got back, it was too late. I have a job that sometimes is chaotic." She said she was kind of a lecturer and librarian. So that... does not check out at all. She sucks at secret identities.

    She smiles at the comment about guys. Not right away. Her sad face just cannot hold. Her lips have that little tugging until the poutiness is replce with a smile. And then even her eyes are smiling as she laughs.

    "They are! I mean, not all of them. Just some. And I believe you. I just need to figure out how this works."

    Then he is saying all those nice things. It warms her heart, really. "Never too late for a girl to have a dad, is it?" she asks softly. "Who is also a mentor."

    She rests in the dip. It is really nice to just dance and not be afraid. "And hey, you know, you are not going to lose your dance partner. Daddy." She giggles a bit, wondering if that will bother him.

Ted Grant has posed:
Ted Grant bends down to give Clara a kiss, on her forehead. He stands back up. "Don't be calling me daddy in public. You get me? I already got noise for getting a poke in the nose by a twelve year old!"

Clara Jennings has posed:
    Clara laughs softly. "Deal. You can call me kiddo or whatever, though. I know what I am, and I do not want to change it just to fit in, either. I just want to know how to fit in and decide from there."

    It does not make sense to her, either. But she will be staying in the extra room tonight. It keeps her safe. For the first time, she is sleeping under a man's roof. Somehow, though, she knows her governess will approve.