Private Finished The Underground Bar Scene

Chloe was too scared to walk around in public these days, but she still wanted to go out and do things. So she had started wearing a human shape charm, putting on a disguise, and calling herself Zoey. She didn't plan on getting asked out or propositioned while she was in disguise, because she didn't want her alter-ego do lead anyone on. But with Caissa, she would let it go, because she had ulterior motives. She had to make sure the disguise wasn't useless. She wanted to make sure Caissa wasn't going to be a problem.

But also, Caissa was charming. Caissa was charming, and Chloe liked her. It wasn't all pragmatism getting her to go along with this. She was going through a lot of stress lately, and something spontaneous like this was just what she needed. Maybe all that other shit was just Chloe trying to justify it to herself.

Having just danced in front of the ghost of her dead brother, Caissa and Zoey made their way to Chloe's favorite bar. It was a demon-owned bar with a vaguely kitschy, vaguely goth aesthetic - lots of red and black, a few mock religious elements, primarily metal music playing. Plus, its name was a horrible pun: it was called "Debasement" and it existed under another, similarly-themed club. Zoey led Caissa to the elevator to get down there, leaning on her if she would allow it.

"This place has some really good deals on drinks for tonight," Zoey told her. Because of course it would. It was Carpe Noctem, after all.

@Kada

The bar had a more relaxed atmosphere than the club upstairs. No moving lights, and with music quiet enough that the two would be able to hear each other talk.

Most people here didn't go all out on the goth aesthetic, though a handful did, often because they came from upstairs. But the bar did attract a particular sort of clientele - very few people here looked entirely human. So in that regard, Caissa fit in a little bit better than Zoey.

"I'll stick with beer," Zoey said. "The Manta Carlos Pale." It was one of the beers they had on tap, and just like Zoey said: deep discount. "I'll be over there."

Over there was a comfortable little booth. When Caissa found her, Zoey would still be trying to figure out where she should put down her cane.

Zoey left the cane under the table and smiled at her. "That works. Thanks."

Now she had to choose between small talk and interrogation. "Well... I know you have super-intelligence. So I have a hunch you just deduced that I need a charm to look human, and I'm really hoping for an impressive, Sherlock Holmes type of explanation."

Zoey sipped at her beer. It might be enough to get her a little buzzed, if she drank it fast enough, but looking at how Caissa was drinking, it made her think. Was she even going home tonight? How much did she even need to worry about the girls seeing her drunk? The temptation wormed its way through her mind, and she considered ordering a shot or two for herself...

"Huh. That was almost completely right," Zoey said. "Except the reason for my bad walking. I learned how to walk in a normal human body, but when I'm like this now I have a... nervous system problem, I think. But the cane is new to me, and everything else is dead on."

She sipped at her beer, contemplating the deals she could get on shots here if she wanted to. And she did want to. She just knew that she shouldn't.

"My brother probably recognized me better with human legs, come to think of it. So between that and another thing, it was definitely just us being gay that confused him."

Chloe definitely didn't feel comfortable talking about it. But she also definitely wanted to talk about it. She had been isolating herself for weeks out of fear, and she hated what she was doing to herself but she didn't want to stop. And starting up another round of appointments with Valli felt like admitting defeat.

So Zoey had a perfect solution. She smiled, feeling Caissa's foot on her leg. "Well," she said, "Maybe I'll get more comfortable if I've had a drink or two. I bet I could talk about it here. But I might need to tell you somewhere more private than this. For safety."

Zoey grinned. She definitely wasn't thinking about this in terms of safety anymore. She drank most of the rest of her beer in one go and started glancing around for waitstaff.