The Wandering Gigs...

[Deleted]

Alida, clad in tall, thigh-high black boots with a pair of torn shorts, a black studded top, and a sheer shrug strutted through the doors of The Wandering Mule.  Guitar strung over her back, she pushed the grimace off her face and replaced it with a pleasant smile before walking with purpose towards the bar.  I'd better get a gig out of this place, or I'm going to have to eat condiments for a week, she thought to herself.  Living paycheck to paycheck was becoming increasingly difficult for her, ever since her truck decided to die.  Getting that piece of junk fixed was costing her a pretty penny, and she barely had enough to buy groceries in the first place.

Leaning over the bar, giving the male bartender a nice glance down her top, Alida batted her eyelashes and said, "Who do I talk to about the possibility of a gig?"

The bartender grinned at her and moved closer.  "Well, that would be me.  But how do I know you have what it takes?"  He reached out and stroked a lock of her hair.

Oh, I know where this is going, Alida sneered inwardly.  She kept the flirtatious smile plastered to her face.  "Well, what do you recommend?"

"Well we're just going to have to schedule a... private audition."  He winked at her.  "How about I get you a couple drinks and after we close we can meet up and I can see what you got.  How does that sound?"

She sighed.  This was not how she wanted to get this gig.  She pulled him by his shirt collar so her lips met his ear, and sang a haunting few notes, then whispered, "You need me to sing for your bar."  She could feel him almost melting in her grasp.  Another few notes, and she whispered, "How about those free drinks, and I can sing for you tomorrow night?"  The bartender nodded and she let him go.  Just a few persuasive notes to tinker with the brain... But now I really need a drink. 

[Seraphina]

It was a busy night at the wandering mule despite it being thursday. Matthew let out a small sigh, this was just like his luck. The one time he was scheduled to work on a day that usually was the least busy it would be packed. Oh well, it wasn't so bad. He was busy as hell, but the customers weren't being too rowdy and he was getting some good tips. Matt was actually having a good time so far, chatting up with the patrons, and laughing it up with the other staff. It was a pleasant evening. So long as she didn't start anything the day would continue to be fine. The man glanced over at the white haired girl sitting by herself at the corner of the room, chugging down beer bottle after beer bottle like nobody's business. Matt had always had mixed feelings about that young woman the day that she had came into the building. At first he was worried about serving her because she looked too young to be drinking, but that fear died down after she showed him some ID. He still felt suspicious about it but it checked out. The problem wasn't the age but her tendencies. The woman was nice to pretty much everyone, including the staff. But if someone messed with her boy did things turn ugly. The woman was prong to violence with or without alcohol in her. There had plenty of nights while he was on duty that she had broken something in a fight. At least she always paid for the damages and the owners didn't seem to mind much. But still, Matt always kept a careful eye on her just in case.

Matt was doing just that till a pretty blonde woman approached him. “Hi, welcome to the wandering mule.” Matt smiled at her. “What would you like?”

"Who do I talk to about the possibility of a gig?" the woman asked him.

“A gig huh?” he replied. So she was a musician. It had been awhile since they had a band come here. “That would be the owners.” he told her. “They aren't here though, sorry. If you want you can wait here for an hour, they'll show up by then. Or if you can't wait that long I can just pass them a message if you'd like. Just tell me your band's name and contact information and they will give you a call. I'm sure they would be more than happy to-” Matt stopped mid talk as a loud crashing sound resounded through the bar. “Wha-” oh no...please don't let it be...Matt looked over at the source of the sound and groaned. The white haired woman was at it again. She had thrown one of the male customers into a table, breaking it into splinters. Another man, probably the man's friend didn't look too pleased, he cursed her and then tried to charge at her. Big mistake. The white haired girl dodged his attack with ease and while he was caught off guard grabbed him and threw him right towards the bar, just barely hitting both the musician and him in the process. “Oh come on...SERA!” he yelled at her. “How many times do I have to tell you not to throw people around like that!”

“heh...sorry about that.” The woman giggled. “I got a little carried away there.” Matthew sighed, great the bar was ruined again. So much for his peaceful night. Matt looked at both the fallen patrons, the first man she had thrown had managed to get back on his feet before running out the door, while his friend was still on the floor, scrambling to get back on his feet but at least alive and not seriously hurt.

“What did they do this time?”

“They groped me.” Again the man sighed. Okay, he couldn't completely get mad with her for that.

“Fair enough....you still have to pay for the damages though...you still haven't finish paying for the last time you got carried away you know.”

“Oh right...hang on.” Seraphina walked over towards the bar. As the woman approached, the other man got up on his feet and ran for his life. The girl rolled her eyes at the fool before pulling out a roll of cash out of her pocket and placed it on the bar. “That should cover last week and the week before that. I'll cover today's cost the next time I come here. Just put on my tab like usual. Sorry about that.” She smiled at Matt before turning to look at the blonde next to her. “Hope I didn't hurt you or anything.” she laughed. “Sometimes I misjudge my own strength.”

[Deleted]

The bartender was interrupted by a crashing behind them. Alida turned around, only to find a girl with white hair – even more colorless than Alida’s own locks – throwing a fully grown man onto a table, breaking it in the process. This girl had to be no older than sixteen; she was clad in oversized boyish clothing, with ribbons wound in her hair. What was she doing in this establishment? Alida wondered. She was a taller youth – well, everyone was taller than Alida, considering she just barely broke five foot – but there was no way she could have been mistaken for twenty one.



Alida was soon interrupted by her thoughts when the bartender yelled “Oh come on… SERA! How many times do I have to tell you not to throw people around like that!” So she’s a regular here, she noted. Suddenly, the other man who hadn’t been thrown yet charged at the strange girl. This ended quickly, as the white-haired girl grabbed him and launched him Alida’s way, straight into the bar. Alida’s eyes narrowed and moved swiftly to keep him from hitting her, and let him fall to the floor. The man who ruined the table ran away, out of the bar. Hopefully they had paid for their drinks before high-tailing it.



“Heh...sorry about that.” The woman who must be named Sera giggled. “I got a little carried away there.”



The bartender asked Sera what they did to her to provoke her, and she proceeded to tell him they groped her. This made Alida’s blood boil. She was never ok with people taking liberties, especially when it came to a teenage girl. The man on the floor next to her feet was working on getting up to leave; Alida decided to take a liberty of her own and stomp on his stomach, pushing him back down hard. He made a grunting noise and looked at her in horror, then scrambled away. She grinned a little, then noticed Sera was talking to her.



“Sorry about that. Hope I didn't hurt you or anything.” Sera laughed. “Sometimes I misjudge my own strength.”



Alida smiled a little and tipped her head to Sera. “That’s ok; I’m glad you didn’t get hurt by those scumbags.” She extended a hand, and proceeded to say, “I’m Alida.” She startled a little to see this girl had bright red eyes, which bore into her own icy blue ones.

[Seraphina]

Yup, Sera was at it again. It wouldn't be the wander mule if Sera didn't come in at least once a week and break something at the bar along with some dude's nose in the process. Honestly the solaris didn't mean to do what she did tonight. She was just having a good time drinking and enjoying herself. Despite being a well known delinquent and all, she had no thoughts about getting into a fight tonight. But sometimes trouble found its way to her. Today it just happened to be two creeps that were drunk enough to find smacking her ass as she had gotten up to get something stronger at the bar like a great idea. Boy did they regret that. Sera didn't even give them any warning when she grabbed the nearest dude and flung him into the closest table. Before she knew what she was doing she had thrown the second dude into the bar, nearly hitting some tiny chick with a guitar and Matt. It took Matt yelling at her for her to finally register just what she had done. Whoopsies. Now she just had one more thing to add to her tab.

Seraphina laughed and apologized for getting carried away like usual. Matt at a glance did not look pleased with her apology, but the girl knew the bartender long enough to really read him. As angry as his voice sounded she could tell by the look in his eye and his composure that he already forgave her. That made Sera smile, Matt always tried to act serious and stern but the man was a big softy. That's what she liked about him. He also was pretty understanding about things. The second that she told him what happened most of his anger seemed to vanish. Even the woman next to him seemed to get it, Sera watched as the tiny woman stomped on the piece of shit that Sera had thrown into the bar before he had bolted out the door. The white haired girl couldn't help but chuckle at that. The idiot deserved it, maybe next time he would think twice before he and his friend put his hands on another chick. Sera apologized to Matt before turning to say sorry to the other woman. The smaller woman seemed fine of course, but still she felt a little bad for nearly hitting her with that scumbag.

The woman smiled back as she accepted the apology, saying that she was glad that Sera didn't get hurt from the men. Her statement made the girl laugh again. “Me get hurt by guys like that? Pfft...as if. I have beaten the crap out of tougher dudes than that. The day people like that get the better of me is the day I die.” she replied. The woman introduced herself. Sera took Alida's hand and smiled back. “The name's Seraphina, most just call me Sera for short. Nice to meet ya!” Now that Sera was closed to her she could tell that Alida was not just some human. It was always pretty easy to tell who was a supernatural or not. Sera usually could feel something strange around a person. But even without that natural sensation one look at Alida's eyes gave it away. The eye color was just too unique too be something human, and too real to just be contacts. That realization didn't faze Sera though, New Orlands were crawling with people just like them. Well, there weren't many solaris but there was plenty of everything else in this city that it was just too common to bump into another sup like this.

“Hey Matty, serve up two shots of whiskey for me and my home girl will ya?” she turned to Matt and hand him some cash, leaving a little extra tip because she was feeling in a good mood. Matt took the money and started to pour the two girls a glass while Sera turned back to the new woman. “So you are a musician I take it.” she said, eying the guitar strapped to Alida's back. “Guess you probably came here looking to set up a gig or something. If you are you came to the right place. There hasn't been any gigs here for awhile. I'm sure you will get some here.”

[Deleted]

Alida had to laugh at Seraphina’s spunk. She saw the girl throw two grown men across the room, shake off the fact that they attempted to grope her, and still manage not to get kicked out of the bar. “It’s good to meet you, Sera. I’m glad another girl is deciding to keep herself safe and not let anyone else mess with her. There aren’t enough women like that yet.” She noticed Sera sizing her up, and going straight to her eyes, and decided that wasn’t a bad idea; Alida knew so far that this girl had to be something different, but what? The red eyes were unique, but they also indicated someone to be albino… But Alida felt they must be something else.

“Hey Matty, serve up two shots of whiskey for me and my home girl will ya?” was what came out of Sera’s mouth, startling Alida from her thoughts. She laughed at the unexpected order to the bartender, whose name must have been Matt. Even though she wrecked part of his bar, and must have done this before, he was still letting her purchase drinks. At least she paid for them, and Alida had no problem taking free whiskey. The next comment surprised her, as she had totally forgotten what she was in the bar for. She said, “So you’re a musician I take it. Guess you probably came here looking to set up a gig or something. If you are you came to the right place. There hasn’t been any gigs here for a while. I’m sure you will get some here.”

Sera picked up the shot glass closest to her, smiled at Sera, and took a drink before answering. The liquid felt almost hot against her throat, with a welcome burning sensation going down. “You’re right, and I’m glad you mentioned it, because I might have walked out of here forgetting all about it.” She chuckled a little. “I was hoping for some new places, and this seemed like a decent bar to check out. If there hasn’t been anything going on recently, I guess I made the right decision.” Alida looked over at the bartender, and said, “Hey, Matt, you said a manager was going to be here? Do you know how long that will take?”

As much as she enjoyed Seraphina’s company, Alida wanted to know as soon as possible if she was in the right place or not. If this bar won’t hire her, she has to go find another place and quickly. She was sick of working so many hours at the little music shop she was at, since that barely covered rent, and wanted to just sing for a living. But, alas, with her voice she had to be careful. Certain pitches could cause some damage to her listeners, but usually she’s kept that in check. Besides, if she just persuaded them using her voice a little to love her more, she’d be signed and out of this town… But that would just be using her power for a personal gain, and she tried her hardest to stay away from that. She poured the rest of the whiskey into her mouth.

[Seraphina]

Seraphina couldn't help but giggle at Alida's comment on most women not being as tough as she was. “That's because most women have no idea how strong they really are.” she replied. That was the way she saw it anyway. Growing up girls were pretty much told that they were the weaker sex and most of them just accepted that fact and did nothing about it. Sera was different though. From an early age Sera was a little hell razor. If there was someone that picked on her or someone she took a liking to she would beat the idiots up. She had already gotten used to beating the crap out of boys twice her age before she became a teenager, it was only natural that she could still do the same now that she was older. Sometimes she wondered if things would have been different if she had been human, but in her heart she knew it wouldn't have mattered. While she could set her enemies on fire she was physically no different than any other human woman. She beat humans without using her powers way before she found out she had any, and for the most part never used her talents on humans. If she was born without them or even lose them one day the only thing that she would need to worry about was getting into a fight with a supernatural.

It was a good thing that those two idiots weren't sups. Seraphina was usually good about not using her powers in such a close public setting like this, but that didn't mean that other supernaturals were. Some sups were too stupid to think about the long term consequences of exposing themselves to mankind. If they had been like that and had powers, that fight would have been a lot uglier. Not only that but she would have risked exposing herself in the process. Perhaps she should be more careful for now on? And perhaps pigs could fly. Sera was just over thinking things a little, it was probably just the alcohol getting to her head. Speaking of alcohol, it was about time that Sera hit something heavier. The girl could barely feel the buzz kick in from what she had had earlier. There was no way that she was going to leave this place without getting smashed first. So Sera ordered some whiskey shots for her and the new woman without even asking if she wanted some or if she wanted some. Whether Alida would accept it or not was up to her, the smaller woman could just walk away if she wanted to, it wouldn't hurt Sera's feelings one bit, hell that would just mean an extra shot for her. But Sera was sure that Alida was not going to reject her friendly gesture. The woman seemed interested enough in her not to reject her company, the chances were she would stay for at least for a little while.

And stay she did. Alida grabbed the shot glass and took a swig, and Sera did the same, downing the whole thing in one go. “Ahhh...that hit the spot.” NOW she was starting to feel the buzz. “More.” she held the glass out for Matt to refill for her. As the bartender served her another shot Sera talked to Alida, asking if she was here looking for a gig. Sure enough Alida confessed that she was. “That's cool.” The girl commented. “Yeah, this place is not to bad for new bands to get some attention. You should get something here, right Matty?” The bartender nodded.

“The managers should be back here in about an hour.” he replied to Alida's question. “Maybe a little later, but hopefully it won't take too long.”

“Good, you can chill here for an hour then.” Sera smiled at the woman. “That or you can try somewhere else if you don't want to wait that long. I heard that the night club called Impresso does live gigs too, its worth a shot to try there as well.” Sera didn't go to clubbing much, she was more of a drinker than she was a dancer but she at least knew a little about the place. “So what do you play? Bass or Lead guitar?” she asked. It was obvious at least that Alida played the guitar, there was no other reason she would be carrying one on her back. But she couldn't really tell if it was a bass guitar or not from the angle she was in. That and the girl wasn't very knowledgeable about instruments. Either way it didn't hurt to ask.