Owner	Pose
Black Canary	Someone who looks way out of place for the classy lounge steps through the doors. The coat check girl's smile falters as the new arrival passes her, no signs of the leather biker jacket coming off to be checked. Thankfully. One of the two armed guards seems about to turn away the new arrival, earning a 'don't want none, don't bring none' glare through the single opened blue eye, the other eye puffed and purple and swollen mostly shut. Said guard is stopped by the other, the one who's been here long enough to recognize two things: 1. The newcomer is Dinah Drake, old flame of the boss. 2. Dinah Drake looks like she's in a very, very, very bad mood at the moment. So the jeans-clad woman, wearing the too-tight white babydoll tee and the black leather biker jacket (that is not hiding the blood stains on said babydoll very well at all) walks past the guards and into the room. "Cigars? Cigarettes? ..." The scantily-clad girl's voice dies in her throat as she sees Dinah. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valour, she remembers she has to be anywhere else right now. Because her mother is calling her. Or something. Dinah stalks over to the bar. "That..." she says, stabbing a finger at the bottle of bourbon on the top shelf. "Just leave the bottle here with a tumbler." Yeah, she's having a rough day it seems.
Thomas Raith	Yosa, the bartender, just smiles slightly. He always liked Dinah. He looks like Bruce Willis from RED with an eyepatch. She'd seen him without it once, and the whole are is scared from what he said simply was "An Eagle." He doesn't talk much. Nore dores he talk now as he takes a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue from the top shelf, places it beside a glass and a small bucket of ice. He also places a rag there in case she wants to form an ice pack. Enter the "Man in White". It should be illeagal for a man to be that...pretty. Not conventionally handsome, but almost beautiful. He comes down the stairs from his office, having likely seen her come in on the cameras. "Well of all the gin joints in all the world blah blah blah, Empty night Dinah who did what to your face?"
Black Canary	"I spilled," Dinah growls, terse until her booze is in front of her and then down her throat. Closed eye, little sigh, visible relaxation. "Someone tried an ambush. Raised-wire trap stopped the bike. I kept travelling. Made the intimate acquaintance of a lamp post. About half a foot removed from the spikey bit that would have gone straight into the brain pan." She permits herself a smile. Not a pleasant one. Predatory. Smug. Self-satisfied. "They thought I'd be out for the count. They thought wrong. There's a bit of cleanup for Bludhaven's cops out there now. I called it in. Most of them will walk again." Beat. "Most." She finishes the first neat tumbler and pours the next shot. "The warm thoughts of my fists in their faces, my boots against their knees ... that almost makes up for the pain of the spill." She gulps from her second tumbler. "Almost. The booze will ease the sting enough for only my pride to be left stinging."
Thomas Raith	"Empty night, save me from blondes with deathwishes." He says mildly amused. He waves to Yosa, who takes a crystal decanter from under the bar as well as a Highball glass... He then moves the ice bucket between the pair wordless. Dinah would know that all that is in the decanter is Iced tea. Thomas likes to appear to be drinking with his fellow patrons, but never get's drunk. Never gets out of control. "And you decided to give poor Hawk and axe a heart attack because..?" He asks with a grin...
Black Canary	"Your joint was closest. I needed a drink. They were between me and the drink." Dinah's grumpiness is beginning to diminish. "The younger one ... shit, I'm glad he didn't talk. He'd have squeaked after he saw me and he'd never have lived it down." She shakes her head, visibly regrets it and manually stops it. "Anyway, who's got a death wish? If I had a death wish, would I have turned myself into the greatest martial artist on the planet?" Greatest ... arguably ... and there's plenty who'd argue. Lady Shiva for starters... "If I wanted to die I'd get into this gig without training." Like how she started. "Point being, I like to cause suffering in others and I can't do that if I'm dead." Points for honesty?
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith doesn't point out he's not even sure she is the greatest Martial Artist he /knows/. Still top five easy but he dated a Power Ranger. "Actually the one that pulled the other back /is/ the younger one." He says mildly amused as he sips his tea. Since she doesn't bother, he puts some ice in the rag and slowly brings it towards her face. His touch carrying with it that ...charge... that his kind has...
Black Canary	It seems that Dinah was waiting for that. Not just the ice. But the added benefit of the touch. She shivers, her eyes going out of focus, as the contact happens, then adjusts her position on the stool. A small amount of her breath escapes her parted lips. "Yeah, OK, so maybe there was another reason I picked here." That voice slightly dreamy, distant.
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith chuckles slightly. His fingers tracing now just beyond her damaged eye and an amused smile on his lips. He lets his Hunger slip just a little, letting that stroke of fingers turn into heat and pleasure. "You know, I thought there might be." He says, his words filling with his...talent.
Black Canary	"Yeah... that's the stuff..." Dinah eases back against the bar and visibly relaxes, giving in to the warmth and thrill of that touch. To a degree. After a few moments she struggles back to herself, resisting the siren's call, raising her hand to gently push Thomas' hand away. Quite impressively she manages to get it three quarters of the way up before dropping it loosely back in her lap. "But ... let's stop there." It sounds like she's tearing those words out of her brain and stuffing them out her mouth, voice thick, low. "Nice to know," she adds, back to dreamy, "you haven't lost your touch." See what she did there?
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith smirks just a little bit, and with his hand on her thigh, he cranks his Hunger up high for just a mind meltingly eternity long moment as he saus simply "Tease." and then slowly takes his hand back away. He sighs, pulling away and adds, "I know a guy, genius with bikes, completely forgets to ask questions like "How did this happen?" Or "What was your name again?" If you want I can give him a call and he can pick up whatever is left of yours."
Black Canary	That brings out an all-too-familiar "Nngngnggg!" sound as Dinah writhes under Thomas' little joke, eyes rolling back, head lolling to one side briefly. "Bastard!" she says. Fondly, not angrily. It's hard to hate the person who just took you to the brink of climax after all. "Bike's in working order," she says. "A bit scraped up. It's tougher than the punks that tried to take it out. I'll fix it when I get back to my nest." Beat. "So how you been keeping yourself?" she asks in a fake-casual conversational tone. "Place looks as good as always."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith shrugs a little looking around. There is no false modesty here. He is rather proud of the Club he built and the hard work he put into it. "The Club is doing well. Sasha has been headlineing Friday through Sunday... Frankly I'm amazed she hasn't moved on to bigger and better things by now." He shrugs a bit, adding "Buffy and I aren't seeing each other any more so getting used to an empty bed has been an adjustment. What about you? Last time I saw you you were with that billionaire... not Wayne... the other one, what's his name."
Black Canary	"Ollie? Yeah, we were a thing for a while. You know me and my infamously bad taste in men." Beat. "Present company excepted of course." Shit-eating grin. She knows what she did. "Yeah, I'm at the point of needing to stock up on batteries. Dry spell. Not for lack of suitors, mind. Just ... really too busy to mess around with relationships too." She releases a sigh as big as the world. "Shop is busy now and you'll never guess who's responsible for the sudden uptick: because of an accident I had every ne'er-do-well and villain not actively being sought for arrest coming to my place for flowers on Valentine's. New help fucked up and answered the wrong phone." She shakes her head and barks a laugh. "And now this somehow caused the shop to be so popular I'm hiring more and more help. Then there's the band. Dropping an album likely this year. We got a surprisingly warm review in the Daily Planet after a show in Metropolis and now the phone's ringing off the wall." And in her case that's not an expression. Her phone is on the wall. Well the one she uses most is. "And my little side action ... covers all my available time. Where am I supposed to find time to manage an SO on top of that?"
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith nods slightly at her explination. Of course having a Wizard for a brother means the idea of wall mounted phones is hardly alien to him, but he seems genuinely happy for her apparent sucess. "well I'd love to have you back here some time if you wanted to show these folks what real talent looks like." He says with an aumse smile, refilling his tead and dropping some ice cubes in his glass. He adds a wicked little smirk and adds "And if you ever run low on batteries... I'd be happy to help with that as well."
Black Canary	"You just did..." Dinah has the decency to flush a little as she says that response to the offer to help with batteries. "But I don't know if Ashes is the kind of band you'd book here. No mosh pit for starters. We're loud. We're in your face. And I tend to mosh dive mid-concert because it's so much damned fun." She snorts. "Who knew I'd go all-in with a nuPunk band, eh? With metal flavourings."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith grins a little bit at that, He always liked it when she blushed. Maybe because it was such a contrast to her normal demeanor. "Are you saying yo don't think you could croon out "Show me some4thing" any more?" He asks with a playful grin and smirks, leaning in and adding "I meant if you wanted more then just a free sample.
Black Canary	"Nah," Dinah says, waving things off, "I'd ruin my stage voice if I sang pretty. I'm a punk... singer... now..." Her voice trails off as Thomas removes more pain the face-flushing way. ... "Dammit, Thomas!" she groans. "Not now, please?" She's saying 'please'? "But sure, if this bottle is a free sample, I'm down for some singing after it's done." And even through the hunger she's still got that ghost of a shit-eating grin.
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith grins just a little bit, "Be careful Dinah." He says sipping his drink and smiling like that cat that got the cream... and the canary... and pinned the whole thing on the dog. "After all, not now implys yes later." He says with a wicked smile.
Black Canary	As the pressure lets up, Dinah lets out a light groan and shakily pours herself another glass of the bourbon. "Later can be a long time, Thomas. I think I have an opening in October." She mimes looking through an appointment book. "2139. Will you be available then?" The drink disappears down her gullet. "If I'm going to sing here tonight, I'm going to have to armour up. This isn't exactly stage clothing. And I'm nowhere near drunk enough." Beat. "I choose the song."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith smirks a little wickedly, "I may still have something that will fit you," He says with a chuckle, "You certainly left enough...clothing... here in your time." He shrugs, "And you know my policy, the talent drinks free..." He sips his own drink, chuckling. "And as long as the people can dance to it, sing whatever you like... "
Black Canary	"Yer on!" Dinah says, grinning and grabbing the bottle. "Prop," she explains over her shoulder as she heads off to the dressing rooms by way of the band. Pausing at the bandstand she has a few words with the band leader, gesticulating (with bottle in hand) and waving animatedly. The bandmaster grins and nods, tossing a glance Thomas' way briefly before turning to the band to pass on instruction. It takes a while, during which the usual background music is sung. Then ... Well it begins with mic feedback, followed by Dinah, in an ill-fitting, partially rent gown stumbling onto stage drunkenly. She staggers to the microphone stand, fumbling the mic into it before reeling back.     Hey!     Is this my turn?     You want me to sing now?     Okay! She slurs her speech as she looks over at the bandmaster who is now trying very hard not to laugh. And failing. She takes a deep swig and...     Wow! That scream escapes her throat into the mic, triggering more feedback just as ... electric guitar kicks in with a heavy riff. Staggering and lurching around the stage, connected by her fist to the mic stand leaning at crazy angles as she sings, Dinah lets loose loud, raucous vocals:     I don't care if you won't talk to me     You know I'm not that kind of girl     And I don't care if you won't walk with me     It don't give me such a thrill     And I don't care about the way you look     You should know I'm not impressed     'Cause there's just one thing that I'm looking for     And he don't wear a dress     I need a man     I need a man     I need a man     I need a man And the bridge plays with the band having a great time improvising the '80s rock/pop tune with their '20s-era instruments and the guitarist going nuts.
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith actually laughs from his seat at the bar, raising his glass in her direction. He'd taken the time she used to get readyt to move from the bar to his private booth, so he has a perfect view in the best possible spot to hear the song. He gives her a wink as some of the patrons start to dance along, getting into the swing of the song.
Black Canary	Dinah, swallowing more of the booze as the band plays, picks up on the second verse, lurching around drunkenly yet somehow managing to still deliver perfect (if raw) vocals. Then comes the middle vocal bridge and she hops off the stage, losing the drunken antics, taking the mic with her as she makes a beeline for Thomas' table, at the end picking up a foot and pressing it on his knee, delivering:     I don't need a heart breaker, fifty-faced trouble maker     Two-timing time taker, dirty little money maker     Muscle-bound cheap skate, low down woman hater     Triple-crossing double dater, yella bellied alligator Then with another "WOW!" scream she repeats the first verse, moving from table to table at the edge of the dance floor, picking on various men as she sings before hopping up on the stage again (literally, no stairs in use) to deliver the resounding closer.     Hey, boy, c'mon     I'll take you anytime     Woo!     Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby,     baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, boom!
Thomas Raith	The crowd naturally enough cheers and applauds the impromptu performance. Several phones out taking snapshots and recordings of the rare sight of a battered and bruised heroine giving them a free sample concert. Thomas actually stands to applaud. When it's over he gestures to his table. Her bottle as well as his having been moved... and Smash's famous spaghetti and Meatballs placed beside them.
Black Canary	Dinah grins stupidly as the crowd applauds, bowing and then dragging the bandmaster and the guitarist up on stage to shout into the mic, "Applaud the real heroes: without them I'm just a screechy Karen!" Handing the mic to the bandmaster, then, she hops off the stage and sashays her way over to Thomas' table, slipping into the seat opposite him, flushed with excitement and grinning like she's on drugs. "Nothing like an audience to pick up a mood, is there?" Her eyes flick to the dishes. "Except for that, naturally."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith grins slightly, dipping a piece of perfectly toasted cheesey garlic bread into the thick almost gravy like red sauce coating the noodles. "He heard you singing and sent it out. He still credits you for giving him the confidence to tell his boyfriend how he really felt." He says with a smirk.
Black Canary	"Too busy. Eating. Drinking." And for the next few minutes Dinah is eating. Drinking. With great efficiency. "Thing about the Cry," she says conversationally. "It uses a lot of energy. I've gotta be constantly eating." She takes a swig from her bottle. "Drinking is just something I do for my own fun, though." And more spaghetti slides down her throat like ... a simile we won't continue except to say that it is absolutely not the one you think it is that belongs on Pornhub, not polite conversation. "Good to know he's still together then. Smash is such a dork. When you want someone, you tell them. It's the only way to live life without lasting regrets."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith shrugs slightly, "He did allot of time inside. There is the whole face and tongue thing, and the fact he didn't want to admit he was actually gay. It's allot to take in." He sips his tea, swirling his own spagetti and nodding. "It's like that for me too. I use my strength, my speed, or Empty Night my healing and I have to feed. Unfortunately that is not as simple as it is for most people since Smash's Spegetti and Meatballs won't fill my demon."
Black Canary	"Yeah, that's gotta be an inconvenience. Glad I work off of food. Just makes people look at me weird when I eat four extra-large, double-everything pizzas in one sitting. Your thing? That'd be a hassle." She finishes off her plate and looks around the club. "I'm guessing you've got a 'don't eat in your backyard' policy going on too, right?"
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith snorts slightly, "Are you joking? I pretty much built this place as a honey trap. Somewhere I could have my...meals... more or less come to me. If I recall the first words I ever said to you was to ask if you wanted a Slow comfortable screw up agienst the wall..." Which is a drink, a cocktail including Sloe Gin, Southern comfort, Vodka, Orange Juice, shaken over ice with Galliano on top.
Black Canary	"So you don't do the full drain then? Well, then," Dinah's eyes turn to the club, scouting people out. "There's that one over there. She looks like she has a lot of sublimated loving to give." That would be the rotund dowager that Dinah's pointing out. The one that had been huffing with annoyance at Dinah's performance, since it was too sexual, too loud, inappropriate. She didn't say it, but the Karen vibes are all over her. "Anybody that full of self-loathing is going to be a sucker for your little game, right?"
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith looks over to the woman in question, mildly amused. "I never drain them dry. You've got to be really careless and frankly wasteful to do that. The real risk comes from feeding on the same one too much in too short a period." He explains casually and adds, "And you might be right... but why go for low hanging fruit?"
Black Canary	"Well, if you're HUNGRY," Dinah teases, suppressing a smirk (badly) the low-hanging fruit is the way to go. I mean if I'm hungry I don't go to market, buy the ingredients, and then slave away to make my own pizzas. I zip off down to Angelo's and order four of his finest." She gently nudges Thomas with her booted foot in the direction of the repressed Karen. "Go get 'em, Tiger! Don't want you starving on us." Chalk up one advantage to eating food instead of essence.
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith smirks just a little bit, "True, but I'd point out you go down to Angelo's, not to Little Ceasers." He says mildly amused, his normally dark blue eyes starting to get a little lighter with her teasing. "Then again if you are /that/ worried about me... " He says with a raised eyebrow.
Black Canary	"Ain't nothing little about that one..." Dinah says, mean-spiritedly, again badly suppressing a grin. "That's The Pyramids Ain't Got Nothin' On Me Caesar's!" Being catty? Hell yeah! "But if you can hold on that long, I'd love to have that drink, sure. It's really tasty."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith snickers slightly and shrugs. He makes a signal and Didi, and his cousin rolls her eyes from across the bar but passes the order on to yosa... who rolls his solitary eye and proceeds to start making the cocktail. Thomas just shakes his head, throughly amused by the entire situation. then a wicked smirk crosses his lips. "Though if you want I can play match maker for your entertainment... Pick a victim.."
Black Canary	Dinah's right eyebrow crawls up under her hairline. "Matchmaker? You mean you'd give me up to someone who's not you?!" She stares at Thomas wide-eyed, then narrows them suspiciously. "Who are you?!" she asks brusquely, adding, "And what have you done with the REAL Thomas Raith!?" Then she laughs again, pressing her lips together in amusement. "I don't need a matchmaker," she boasts. "If I want someone I take them." Yeah, there's the brash Dinah that ... has constant man troubles because her bad taste in men is legendary. And she's probably right about it because the kind of man she's attracted to is the kind of man who'll go with anybody that wants them. Legendary bad taste. "But you seriously think I came here to pick up a rando?"
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith chuckles a little bit as the "Slow Comfortable Screw against the Wall is delivered to their table and Thomas just shakes his head. "I meant I would send one of these random sods to fall on that particular sword.." He says gesturing to the woman. "I know you have better taste then /that/." He says with a smirk, "But if it entertains you... "
Black Canary	"Ah. Of course." Dinah snorts. "Nah, I was more wanting to tease you." She picks up her drink and sips it, nodding appreciatively. "Normally I don't do mixed, but sometimes it seems to suit." She glances down at the drink. "He's changed the mix a bit. There's a bit more padding on the wall now." Because innuendo doesn't make her shy away. It makes her ramp it up. "But if I have such good taste," she asks, "why do I have so many flaming wrecks, romantically speaking, behind me?" This doesn't seem to be introspection. It's almost braggadocio. "It's almost like I couldn't tell a bad choice if it came up to me and bit me, after shouting "I'M A TERRIBLE CHOICE" at the top of its lungs."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith chuckles a little bit, and decides to take that as a somewhat invitation and leans over and lightly bites her on the shoulder. Not hard, more of a grazing of his teeth. He pulls back slowly, eyes having shifted from Saphire to sky blue. "Just thought I'd test the theroy..."
Black Canary	Dinah shivers a bit and hugs herself as that personal contact is made. Her pupils dilate momentarily, mouth opening a little to release a slight, lightly voiced sigh. "Keep that up," she says dreamily, "and it won't just be a drink." Blindly she reaches for said drink to punctuate the innuendo. "It was a bad idea to come here," she continues, then, voice still distant and dreamy. "Bad Dinah. Bad girl." She slaps her wrist. "There. That should teach me."
Thomas Raith	Thomas Raith smirks a bit and tilts his head slightly, amused as he chuckles, "You know you might just be right. Very likely you know now not to make such bad decisions." he says standing... but then reaching out to take her hand. "But you know, bad decisions do have consiquences.." He says fully intending to lead her upstairs.