Adventures in Parodyverse:  Falling On Hard Times, Part 6


    Lara was dressed in a sleek charcoal dress made of a kind of fabric available back home, but not in Paradopolis.  It shimmered, looking slightly different as light hit it at varying angles.  It went from her neck to her mid-thigh, and the wore it with stockings, a black reflective belt, short leather jacket, and leather boots.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hi.”  she greeted Mark when he arrived outside the restaurant.

    He put his arm across her back to lead her inside.  “They made you wait out here?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I was only here for a few minutes.”  she explained.  “It was more crowded and noisy inside.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Table for two, please.”  he requested.

    The usually snooty greeter looked shocked to see the Carnifax in his restaurant.  He stammered for a moment, then quickly said, “One moment please.”

    Then he raced into the small office at the front and began arguing with the head waiter and manager.  The latter two raced into the dining room and began setting up a small table and two chairs in a secluded spot where there was no table before.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Right this way, please.”  the head waiter finally greeted them.

    Lara walked ahead of Mark to the table.  He pulled the chair out for her, and she sat down.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What do you think of the Lair Legion, Mark?”  Lara asked right off as they were handed menus.  

    He gave her a disarming smile she had seen on politicians the world over.  “I admire what they’re doing.”  he said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I guess you heard about the financial problems.”  Lara prodded further.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.  It’s a shame.”  he replied.  He was staring unnervingly into her eyes as he spoke.  He barely noticed the food being delivered.  “Where are you staying, since it’s not at the Lair Mansion?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“With a friend.”  she replied truthfully.  “He’s on a date too, and it’s his place, so I’m outside to give him a little breathing room.  It’s the unwritten roommate rule.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Ah.”  Mark said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I guess what they need is a mysterious sponsor or two.”  Lara went on, changing the subject back.  She stopped when she realized he wasn’t paying any attention at all.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Curious.”  Mark commented as he leaned back in his chair, keeping his eyes on Lara.  “Most dates I have are smiling and giggling by the time the food arrives.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hah, well that says something about most of your dates.”  Lara joked as she started to eat.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you know why I invited you to dinner?”  Mark asked.

    Lara’s smile faded a little.  She began to wonder if this was one of those stories that ended with her date trying to kill her.  He was, after all, the Parodyverse’s greatest hunter.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Because you intrigue me.”  he said.  “You’re not like the other heroes, Lara.  You have the taint of blood on you...but you don’t have the spirit of a hunter.  You’re very clever, but not not so smart as to disgust your peers.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You find that intriguing?”  Lara asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  he confirmed.  He shrugged and said, “If I can be a little honest, I’ve dated supermodels and actresses.  You’re pretty cute, but there are a lot of cute blondes around.  I’ve developed very high and exotic standards.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Little advice,”  Lara seethed, trying her best to keep her irritation in check, “Don’t tell your date that she’s not beautiful.”

    He laughed at that.  Then he quickly corrected with, “I meant that’s not why I asked you to dinner.  You are beautiful, but it’s your other characteristics that really stand out.”

    Not much else was said the rest of the meal, but Mark continued staring at Lara so that it disturbed her a bit.  But she did her best not to show it.

    When they got outside, the Carnifax had a black limousine waiting outside.  He walked over to it, and paused next to the rear door.  “How about staying at my place tonight?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No thanks,”  Lara replied, trying to stay polite even though she was a little taken aback by the suggestion.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  Mark laughed.  “I’ve never really been turned down before, but I forgot again...you’re not like the usual giggling dates I get.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You don’t actually--”  Lara moved closer to him and lowered her voice to a whisper.  “You don’t really sleep with every date, do you?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What can I say?”  he replied with a smirk.  “I’m really skilled, and I don’t mind sharing.  You did want to give your roommate friend some breathing room, right?  How about you give him an entire night, and be well rewarded for it?”

    Without waiting for an answer, he gently held Lara’s chin with his right hand, and planted a fairly long kiss right on her lips, transferring his hand to the small of her back.

    When he stepped away, Lara glanced at the limousine for a moment.  He was very good with a kiss, and it made her wonder if he wasn’t exaggerating his talents at all.  But frequently, playboy types were, only they didn’t care about their conquests one bit after that one night stand.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Give me a call if you change your mind,”  he said, noting her continuing hesitation.  “I’ll send my limo around to pick you up.  I think you’d make for a very exciting night.”  He winked at her, and then got in the car.

    Lara didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until the limousine drove away.  She then realized it wasn’t because she was momentarily tempted, but that she wished he would leave already and stop pressuring her.

    She was nervous enough that she became really thirsty, so walked across the street to a small neighborhood pub.  Thirsty, and a little depressed that she was outclassed by supermodel sluts who dated the Carnifax, slept with him, and warped his sense of priorities so that she could barely hold a conversation with him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you have any water or orange juice?”  she asked the bartender.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, not unless you want a screwdriver.”  he replied.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  she whispered.  “How about some regular iced tea?”

    He shrugged.  “I guess I can do that.  But I’d have to charge you for a long island iced tea.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Whatever, I just want one.”  Lara replied.

    A few seconds later, the bartender slid her a glass of iced tea.  She sipped it, and was glad they didn’t mess it up and put alcohol in it.

    Then she squinted as she noticed Vinnie De Soth sitting two seats down.  She paid, picked up her iced tea, and moved closer to him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What are you doing here?”  she asked.

    Vinnie jumped when she said that.  He almost spilled his iced tea, she could tell his had alcohol instead.  “Lara!  Hi, fancy meeting you here.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Pick up lines?”  she asked.  “Vinnie, get to know me already, would you?  I already had one creepy guy leering at me tonight.”  She put her face in her hands for a moment.  “And he told me I wasn’t beautiful.  And then he thought I’d sleep with him.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He must have brain damage or something, Lara.”  Vinnie replied with a smile.  “You really are beautiful.”

    Lara sat up and looked at him.  “See, I’d rather sleep with a guy for saying that than someone who says I’m ‘intriguing’.  I think he’s been in his tower too long or something.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Tower?”  Vinnie asked.  “You went out with the Carnifax?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s a long story.”  she sighed.  “And now I’m just hanging out because I sent Jay to talk to Zdenka, and he might need the apartment.  Why are you here anyway?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Same reason, kind of.”  Vinnie laughed.  “Liu Xi told me to go and have fun, because Jay needed help impressing someone.  She didn’t tell me who, though.  So I saw a movie, and then came here for a drink.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Right, the theater is next door.”  Lara remembered.  “Can I try a little of that?  I’m have like no tolerance for alcohol, so I can’t even have a whole drink.  I just want to see how it’s different from mine.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sure.”  Vinnie slid the drink toward her.  He watched Lara take a tiny sip.  “No, you have to drink more to really feel the effect.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  She leaned over and took a longer sip.  Then she gasped and sat up.  “Oh damn, that’s terrible!”  she said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Gives you a little buzz, eh?”  Vinnie laughed.  “I’m used to it, I can drink something like three of these before it gets to me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Why did you make me drink that?”  she asked, still holding her own head.

    He laughed again.  “You only had tiny amount, Lara, it won’t last very long.  Drink more of yours, it’ll dilute the alcohol and get rid of it faster.”

    She took a long sip of her own drink, and then asked, “I thought you and Liu Xi were living together now?”

    Vinnie shook his head and smiled.  “No, I’m just over there a lot.  We actually only slept together twice, usually I go ‘home’ to my tiny room at the bookstore real late.  Most of the time we’re just friends, the sleeping together was kind of...awkward.  Fun, but awkward.  I don’t know why, but we both felt it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“In my experience,”  Lara said, “That either means it’s not working for you...or maybe just that the two of you aren’t ready yet.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah.”  Vinnie agreed.  “Liu Xi guessed that too.  So we’re going back to being friends for a little while to see if we miss it.  Strictly hands-off and all.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sorry to hear that.”  Lara replied.  “You’re not going to take another shot at Kerry are you?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Haha, very funny.”  Vinnie protested.  “Liu Xi asked the same thing, though.  Let’s get out of this place, shall we?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sure.”  Lara slid off of the stool, and stumbled a little.  “Whoa, still a little dizzy.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Here we go.”  Vinnie took her arm and put it across his shoulders.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Thanks.”  she said.  “I guess you lead the way then.  Unless you want to visit Jay’s apartment, then I can teleport us there.”

    Vinnie gave Lara a ‘hell no’ look.  “We’d...better just take a cab.”  he said.  He whistled loudly enough that Lara cringed, and a taxi stopped.

    When they arrived at Jay’s apartment, Lara looked around and found that she and Vinnie were the only ones there.  “Hmm.  He must be out with her looking at the stars.  They like to do that.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Or he’s in another pub.”  Vinnie joked.

    Lara actually laughed at his joke as she stumbled a little on the way to her room.  She kicked her boots off and put them in the closet, and then stood and noticed Vinnie followed her.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What?  You want to sleep with me tonight too?”  she asked with a slight laugh, intending sarcasm, when she noticed that he followed her.  Her smile faded a little when Vinnie moved closer.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Stop right there.”  she warned him, putting her hands up to stop him.  Then with a quieter, more friendly voice, “That’s totally not the right thing.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah, you’re right.”  he agreed with a sigh.  “I’ve been single and ignored for so long...”

    Lara laughed again.  “I know what you mean.  There’s a time when I might have gotten myself in trouble first, and then realized it wasn’t right.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I heard about that.  You and Dream, right?”  he asked carefully.

    She nodded, her smile fading slowly.  “It’s a road that ends with a broken heart, Vinnie.  Sometimes more than one.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I guess...I should go back to my place.”  Vinnie mumbled.  “Now that I’ve made a fool of myself.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You can stick around if you like.”  Lara countered.  “Really, I like your company.  Just so long as it’s hands-off company.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Or maybe I should surprise Liu Xi.”  he thought.

    Lara nodded.  “That’s even better.”  She stopped him before he commented on leaving her by herself.  “Just go, before you change your mind.  Surprises are even better when they’re thought up on a moment’s notice.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  he agreed.  He smiled and said, “And thanks for not, you know, hitting me or kicking me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t do that.”  Lara told him with a laugh.  “Good luck, Vinnie.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah.”  Vinnie replied.  “I need it.”

    
TO BE CONTINUED?
    

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2009 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin