I'll just live on in the Dark

[motherflocker.livejournal.com]

WHO: Anyone heading to the Iceberg Lounge
WHERE: At a damn fine building downtown
WHEN: 12/12; Night
WARNINGS: Will be edited if necessary.
SUMMARY: Opening night!
FORMAT: Whatever you want! Tag yo'selves in!



Walking into the bar is like walking into a wide open room, but the dimmed lights never seem to be bright enough to catch every detail in one swoop. To the far right wall is the bar, and a long bar it is, with bartenders lining it spaced by about five feet or so in between. Nobody actually sits at the bar, of course. The bartenders are there to make drinks for the servers. While both the bartenders and server girls wear tuxedos, the women's are made for the intent to actually catch the eye, of course. Fishnets replace slacks, dressshirts cut much lower than necessary, and tophats on each woman's head. They grin, and flirt, and make their way, but the moment a hand drifts too far, there's the legion of bouncers who line the walls, watching for any infraction. The Penguin is, after all a chauvenist, but he is no pig.

The middle of the wide area is devoted to tables, an endless sea of white clothed tables, each one a unique and different ice sculpture in the center. Each one unique, lit from beneath with a light that lets an almost wet light radiate from each table.

And of course to the left is the stage, performers that never cease to move, or sing, or whatever is up for the next part of the night. Breaks between each are sparse, quick, and the music never becomes too loud. And the stage, it is lined with penguins. A bit of irony, perhaps, but Penguin wouldn't begrudge his prior career as a gotham rogue. Perhaps he even reveled in the reminder. Out there for everyone to see.

Regardless, there would be no grand plots or schemes tonight. Just a party.

Comments

[notadartboard]

Sanji calmed himself instantly and returned to his charming mode. "My duty is to feed people who are hungry," he explained deftly with a little wave of his hand. "It was a much bigger job when my crewmates were here, but now that they're all gone, it falls to whoever might need it." He smirked a bit. "There's always someone who doesn't know how to cook, or can't afford to eat out every night, in the MAC somewhere."

[pluckyreporter]

"You know when I first went to college, my father wanted me to go into law, so the first thing I did was enroll in a culinary school in an act of rebellion," she said, shaking her head at the memory. "Picked up a few tricks, but ultimately-- the love wasn't there. Hopped majors for a while, settled into journalism and never looked back. Nowadays I find time to make a meal more often than I did at home, but... there's still a lot of Chinese take out in my future."

[notadartboard]

"Is that so?" Sanji hung on her every word, actually fascinated. "Well, you do have to find what you love. No one is happy when they fight against a dream." He shook his head with a chuckle. "Nothing against the Chinese restaurant people, even I've had take-out a few times, but it's hardly good nutrition. They have a fantastic grasp of spices, though. Enviable, even."

[pluckyreporter]

"Still irritated my father to no end," she replies. "But that's how it works out, sometimes."

Chuckling over the glass, she nods once. "Indian's one of my favorite, just for the aromatics. Freshly ground cardamom..." she sighs, giving a little smile. "Say what you will about being hungry an hour later, well done Chinese food smells good and tastes better."

[notadartboard]

Sanji perked up even more. "I love Indian food! I was once booked to cater at a wedding where the bride wanted an Indian menu, I learned so many recipes," he gushed. "The spices, the balance of flavors and textures...! It's one thing I'm grateful I was able to learn from this world."

[pluckyreporter]

"You're not from an Earth equivalent, then? Or do you mean--" Roxanne asked, brow arching. She'd met a few, but still. Sanji was pretty normal, all things considered.

[notadartboard]

"No, actually," Sanji replied smoothly. "My home world is nothing like this. It's mostly ocean, the only real continent of any great size is the Red Line, which runs like a girdle from pole to pole around the whole world." He gestured as he spoke to illustrate, taking great care not to spill his drink as he did.

[pluckyreporter]

"...that's got to make for some seriously weird life styles. The food production alone..." Since they're talking about food and all. "It must be quite the place."

[notadartboard]

"Life is very different there than here," Sanji admitted with a wise nod. "Seafaring chefs like myself are the thin white line between life and death. It's no joke." He was fairly proud of that; maybe he was exaggerating slightly, but most crews were smart enough to know they needed a cook with good sense to keep them from dying on the high sea.

[pluckyreporter]

"I imagine so; disease, starvation, nutrition issues-- a good chef that can both please the crew and keep them hale would be worth his weight in gold," she replied, wondering what it'd be like on the high seas in such a place.

[notadartboard]

Sanji blinked a bit. "That's it exactly. You're very smart, Miss Roxanne - most people need that explained to them. You got it right away." That just made him glee even more - smart women were a secret turn-on.

[pluckyreporter]

"And that's why I made such good money at home," she says with a wry twist of her lips. No, it's not, but that doesn't really mattre here. "I'm not most people, though -- and I have to keep up with a super-genius who gets ahead of himself at home a lot, so... pays to think on my feet well."

[notadartboard]

"Super genius, eh?" Sanji prompted. "Lucky, I usually have to stay ahead of the opposite most days."

[pluckyreporter]

"I can't see you hanging with a crowd that couldn't keep up with you," she replies, giving him a speculative look. "But on a ship I guess you can't pick for everything, right?"

[notadartboard]

"Eh, it's the price for deciding to stick with your captain," Sanji said airily, doing his best to make it all sound important and adventurous and romantic. "Most of them are idiots, but I'll fight beside them all the same. The ones who aren't are our beautiful navigator and our gorgeous historian, they're very smart and I'll follow them forever."

[pluckyreporter]

"There's something to be said for a loyal man," she replies, noting his interest in the two women. Oh, Sanji, you dog you! She can't help but laugh. "Guess you've got your priorities there, don't you?"

[notadartboard]

As most things concerning Nami and Robin did, the implication went right over his head. "Well, we do all have our dreams to follow, and that means sticking with each other to the end of it all," Sanji said wistfully. He was quick to turn it on Roxanne, though. "What about you? Is there anything you dream about?"

[pluckyreporter]

That was an unexpected question for her; not a lot of people would consider Roxanne a dreamer, honestly. She considers a moment, looking at the muddled colors in her glass.

"I don't-- really know. I've spent my life at the whim of people for a while now. I'm just starting to dictate my own terms again," she says, thoughtfully. "But sometimes you have to put some old dreams to bed, and find some new ones. I think I'm just between the two, I guess."

[notadartboard]

"Sometimes the old dreams are the more interesting ones," Sanji offered, trying to be encouraging. "Come, you can tell me. I'm good at keeping secrets."

[pluckyreporter]

"I was just wondering when I'd get a chance to do normal things. Like get married and settle down, I thought I'd have a good job, meet Mr. Right, have kids eventually and just be... normal," she says, a little wistful. "But my life is anything but. My boyfriend is an alien, I'm embroiled in superheroics from the sidelines, and... there's no changing it. And some of it I wouldn't give up for the world."

So... dreams change. She just hasn't found one for the next phase of her life.

[notadartboard]

Sanji listened and then nodded. "Ah, but how do you know that the 'normal' part isn't just coming later? It could still be in the cards someday, just not now." He chuckled a bit. "Though an adventurous life is hard to walk away from, I'm sure."

[pluckyreporter]

"I'm in my thirties," she replies. "The window on kids is rapidly closing. Sometimes I hear the biological clock ticking... but it's hard to hear it over the explosions and lasers, sometimes."

The wildness her feel young. She's in great health, fantastic shape-- but sometimes... you know, sometimes she wonders.

[notadartboard]

"Ah," Sanji nodded, not knowning what that felt like at all. All he could do was look understanding and sympathetic. "I would never have guessed, a beautiful lady like you. You couldn't be."

[pluckyreporter]

"Flattery will get you no where with me, Sanji," she says, lips curling in a smile even as she sips her drink. Been a while since she was with a smooth operator. But it's a little nice. "But yes, over thirty. Bet you're not out of your twenties, though."

[notadartboard]

"Aww," Sanji cooed. "You can't blame me for trying. Not that it matters - I like mature women." After all, Robin was almost thirty herself...

He chuckled a bit. "If you count the years spent here, twenty-one. But my birthday's in March, so if the damn Porter keeps me here any longer, that'll make me twenty-two."