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WHO: Bela + Rosa
WHERE: A dive bar in De Chima
WHEN: 11th December
WHAT: Drinking up + boning down
WARNINGS: None yet

Drinks were on her. Whatever Emily wanted, Bela would get it for her.

She was beginning to suspect that 'Emily' wasn't her real name but it was up to her to confirm that. They weren't planning to share their life stories after all, they both knew what this was. Still, it would be nice to have some kind of conversation with her, and learn a few details if possible. Belatedly, she realises that she didn't actually give her own name but perhaps Emily might have read it from the network post, or seen Bela around before.

Anyway.

The bar where they agreed to meet was a dive, maybe on the same level as the ones found in Maurtia Falls. Cheap drinks and maybe slightly worn seats, but it will get the job done. She's dressed down, wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket, the jeans tucked into ankle boots. On the way there Bela gets recognised by a few fans of the space reality show but she brushes them off and insists that she needs to get somewhere.

Somewhere being this bar.

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Life has been ... pretty shitty. It's not like Rosa hasn't been in an ended relationship before, but ... she's never been broken up with. She's always been the dumpee - and even though Ruby didn't technically dump her, given that she'd been ported out and that shit was beyond anyone's control, it still leaves Rosa feeling gilted and left behind and abandoned. Which means that she's gotta pour those emotions into something, someone else - because she sure as fuck isn't going to feel them on her own.

She'd seen Bela around the network, knew she'd been in space with Poe not too long ago. They'd talked here and there, but aside from those few interactions and the six degrees of separation shit, she didn't know much about her. She definitely didn't know that she was even slightly interested in women, but Rosa isn't complaining.

At all.

She finds her way to the bar that Bela had suggested and, after parking her bike, wanders her way in. The stench of old beer that's long since seeped into the place hits her first, followed by the scent of newer beer on top of it, as well as the stentch of humanity. This place seems perfect for a meeting like this. She's got her usual head-to-toe black, though if one looks closely enough, one would notice a pop of bright salmon in the form of a camisole under her black tank, as well as the bright blue socks she's got tucked under her leather boots.

It's easy enough to spot her, and she makes her way over with the use of her elbows to dig her way through the mass of people. Thanks to the splashes of aforementioned color, her shoves and pushes are ... stronger than most other humans.

She plops herself down next to Bela and flicks her head in her direction as a greeting.

"First round on me." It's a statement, not a request.

Whereas Bela was trying to get her life back to normal after a couple of unsettling months. She didn't expect to be chosen to go to space for three weeks, going to the audition on a whim more than anything else. Her business had suffered as a result of her death and her reluctance to go back to Maurtia Falls, choosing to stay with a friend in De Chima. It had also suffered because of space.

After three weeks of well, sex deprivation, Bela is itching to get back on the saddle and make up for lost time. So while she's certain that Emily was using this as some kind of comfort or escape to make up for a broken heart, Bela was using it to find some release. She wasn't dating anyone so it commitment wasn't a problem for her at all. Most of her hook-ups had been with men, but Bela would not turn down the opportunity to get together with someone who looked like Emily.

She was hot.

The mutter from the crowd draws Bela's attention away from the bar, and she wonders what had upset them so much until she sees Emily coming towards her. Oh. That was why. Bela could appreciate her style for pushing through people without a care in the world.

She nods in return when Emily sits down, a smile playing on her lips.

"Okay. I can live with that." Bela isn't going to object. "I'll have a shot of whiskey then."

"Dope. Make it two, for each of us," Rosa clarifies for the bartender who, having seen the way the woman barged her way through like some latina Moses, gets to fixing their drinks in a hurry, even though there are some other folks waiting. She hears some girl click her tongue behind her and with a death-glare over her shoulder, gets the girl to apologize. She snorts dismissively as she turns back to Bela, her expression less coma-inducing and more pleasant. Slightly.

She doesn't do small talk .. at least not normally. Rosa'd much rather prefer to drink in silence, even with her closest friends. But she knows how these things go, how to play the game. With a slight gritting of her teeth, she taps her fingers on the bar, then removes it to her lap after feeling how sticky the surface is. She wipes her hand on her leg.

"Never been here," she comments, taking the shots from the barkeep and sliding two over to Bela. She takes one in each hand and raises them both to the woman opposite her. "To dive bars and boning down."

Two? Oh. She's got her work cut out for her. Normally, Bela would start with just a single shot and then gradually build up her consumption, one shot at the time. But she is up for almost anything now. Nothing wrong with letting loose and unwinding every so often. Especially in the company that she’s in. This was going to be a really interesting night.

Okay. Definitely not touching the bar after watching that.

"Neither have I," Bela replies, looking at the shots for a moment before copying the other woman and taking one in each hand. Well, when in Rome. She raises them in the air with a smile. "To dive bars and boning down."

Small talk was fine with her. Not talking at all was all right too. She's going to play it by ear and see what her company was more interested in doing. At the moment though? Bela is going to drink. Down goes one shot. A pause, then the other.

"Not completely terrible."

Rosa follows suit, downing one shot and then quickly tossing the other back, too. It barely registers in her facial expressions that she's downed anything less mild than water, and she slams both on the bar top before tapping them loudly to get the bar keep's attention. She holds up four fingers to signal a request for four more, split between the two of them, then turns back to Bela.

She studies her for a second or two, without being Boyle-level creepy. Bela's ... pretty hot, now that she's seeing her up close. Plus, she's friendly with Poe, and, despite all of Rosa's instincts telling her not to, she trusts Poe and his opinion almost as much as she does Jake and Boyle's. And that's saying a lot for Rosa Diaz.

"How was space and all that shit?" she asks, glancing back towards the bar keep to hurry him along, which he obeys, filling all of their shot glasses with an apologetic nod. "I kept track of some of it but got distracted with other crap."

She's fully aware of Emily's eyes on her and well, it's not unwelcome. The other woman is gorgeous.

"Yeah. I heard things became terrible for people down on Earth." Referencing the whole porter mess. "But space? Space was interesting. A little bit terrifying at times when we had to deal with a strange object that seemed intent on killing us. And going back to Earth wasn't so fun."

Bela reaches for a shot glass and down the drink, finding the burn easier this time around. She probably couldn't best her companion in a drinking competition though.

"I won the first contest - essentially, a capture the flag thing. Took part in a few drinking games and got to know some of my fellow roommates. Managed to stay out of a lot of the drama." Which was probably still a thing. "Myself and Loma were the only two women on board. I say women, even though Loma is technically sixteen. So I had to deal with dick jokes and men talking about their dicks. Which gets a bit boring after a while."

She downs the next shot easily.

"One good aspect of being on a reality show is the boost to your profile. More people know who I am and it's helped my business. I still haven't decided if I want to take part in endorsement deals for products." A shrug. "But I missed my own bed. I missed having the chance to go off somewhere on my own and not deal with noise. The food was just about bearable and after we consumed the alcohol we brought, we had to drink it from pouches."

She makes a face.

"Hardly any privacy either."

".. Yeah." That's all Rosa's gonna say about that. She doesn't think Ruby's disappearance has anything to do with the shit that went down with the Porters, but .. who knows? They might be related. But that's the last thing Rosa wants to think about right now. Remembering Ruby is like a sucker punch to the gut, and it only makes her want to start crying, and fucking emotions are the fucking worst. So embarrassing. Especially in front of strangers and almost-strangers, like Bela.

So she downs a shot and keeps listening to Bela recount her time in space.

"Fucking dudes and their dicks, they never shut the fuck up about it," Rosa commiserates with a roll of her eyes. It reminds her of when she'd talked to Amy, about needing to have each other's backs as the only women detectives in the precinct. It helps to have that solidarity, that support. And it's a kind of solidarity that only another woman can provide - where you can exchange silent looks that mercilessly mock your idiotic male colleagues.

"What business do you have?" she asks before downing the next shot. She's already starting to feel the warmth under her collar from the booze, and there's a certain level of ease that starts to settle over her, both in movement and in speech. "At least you had Poe up there with you. He and I are tight. Would you do it again?"

"No, they really don't shut the fuck up about it." Especially when it was revealed that one of them had two dicks (he's an alien) and that's all the boys could ever talk about. She's glad for the solidarity, even from a relative stranger. At least they could get to know each other now.

Bela holds up two fingers on each hand to the barkeep before turning back to the other woman. She's a quick learner. "I run an antique shop based in Maurtia Falls." Which she is proud of. "Yeah, I'm glad I had Poe up there. He has experience in space and he's a good friend. As for doing it again? I am going to have to say no. Unless it was only for a few hours. I like Earth too much."

The barkeep slides the shots down to them and Bela pushes two over.

"The last two months have been a bit of a mixed bag for me." She admits, taking one of her own shots and downing it quickly. "I don't really want to get into it, but I thought I should tell you. Since we don't really know each other and I think we should say something about ourselves. Maybe it's the alcohol talking, but you seem really cool."

Rosa rolls her eyes in solidarity with an added snort. She knows all about it. Luckily, Boyle and Jake aren't shitheads about it, but Scully and Hitchcock often were. .. Thankfully, neither's shown up here. Rosa might call it quits if they did. Just on principle alone.

"Antique shop. That's tight." Although she doesn't look like it, Rosa's really into interior decorating. Her apartments are always Home & Gardens worthy. It's been a rough go of trying to make the shared housing she has with Boyle and Jake up to snuff, for her, but she's threatened them into compliance. Jake's really the only one who lives like a child; Boyle's better about being an adult, for the most part. Except that he puts so much weird shit into the fridge and freezer. She tends to avoid it all together. Let the kitchen be his space.

She flicks her chin in Bela's direction as a means of thanks, taking the two shots.

"It'd be pretty disappointing if I'd lost that edge," she half-jokes, tossing a shot back. "I'm not .. really .. good at this." She gestures with her free hand between the two of them. "Talking and conversation and shit. But. I'll try."

"Thanks."

She has never heard her shop being described as 'tight' but Bela is assuming that it's a compliment. Perhaps she needs to brush up on her slang.

"At least you're willing to try." Bela says after a moment, offering her a smile. "For the longest time I was terrible at making friends until I came to this bloody world. Now I've got more than I know what to do with." She's also joking there. Her friends have gotten Bela through some incredibly tough times, and she doesn't feel like she deserves it, given her history.

Her second shot doesn't last long and she's signalling for more, almost a pro by now.

"Tell me this though." A pause for dramatics. "Is your name really Emily?"

"It's more than I usually do," Rosa half-mumbles under her breath. When she and Adrian had met, it was mostly ... awkwardly long stares, grunting, and sexual tension. There hadn't really been any talking before they were making out on the pool table in the break room. Or on a desk. Or anywhere, really. But this sort of approach - talking, getting to know someone - is how she'd entered in a relationship with Ruby, and despite the end of it, all that had gone pretty well.

Might as well keep it up. Even if it ... makes no sense to Rosa. She'd much rather just get to the boning.

"I didn't really make friends. Had the guys at the precinct. Jake's the closest thing to a friend I had back there, Boyle, too. Gina's pretty dope, but she hasn't shown up here." She downs the shots, one after the other. "Showed up here without anyone, and I wound up making a couple of friends. We mostly just destroy shit and insult each other, it's great. Then Jake and Boyle showed up, so it's been pretty tight since then." She's never really told them this, of course; can't let it go to their heads.

She snorts at the question, shaking her head.

"Fuck no. It's an alias. Used it because I didn't know anyone, but now that I've got backup, I figured ... 'fuck it' and dropped the name." A beat. "Rosa."

Getting right to it was usually how Bela did things back home. Skipping over the small talk and just start well, boning. Things seemed different here, and while she hasn't exactly sought a committed relationship with anyone, Bela felt like she wanted something more from the experience - she just wasn't sure what that 'more' would be.

"I am glad that people from home turned up for you. Even if you seemed to be doing fine by yourself for a little while with the insults and the destroying of shit." A slight grin. "Must have been fun." She thinks so anyway. Bela used insults just to piss people off and she wasn't that fond of destruction so that's where she and Rosa differed. They each had their own methods and that was fine - maybe they would find common ground somewhere.

She makes quick work of one of her shots and shakes her head, feeling nicely buzzed. Bela isn't sure if she will drink anything after these, but she is proud of herself for being able to keep up with her company and not pass out.

"Rosa," Bela says, testing it out for a moment. She smiles. "I like it much more than Emily."

Down goes the other shot.

"So. Did you want another drink or should we get out of here?"

"At least I managed to get that across," Rosa says, vaguely returning the grin in a Rosa Diaz sorta way. "Yeah. One's a giant fucking robot, so that's pretty cool. Oh, he was with you in space and shit. Riptide? He threatened to throw me into space once, and he thought it was hilarious that I just didn't give a shit, and we've been pretty tight ever since. Giant fucking robot friends are dope." She'd always wanted one, in truth. She just never thought she'd get one.

Rosa chucks the other shot back with ease, eyeing the bartender as she decides whether or not she wants another one (or two) for the road. She ultimately decides against it, calling the bartender over to instead settle the tab. Even though she said she'd pay for the first round, and they've had more than that, Rosa pays for it all before Bela can say anything. Easier than trying to divide things up, pay for it separately, all that bullshit. If things go well, who knows .. maybe Bela could get it next time, if it comes to it.

"Let's get the fuck outta here," she says, once everything's settled.

"Riptide's a good friend. I like him." Which is Bela's way of saying that yes, giant robot friends are dope. "Handy to have around in space." Like Rosa, she never expected to become friends with someone like Riptide. Or Kay. Basically anyone non-human.

While Rosa finishes off her shot she's digging in her purse to get out some money to put towards the drinks, wanting to pay for her share. That's when Bela realises that Rosa has actually taken care of the bill and she zips up her purse again, giving the other woman a grateful look. "Ah, thanks. You didn't need to do that, but I appreciate it." She would want to repay the favour another time, should they go out for drinks again.

"Don't need to tell me twice." Bela grins, hopping off her barstool and heading towards the exit. She's thinking of where they could go, because the farmhouse is too far out to travel. Plus, her housemate mightn't appreciate an unannounced guest. "You okay with a hotel?" Bela asks, once they're out of the bar.

"Handy to have in general. Real fucking handy if anyone gives you shit and you need to get a point across," Rosa says, though it's ... fairly obvious that Rosa could get a multitude of frightening points across to just about anyone. But sometimes that backfires, like when Santiago dragged her into mentoring those losers into becoming snitches for the department, and those snot-nosed assholes laughed at her. And even made a fucking dub-step remake of what she said. Riptide would've been real fucking handy then. He would've shut those kids up.

"No worries." And that's all there is to say about that.

Rosa gives a parting glance to the bartender, who might look a little relieved that the leather-jacket-knife-wielding-woman-with-the-crazy-hair is finally leaving. The question gives Rosa pause, though, and she has to consider it. When she'd had individual housing, it was easy to bone whoever she wanted because she never had to worry about room mates or shit like that. But now, of course, Boyle and Jake somehow convinced her to live with them, so there's no way in hell she'd be taking Bela back to the 99 house.

".. Yeah, that's probably the best idea. I don't need Jake and Boyle getting in my business. You know of one nearby? One that isn't seedy as fuck?"

Back when Bela lived with a bunch of teenagers she never took anyone back to her shared accommodation. It was always the other person's house or a hotel, sometimes even her antique shop as it had a small top room which she had made into a sleeping/living area whenever she needed to crash after a particularly long day's work. A sleeping area that was sometimes used for one-night stands.

Now that she was staying further outside of the city, it made bringing people back that much more difficult. And Bela wasn't sure how Jon would take it if she invited someone back to spend the night.

"Exactly. I'd rather it just be you and me without anyone else around." No interruptions or potentially awkward conversations. "As a matter of fact I do have the perfect hotel in mind. Definitely not seedy at all and very close by."

She indicates to her left.

"Just a couple of streets this way. Might take us about ten minutes to get there if we walk quickly enough."

Rosa nods and flicks her head, an indication that Bela should lead the way. She shoves her hands into her leather jacket's pockets, before pulling out a couple of throwing stars she hadn't realized were still in there. She gives them a quick inspection before putting them back into her pocket for possible future use. Hopefully not any time soon, especially if they were on their way to Bone City, but it's better to be prepared than caught unaware.

She doesn't say much during the walk, staring straight ahead as she walks alongside Bela. She's dried up her well of small talk conversation. There's only so much she can think to talk about.

She finally settles on a question:

"You use this hotel before? I don't know of any of them anywhere in this world."

There didn't seem to be a need for small talk between them, even if Bela is curious to learn more about Rosa and who she was. Perhaps they could do it another time. She’s glad for some kind of break in the silence though.

"I have, yeah." A nod. "Only the one time though. But it left me with a good impression so I hope you'll like it too."

In fact, the hotel in question was just coming into view and Bela indicates to her left so that Rosa can take a look for herself: it's a grand looking building, with old architecture that has been fixed and remodeled recently.

"Some hotels are better than others, admittedly."

Looks like a hotel straight out of a Nancy Myers movie, and Rosa is digging it. She's not going to admit something like that to a stranger, given that she barely admits it to Jake and the rest, but she looks pretty pleased at the sight of the building, letting her eyes sweep over the structure with interest. Well, interest for Rosa, which ... looks like disinterest for everyone else.

But she isn't sneering or rolling her eyes or making any kind of grimacing faces, so that means she's into it. Are you getting all this yet, Bela?

"Read about these Love Hotels in Japan or some shit. They're for sex workers and people who just wanna bone and whatever. The people at the front desk either only have a slot to show their hands so you don't see any faces and they don't see yours, or everything's done by a fucking machine." A brief pause. "That's the way to fucking do it, if you ask me. No one knows shit, you bone, you get out."

Bela digs the hotel too, being the kind of person who liked old architecture and history - perfect for her job as an antiques dealer. She had an eye for detail, and Bela was using that to try to discern how Rosa was feeling right now; the other woman is difficult to read, which makes it slightly challenging.

Good thing Bela likes challenges.

An eyebrow goes up at what Rosa says next and she isn't quite sure how to react. She's not a prude by any means, but there were some things that even she found surprising. "Oh. I've never heard of anything like that before. I suppose I can appreciate the efficiency of it. Allowing people to bone in peace without asking any questions."

No strings attached, right?

"I don't know if this hotel is as you've described, but it will suit our needs."

"Yeah. So long as bad shit isn't going down," no need to give to what that can entail, Rosa thinks, "Let people do whatever the fuck they want in peace." As a detective, Rosa's naturally Seen Some Shit, most of it terrible and shitty. Hard not to hate the human race a little bit when you see that day after day.

"Don't need anything fancy. Just want it to be clean and private."

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[CLOSED]

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