A Day Off And A Night Out (Open)

[James Cooper]

It had been a long time since James had some time by himself. Too long. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he enjoyed the company of himself. It was a strange pleasure that every human knew of. Spending time surrounded by other people could bring a person down and wear on your attention span. It just made a person downright exhausted. The type of tired that was like the waking dead. Moving around and being aware, but only enough to do what was necessary.

James sighed softly as he looked around his bedroom. It was his first day off in 10 days. He had plans to do so much around his house - clean, repair things, organize - but he already finished. It was only 6 o'clock. There was still plenty of time to do something else, if only the young man knew what he wanted. He threw himself down on his bed, which he had just finished making. He'll just make it again the next morning.

Pushing himself off the bed, he forced himself to stand up. James refused to just sit around, he decided to go out for a drive. Why not? He had nothing to do. He pulled on a blue shirt and jeans. He tightened the belt around his waist and slipped on black sneakers. Before walking out the door he grabbed his sunglasses and wallet. Now, he was ready for anything. Smiling he walked up to his old car and folded into the driver's side. He started the engine and pulled out of his driveway. He was on his way to no where, he blasted the music up loud as he drove.

After thirty minutes of driving James felt a deep growl in the pit of his stomach. He realized that he hadn't eaten much today, just a piece of toast early in the morning. His stomach wasn't happy with that, and was pushing him to want to eat. Maybe there would be some place to eat around here? James shrugged and kept driving hoping to find something along the way.

Sure enough after a couple minutes of driving he spotted Merlotte's Bar. A small bar that mostly locals ate at. It didn't look terribly busy, but it definitely had a small crowd. James put on his blinker and turned into the parking lot and parked. Taking one more deep breath and making sure he had the money to eat out, he opened his door and swung out of the car. A rush a cool air swept past him as he walked up to the bar.

He entered the warm bar and a smile formed on his face. James hadn't been in a bar quite like this one before, sure there were things that were just like any other bar, but there was some sort of feeling that set this one apart. Shrugging it off, James went to seat himself at the bar, the waitresses looked busy. He hoped that they wouldn't be upset, but he saw an empty stool and went for it.

---
Words: 512
For: Anyone who wants to join in
Wearing: THIS
Where: Merlotte's Bar - Bon Temps, Louisiana
When: About 6:30 PM

[Deja Sorensen]

She had already been sitting at the bar, one leg crossed over the other, her Harley Davidson biker booted foot swinging slowly as she sipped on her sweet tea. She finally had turned her cell phone off, annoyed at the pestering vampire who called himself her friend who kept calling the phone. It was a time to relax and enjoy the evening. Merlotte's seemed to be a welcoming place, well as welcoming as a small town bar could be. There were a few locals who seemed to be a little louder then others, but Deja just thought it added color to the place. Besides, she was close enough to the door to make an escape if she needed.

Just as she thought it, the door opened and she saw the young man enter with the smile on his face. Deja quickly turned and looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at him, and once more began to nervously chew on her bottom lip. He was kind of cute, she thought to herself, and from the corner of her eye she could see him sit down on a stool at the bar. "Oh my lord." She thought again to herself as a slight breeze brought his scent toward her.

He seemed to have something familiar about him, just like the bartender Sam did. Strange, but maybe they were related. That must be it, as it was a small town anyway. But they didn't look a like at all. Shifting a little on her stool at the bar, she stole another glance over toward the young man. Nope, didn't look like Sam one bit. So then what was it? Deja Had never come across another shifter before, so she would not be aware when one was around her, she would just get that scent of familiarness.

[James Cooper]

James could feel eyes on him as he took his seat, he decided to ignore it until he was settled. The bartender looked him over waiting for him to order, "just a beer, please," he ordered and placed his money on the counter. He would just wait until he was comfortable to eat. If anything he could just shift and head out into the woods for something to eat.

He smelled shifters in the bar, but he couldn't place who they were. He only knew what they smelt like because his parents took him out on his first shift. He decided to scout out the person he felt staring at him earlier, that might be the first hint. His eyes landed on a woman in biker boots, she was pretty, he checked her out looking her up and down. She could be a shifter, but he wouldn't know unless he got close enough to smell her, which he wouldn't do of course. That was a sure way to chase a person away, being caught smelling them.

James smiled to himself as the bartender placed the beer bottle in front of him, "thanks," he nodded. He brought the open bottle to his lips and took a big swig of it. Cheap but good.

[Deja Sorensen]

Deja could feel this itch at the back of her neck, like someone was staring at her, but she knew no one was. It made her feel nervous about sitting with her back to the open bar. Taking a final sip of her sweet tea, she dug into one of her front pockets of her short, black denim skirt and laid out a few bills to cover her drinks. She then slid down from her bar stool and smoothed her hands down her skirt. It was something she always did after she had been sitting for a bit. Smiling at one of the waitresses who had taken her money, she spoke softly, yet clearly. "Where is the bathroom?"

After the waitress pointed out the direction of the bathroom, Deja noticed it took her right by the young man who just sat down and ordered a beer. Perfect, she thought, this couldn't be more awkward. And so, letting out a small thanks to the waitress, she walked toward the bathroom, moving behind the young man and determined not to look at him although she really wanted to. She kept her focus straight ahead to where she was going, but failed to see the person sitting at the table in front of her and bumped right into them. "Oh my goodness I am so sorry. I didn't see you there. Are you OK? I am so sorry." She stammered on, but the gentleman said he was OK and it was no big deal, then made a comment about her joining him for a drink.

Deja stuttered for a few moments and then motioned to the bathroom and almost ran the rest of the way to get there. "Nice one girl, make a fool out of yourself in front of the whole place." She said to herself once she was inside the woman's bathroom.