stranger danger (Kai!)

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She had maintained control, forced Chris to stay back as she watched the Sniper. For once, Kate was the one who lived through the attack. But once she lost consciousness, Kate never returned. From the moment her eyes fluttered open again, it was Chris. Up until tonight, Kate hadn't even attempted to return. She was hidden, deep in the recesses of her mind. After being in the hospital for a few days, and playing Mother Dear for the last week and a half, Chris was getting tired of being Kate and was ready for some fun. And now that school was back into session, she decided that now was as good of a time as ever.

Despite it being in the middle of the week, Chris could be found in Kate's room, slipping into a mini dress, and pulling her hair in a pony tail. After finishing up with some dark makeup, she flipped off the light and left her bathroom, only to catch her reflection in her bureau mirror. The eyes staring back at her were soft, pleading. They were Kate's.

"What are you doing?"

"Nice to see you again, Mouse. I'm gonna go out and have some fun. Care to join me?"

"It is a school night, Chris. You can't just take off on the kids like this"

"Oh, pipe down. I'll be back by morning. You want the body? Take over. Go ahead."

She watched as Kate hesitated and finally looked down, cowering. Chris smirked. "Then as long as I'm here, I live my life my way. This is your choice this time, not mine." Backing up, she picked up the handbag and looked in the mirror once more. "Night, Kate."

Turning off the light, Kate went downstairs and out the door. Already, she knew what she wanted. She wanted liquor and sex. Anything to take her away from this life as Susie Homemaker that she had been pretending to be since the night of the dance. She made her way across town, to a different part of the city than she normally ventured to. The bar she went into was a place she seldom came to, especially since the places she did frequent when she was out were across town. Still, Chris was always memorable, and the bartender recognized her when she walked in the door.

She got a long island iced tea, looking around as she slowly sipped on it. She wanted fun tonight, and Chris was determined to not be alone at the end of the night. It was only a question of who would she go home with. She took her time, eying the place and perusing. And when she spotted the guy she wanted, a sly grin came across her face.

She was going to play coy tonight. She wasn't going to just go up to him and tap him on the shoulder and tell him it was his lucky night. She had done that plenty of times before, and honestly she was too bored for that tonight. Instead, she decided to accidentally bump into him. Nodding to the bartender, she headed in the guy's direction, angling her body just right so that the two collided and her drink went on his shirt.

"Oh!" she feigned surprise and embarrassment as she reached for some napkins on a nearby table. "I am so sorry!" Was she? Definitely not. The guy was hot. And hot was pretty much her only requirement tonight. She didn't care if he was straight or not. As long as he didn't care. She patted his shirt, making a half-hearted attempt to soak up the alcohol in the napkin, while tilting her head and giving a shy smile. She caught herself in the mirror behind the bar, noticing Kate shaking her head at her. She was determined to ignore her, though. Kate was not about to spoil the fun tonight.

[Kai Santino]

"Taking it easy tonight, kid?"

Kai looked up, a smile slowly touching on his face. He'd been at this bar before--practically every few nights for over a year now. And it was almost always the same bartender each time. He got to know her. It was strange how much you knew someone just through short conversations and seeing them repeatedly over that course of time. Although she knew his name, she'd referred to him as 'kid' since the first night he entered the bar. It'd been a bad night for him. He'd hit a bad high in the bathroom and returned to the bar, hardly over it. She seemed to know the type and instead of turning him away or being repelled by the obvious addict, she'd been kind, full of advice and reminded him vaguely of his own mother. Except, well, his mother would probably kill him if she ever knew what he became. He wasn't drinking tonight. And not because he was clean, rather because he was already heavily under the influence and didn't need anything else if he wanted to stay semi-lucid.

"It's that kind of a night." He replied, picking up the drink in front of him. The glass had just been returned to the table when he felt someone collide with him and not only bump into him, but spill a drink down his shirt. Reflexively he gasped, startled, but she seemed to be on top of the napkins, so he let her before grabbing them so he could finish drying himself off. "No, it's all right. It's fine." He assured her and offered a small smile. "I'm Kai, by the way." Might as well introduce himself. She was hot, he would give her that. And in a bar, it felt natural to notice something like that. Women, men, it didn't matter. Tonight, it was a woman and he wasn't going to deny that she was attractive.

[Deleted]

It worked. Chris peered up at him, making eye contact before tilting her head and looking down at an angle. "I feel like a total clutz," she said, twirling a loose lock of hair. As he introduced himself, she looked up at him, making eye contact again. Slowly smiling, she offered a hand. For a moment, she considered pretending to be Kate for a moment. After all, nobody would know the difference. The ones who knew her weren't here. But, Kate was just too different. The other personality was too sweet, too innocent. Chris couldn't do that. She liked the dangerous side of life. So, holding out her hand, she smirked and answered his introduction. "Chris."

She knew that after tonight, she would probably not even remember him, and judging from the looks of him, he probably wouldn't be remembering her. So why not pull out all the stops? Chris liked living a life with no regrets. Tonight would be no different. "You have to let me make it up to you," she insisted, leaning on arm against the bar. She intended to not only have fun with Kai, but make it fun for him as well. After all, the night was young. And in a city like Toronto, it was a night full of possibilities. Especially with an imagination like hers.

[Kai Santino]

Some women weren't easy to read. There were those that played innocent and then turned out to be nothing of the sort. And those that were legitimately so innocent that he could have been blunt and graphic and would have ended up with nothing more than shy giggling or confusion. Kai himself knew how to play the coy act. In bars like this, he tried to read who his partner was. He'd read them, figure out what they wanted and apply what he knew to give it up. It didn't always work and everyone screwed up and everyone was honestly hard to read when you thought about it. It was all about trying to get it right and now and then failing. Not everything worked out. And Chris was one of those women that he couldn't quite tell if she meant to interact with him or if it was all random happenstance. "It's nice to meet you," he commented, and he responded with a quick shake to her hand before letting his drop.

Then, it was her comment and the lean against the bar that had Kai searching her with a bit of intrigue. With a smirk, he gave it little thought, and what thought he did give it was mostly for show. "Well, if you insist, I don't see why not." Kai shrugged. If anything, more power to her. It could end up a good night for him if she wanted to spend time with him. Of course, most good nights ended up with extra cash in his pocket. And hey, maybe tonight would end just like that. It wasn't that it was all about money. It wasn't. Kai liked to have a good time. He didn't get sucked into that lifestyle because it was miserable. There were downsides and there were moments where Kai wondered if he was in over his head or when he felt like he put himself into too many dangerous positions. But, at the end of the day, there were benefits that he couldn't deny. "What do you have in mind?"