Some things in life never come easy. People struggle all day every day to earn advances in careers; to maintain the delicate patchwork of relationships with friends and family; to wake up in the morning, slap a smile on their faces, and get though just one more day, because tomorrow will surely be better, right?

Some, not all, but some people struggled the same with other things. Things most never came into contact during their brief flashes of existence. Johnny wasn't lucky enough to count himself among that crowd. 

Once... a long time ago, he'd been just like them. Little ant-people scurrying about from place to place; home to job, job to home. The same cycle over and over with intermittent, sporadic bursts of random in between. Then... then he'd woken up from that dream... He'd woken up from visualizing himself as a... a monster. The things he'd done... the punishment he'd ultimately received for it....

Top this day, after dozens and dozens of therapy sessions, he still got shivers from it. 

After he'd woken up, he'd swiftly gotten dressed, left the girl he'd hooked up with the night before without a word, and driven home. Shamefully, he'd crawled into bed with his girlfriend of three years, buried his face in her hair and contemplated his life until the sun rose. Within the span of a week after he'd found himself a psychotherapist, proposed to his girlfriend, and doubled his efforts at work.

Now, after so much time had passed he was happily married with child number two on the way. His best bud was soon to be married and celebrating the night with all his closest friends, which was why Johnny was hanging around a club in the middle of the night.

~~
As most girls know, grudges are hard to let go of. It takes an extraordinary amount of strength to forgive someone who has wronged you, as well as compassion and understanding. Strength, Megan had. Those last two she was sadly lacking in these days. 

Rova wasn't know to easily forget, and had never been the type to shrug things off. She'd had her ear to the ground for a while, eager for any information she could get her hands on, and finally-- finally-- she'd snagged a juicy lead. Johnny, as she knew him, was due to be a this club. She'd heard he wouldn't be alone, either. What she knew of him now was vastly different from when she'd first had the displeasure of meeting him.

Still, life-turn-around or not, she had a score to settle with that jackass. She, and 17 other women.

Adjusting her hair and outfit one last time, she strolled out of the bathroom and glanced around the rhythmically rolling dance floor. Somewhere out there Johnny was waiting for her to find him. 

Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum.

The bass was kicking loudly in an endless loop in a club full of people, most of them swaying under the disco lights on dance floor like a bunch of stupid monkeys. Some of them seemed to be quite excessively wasted, some not so much.

Some social butterflies were hanging near the bar counter, out of the way of those wild party animals for a while or buying drinks.
And some were just killing time, sipping some alcoholic beverages in their own noble solitude without any intentions of having "fun" by raving with the fellow monkeys.

Stokely was one of those boring human filths, just associating with her pint of beer and leering what others were doing. Due to her sensitive sense of hearing she was wearing ear plugs to mitigate the pain and headache the loud music caused.

She had come to this noisy club with some... what do you call them, 'friends'? Ashley and her boyfriend Thomas, and their friend Scarlett. To be more precise, they were just people who decided to cling on her for some time after chat in bar. Wouldn't take long until they'd forget her but gladly it wasn't problem to this stubborn hermit.
They had tried to get her to the dance floor too, but she'd refused - to her it was just too stupid to wiggle your body and hands around, surrounded by other fools doing the same retarded looking activity. So yeah. No thanks.

Finally Stokes sipped the last drop from her pint and saw glimpse of Ashley smiling at her in way too energic way and as she just had to respond to it with quite faked grin. And so the black haired, cold gray eyed lady turned and headed towards the bar counter for another beverage.

She bought another beer and as she turned around, a sweaty guy bumped at her causing the contents of the glass to spill on her clothes - and not just that, but the whole glass dropped from her unprepared grip, breaking down into shards. She hadn't taken a single sip from the beer. The feeling of enragement wave she felt was incredibly--.....
"What the f**k, man!?" Stokely snapped in automatic reaction she wasn't able to control, giving the guy possibly the most venomous look in the world. Her shirt, jacket and camo patterned pants uncomfly wet and cold from the beer. "I just bought that f*****g drink you f*****g moron!"

The guy who'd bumped into her was more than a little startled by her volatile reaction. Immediately his hackles rose, and he was on the defensive. "Yeesh, it's just a little beer lady. It'll wash out."

Then, only moments after the words had left his mouth and before his rather intoxicated brain could fathom their impact, he noticed for the first time that the lady dripping with beer was a lady. One of the many wonderful things about alcohol was its miraculous power to make everything that comes out of your mouth sound awesome to you; whether or not it actually is. This was one of those scenarios. Jerkily, since he was already well on his way to being pickled, the man reached up to slick his hair back and grinned at the woman. Sure, he had a girl at home and everything, but this was a party! Probably the last party he'd ever have before getting married!

"So... how bout' I buy you a drink or somethin'?"

Behind him some distance, and desperately trying to catch up, Johnny was snapping his head around in an attempt to find his drunk soon-to-be-married buddy before he did something bad. It was so crowded that he almost missed the sight of him over by the bar. With a sigh, John started to make his way over. If he didn't brad would just end up with another pint of two in him, and black out before the night was over.

He'd nearly made it within hearing distance of his friend when someone stepped out and blocked his way. A woman, tall-ish with broad shoulders, who was decked out in neon colored clothes that very nearly matched the lights flickering like fireflies across the walls and ceilings of the club.

"What's the hurry, cutie?"

Johnny stopped in his tracks as a puzzled look crossed his features. He didn't recognize her at all... in fact, with bright pink hair and... were those yellow contacts?... he was positive he'd never seen her before in his life.

...why was he getting the strangest sense of deja vu then? "Uh... excuse me, I can-" He made to step around her, but she placed a hand firmly against his chest.

"Aww, wassa'matter? Don't you wanna dance?" She grinned at him; A wide, wolfish grin.

Yeah, it will wash out but it wasn't very nice to wear wet clothes and smell like beer for f***'s sake, Mr. MoronIdiot S**theadA-hole..!
"Oh whatever", Stokely snarled and was already turning back to the bar counter to buy another beer, when the guy offered to buy her a drink. Her gray eyes turned back to him, still ire was strong in her look. For a while she actually thought about giving a nice punch on his annoying face, but nah, he got lucky.
"Fine" she grunted and rolled her eyes. "A beer."

Man grinned and gave a little laugh before he moved to buy a new drink for himself and for the grumpy girl. Stokely was waiting, her arms crossed on her chest. Finally she got her new pint and without a word headed towards her table, trying to get rid of the guy. With not much luck since as she sat down she noticed he was already following.
"Heey, why don't ya come and join me and my friends~?" he suggested with foxy grin on his face.
Stokely forced a wide fake smile on her face: "What about 'no' ?"
And the smile disappeared in an instant and she turned her focus on her beer, taking a sip from it. With her earplugs the music and sounds weren't annoyingly loud, but damn - why didn't they also make people less annoying. Geez...

Like a lost puppy he followed after her, nearly stumbling over himself at her rejection. To his clouded mind her 'no' only meant that he needed to try a little harder. So, he followed and when she took a seat so did he. Directly across from her, no less. "Well, if you won' join me, i'll just join you!"

Blatantly ignorant to the fact that she wanted to be left alone, he took a deep swig from his beverage before rambling on. "You look different from the other chicks here, you know that? What's your name? I'm Brad." He extended a hand.

~~

"No, really, I can't. I have to-" John sidestepped the pinked haired woman easily, though she made no move to block him again. "- go stop a friend before he goes something stupid." Not bothering to throw in a farewell for the woman who was starting to make his skin crawl, he bee-lined over to where his buddy sat.

Megan watched him go, her expression barely twitching. Her patience was starting to wane as her temper flared. So far Johnny wasn't turning out as she's expected; he seemed honestly different, and that pissed her off to no end. The mutant turned toward the bar, content with knowing that her children wouldn't lose track of the man, in order to pick up a few drinks. She'd just have to see what a little liquor would do to break up is act. How many shots would it take before he started showing his true colors?

~~

"Good god, Bra, what are you doing." The words came out as a tired, monotone statement as John came up beside his friend, resting his hands upon a chair between the woman his friend was harassing, and Brad himself. Scrounging up a sympathetic smile, she shot it as the dark haired woman nursing a beer. "Im sorry for him. He can't hold his spirits very well. I'll get him out of your hai-"

"Drinks on me!" Shouted a voice from behind. John cast a startled look behind him before hurriedly seating himself. That odd woman was there again, with a tray of multicolored shots in her hands and a wide grin on her lips. While John hurried to bury his face in her hands, Brad whooped and stood to reach for one of the shot glasses, while the woman rounded the table and placed herself in the only other available seat. Winking at the inebriated male, Megan tossed back shot and fiddled with the cup absently, before pinning her gaze on Jhonny. "Isn't this a quaint little party? Wish they'd turn the music up a little; I can barely hear it." Glancing at the other female occupying the table, and then to Johnny's 'friend' he'd been so desperate to find, she felt bitterness starting to twist her stomach into knots. 'Calm down, Megan. It's only a matter of time... just a little bit longer.'

"If you won' join me, I'll just join you!"

"Hrrrrrngh..." a frustrated sigh escaped from Stokes' throat as she turned her head away, eyes in ceiling. Geez... this is exactly why I rarely leave from my den. These f**king idiots just keep popping up like shrooms after rain...
Stokely tried her best ignoring the dude, looking somewhere else and drinking some of her ice cold malt beverage. At least she had that, dangit.

"You look different from the other chicks here, you know that? What's your name? I'm Brad."

Haha...ahhaha... If you could just kindly kill yourself. Like, right now, please, Brad, honey. That is so lame. SO lame and creepy at the same time.
"Yeah, sure Brad", she said and gave suspicious look to the extended hand, like she wasn't aware of what he was after. Obviously a handshake, but she didn't wanna touch that douchebag so yeah...nope.
"I am... Hm, take a guess?" she tried her best to raise a grin on her face, but it was closer to a sneer than an actual grin. What a pain. Maybe she should just leave and...

Another man appeared near the table, who apparantely was this Brad's friend; "Good god, Bra, what are you doing..."

The new guy looked at her, apologising for his friend's awkwardness. She was just about to give a smile back and thank for coming to take care of his buddy, but right when she was about to open her mouth - another woman appeared. Maybe this new guy's girlfriend or something who knows. Bahhh. Like it'd matter anyways.
Okay, so let's just hope these people will just move on to their own table and--

Yeah, they both decided to sit down. Stokely had to use all her might to not bang her own head to the table to show how she felt about this awesome moment of getting forcefully socialized. She pulled her beer pint closer to herself on the table like protecting it from harm, glancing the three other monkeys who had trespassed to her territory without admittance. Hmph, idiotic drunkard also called Brad, idiotic drunkard's friend, and weird energetic, pink haired bitch who made idiotic drunkard's friend seem a little uncomfortable. Yay.
"Hah! I wish they'd turn that s**tty so-called-music off-- I mean, do people enjoy this kind of crap, really?", Stokely regretted opening her mouth immediately and almost completed a major facepalm because of it, but ended up just stroking her black hair a little with her left hand, with a little grin on her face. Umm...yeah.
...Ahaha, I guess idiotism is contagious.
Black haired woman raised the edge of the glass on to her lip and took a long swig of it. If Stokes'd be wise, she'd just head towards home now before doing something she might actually regret later.

"Huh?... Who're you now?"

Brad shifted in his seat so he could peer into Megan's face-- literally into her face. She hardly twitched, grin still plastered on her face, and blew into his eyes. "Wendy." She replied shortly, and turned from him. She only had eyes for one man tonight, and that man was shifting uncomfortably away from her.
Her grin widened and she set about scooting plastic shot glasses across the table to all participants.

"Hah! I wish they'd turn that s**tty so-called-music off-- I mean, do people enjoy this kind of crap, really?"

The corners of Megan's eyes crinkled slighly, but she held back her comment. She was supposed to be one of those types tonight, out there bobbing and hopping along with whatever the DJ considered music.

"I'm not much of a fan of it myself, actually, but I highly doubt Motown would have the same effect on these people, ya know?" Johnny chuckled, having to raise his voice a little to be heard over the crowd. "... I'm just here because ole' yolk for brains over there and some of his other buddies chose this place to bold his bachelor party."

Hearing this, Megan had to struggle not to break the small plastic cup in her hand. Sure... sure that was the only reason he was here. Bullsh*t. It was just as fake and see-through as his 'marriage'. After what had gone down in that dream, it was perfectly logical for him to want to change his image in such a way. Who would come after a happily married man with a lovely family, after all?

She would. That's who. She had a sharp enough memory to recall every word he had spoken to her.

"Ah, ain't that sweet. What say we all raise a toast to the lucky fellow?" Brad hooted in agreement, snatched up his beer, and attempted to down the whole thing in one go. Jhonny scooted his shot away, eyed warily resting on Megan as she tossed her's back. There was... something about her voice... something eerily similar.

// Ah, this is embarrassing, sorry for the delay again..! I've been in driver's school and stuff so I've had quite alot of stress and because of that I haven't been able to concentrate at RPing. //


Stokely browsed the three people around the table with her eyes while listening Johnnys babbling about the music. She rolled her eyes and sipped some of her beverage, keeping quiet for now. Yeah, he was right. People loved this kind of music and she was just out of place here. And Stokely took another snootful of beer and...damn, it's all gone. Glass was empty. Johnny's words snapped her out of the temporal misery.
Errr...what, bachelor party?
Black haired girl gave incredulous look at Brad. This guy..? Getting married? Phew, it would be great to bet some money for how long he'd stay loyal to his lady... Oh, well. It wasn't her business. But it was still ridiculous. Getting married was so overrated.

As Stokely inhaled through her nose she noticed one of the scents in the bar had grown much stronger; the uncomfortable odour of stress. It was surprising how easy it was to tell apart from all the other smells and stenches in a place full of people. But even in her human form Stokely had much better senses than any other, normal human being.
"Ah, ain't that sweet. What say we all raise a toast to the lucky fellow?" the girl with pink hair said. Stokely followed how the others took their drinks, and threw her shot down after them.

"Congrats for getting married, and thanks for the shot, I..." Stokely stood up, and gave a little grin. "...uh, need some fresh air, through a filter."
With those words she made a quick hand sing, like smoking an invisible cigarette and headed towards the entrance to get out from that stifling, loud place.

Once she made it outside, the cold breeze made her shiver a little. Sigh.
Stokes moved away from the doors and pulled a packet of cigarettes out from her jackets pocket, took one cancer roll from it, placing it gently on her lips. And used a lighter to lit it. What a night....