Cait was in the need of a drink or two. And dancing god she needed some dancing. She'd been basically locked up in her own mind for more than a year and she was ready to cut loose and actually enjoy herself again. Sure, the guys at the mansion had protested a little but surely looking after herself also included being able to have fun?

What was life like without a little fun?

So, after a little bit of back and forthing over where she would go and what she would wear she was on her way to a more relaxed place that had the all important dance floor, cheesy music and strong cocktails she was looking for. A simple combo of skinny dark blue jeans and a black tank-top was enough, and while she had contemplated the leather jacket it would have been overkill and way too hot.

Well, that and she'd been relying on it a lot to make her feel safe. She didn't need it. She was a highly trained kind of X-Man and she could look after herself with a damn jacket.

Cait had expected some drinks, some dancing and well maybe a kiss from someone cute. She hadn't been expecting to see a familiar silhouette the bar. A silhouette that promise more than just a kiss if her memory was serving her correctly and she needed a little company, so she made her way over, sat down next to Alice and leant into view. "Well then dear, I was not expecting to see you over here, or at all to be honest."

Serena had this awful habit of throwing herself into things and neglecting other things. She'd done it so many times in the past. With college, with living at the mansion and practicing her power, writing... And more recently the whole charity thing and running away from New York city. The most recent though was becoming a member of the X-men.

The training had really kicked up a notch, and for the first week or so Serena only really felt exhausted, but now she was gradually becoming more confident. Her old reflexes were sharpening, her reaction speed with her power in particular was much faster. There was only so much you could do with a power like hers on your own, but when the danger room got involved you could really push things to their limits.

Serena was never somebody that had been able to regularly cut loose with her power and this twisted sick little part of her understood what her alternate self had meant about their power being fun. There was a satisfaction in hitting something as hard as you could, often.

And then to compound all the training and not much living the whole situation with Amelia had happened, someone had picked up on it and practically harassed Serena until the blonde took a break from over training and came to a bar.

"What am I even doing here?" The question was directed at herself, the girls she'd come out with had wandered off somewhere, likely spotting some guys they were interested in. College friends, go figure.

Wearing a pair of skinny jeans, some dark leather boots, a black tank top and a read leather jacket the blonde sighed into her drink, lifting it to her lips. Serena was one for fruity cocktails, this one was a radioactive blue colour.

Blinking slowly as an unfamiliar woman leaned into view Serena drew her head back a little in surprise. "Uhm, Hello?" Stammering slightly Serena was very confused. Was she being bad with names and faces? She had met a lot of people at college, but she really didn't recognise this woman.

Of all the people Cait had been expecting to bump into, in the wrong universe in a bar, that she just happened to go out to that night, Alice was pretty much the top of this list. She would have expect Impact, even Combatant before that very interesting blonde to show up again.

They'd had some fun, well a lot of fun and it had been pretty relaxed which suited her just fine. And now here she was, in the right place at the right time for Cait to meet her again. Right when she needed to relax and cut loose the girl she'd been able to do that with was right in view. And damn was she looking good. A little less on sight but frankly that made it a little more intriguing to the red head and just when she'd been thinking about a leather jacket her she was in one. It was very clearly fate and Cait? She didn't mess with fate when it gave you that kind of opportunity.

Oh god, oh god, oh god. She was even doing the accent. Yeah, this was gonna be good.

"Hello indeed." Giving her acquaintance a quick once over she looked pretty much the same as the last time they'd met. A little more modest for sure, which wasn't exactly hard, but still as stunning as ever. Grinning at her and leaning on an elbow, "so how on earth did you get over here, I thought I'd be one of the only ones."

So Serena had done the college thing, and she'd done it properly, the partying, the absurd amount of drinking, even the more socially acceptable parts like the volunteering and clubs and societies. As a result, she'd met so many people the faces and names in her head were just simply countless, and the faces and names that had slipped through were probably even more plentiful. She recently felt like she was just forgetting people left and right. It was probably just stress.

This, frankly stunning redhead seemed to know her. Or was this some pickup game? Serena had heard plenty of stories from bars of that sort of thing happening and she'd certainly seen enough shows involving dating that made frequent use of those tropes. She'd seen plenty of How I met your mother.

So here came the question. Whether this was Serena being a dummy and forgetting the woman, or the woman testing out pickup strategies... Should she play along?

The whole situation with Amelia was so tangled and fucked up beyond recognition that she didn't even know what to do or where they had stood. And that was before her Ex-girlfriend had become de-aged and had to live the remainder of her life as a teenager.

Maybe her friends were right. When was the last time she had fun? She could almost hear her little sister's voice in the back of her head, pushing her towards this. Screw it.

Something about the way the redhead was looking at her sent a little tingle up Serena's spine. "Hi." She murmured. "I've said that already."

Shaking the awkward social rust away she tried again. "The bar? Are you referring to people from a specific place, or perhaps of a particular orientation?" She quirked an eyebrow.

So it was going to be one of those games then, where they pretended not to know each other. And from the lack of moves Cait was guessing it was her turn to take the lead. That was fun, she rarely got to with Alice and it was oh so satisfying to play the seductress for once.

Running through a few of her favourites in her head she settled on a classic. Something simple.

Motioning for a pair of drinks for them, "I more meant this side of the tracks. Far as I can remember you weren't exactly from around here." Bit of an understatement, "not that I'm complaining dear you are exactly the kind of person I was hoping to meet tonight." Which was, in fairness, was another massive understatement.

Cait missed home. A lot. Mostly it was her friends, her family, her stuff. But it was feel of the place. How it smelled even, so finding someone from her universe was kind of making her a little more bold than normal, coupled with the role playing her and Alice tended to fall into and this was going to a bit frisky. She could barely wait!

Lazily reaching out she ran the hand gentle up the outside of the lovely ladies leg, just how she remember Alice liked it. "Now sweetie, please don't tell me you're here all alone. Because we'd have to remedy that."

... Okay, so her knowing that Serena was British wasn't like it was a sign they might have known each other already, Serena had a pretty damn obvious accent. It wasn't like it would be hard to put 2 and 2 together for most people already. Who was this woman? There was just something about her that was different.

The woman was so cute, and so forwards and Serena was so out of practice. Even prior to her last, disastrous relationship she'd not done much of this kind of meeting people, most of the people she'd actually dated had been friends from classes and clubs and the like.

One of the bartender's brought the two of them some drinks, a couple of glasses of something that was probably vodka and coke, and a pair of shots on the side. Tequila. Oh good god Serena was thinking about just pounding that shot.

And then the woman got even more forwards, reaching forwards and touching Serena's leg, in a very suggestive and forwards way. Serena didn't recall any one night stands, was the woman totally mistaken or was this all some elaborate play?

Either way her pulse skyrocketed and she edged back a little bit, blushing much more deeply and nodding to the bartender. "Thank you for the drinks!" She stammered, quickly scooping up the tequila and throwing it back in a smooth motion. After the lime and salt thing she caught her breath. "I'm here alone."

The arrival of drinks would have normal distracted her but she was on fine form for once. In the zone. Or trying to get into a zone, that was for sure. Ignoring them for them for the time being she focused on the blonde beauty in front of her.

What was surprising though, was when Alice suddenly backed off from her. The woman had never played coy before, kind of the opposite in Cait's experience and it threw her game a little. Was it the chase she was wanting? Play with Cait's emotions and keep her on the edge. Well, she could wait, a little at least. Anticipation made things that much sweeter after all.

Yeah. She could totally hold out. No eagerness in her. At all.

Slamming her own shot, enjoying the burning heat, she watched the flush she'd brought to Alice's features. That, was entirely new. And utterly adorable. Cait was used to the woman being beautiful, stunning even, and sexy but adorable? Now that was something worth seeing and it only made her own side of the game that much more fun.

"Well then, glad I could remedy that. Although I surprised no one swept you up already, plenty of people in here that would I imagine." Herself being contenders one through seven did put the odds in her favour but she'd definitely fight any newcomers if they tried to butt in. And since they were pretending not to know each other, "I'm Caitriona by the way, pleasure."

"But what brought you here, can't remember bars like this being much of your scene." Whenever they had met it'd been somewhere with less cheesy music and more dark corners to hide in. In fact everything about seeing her here was kind of different, not quite right in a way.

Which didn't matter at all, because there were much more important things on Cait's mind.

The burning down the Brit's throat was quickly soothed from the acidity of the lime. Tequila with salt and lime was a college favourite when she actually wanted to get drunk, it was quick and easy. And according to her friends led to bad decisions, which she'd not really believed until now, glancing at the flirty bombshell that was assailing her.

Serena took a long sip of the other drink to settle her nerves before turning back to the woman. Her cheeks felt all hot and tingly, probably a result of the shot, right? "Well-uhm. I've only been here for a little while, they might not have had t-time?"

Part of her wanted to get a moment to herself, slap herself in the face and then re-enter the conversation. She was supposed to be good at talking to people dammit! And that was largely true, she'd done a ton of that the last 2 years with all the charity work. She'd even fielded several people's courting attempts, but most of those had been guys. It was so easy to shut guys down.

An embarrassed, excited little corner of Serena's mind realised it was because she was into this woman, and immediately excited by her that this was so hard. "Serena." She rasped.

She took another sip, trying to recover. "Maybe not this bar specifically, but a friend just gave me a list of gay bars too look at and I picked the first one.." Oh god, had she just admitted she was coming out to meet someone? Serena did her damnedest to crawl inside of her drink and die.

"Well, you snooze you lose in the case, because I honestly don't fancy their chances now." She would cut a bitch that got between her and Alice. Punch a bitch. Okay maybe she would just hug them a bit too hard but damn they would regret getting in the way of some good quality flirting.

Taking a decent swig of her, whatever she had ordered while paying attention to the lies her gorgeous company was weaving. Very convincingly, might it be said and what an interesting name to go with. Serena. Sereeeeena. Rolling it around her head she had to say it did fit the girl. Pulled together with the accent, the clothes and the more shy persona and it was turning into a very interesting evening.

And she'd already made friends, of course she had. Alice was very good at making friends in Cait's experience, it was how they met after all so it made sense she would put down roots quickly and find out where the best bars to hang out in would be. "Going for the random approach then? Not a bad idea if you're out for fun, although it must be fate we run into each other here of all places." Alice was the first person she'd met from their universe right? In this universe. Well, at least knowingly. Or had she?

This was too confusing. And distracting. There were more important matters to deal with damnit.

Finishing off her second drink nearly as quickly as the shot, "Now, you seem like the type of girl that could do with cutting loose and I, well I am the master at that. What'll be then dear, some dancing, more drinks? Or maybe something little bit more......private?"

God she wished it was the last one.

Everything Caitriona was saying to Serena was hitting her with another wave of fluster. There was just something about the way that she flirted that really spoke to Serena. Confusion about who the other woman was aside, there was something really refreshing about a woman being really upfront and honest. People expressing attraction to her could always hit that little awkward nerve in her anyway, but it was worse when it was someone Serena found attractive too.

There was this odd mixture of hints that the woman was dropping her that confused her. She was definitely interested in Serena, that much was pretty obvious. But while she was speaking like a woman introducing herself there was this underlying familiarity that was really confusing her.

And her hair, and her little sultry smiles and the touching of Serena's leg. Everything was sending little shivers up her spine.

Seeing her motion to take a drink Serena scooped up her drink, feeling the little buzz from the shot creeping up on her. She wasn't going to rinse through her drink like the other woman, she needed something to do with her mouth other than awkwardly stammering replies.

That was until she nearly choked on her drink, gently putting it down on the counter. She was the height of smooth and sexy, obviously.

"I-Uhm." She blinked, her cheeks flushing in a deep, almost crimson red. "I-whoa." God, it'd been a long time since someone had played havoc on her hormones.

The looks she was getting from Alice were certainly electrifying, innocent almost in how they were taking everything in, like it was new or re-experiencing it. Or something. It was absolutely adorable.

Again, weird to thing of Alice as adorable.

Seeing Alice, she'd been expecting something by now, to keep her on the hook. Some kind of hint or touch to make her know that it was going somewhere. But, nothing. Not the look Alice gave her that stopped her pulse for a second, or the ever so lightest of touches to set her body temperature through the roof. Or even the smile, that promised so many naughty things. But so far, nothing.

Faltering a little at the response because she had definitely been expecting a certain answer, "I......is that...a no?" Recovering a little, she tried to appear confident. Maybe it was just all part of the play. A sweet innocent girl just out for drinks. "But to which question was it," she asked leaning in a little, "because I could skip dancing if that's what you mean."

Cait was determined to get something out of the night and Alice was her best shot. Because it was Alice.

Who else could it be.

Going for broke she place one hand suggestively on 'Serenas' leg again, making little swirling patterns with her finger. "Unless is that last one you'd rather jump right to. I wouldn't mind that at all, I'm sure kissing will be in there anyway."

Dear god, how did people deal with this? Was she just not built for flirting, or was there something weird going on with the woman? Maybe she was a flirtopath or something...

Serena glanced away for a moment, visibly taking a breath and turning back. "T-that was a I do-" She cleared her throat again. "I don't know how too adequately cover a response that doesn't make me sound like an idiot." Good god, her cheeks were on fire.

She took another deep breath. Clearly she wasn't averse to the situation, she was finding the other woman more and more attractive by the minute. "I-uhm. I don't really dance often. I'd make a fool of myself." She paused, trying to stop herself staring. "More than I am already."

Shivering a little at the motions she was looking right into Cait's eyes now, she didn't move to stop Cait's hand on her leg. "I'm not very good at this, whatever this game is..." She murmured, as she leaned a little further forwards.

"I don't think there is a way for you to look like an idiot, Serena. Captivating of course, breathtaking many would say but an idiot? Not what I would think." Well, only if this didn't go the way they both knew it was going to. They just had far too much fun together that they would both be dolts if they didn't go home together.

Ooooh so they were skipping dancing. Cait was more than down for that. Mainly because it got them to option three quicker. Well, she had come out wanting to dance in fairness. But it was Alice. And it would be more fun. Without dancing. In a club.

Was it just Cait or was it getting very warm.

There was no way that the Scot was going to ignore an invitation that obvious. Alice wanted a kiss, Cait wanted a kiss. They both wanted to kiss. They should kiss. When did it get this hard, normally she was better at dealing with this kind of thing especially involving the more forward woman usually opposite her. So when 'Serena' leaned in so coquettishly of course she was going to respond.

Leaning in herself she planted the lightest of kisses on the other woman's lips before giving her a hungry look. "I'd say you were doing just fine, you're the one making the rules after all Serena." Alice had light the fire, like she always managed to. Sure, she'd played it good, but Cait had kept it together. And....won? Did they both win, or was this a first to crack thing? Maybe Cait had lost. It didn't matter of course, but she kind of wanted to win once.

Wait, shouldn't she be focusing a little more?

Captivating? Breath taking? Oh. Boy. If there were a way to make a blonde blush from head to toe, Cait was probably very close to finding that button.

"You're not so bad yourself." She murmured. "You're certainly making it harder for me to breath like a normal person." She drained the remainder of her drink, planting it on the counter gently.

And then there was that look, the look that betrayed so many sultry thoughts floating around behind a beautiful pair of eyes. This was all so new and exciting, definitely not an environment that Serena had any degree of real practice being in.

"M-making the rules?" Blink.

"J-just to clarify this situation." She cleared her throat, her words were becoming slightly more disjointed. She'd had a lot to drink quite quickly. "I'm not sure if you know me from somewhere and I've just forgotten you, or if this is some elaborate pick up game." She floundered more, blushing most profusely.

The kiss had been electric, definitely sent a few jolts up her spine but the reaction hadn't been anything like she'd been expecting. She'd expected, well a kiss back to be honest, maybe even an equally hungry look back. Christ she'd have taken a sexy quip or something.

Instead she got a confused look. Like an actual confused look. Not an act, not a play, genuine real confusion.

And this 'Serena' didn't remember her. Which was impossible because they had some pretty memorable moments. Alice was an impossible girl to forget and yes, she kind of had for a year and a half but she remember now. So Alice should too. Because Cait was sure she was pretty damn rememberable. Not many Scottish redheads running around New Yorks gay bars exactly and she could fairly assume none of them had quite her accent or language.

"Ok Alice what the hell is going on. By now we'd be pushing second base at least but you're saying you can't remember me?" Maybe she had just lost her memory. Could be fun to bring that back. "And of course it's a game, the one we played all the time. Christ you're the one usually in my seat."