"Jennifer!"

"It's Juniper."

"Yeah, that's what I said. Anyway, did you see that movie that came out last-"

She zoned out, squashed on a couch between two man-spreaders with a large red solo cup in her hands that someone had handed her. Was she drinking from it? No. Don't be stupid. That's how you ended up in a back alley missing a kidney, or worse. 

Naw, she was drinking from the bottle expensive of rum she had stashed in her zipped up Alabama Crimson State hoodie. Never actually been to the school before, but had jumped in bed with a pair of girls in that town for a wild night and come out of it with two stolen college jackets. She liked this one best because it was red. 

Someone dropped a hand on her thigh, so she phased it through her and sat on it. Reached up and plucked the beanie right off his head, too, which earned a laugh. Oooh, she was soooo bold. Daring. Not like the other girls. Blah blah blah. 

She pulled the green beanie over her short hair and stood, dropping her cup casually in his lap as she meandered for the door. The ruckus that picked up behind her was well worth how boring that party had been.

Hopping out a window on the fifth floor of the apartment she had been snuck into, she landed on the old metal fire escape outside. Lifting a leg over the rail, and then the other, it was a short bit of balancing and then a jump. It was funny in retrospect how she had once been pretty scared of heights and possible falls from them. Now they were just super convenient exits. 

Barefoot, she landed in a wobbly crouch with her arms out at her side for balance. "Taaaa" She shot up, arms swooping up above her head like she was a gymnast who had just landed a big acrobatic feat, "Daaaaa~!"

No one clapped, and that was a damn shame. 

So... now what? She was way out by the edge of town, the boardwalk just a stones throw away. She snuck a drink from her hidden stash and sauntered out of an alley, glancing down the street one way to spy a sign with a stupidly big shark on it, as well as a smaller sign pointing to Coney Island beach.

Well... she hadn't been a beach in a while and she was already shoe-less, soooo... guess that was her destination! Maybe she could even sneak into the water zoo and set a bunch of fish free if she got bored again.

She kept walking until her feet hit sand.

It was a long night, Carrick was tired but after being on probation with S.U.P.E.R. for so long he was looking for any excuse not to go back to the mansion. He wanted to enjoy the freedom sure the mansion had the Princess but it wasn’t the same as stretching ones wings and just flying aimlessly over the city. Yawning and laying back in the sand he stretched his wings out and buried them a bit feeling his toes sink along with them.

The shifter let out a loud yawn causing his ears to pop after his show from earlier. He didn’t know what it was about Brooklyn but if you had an Irish accent you could find a gig at like any bar. More impressive to them was he could play guitar which was now in his hands the soft case was under his head giving him a little support. It wouldn’t be the first time Carrick dozed off on a beach somewhere he just hoped if he did he’d still have all his belongings.

With a quick tune of his guitar he started to play along with the waves looking up at the sky debating on how long he should be out here. Off in the distance he could see the lights from the pier, the sound carried enough for him to hear it. While it did remind him of the circus and when he was younger he felt it best to avoid the place he didn’t think he could talk his way out of another fire. The last trip with Zek almost got him locked up.

The more he played to the waves crashing the more his guitar sped up till he recognized where he heard the sound from. The shifter smirked and started to sing along doubting it would ever be worth playing for a show but that didn’t stop him though ”She had dumps like a truck truck, oh, thighs like ‘what, what. Baby move yer butt butt. Think I’ll sing it again!”

Her ears perked.

Was that...?

~Thighs like what, what, what~

IT WAS.

Juniper beelined for the music.

"Leeet meee see thAAAt THOOOONG! Baaaby. That thong-th-thong-thong-thong~"

She appeared in a hop, scattering sand all over as she landed. "Ooh, that dress so scandalous, I swear another boy couldn't handle it. When you shakin' that thang like whose the shit, With a look in your eyes do devilish~"

Was she dancing? No. Juniper didn't know how to dance and wasn't about to try. But! She did know how to chaotically wave her arms around to music while singing. "Baby make your booty go dunh-dunh~"

Singing songs about hot chicks in bikini's was right up her alley, so random winged guitar dude was already right in her books. She sidled on in without an invitation, plopped into the sand directly in front of him, and dug her bottle of rum out.

"Sing more! Want some rum?" She was already spinning the cap off and taking a sip.

If you play it they will come. The Irishman smirked when a girl appeared singing and flailing her arms to his own rendition of a classic. He sat up more kicking his wings out of the sand a bit and sat up when the girl dropped in front of him. ”Ya forgot to say please.” he said in a smirk with his tail poking out of the sand next to his feet trying to unbury itself from the run off from his wings.

”Not supposed to take drink from strangers. Fer all I know ya spiked it.” he raised an eyebrow surprised someone was so willing to interact with a stranger. He was killing it on the guitar though so he couldn’t blame her. He’d probably do something similar. Only keep the booze to himself. ”Not a cop are ya?” he asked only willing to take the bottle from her after she took a swig. The shifter wasn’t really partial to Rum, however he was partial to free.

After take a pull from the bottle he smirked flashing his pointed teeth. ”I’m Carrick.” he said thumbing his chest. ”Now we’re no longer strangers.” his fingers started to strum on the guitar already searching his memory for another song she’d probably like. ”How about this one.” he cleared his throat, ”You are… my fire. The one… desire, believe when I say, I want it that way.” Carrick stopped singing but kept playing for her.

"Puhleez."

She waggled the bottle at him. "Even if I said no, I could always be lying, right? And don't worry, it's only spiked with tequila." Juniper waggled it more until he finally took it.

OoOoOoOo, sharp teeth, that was kinda hot. What was he, some kind of demon mutant? "I'm Juniper." She took the bottle back, letting herself have one more swig, before turning and burying it into the sand beside her.

Carrick broke out another song, one she did recognize pretty well. Her little teenage self had crooned to it with Bambi all those years ago, stuffed in the teen's tiny bedroom while applying makeup badly.

Juniper jumped in at the cue he gave her with all the gusto a twenty-something drunk girl could have.

"We aaare, but twooo worlds apaaart. Can't reach to your hea-ah-ah-art~!"

Standing fluidly, she flung her arm out, singing to some imaginary girl off to the side like the actual singers had done in the video so long ago. Bouncing through the lyics smoothly as he played, but with a humorous flair.

"~Am I yooour fiiiire? Your one deesiiiire... Yes, I know it's toooo late, but Iii want iiiit thaaaat waaaay~!"

Eventually as they wound through the song she plopped back down with a laugh, leaving it unfinished.

"Ooh, boy. What a blast from the past. Nobody drags that song up at parties anymore."

His tail flicked, did she say it was spiked with Tequila-Rum? He was tempted to take another sip from the bottle but decided not to seeing as she was getting into the music. He kept playing occasionally jumping in with her finding the harmony. His tail starting to sway along with the music the more he played. ”Ain’t nothing but a mistake, so tell me why, I never want to hear ya say!”

It wasn’t how he was imagining the rest of the evening to go but he was entertained at least by the gusto she had at singing along and… dancing? He wasn’t much better but figured as long as he kept playing he wouldn’t have to. He certainly hadn’t been drinking enough for him to dance, not yet at least. He waited till she sat before he stopped playing to grab another sip from the Tequila-Rum?

”Nice ta meet ya Juniper.” he said with a smirk then nodded to her sweatshirt, ”Going to the wrong parties then. Or at least the ones without someone playing the white girl anthems.” he said smirking. ”I happen to specialize in that.” he said with a small chuckle taking another pull of the bottle.

”Ya lost love or just walk the beach barefoot?” he asked strumming his guitar a bit more strumming some chords till he found a song and continued to play it. This one was from the eighties.

"Oh, they play them alright. Just like, the modern ones that suck more." She giggled and stole the bottle back from him, "I'll blame you for summoning me then."

At his comment about her feet, she wiggled her toes at him. "Neither. I got bored and ended up here, where you were playing music I happen to like." Him just happening not to be a typical beach bum was icing on the cake, as well all of the little unique traits she could see. She wondered what his wings felt like. Falcon? Pigeon? Did all feathers feel the same?

"Kinda figure I struck gold seeing as you're pretty cute and can play. What a better way to spend a night?" The phaser winked at him as she lifted the bottle back to her lips for a drink.

"You know 'Bad Touch' by the Blood Hound gang?" She matched his smirk with one of her own.

"One of my favorites. Great to move to, but usually requires a partner, ya know?"

”Modern ones aren’t too bad. Like the beats. Not really the lyrics.” he said grinning to his guitar still strumming some chords. His toes dug into the sand as he rocked a bit more to the music now that he had a shot or two in him. ”Hard to compete with the classics though.” he smirked.

”Makes ya sound like a spirit or a demon.” he laughed a little at her summoning comment. ”Honestly I was just trying to summon a pint or a drink, had no idea it came with company.” he paused, ”Not complaining mind ya. Always up fer some company.”

The shifter eyed her toes when she wiggled them at him and he looked back to her raising an eyebrow and smirking, ”Good thing I’m anything than boring.” he quipped back opening one of his wings to show them off. Carrick liked the attention and knew that people always liked looking at his wings. He got lost in them often enough. His tail flicked a little sand towards her.

”Gold, eh?” he laughed, ”first time anyone said that about bumping inta me. But I’ll take it.” he grinned at her compliment. He smirked back and returned the wink still in his ‘entertaining’ mindset now that he had a captivated audience.

After her pull from the bottle he reached out for it again. ”Hmmmm...” trying to recall the song. He didnt’ know how to play it with the guitar yet but he smirked at the challenge.

”Not much of a dancer, but let’s see if I can remeber the lyrics. Might need a bit of help with this one.” he said as he started playing it was slow at first but he recalled some of the words. ”Oh-ho, Sweat baby, sweat baby sex’s a Texas drought, me and you do the kind of stuff that only Prince would sing about.” he trailed off for her because he was still trying to remember the rest of the lyrics. Oblivious she just made a pass at him.

Uh-oh. This guy was suddenly giving her Xaiver/Zek vibes. Crap! "Not that kinda dance, Cupid." She was gonna need to drink more to have to deal with this one, wasn't she?

He started playing and kicked off the song, and as he trailed off she hopped in. The lyrics belted out of her as only the would if someone had memorized the song entirely (she had) and sang it regularly (she did). It wasn't quite the same without the killer backbeat, but it worked still.

She did wonder if he was as dense as Xavier was, or if he leaned more into the asexual category, where she had filed away Zek and all of his shenanigans.

The reason this particular song was one of her favorites of its style, was because the lyrics were more clever than she could ever hope to be, and also pretty direct. Juniper liked direct. Being direct didn't leave crossed lines and misunderstandings, and she didn't end up in weird positions where she nearly took her shirt off while someone else just wanted to roll in money.

...Zek.

Halfway through the song, just after dropping a lyric about hightide and thighs, she stopped and tilted her head at him.

"So wha'dya say, wanna smash?"

Carrick was laughing the longer he played and the more Juniper managed to remember all the words he might have started playing too fast at first but looked back down to his guitar and focused on playing to her lyrics so he didn’t throw off her spitting out the lyrics. He was impressed so much so he’d gladly bring Juniper along to get some people pumped at bars. She must have been a blast at parties.

His tail swayed behind him as he looked back up when she dropped some lyrics he wasn’t familir with. Was she free styling? The shifter looked from her back down to his guitar then stopped, ”Smash?” he asked looking horrified at first then held his guitar closer. She didn’t mean smash his guitar right?

”Ya mean the video game?” he asked reaching for the bottle. Looking around confused. Did she have the system nearby? ”Hiding it under yer sweater, love?” Carrick smirked taking a long sip from the Rumqeila bottle. ‘Mate!’ the voice called out again in the back of his mind. It was then Carrick was starting to put everything together. There was no way they could play the game on the beach.

The shifter looked around confused like he was missing something. It was just the pier and then on the other side down a ways was a small fire. Meaning it was even further away.

She seriously considered standing and leaving the moment he brought up video games, assuming he was just an oblivious waste of time, but... then he left her an opening.

She grinned a bit wider, predatory even, and plopped her chin in her hands with her elbows on her knees. "Maybe. How about you take a peek in it to check?" She moved a hand to unzip her hoodie a little to further her suggestion and waited.

Whether he would take the bait or not she didn't know. She was still wondering if her evening was gonna switch to from casual hookup to grand theft Carcharhinidae sooner than she had planned.

Juniper smiled and Carrick returned it not sure what she meant by anything. ‘Mate!’ yelled the familiar voice in the back of his mind. It sounded more aggressive to him than usual as if the first shout wasn’t loud enough. Carrick took another sip from the bottle then his face started turned a shade of red when he saw what she was doing.

His voice cracked, ”O-Oh!” he said breaking a guitar string. He looked down welcoming the distraction wishing there was another one. Something to distract them from what she was suggesting. Carrick was flattered and flustered at the same time so much so his feathers ruffled out a bit his smile turning more awkward.

Someone shouted something off in the distance Carrick practically begging for it picked up the shouted words no problem. ”Shark?” he asked allowed hearing another shout. His pointed ears twitched a bit at the sound of another shout. ”Fer **** sakes, there’s signs all over the place. Why would anyone be swimming?” he stood up and grabbed the bottle took a long drink and removed his shirt. The process took longer than he wanted but so was the curse of the wings.

Taking to the air towards the water where his vision zeroed in on a few kids swimming in the moonlight. Someone was pale enough to reflect the moon. Or it was a moon. Where they naked? He was gonna be upset if he had to pull some naked people from the water again.

Sweet baby Jesus, that was adorable. He turned red and fluffed up like a startled chicken.

She pulled the zipper down a tiny bit more, which seeing as she had a t-shirt on underneath wasn't exactly scandalous or anything, but was wanting to see if he would fluster more. The ones that blushed were often the cutest and most fun to play with.

"So, what do you-"

...and then someone just HAD to go and get themselves mauled or something, and her current target all but fled as quickly as possible to go see what was up.

Juniper blinked, stared at the spot where he had been sitting, and POUTED. How @#$%ing lame.

The phaser flopped back into the sand, refusing to get up and see what the fuss was about in favor of throwing herself a quick pity party.

After a bit, she rolled herself over to where his fallen guitar was, snatched it up, and settled it in her lap to play. Fixing the broken string was as easy as smoothing the frayed bits down and fusing them back together. A little tuning later and she was strumming away through a familiar upbeat song, possibly while someone got munched on by a shark yards away in the water.

Meh, they should have read the signs.

This was stupid. Kids were stupid. The shifter was technically a kid still but even he wasn’t that dumb. It was a quick rescue that left him drenched and yelling at a few girls who thought it be hilarious to scream shark by being chased by a kid who had a fin. They were all friends and there was no danger. The shifter set them down by the fire that was on the beach and made a joke at all their expense and how they owed him one. They offered to have him party with them ‘at least’ so he dry off. One of the girls was looking at him the way Juniper was earlier, which reminded him about her.

It took a few seconds but he made it back to Juniper who didn’t move. Shirtless and wet he landed from where he took off. ”Didn’t know ya played, love.” he grinned. ”Sorry about that. Bad joke gone worse but everyone is alive.” he opened his feathers a little turned away from her shaking not only his wings but his tail as well trying to get any excess water off. Unfortunately the pants stuck to his legs and he’d have to deal with that for now.

”You up fer a little fire on the beach? The ladies who suck at practical jokes have one going and yers truly got an invite.” he said leaning over and grabbing his shirt. ”Up for a lift? Hope ya don't mind though. I'm a bit wet.” he asked throwing the shirt over his shoulder flashing a grin.

Uh oh. That 'Love' bit reminded her a lot of Blue. She licked her lips.

There was an invite to a party, which she looked over to. Attractive girls plus a fire and booze was always a fun time... but she had just left something similar. Too many people could make you lose focus.

She still had his guitar in her lap, and as she straightened from a slight hunch so that she could better look up at him, she knew what she wanted to do. Well, what one of the things she wanted to do was.

"Sounds fun... but," Juni smirked up at him with a slight tilt to her head, "If I come over there I really doubt I'll be able to keep my hands to myself."

She stood in one motion, held the guitar out to him, and leaned down to grab the bottle of booze in the sand.

"You have fun over there if you want, I think I'm gonna go take a stroll in the Aquarium." Which was closed, because it was definitely after hours. "Look at some sharks while the crowds are gone. Maybe swim with a few."

The bottle was mostly still full, she didn't wanna blackout after all, and after one more swig she held that out for him t take if he wanted as well.

"Nice meetin' ya, Carrick!"

She gave a little wave and headed off in the direction of the fish-zoo.