He’d had a bad day and just needed something to make him feel better. So here he was, in some dive bar on the seedy side of town just by the train tracks. The air was filled with smoke, the neon signs promoting beers and sports, cutting through the haze as someone would move through disturbing the clouds. He had a beer in front of him and a shot of whiskey. He picked up the shot and tossed it back, wondering when the fuck it was going to hit him and then that numbness that you get when a good buzz settles in.

He wanted a cigarette, his fingers itched to hold one. But he had quit, which is one of the reasons he came to places like these. You get the smell, you get to inhale some smoke, but at the end of the night, you wouldn’t be back on a twenty a day habit. He still kept his zippo, though. Drunk girls would ask for a light, or in times like these, it was something to do with his hands until the craving passed. Click. Flick. Swoosh. Snap. Over, and over until his mind had calmed and he could take a sip of his beer.

He came here hoping that he’d be able to find something to distract him. He supposed a someone was more along the lines of what he wanted. Someone drunk enough to not want commitment or whine when he left after, but sober enough to be a bit of fun. If he wanted something with no interaction, he’d just use his hand like usual. No, tonight he wanted to bury himself in a woman and hopefully with that bury the memories that threatened to tear him apart even further down.

He saw her then, standing by the pool table talking to a friend. She wasn’t what he would normally go for, she was tall and thin, generally out of his league. But the booze had loosened him up, given him confidence. So he picked up his beer, had a few gulps and got off the barstool to approach her.

In his mind, he was walking tall, proud, confidently. To everyone else, he was hesitant, as if he didn’t know if the floor was still there. But he was unaware, and he only had eyes for her. He walked up to her and smiled, his very best smile, before asking her her name. It didn’t matter, not really, but he was being polite.

Chickenz looked up from his game of pool, down 3-0 and damn glad for the distraction. It seems a gentleman had been looking over one of his girls, and was now trying to speak to her. Smiling at the prospect of a payday, he approached the man, 'accidentally' bumping into him.

"Oops. Sorry." He said, patting the man's chest exactly where he'd just left a  business card reading

"unholychickenz

The Connexion,

Paradise, Las Vegas"

And a phone number. He headed for the exit to get back to his office.

"Tammy."

Her curls were confined to the black band tightly fastening the dark locks to the back of her head. She turned, cigarette in hand, and leaned on the counter top with her elbows. Violent amber eyes met his and peered up from underneath a cautious yet confident brow. One side was raised slightly, almost questioning, investigating, without speaking a word. Her features were soft and glowed from within the shady frame of her hair. Defined cheekbones hosted a handful of dark freckles and a beauty spot above her lip on the left side. He neckline vanished into a simple dress which came to a stop at her knees. 

Her eyes didn't shift from his gaze as she drew on the cigarette.

"You're mista' generic, I suppose?"

Tobias walks into the bar and take his sit and feel a little discomfort, since he never hangout alone anywhere on the street and this is his first time. He called bartender "Ice lemon tea please" .

He ordered a glass of ice lemon tea since he doesn't drink alcohol. Sitting boring waiting for a chick to approach her. He knows he is old, but he still got the charm for that.

Terra takes a seat next to Tobias , propping her chin in one hand after ordering a brandy. A quiet tornado was developing in the pool table area, and she was here simply to watch. One man had already mistaken her sister for a whore, and another was approaching her with the kind of look that said all the wrong things in all the right ways. With a grin, she leans towards Tobias and speaks quietly.

"This should be interesting. Enjoy the show...do you think the bartender sells popcorn in here?"

His fingers twitched, the urge to take the cigarette from her and suck it down was winning. But he had a mission. He leaned on the counter as well. He knew he was looking casual, attractive. In reality, he looked a bit dumbstruck and awkward, but that was the appeal of alcohol. He looked the woman up and down again and nodded his head.

"Well, my name is John, you don't get more generic than that."

His words were slightly slurred, and he stumbled over generic.

"What is a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"  

Stepping back he watched as she performed, mesmerized by the sound. The words didn't matter, but her voice was all he could hear. It appeared he had picked well, today. He gestured to the bartender and ordered another beer and then leaned over to ask what the beautiful lady was drinking and if he could get one for her. As the tempo picked up his foot started tapping along, and he turned to watch the reactions of the people around him. 

Irish folk music wasn't something he thought he'd find in a place like this, it stood out, like a sore thumb. But somehow, this woman, he couldn't remember her name, made it work for her. People started dancing, and the conversations in the room grew a bit quieter. He stopped watching them and returned to watching her. 

Tobias claps his hand joining the crowd and whisper to the girl that sit next to her

"Hell yeahh, very great show, dunno about popcorn tho, its my first time in this bar"

Tobias faces TerraGato and surprised. 

"Your face looks like the singer, is she your sister? and are you singer too?"

She finished the final chord with a jerk. Her hair had been disturbed from the band holding it in place, however was no longer required. She tugged it out and her curls fell loose, bouncing across her shoulders and brushing across her face. With a lack of commitment, she bowed to the crowd, clearly not playing up to her own hype. She took the single step down from the staged area and walked back to the bar, placing her fiddle back in the case.

She approached Terra and stood with her sister, calling out across the counter.

"Barkeep, two whiskey's if ya please."

The drinks arrived, served by a disheveled barman lacking any pride in his position and came to a rest on the bar. She scooped up the glass and slid the other across to her sister. 

He frowned and moved over to where she was standing. She had been astounding, and her humility was something he rarely saw. Certainly not in himself. He picked up his beer and took a drink watching her. 

"That was impressive." 

He nodded at the bartender to signal another round for the group. 

"Although, I would have bought that for you." 

He realized then that this whole cat and mouse game had somehow turned on its head. He was no longer chasing her, this vixen, rather she was just toying with him. But he wasn't about to give up, he had come here for a reason and that reason was standing in front of him. 

Terra leans into Tammy with a familiarity only siblings could have. She responds to Tobias after sipping from her drink, the glass hiding her smile behind it.

"Half-sisters, yes. I sing as well, but our styles are quite different. I only know jazz and blues, and I never learned to play an instrument. Or a room, for that matter," she adds as John_Brandt sidled up to Tammy. Indeed, he was certainly after something this evening. 

Tobias watching the two sisters drinking, he feels like he wants to challenge TerraGato and TabithaGato something different.

"uhh can I step on the bill to have both of you duet then? its gonna be fun, I want to hear it, since its still too early for me to go back and sleep"

Looking between Terra and Tobias, she raises and brow and curls her lip. 

"An interestin' idea mista, though we've got nothin' prepared for that sorta gig."

She finds John at her side once more and flicks her hair back, clearing her eyes and giving him a once over. He appeared well presented enough, and was clearly persistent, so maybe she could spare him some consideration. 

"'Tank ya' kindly Mista... John? Do ya' have a surname?"

She looked up at him, not breaking eye contact while her fingers held the glass with care akin to a fondness.

Tugging at his collar he looked between the girls and swallowed hard. He wasn't used to direct women. He wasn't used to women in general. 

"Brandt." 

"John Brant." 

Gulping down some more beer he nodded his head to Tobias and his suggestion. It might be interesting the blend of styles. It might also be hell on their ears. But these two pretty women deserved to be in the spotlight. 

Terra offered Tobias another discreet smile as she extracted a plain blue business card from her purse and slid it across the bar to him.

"I sing most nights at a little dump not far from here. If you find yourself in that part of town, stop by for a drink and a show," she says, placing some money on the counter as she stands to leave. Seeing the look in John's eye, she adds, "since it seems as though a different kind of music is being made here tonight."

With that, she tips an imaginary hat and leaves the bar.

He started coughing, his beer sloshing out of his mug. setting it down on the bar top he took a step away and twisted so Tammy could not see his face. once he regained composure he turned back around and ran his hands down his shirt, completely ignoring the fact that the front had a few spills from the beer on it. 

"Tammy, what do you do when you're not cap...cap...captivating your audiences with your music?" 

His words were starting to feel thick in his mouth. A logical man would switch to water or call it a night. But no one had ever claimed John was logical. 

Watching Terra leave, Tammy knocks back the rest of her drink and gently hums as it catches the back of her throat. She was familiar with the taste, and appreciated the burn that came with it. It reminded her of her father and the way he would suck at his teeth in the early days. On the rare occasions she saw him since, he grew tolerant to the taste, or just refused to let his reaction be shown. As the liquor scorches her tongue, she licks her lip and stares directly at John.

"Well, Mista Brandt, where are ya' takin' me tonight then? I'm about ready ta' see more than these four walls tonight."

The glass hit the counter and was drawn across the counter until it reached the barman's grip. She shook her hair out a final time and played with the curls.

Staring at the vision before him he's struck dumb. he had hoped that it would come to this, but he wasn't exactly prepared. This wasn't what normally happened. Usually they hit it off, a few cheeky gropes in an alley and then she cries off or he throws up. The fact that it had reached this he wasn't sure how to proceed. 

"You know this town better than I do." 

Pulling his wallet from his pocket he tossed a few bills on the counter. As an after thought he pointed to the bottle of Whiskey she had been drinking from and put some more money on the bartop to compensate for the expense. He picked up the bottle and looked at her. 

"Show me your town." 

She grins, grabbing her coat and fiddle case, she walks out in front of the man and leaves the building.

The warm evening air hits her and she inhales, taking in the atmosphere of Vegas. The smell was of activity, motion and haste. The sky was a glowing azure darkened by the setting sun. As John joined her she lit a cigarette, tilting her head so the breeze took her hair in the opposite direction.

"Come on then, Mista' Brandt. Let's she ya' what Vegas has to offer."

She smiled provocatively and walked off out ahead into the street.