Nia glared at John (he'd actually gotten progress done) as he suggested that her sulking all evening wasn't an option. With the day she'd had, drinks weren't necessarily going to make her feel better (they MIGHT make her feel worse, but that was a risk worth taking), though her nightly routine might cheer her up at least a little (it usually did). Besides, he should be driving with her and Sandra (there was more than enough space in Sandra's car), wasting gas was stupid. Thankfully, Sandra herself showed up to say that John's would-be driver had the night off (thank goodness) and he'd be traveling with them. The ride itself was rather pleasant once she managed to shut out the chatter between Sandra and John (How was your first day? Enjoy yourself? Blah, blah, blah). If she was feeling more generous (and she really wasn't right now), she might have paid more attention to the conversation and tried to figure out if Sandra's interest was flirtatious or just polite. As is, ignoring them (blah, blah, blah, blah) was easy enough until they got to the bar. Abbie beat them there apparently (which was nice, meant that they didn't have to wait to get the party started), sticking an oldie rock song on the jukebox. Not Nia's favorite, she preferred techno and a heavier beat to party to (and "party" to), but this was probably as good as she'd get on a bar's jukebox. Most bargoing folks probably had no idea who Sharon Den Adel or Arion were (not that she really blamed them, music preferences were personal, after all). That was part of the reason she didn't go to bars, actually: music wasn't great, alcohol was expensive, and having to turn down just about every single guy in the bar (over the course of the night, of course) was more troublesome than she really liked. But if she was going drinking with friends (which would help with the single guys), she could put up with it.
Abbie had found a corner booth (which was nice of her) and apparently gotten started early, from the looks of the empty glass in front of her. The woman waved them over, saying she'd saved a seat next to her for Nia (which was really nice of her). She was even more adorable without the lab coat and Nia felt some of her irritation fade as she slid into her seat, sliding close enough for her leg to barely brush Abbie's (she would really have liked to slide right up against her, but that would have been too forward). Trying not to stare at the colorful arrangement of tattoos that covered her now bare upper arm was more difficult than she would have thought (she wanted to touch them so badly...), but she managed to keep her eyes away more often than not. Her first order when their waiter came around was a double of gin, generously paid for by the rock chick (she needed to thank her for that, but for now she wasn't feeling like talking). The stuff wasn't amazing (alcohol generally wasn't), but it was her go-to when it came to getting drunk. An Orange Bloom came next, leaving her giggling and a smiling at Abbie's (mostly jukebox related) antics by the end. Another Orange Bloom, generously paid for by the rocker chick, went next and Nia began to start joining in on the running chat (quietly, of course), thanking her new friend for paying. The woman herself was drinking at a pace that Nia didn't even try to keep up with until Sandra came by and said something about a Christmas party (she should probably ask about that story at some point), at which point Abbie went pale and started ordering water. Nia kept going, ordering a shot of gin and chatting about music with Abbie, though she knew any more alcohol beyond that would be too much (plus she'd pass Abbie, which she didn't really want to do).
Her first water didn't arrive until John had struck out with two of the barmaids and Sandra had excused herself to talk to her husband (awwww, so no John and Sandra hookup), leaving Nia alone with Abbie, who she'd scooched all the way over on the bench to lean against. The rocker chick said it was nice to have another girl to talk to before asking about her and John. It was difficult, but Nia beat down the urge to start tracing the tattoos on the girl's arm (so prettyyyyyy) before giving her usual response to that question. "Wouldn't have worked. Colleagues, fine, but... he's not what I want. He's him, I'm me, he wants long term, I don't necessarily..." She shut herself up, that was a little bit too honest, probably the alcohol's fault (it usually did that, with its dumb burning and stuff). She could answer about her way to "beat them off with a stick," though (just tell them you're not interested and then do something super weird, that allllllways worked). "And if you want someone, I'd love to-" She clapped a hand over her mouth, that was WAY more than she really wanted to say (and had nothing to do with beating off men in the way Abbie apparently wanted). And why was she grinning like an idiot? And when did her other hand start tracing the lines of Abbie's tattoo (prettyyyyyyyyyyyy)? The woman had been so nice to her, she'd need to take her hand off her mouth, apologize for what she was doing, explain that she got weird when she was drunk... "Sorry, you're cute and nice and I want to spend tonight between your-" Nia felt her face start to heat up as she processed what she was saying and the hand returned right back to its position over her mouth. Way too honest, she probably needed to scooch away. And stop tracing that damn tattoo.
