･ﾟﾟ･ PEACHY KEEN ･ﾟﾟ･

it was definitely late. later than he had been expecting it to be when he looked up from the treasure trove of emails from the various people that he was sifting through in regards to his current work project, but never the less, even after peeping the time, and moving against his better judgement, he crawled out of his massive, empty bed, and set his laptop aside. it was a relatively decent distance to the door, but upon opening it, he found a bit of a surprise. “ hey there june bug what has you on my rug, so to speak? “ the look on his face was more concerned than bothered as it seemed she’d been out walking alone and it was late. if nothing else, he’d call her a cab home if she had lost her phone or something to that effect,” it’s pretty late huh? “ 

Though he still didn’t really know anyone in town except for his coworkers, Matteo’s boredom was starting to turn him stir crazy. The people he worked with were fine between the hours between nine and five, but their dullness was enough for him to decline their request to show him around. Figuring he was better off at entertaining himself by wandering down the streets to find anything that looked moderately interesting. Eventually, he passed a pub that looked busy enough to his liking; considering what night of the week it was. Once Matteo entered, he made a bee line to an open stool at the bar. The man took in the sights around him for a moment as he waited for the bartender to approach him.”I’ll have what they’re having,” he said when he was approached, gesturing to the person next to him. Matteo handed over his card to start a tab before acknowledging the person next to him again. “I’m Matteo. What are you drinking, by the way? Just so I can prepare myself when it comes.” 

it seemed lately that juniper was finding herself in the bars and clubs more and more often -- but then again, wouldn’t you if your life was utter chaos and you had a chance to unwind with a good drink? she had been sitting at the bar for a little over thirty minutes now and was now on her third long island iced tea -- a little something that she’d been ordering regularly almost like it was religious. she was sat in a slouchy little outfit, a baggy jumper over a pair of boyfriend styled jeans and sneakers, her hair a tussled mess but she could care less right now. she was only brought out of her thoughts of absolutely nothing when she heard someone sit next to her and introduced themselves. “nice to meet you, i’m juni and this.” she said and tapped the side of the glass with her fresh manicured nail. “is a long island iced tea -- vodka, rum, tequila, a little coke to add some flavor.” she said and proceeded to take a sip of her own before smiling over at him. 

it was a little daunting to finally admit it aloud, knowing that this evening was going to go in either one of two ways. there was always a stigma around alcoholics, and perhaps a lot of it was true, but dexter didn’t want to be tarnished with that brush any longer. “sounds a lot nicer that one, doesn’t it?” he chuckled, but juniper hadn’t walked away from him, instead chose to take a seat at the booth with him and didn’t even seem… bothered. dexter raised a brow, “you really don’t care?” he asked, and the man simply had to laugh with a shake of his head as juni’s attention turned to the jukebox. “if that’s country, i swear i’ll walk out on you right now.” dexter teased, “but a bit of dolly? i could get down to that.”

“no, i don’t. unless you’re just dying to tell me what got you on the road of drinking on the daily. if not.” she shrugged. “no big deal, it isn’t my business. and like i said, it’s in the past ain’t it?” she asked again before she took a big drink from her glass before sitting it aside and held up a finger. “give me two seconds.” juni said and grabbed her clutch, taking her time to saunter up to the jukebox. she took her time browsing, but when she found dolly she selected ‘two doors down’ and then made her way back to the booth where she and dexter were sitting before. “you gonna dance with me?” she asked as she looked at the other man with a cheeky grin on her face. “i could teach you how to two step.” she said -- though barely getting it out as she was laughing at the sentence itself. she couldn’t even remember the last time she had been in some honky tonk two stepping, probably the last time she was home which had been years ago. 

as they stood at the bar and dexter ordered in the drinks, he ached to change his mind at the last minute, see if he could test himself to handle just the one. but he had it drilled into him from rehabilitation that one would always lead to another, and the cycle would just begin all over again. he didn’t want to risk that. but at juni’s words, the man simply had to laugh because if anything he was surprised she hadn’t clocked earlier, not after the night spent at her place. “so, i’m either a straight edge bellend,” dexter put forward, “or i’m a recovering alcoholic. which option do you prefer?” he gave her a little wink, if anything using confidence to mask the fact that he’d yet to have told anybody in brighton this information so far. their drinks was were placed in front of them and he daren’t even pass the beer over to juni’s hand, instead taking his orange juice and finding an empty booth for them. “feel free to ask me shit, y’know, about it. might as well get it all out in one go.”

it made sense now that dexter had said it out loud -- he didn’t want a drink at her place, offered her soda instead of an actual drink and now he was drinking orange juice in a bar. “straight edge bellend sounds good.” juni said with a small grin to follow up before she leaned forward to grab her drink from the bar top and took a gulp from it -- no need to waste it now. juni was a bit surprised that dexter was open about it with her, after all they’d only had two prior encounters and now she was just here to be a pest since he’d been ignoring her. after the pair took a seat, juni took another drink from the glass before sitting it down in front of her and shrugged her shoulders. “why bring up the past?” she asked and then turned around to see if there was a jukebox in the place. then she turned to dexter and asked, “do you think they’d be a bit pissed if i put on some george strait?” it was a joke -- but she figured she could make fun of herself and country roots to take the heat off of dexter for the time being. 

“not mad,” dexter said, though it was so hard to not try and snatch it from her as juniper dangled the toy in front of his face. god, she was a tease. he rolled his eyes at her playful behaviour, but smirked all the same, even when she teased him about his clothes. he didn’t mind all too much, if she really thought they weren’t ‘cool’ he doubted she would have bought something from him, so who was the real winner? dexter laughed as juniper clocked onto his joke, but when she mentioned another boy getting her a drink, he held his hand up. “first of all, i’m not lonely. i just enjoy my own company,” he shrugged, “secondly,” dexer looped his arm with juniper’s, “course i’ll get you a drink. maybe even two if you play nicely.” the man chuckled, leading the way out of the pier and toward the nearest bar– thankfully, there were plenty to choose from. he really didn’t want to go in, but he wanted to keep juniper sweet so he figured as long as he kept his focus on her, he wouldn’t be tempted by the alcohol. “this one looks alright,” he said, holding the door open into a small little pub and approaching the bar. he ordered up a beer for juni and an orange juice for himself, “don’t judge me, alright?”

“which could also be considered being a loner.” juni pointed out. “or more like aloner am i right?” she asked and laughed at her stupid joke, if she couldn’t make anyone else laugh with them she could at least make herself laugh some. she figured that mentioning finding someone else to buy her time would get the man going and she had to smirk as she saw that it was in fact working in her favor. “ooo, i’ll play real nice then.” juni said before she rolled her eyes playfully. it wasn’t like she really needed another drink but she wanted another, this was her off day, she’d been ditched by her friends so they could go home to their families, juni was going to make the most of it before she was getting an uber home so she could pass out in the comfort of her own living room. as they walked into the pub and sat at the bar, juni cocked a brow when the man ordered juice -- this happened the last time she offered him a drink, didn’t it? “are you like one of those ‘straight edgers’ that don’t do shit but silently judge other people for getting all fucked up?” it just blurted out of her mouth before juni could stop herself -- amazing what a few drinks of heavy liquor could do for you.

Nodding her head, she had to take a moment. “That is a very beautiful name.” Rebecca then sipped on her drink. “I think i’ll use Juni, just because of how cute it is.” The woman soon began to giggle. “You have no idea.” She leaned in closer so some of the men did not hear what she was about to say. “One time, they smacked my butt, then I had to cuss one out. They didn’t fire me cause they said that guy was an ass and kicked him out.” She just felt lucky she has not been stalked or anything crazy. “So how else is your time going? It’s nice to see more women in the club.”

“oh god, i’m glad you like it -- my mom just thought it sounded close to jupiter so she was like ‘oh my god, juniper’ but god bless her.” juni went on with a laugh to follow. she did love her mother but damn, her way of thinking really made juni question the woman sometimes (even though juni had a lot of her characteristics). “good for you, just ‘cause you’re workin’ in a place like this doesn’t mean you’re up for grabs just ‘cause you’ve got a pair of tits and an ass. he deserved more than to be cussed out, i would have decked him right in his crude face.” juni ranted on before taking a sip of her drink. “i guess that’s why i ain’t a waitress though, huh?” she asked and giggled some. “so far it’s been alright, i got you over here to have a drink with me so it isn’t completely awful.” juni said, flashing the woman a sweet smile. “how long have you been workin’ here?”

Of course Rebecca was glad to serve her male customers, but it was her female customers she was really interested in. Not because she was trying to find a hookup, or whatever, but because she was into girls, and the girls were always more fun. “I’d love to join you.” She was sure it was allowed because she had done it before. “I’ll be back with the two long island’s, beautiful. Won’t bee too long of a wait, I promise.” She giggled softly before heading off to fetch those drinks for them. As soon as possible, Rebecca returned with the two drinks, sliding one over to the woman, with a napkin, then sat down and began to sip on her own drink the other bought her. “I’m Rebecca. Thank you for getting me the drink.”

juni was thrilled that she’d have this beautiful woman joining her for a drink -- the club looked like it was overly populated by the male species and well, maybe the woman needed a damn break from all of them juni knew that she would. when she returned with their drinks, juni thanked her with a soft smile and then proceeded to take a sip from her glass. “nice to meet you, i’m juniper, juni if you want.” she said and shrugged a shoulder. “it’s not a problem, ou looked like you could use a break from these numb nuts anyway.” she said and laughed softly. 

dexter frowned, shaking his head, “no, why would i be mad?” but of course he was lying, that much was obvious between the pair of them. maybe if he’d actually sent a text, that dinosaur would be going home with its rightful owner (or, y’know, the idiot that spent far too much money on a toy he could easily just buy). the tattooed man tried to keep himself distracted by discussing the boiler suit idea he’d created on the damn spot, but he figured it could actually work regardless. “well everything i make is bad ass, so there’s no surprise,” dexter teased with a playful smirk, “all about making a statement.” when juni gave him a little proposal, the man rolled his eyes but he chuckled all the same because she was bold and he actually enjoyed that. “yeah, yeah, it seems pretty fair.” he said, before glancing behind her and spying a vending machine. pointing over to it he said, “so, diet coke? fanta?” he teased, winking at her.

“ ‘cause i got this cute lil thing and you didn’t?” she pointed out and then made the little plush toy dance in front of dexter’s face. how petty, but honestly, juni was too tipsy to even care. she was feeling fantastic, and now that she had someone to annoy in the mean time she was feeling more than fantastic. then of course came the cockiness and she had been expecting it nonetheless, but it still made the woman roll her eyes and shook her head some. “if that’s what you wanna call it.” she teased, because of course she thought dexter’s clothes were nice and they were pretty fucking bad ass. “a beer, you dick.” juni said with a soft laugh as she stepped away from the machine. “so are you gonna get me one or not? if not i’m sure there’s another lonely boy hanging around who might.” she said and shrugged a shoulder in a nonchalant fashion.

Harrison: exactly i don't need to impress anyone else now haha although maybe that's why we haven't fucked in so long maybe i've lost my skills

Harrison: don't say that! have the confidence to know you got him where you want him

Harrison: yeah, is that weird? all i know is i definitely want lace and like, silk

Harrison: you're on, can't wait to collect my winnings ;)

Juni: Maybe you should look into porn so you can find some freaky shit to strike his interest

Juni: I mean I really fucking doubt you've lost your skills since it's been three damn days and not three months

Juni: I don't though! If I had him where I wanted him he wouldn't have ghosted my ass for like a week until I bumped into him and I was already tipsy

Juni: omg it isn't weird, I just didn't think that you'd be into boys in panties

Juni: lace and silk that I can probably do, I mean I've heard I got a knack for it or something

in his defense, dexter honestly wasn’t expecting juni to actually win. so when he watched that dinosaur be picked up and dropped into the prize container, his jaw genuinely fell open because that was so fucking typical. “these things are rigged,” he muttered, resisting the urge to give the grabber a good shove (despite how much he desperately wanted to, as if it’d prove some kind of point). the man folded his arms across his chest, watching as juniper teasingly placed the little toy on top of her shoulder, purposely taunting him. and what could he even say? he felt he probably deserved this considering he blew her off entirely. karma was a cunt. “yeah, nobody wears ‘em anymore,” dexter said, trying to focus his gaze on the woman rather than the triceratops, but it was proving difficult, “so i wanna make them fitted, y’know, to be complimentary to the figure rather than hidin’ it. then just give them some more oomph by adding chains, rips, maybe paint some quotes from horror movies on ‘em or something.” the man shrugged and really he was just reeling ideas on the spot considering he’d never got this far in his initial planning stage. “you really ain’t giving him to me, are you?”

“aw, you mad?” juni had to ask as she leaned against the machine with her new friend sitting on her shoulder. she had to say she was a bit smug that she had gotten this damn toy and dexter hadn’t. she wasn’t mad at him or anything for ignoring her but she was a bit annoyed with how he was going about this entire thing so if anything, this was just to show off that she was pretty bad ass and he was missing out by being a child -- so now she was going to treat him like one. hence the ‘na na a boo boo’ type game she was playing with the taunting. “that actually sounds pretty bad ass, i’d be into that. i mean, a romper is cute and all and a jumpsuits cute, but everyone wears those you know?” she shrugged a shoulder. when dexter asked for the toy, juni glanced over at her shoulder and then looked back to dexter. “you buy me a drink i just might.” of course she wasn’t going to but hey, dexter needn’t know that. after all, she could play games just like he could and she had intended on giving the man a taste of his own medicine before she was finished with him completely. “does that sound like a fair trade? ‘cause i think it does.”