[Bar: Psychopath v 1.1]

[Xander]

Vlad shot her a look, grinning mischievously, "Tell ya later."

He flicked the glass once more, as it popped up and into his hand. He held it the light, eyeing the thin layer of liquor clinging to the glass.

Then, he leaned forward, looking around Kurai at the man who'd spoken, "Don't blame you for wanting to see some action. But you're more my type, wirehead. Or am I too human for you?"

[|[guth]|]

Guth shrugged off Kurai's riposte wordlessly. He made his living off of not minding his own business.

The man didn't respond to Vlad right away. He simply continued watching the translucent beads ripple down the edge of his glass and merge with the moat around its base for a few seconds. Finally he sighed deeply, as if casting off some terribly heavy matter, reached to the other side of the counter to stretch his latissimus dorsi slightly, and pushed himself upright. Folding his arms, he glanced over the Psyker briefly, continuing to ignore Kurai.

"Well, if you want to look at it that way, I'd say you're not human enough. People really shouldn't be able to break things without at least touching them first. Simply isn't fair to the rest of us."

He yawned, and between that, his flat tone and the boredom-drowned chuckle in his eye, the conviction of his statement was more than questionable.

[Kurai]

Later. She shook her head. At least she'd be able to saite her curiousity for a while longer.

Staring at her own glass, Kurai found herself wishing she hadn't of skimped on the alcohol. Sure it wasn't exactly the best thing, but it did help to drown out thoughts and problems she didn't want to deal with unless forced to. It was another thing to her to get drunk though...

Aw, what the hell. Won't kill me just yet... Pushing the glass half full, or half empty, of water toward the barkeep, she ordered a drink with more potence and laid the nuyen on the counter. At least, I hope.

Knowing that the man was ignoring her, Kurai couldn't help but be annoyed. Like her usual self, she merely waited and listened. She couldn't afford to become annoyed and let herself do something... irrational.

[Xander]

Vlad chuckled a bit at the Decker's response, which came right in the middle of Kurai ordering something stronger. His smirk grew, and he raised two fingers.

"One: by your logic, we should then ban guns, bows, spit balls, and paper airplanes. Two: evolution's never been fair to the weaker species. Then again, you've entered into a realm I cannot--will not, rather, for I prefer my evolved senses to yours. So I'd say we're both either less than or more than what one would call human. I personally think the latter."

[|[guth]|]

The Decker raised his eyebrows in a laughing squint at Kurai's order. He foresaw his suggestion being put into motion before long should she get a little too much. And if XanderVlad wasn't going to, he had nothing more interesting to do tonight. Still, it was hard to tell if the implied chuckle was towards Kurai or XanderVlad's rebuff.

"And words. Can't forget them. Terrible tendency of breaking things they have. But really, when in a few million years you've developed the ability to access personal information on billions of people simultaneously without moving from your chair, then I suppose we can talk as if on equal footing."

He smiled lightly, the humour still doused in plenty of dry boredom, but he was lightening up.

[Xander]

[Tsk, tsk, dear Guth. 'Tis Vlad, not Xander.]

Vlad gave another good-natured chuckle, that to a knowledgeable observer was anything but.

"Ah, but you can be unplugged, my dear friend. When you've learned to access a level of mental awareness entirely above anything else any human has previously experienced, combined with the ability to extend that awareness into the physical world, unconstrained by coding and matrices, then we will be equal. As of now, we operate in different circles."

He touched the empty glass still sitting on the bar, and it shattered into a few pieces. He waved the bartender off, turning back to the stranger.

"See? I touched it first."

[|[guth]|]

[...Shut up. My head hurts. I just got my butt handed to me by some wonderful level 101 character on .h//E.]

Guth nodded sagely.

"Ah, you mean like the awareness that your hair is standing straight up in four different places? Yes, I could see how that would be useful."

He smiled and hunched back over his drink, taking a sip followed by a large yawn. The conversation was now boring him, despite the fact that it was contact with humans. Though really, contact with a bitchy gunner and a cocky psyker wasn't what Guth considered interesting contact anyway.

Still, he'd stick around to see just how much alcohol Kurai managed to consume.

[Xander]

[*snickerlaugh* Someone's grouchy...]

Vlad shrugged casually, "No, no...that awareness is just you observing my natural appeal. I mean the more philosophical awareness in place of the carnal desires. Though I personally have nothing against carnality."

He stood, stepping around Kurai with a grin. He extended a black-gloved hand.

"Despite our respective inhumanity, we should still observe some of the basic rules of polite society. Vladmir. In Russian, I am nicknamed Tsesarevich. In English, that's Crown Prince, but somehow I doubt you intend to address me that way."

[|[guth]|]

[You would be too if some cheapo bastard came out of nowhere and pasted you to a wall. Cheaper than Aeon. Maybe it's just me, but that seems a little excessive.]

Guth gripped Vlad's hand tightly and gave it a firm shake. Ignoring the whole spiel about his nickname, he smiled quietly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Vladmir. Unfortunately," here he paused and cleared his throat slightly as he withdrew his hand, "My name is one of those things that money buys and few things else. Rules of the game, treasures of the trade and all that. But you can call me Finn. Unless you have a job that requires a little cybernetic manipulation?"

Shameless advertisement if there ever was one. But any Shadowrunner would understand a low point in the business and the slight lowering of one's standards that it brought.

[Xander]

[Kùkùkùkù...]

Vlad chuckled, "Of course, of course. Finn it is then. And no, I'm afraid I'm unemployed myself at this time. But if I ever do need some decking done, I'll be sure to let you know."

He leaned his head to the side, eyeing the Decker up and down appreciatively, "You are not exactly what I had imagined. But I suppose no one is."

He stepped back, leaning his head down a bit in a mock bow, "I'm afraid I must be off now. My presence is required elsewhere. But it was very nice meeting you, Finn."

He leaned over to Kurai, handing her a data chip, "My private message box on the Shadowlands."

With that, he casually sauntered off, drawing a few gazes here and there as he left the bar.

[|[guth]|]

"So long, chummer," the man waved Vlad off and turned back to the bar. And Kurai.

"I suppose if I made some comment about it being just you and me you might get it into your head to try to knock a hole in mine. So I'll content myself with admiring from afar." He chuckled to himself, picked up his glass, and emptied its contents in a single draught. He flipped the glass over and set it on the counter upside down.

"You're so cute when you're slurring your speech,
But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave."

The Decker continued to hum along indistinctly as he stared off at the people on the dance floor.

[Kurai]

[Curse the day more than I suffers from an overdose of sleep... >.<;]

Tracing the tip of her finger around the rim of the glass, Kurai kept her ears open to the conversation between the two men. Loosely wrapping her hand around the smooth sides of the glass, she raised it to her lips and took in no less than a quarter of the glass in one drought. Damn... she needed something more to her life than just alcohol, and the style of a floater.

Words drifted around and between the two, and yet none of them seemed to stick with her. Another long drought of her drink, emptying the glass, and she was mentally scolding herself for ordering another.

Her attention was quickly drawn to the sound of the glass shattering. Already her eyes were mildly unfocused, images were fuzzy around the edges. Perhaps her ability to hold alcohol was lessening... or the drinks were just getting stronger. "Poor glass." She muttered as she shook her head.

As Vlad handed her the data chip, she spared him a glance and gave a curt nod. The data chip was swiftly stored away in a pocket.

"Or you could just try and see how lucky you are." Turning her head to glance at him, she gave him a dry stare and sipped at her drink. "You'd probably be better off waiting to say that until after I've had a couple of these. Not even the best gunner can keep too accurate shot while drunk." She scoffed softly and took a long drink.

[|[guth]|]

[...I have absolutely no clue what you just said. o.o;]

"Luck has never been one of my strong points. Intuition, perhaps, but not luck. And intuition says you're going to pass out before the hour's done at the rate you're going."

The Decker smiled at Kurai and chuckled, running his hand through his hair to brush it out of his face. He twisted about on the barstool to face the gunslinger and leaned on his elbow.

"I'm sure, though, you're perfectly accustomed to these sorts of situations and have some corner into which you can crawl until you can see straight enough to stumble home. Wherever that may be." While the statement itself could have been derived as derogatory, his tone rather lent itself to a joke implying that quite the opposite was true. "If someone's already taken it, though, I've got a little shack down the way."

He chuckled again and flipped the glass back upright with a quick twist of his index finger. Hailing the barkeep, he ordered another drink. Unlike Kurai, he'd already had his buzz for the night and was hanging around long enough to sober up, so his drinks were free of intoxication.

[Kurai]

[Basically, I need less sleep. >>;]

"Which is probably why I should stop, hm?" Kurai shook her head at herself and stared at the glass in front of her. It wasn't often she got drunk, but when one goes to a bar to drink, it usually happens.

Glancing at the Decker out of the corner of her eye, she turned ever so slightly so she could look at him rather than the alcohol. He was right; if she kept going at the rate she was, she'd pass out, not something she wanted to do. Shaking her head, she looked down at her lap and then pushed the glass away.

"Stumble on home? Hmph. I'm a floater. Never in one area too long. Though I might have to give an exception to this area." Combing her fingers through the length of her hair, she looked at him with an expression of bewilderment toward his last statement.

"You don't even know who I am, and yet you would..." She trailed off and placed a hand over her right temple. Undoubtedly the noise level from the people out on the dance floor had caused the painful throb of a headache to flourish from her consumption of alcohol.

[|[guth]|]

[Ah. Here, let me have some... x.x;]

Guth glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eye as he took another sip from his glass. He started to set it down, then changed his mind and finished it off. Pulling a credstick from his pocket, he handed it to the barkeep and jerked a thumb at Kurai. "Her too," he said with a smirk.

Turning to the gunner, he threw an arm over her shoulders.

"Come on," he drawled with a suppressed laugh. "You need to lay down for a bit."

He reached behind himself with his other hand and took the somewhat emptied credstick from the barman. Stuffing it in his pocket, he started to ease Kurai from her stool.